S1E5 The Hunt for a Marketing Midas: “Day 4 - Prashant”
Divya K
It’s the fourth day of the interviews for the position of Head of Marketing at Bitter Chocolates Inc., and in the last three days, Mr. Mogambo still hadn’t met a single candidate on whom he could bank his hopes completely.
Viru and Ranjit were not up-to the mark; Anamika was perhaps somewhat reasonable.
“If only she spoke less and listened more”…thought Mr. Mogambo.
As he reached his office, Mr. Mogambo quickly logged into Expertite and went through the profile of the next candidate that was supposed to come today. Prashant, MBA in Marketing from [blanked out] and Deputy Head of Marketing at a renowned fashion company, having 14 years of relevant experience.
“Hmmm… seems like a good candidate. I hope he does justice to himself.” Mr Mogambo thought to himself.
At 10:00 AM, he called Ramlal enquiring if the candidate had come, only to find out that no one had shown up yet. He didn’t have other meetings following the interview, so he didn’t mind waiting though he made a mental note to check why the candidate was not on time.
At 10:10 AM, Ramlal came to check if he wanted some tea. Mr. Mogambo told him not to bring tea until the candidate left.
And he kept waiting. At about 10:30 AM, the candidate arrived at the reception and was asked to come in.
A stubby man with a slightly balding head entered Mr. Mogambo’s room. He had a shirt so tight that the buttons over his beer belly would have burst away from their holes if he had sneezed.
“Hello Prashant. Please come in and take a seat.”
“Thanks, Mr. Mogambo.”
“So, I believe you got stuck somewhere as you are a little late. What happened?”
“Oh, that’s not my fault. You know how young kids are irresponsible these days. A boy who couldn’t drive his bike well came in my car’s way. I am coming for an interview, so naturally I am thinking about it while driving. And suddenly he is in front of me. Although, my car and I are safe and nothing happened to the young man and his bike as well, it was entirely his fault. But, he blamed me for jumping a traffic signal. I mean, who doesn’t if they are in a hurry. But if I had not been careful, he could have been injured. Who knows, he might even have died. But why would he understand? You see, that is the reason why I am running late.”
“Okay, no issue. So, let’s start. Although, I have gone through your profile Prashant, tell me about yourself.”
“Well, I am the Deputy Head of Marketing at [blanked out]. I’ve been a good student throughout and a noted marketing expert in my career till date. I believe marketing is something I am naturally good at.”
“Hmm, you are already in line for the post of Marketing head, what made you look out?”
“Oh, that’s a long story. But in short, it’s like, some people in my team do not deserve being there. But what to do, they are favorites of my boss. And quite a few times, because of them, our marketing campaigns have failed miserably. They cannot handle even one responsibility in my absence. But the fuss has become so big that I can’t take it anymore and have decided to quietly leave for good.”
“M-hmm… don’t you think if a marketing campaign failed, the entire team needs to own up, including the leader?”
“I don’t think so because these guys are professionals. You see, I managed my responsibility well by helping them in charting out the plans and even allocated separate responsibilities to each one of them. If something was still required, they should try and work it out themselves. How is that my fault? Yes, I know that a leader should support his team. I do that. But if they made mistakes, I’m sorry but they need to take the blame for what they have or haven’t done.”
“Oh… Yeah, but of course” Mogambo said with a weird look. It was evident from his face that he didn’t mean what he said.
“Are you trying to say that I am supposed to be blamed for all that?” slit eyed, Prashant asked.
“No Prashant. Let’s move on. Considering your experience, what do you bring in which can help us grow further?”
“Umm… I have a lot of relationships with folks in Marketing which can help us get the best deals in terms of campaign design, media planning etc. I have always believed in networking and cultivating relationships...”
“Networking & cultivating relationships, that isn’t the impression Prashant had created so far”, Mogambo wondered to himself and continued the discussion to confirm his suspicion.
“If you have to rate your loyalty to your current organization, how would you rate it on a scale of 1 to 10?”
“I would rate myself as 10 on 10, because I believe I gave my cent percent to the company, but if someone decides to put the accountability of every small fault on me, it’s their loss and I don’t think I should work there.”
“But what if something like that happens here in our company, how can we be sure that you won’t leave us in the lurch and go away to some other company?”
“Haha” laughing a little nervously, “Oh, you don’t have to worry about that, I won’t. But if the fault is someone else’s on the team, well, it will be difficult for me to accept it as my responsibility, don’t you think?”
“Umm… Okay Prashant, I think it’s enough for me to know. It was good meeting you. Our HR will communicate with you on the process. Please give us a few days.”
“It was good to meet you too. Thanks Mr. Mogambo.” Shaking hands with Mr. Mogambo, he walked back to the door.
As Prashant closed the door, Mr. Mogambo called Ramlal and yelled on the phone, “Where’s my tea Ramlal?”
“Sir, you only told me not to bring tea until the candidate had left…?”
“When did I say that? Don’t put the blame of your inability to hear on me” Mr. Mogambo said angrily, when suddenly he realized that he was still in the hangover of the past candidate. “How on earth could I start this blame game?”
He called Ramlal again and said sorry. Ramlal told him meekly not to get so tensed as it would impact his health, assuring him that his efforts will bear fruits.
“One more day gone without success. Should I bank on his experience or should I be worried about his attitude?” Scratching his head, he drank all the water in his glass all at once.
Don’t forget to catch up on the next episode in this series. Maybe our perfect candidate is not so far away after all !!!
About the author: Divya K
In case you missed the last 4 episodes, here they are: