An Instagram Influencer's Journey To Unilever | Aarushi Agrawal, MICA Ahmedabad | Ex-ITC

I started writing blogs and posting my lifestyle pictures on Instagram. The initial posts got so much traction that a start-up named Indore Voyage approached me to become one of their founding members.

I started working as a video jockey and content writer for them. I realized my passion got appreciated by people. I used to get hundreds of DMs from my followers, and collaboration opportunities with brands like Makemytrip, Shein and many local cafes of Indore made me understand that there is a potential market for my work. I figured I could pursue becoming a social media influencer. Within a due course of time, I got 70,000 followers on Instagram and multiple brand associations. I became the cover girl of Indore Voyage magazine and won National excellence award for Video jockeying and an appreciation reward from Instagram.

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Join us at Klub AltUni as Aarishi walks you through her journey as an Instagram Influencer, how Instagram Influencer Marketing works and the trends. Check the details of Klub AltUni here!

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Being a computer science engineer who has some interest in Marketing, I wanted to continue blogging as my career. I gave CAT, SNAP, NMAT, XAT and few other examinations to pursue my masters in the area of management. Though I was aiming for the IIMs and the top B-schools, deep in my heart I was hoping for a college where I could take out some time for my passion for blogging and learn further about influencer marketing.

Within a few months, the result was out and I got shortlisted for all the examinations I had given. When I started giving interviews, looking at my profile and interests, in almost every interview some panellist would ask me if I have applied for this college named MICA. Completely unaware of MICA, I started researching about the programmes, curriculum, teachers and the entrance examination. I gave MICAT-2 and made it to the PGP-25 batch of MICA.

The decision came easy for me despite being selected by top B-schools in India that MICA is the only college that will help me pursue my dream and passion both. With such a diverse mix of students, culture, and courses, MICA was the perfect fit for me to be. Soon, the subjects like Semiotics, Luxury Branding, Digital Business Strategy and Analysis and a special section of Influencer Marketing itself helped me professionally. I was able to incorporate the power of storytelling, relatability, and the art of building a connection with the consumers in a way like never before.

Through its Digital Capstone project, which is an incubator programme the students can take in the second year where they can pitch any idea and convert it into an actual working startup. MICA gave me an opportunity of taking my blogging career one step further, where currently, I am developing a system where the brands can find the right influencers for their campaigns who are experts in what they do. This platform will help brands find the right influencer that suits their brand values and reaches the right audience despite the number of followers they have. With the ongoing execution of my Digital Capstone Project, the next thing in line was the final placements. Being a fresher, I was prepared to answer questions like Will a fresher be able to do sales? Or say, Why a particular industry or sector.

During our placement season, ITC, which is considered to be one of the top FMCG companies came to recruit on campus. I was overwhelmed with joy that my dream role and company was here at MICA! The company shortlisted 24 candidates for their AUT program, and I was fortunate enough to be one of them. The selection process included four rounds- Online Assessment, Online Application Submission, Group Discussion and Personal Interview. In the group discussion, we were given a situation based case. Approaching the case with a different perspective and my ability to take the discussion towards the solution helped me in getting to the next round of personal interview.

In my personal interview, there were mostly CV-based questions and was a mix of HR and technical questions. A lot of emphasis was given on my summer internship, my family and values, my openness to explore new roles and places. They asked me about my experiences where I have shown leadership skills and if I have the zeal and passion for sales. They asked me if as fresher I would be able to do sales or not. To which my reply was, “As I come from a Marwari family, where my dad is a businessman, I have seen him on the field doing sales and he has taught me the value of relationship management, quality control and fulfilment of customer requirements which has helped me sell myself as a brand”. I was asked about my blogging journey and my favourite campaign that I have done and why.

I advise to keep reading and learning about the new innovations in marketing and to be honest in personal interviews. One should be very thorough with their CV and have some story behind each of their achievements.

After my graduation, I joined ITC Limited. While I got to work on an all-India transformation project in ITC, I got an opportunity to work with 7 different teams, including BCG & ITC infotech. We were landing a project on transforming salesmen productivity at ground level & how monthly action plans should be from top management to people on the ground, the kind of exposure & learning I got was immense and it will always be one of the most cherished stints in life.

While being in ITC, I got an opportunity from HUL, and getting an opportunity in Sales and totally different geography, culture, language, people… I thought this will give the maximum learning & who doesn’t want to work with the biggest FMCG hence this is how my journey in HUL has just started.

Life has been great how I got to work with the two biggest FMCG companies - ITC & HUL… and I hope learning keeps going.

I am grateful and happy for how grown as a person because of constant support from my family, my passion for blogging and the learnings at MICA. I hope to continue thrilling my readers and leave an impact wherever I go!

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