S1E2 The Hunt for a Marketing Midas: “Day 1 - Viru”
Divya K
Today is the first candidate’s interview. Mr. Mogambo, Head of HR & TA at Bitter Chocolates Inc., understood very well that he had the responsibility of choosing the right professional for the crucial position of Marketing Head.
He reached office, headed to his room and checked his email and work schedule for the day. The interview was scheduled at 10 AM.
“It’s 9:45 AM already. The time of the interview is near. Has the candidate come? Let me again check who is coming today.” Thinking this, he logged into Expertite and went to the Interviews tab.
Viru Patel. Hmm…Okay. Let’s see what he has to offer. He clicked the JD which had all the candidates neatly stacked. Viru was a referred candidate from an employee. He went through Viru’s resume all over again.
09:55 AM
Mr. Mogambo gets a call from Ramlal, the office boy informing that the candidate is here.
“Send him in.”
“Okay Sir.”
A young man, about 35 years old, with nicely brushed hair and well adorned suit knocked at the door and is asked by Mr. Mogambo to come inside.
“Hello, Mr. Mogambo.”
“Hello. How are you, Viru? Please sit down.”
Sitting down, Viru said, “I am good, Mr. Mogambo. Thanks for asking. How are you?”
“I am fine too. Thanks. So, Viru, tell me, did you face any difficulty in reaching our office?”
Checking his phone, Viru said, “No Sir. No problem. All good.”
He again checked his phone after replying.
“Okay, that’s good to hear. Why don’t we start with hearing about yourself?”
“I am native of Surat and have pursued MBA in Marketing from [blanked out] and have a work experience of over 15 years. I have worked with mid-sized FMCG companies in Marketing since then, executing both online and offline marketing strategies. I have handled a team of 4-5 people and I think…” he checks his phone.
“...you think?” Mr. Mogambo asks.
Putting the phone down, “Oh yes... Umm... I think I am good for the job role here.” smiling.
As everything was visible through the glass walls, Viru was fidgety and continuously getting distracted by anyone moving outside.
Trying to ignore his wandering gaze, Mr. Mogambo carried on,” Ohkay... So, you have been referred by Umang Khosla. May I know how you know him?”
“Oh yes, he is a family friend. We have been together since childhood.” Saying this, he held the knot of his tie and pulled on it a little.
On asking if he needed something - tea, coffee, water or their famous chocolate shake, he said, “No, nothing.”
Moving on, Mr. Mogambo asked, “Okay, please tell me about the most challenging responsibility in your last role.”
“As our company was expanding internationally, identifying our buyer personas to determine who it is we should be marketing to, became a big challenge. We not only had to figure out the best ways to market to an international audience but also organize and optimize our website for different countries” and he checked his phone again on the sound of a notification received.
“Fair enough Viru. By the way, you can tell me if there is something important because I can see that you are checking your phone frequently.”
“Oh... No.. No. There are a couple of things that needed my attention. Sorry... hehe” grinning apologetically and again tugging on his tie.
Weird. Thought Mr. Mogambo.
But brushing it aside, he went on to his next question, “What do you know about this role? What made you apply here?”
“This role demands someone who is dedicated and can handle a lot of pressure and I believe I can do this, and that’s why I applied.”
He asked, “Viru, you say that you have an experience in managing a team of 4 - 5 people. Tell me. What is your leadership style in supervising others? Can you give me an example of a time when you took up ownership to resolve a problem?” While Mr. Mogambo was asking this question, Viru was looking at his phone again.
Mr. Mogambo: “Viru?”
“Oh sorry, can you please come again? I was just checking something.” Viru said with a nervous smile.
Mr. Mogambo repeated the question.
“Of course, I have faced issues while supervising a team in my initial years. Since I prefer empowering my team, sometimes, things came back to my desk in escalated form in the last minute. Once while I was on vacation, I had handed over the complete execution of a marketing campaign to my team. Mid-way, some challenges came up, so I had to return and take sort it out, else the whole campaign could have failed.”
Phone rings… “Sorry, please excuse me. I must take this call. It is urgent.”
By now, Mr. Mogambo had run out of patience. He had made up his mind. Once Viru returned, he said, “Okay Viru, it was nice talking to you. I came to learn a few things from you. I won’t take any more of your time.”
“Oh, it was good talking to you too. Should we catch up again?” he asked smiling.
“Well, our HR team will inform you about the status. Please give us a few days.”
“Okay, see you then.”
As soon as Viru went out the door, Mr. Mogambo held his forehead in his palms and tried to relax. It was tiring for him.
But one thing that he could take away from this experience was that while attending an interview, one must always keep all distractions at bay. May it be the phone or something else, one must be attentive. Respecting each other’s time was very important. Candidates who are distracted almost never make it.
Mr. Mogambo thought to himself, “Such a start to the process is not a good sign. I lost half a day. Only God knows what he has in store for me tomorrow.”
Don’t forget to check on the next episode with another candidate. Will he be the one?
About the author: Divya K