S1E6 The Hunt for a Marketing Midas: “Day 5 - Samba”
Divya K
Fifth day of the interviews for the position of Head of Marketing at Bitter Chocolates Inc. and Mr. Mogambo is undoubtedly a little tense about finding a good candidate as his talent pool was diminishing.
Today, he woke up a little earlier than usual while Mrs. Mogambo was still asleep and went to the balcony of his bedroom. It was around dawn, and a very beautiful dawn indeed. He didn’t have a good night’s sleep and worrisome thoughts were running through his mind.
He then created an Employee Referral program on Expertite to increase the talent pipeline and broadcasted to his entire organization.
As he reached office, he saw a pale, lanky man in his late thirties sitting in the waiting area. Without giving it much thought, Mr. Mogambo went to his room and asked Ramlal to send in the candidate as soon as he comes and got a reply that the candidate had already arrived and had been waiting for the last half hour. Mr. Mogambo looked at his watch. It was 9:30 AM. He asked Ramlal to send the person in while he logged into their recruitment management system Expertite to check the candidate’s profile.
Within a few seconds, Mr. Mogambo heard a knock on his door and on asking to come in, saw the same pale, lanky man walk in.
“Hello Mr. Mogambo. I am Samba Singh.”
“Hello Mr. Samba. How are you? Please, sit down.”
“I am fine, Sir. Thank you. How are you?”
“I’m also doing well. I came to know that you arrived early. I mean, that’s good given the unforgiving nature of erratic traffic.”
“Yes Sir, actually, I didn’t want to make you wait for me. I believe that punctuality is really important in any work.”
“But, don’t you think, coming so early and waiting in a way wastes some time that could have been used more productively?”
“Uh… Yes Sir, you are right. I will keep this in mind.”
“Okay, Samba. Would you like some Tea or Coffee or Chocolate Shake?”
“Yes, Sir. Anything you like.”
“Tea?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Or Coffee?”
“Coffee is also OK.”
“Or some chocolate shake?”
“Umm… Yes, that would be good too.”
Mogambo called Ramlal and asked him to bring in two chocolate shakes.
“So Samba, why don’t you tell me something about yourself?”
“Sir, I have done my MBA in Marketing from [blanked out]. After that, I have worked with a few large and SME companies in different marketing positions. Presently I am employed at [blanked out] as their marketing team lead. Now, I’m looking for a new career opportunity and I think Bitter Chocolates Inc. is a great place to give my career a much needed boost.”
“In your resume, you have mentioned that you are interested in Cricket. Did you watch the IPL games last season?”
“Of course, Sir. Every one of them, I never skipped a match last season.” Samba said, excitedly.
“Hmm” winked Mr. Mogambo. “So, which one was your favorite team?”
“Ooh, Sir, I loved Kolkata Knight Riders.”
“But my favorite is Chennai Super Kings.”
“They’re also good, Sir.”
“Okay, tell me what in KKR makes you their admirer?”
“Sir, I am a big fan of Shahrukh Khan. And as it is his team, I support KKR.”
“Really? Just because it is a team owned by Shahrukh Khan, you support it, regardless of how the players are?” Mr. Mogambo questioned.
“Uh... Sir.” Samba got a little nervous.
“Well, I support CSK because it has mature players whose consistency in performance is amazingly appreciable. Don’t you think it’s better than KKR?”
“Yes, Sir. If you say so.”
After that, a round of some basic questions went on, which were nicely answered by Samba. Mr. Mogambo liked his depth in knowledge but whenever there was a contrary view; Samba wouldn’t make an effort to disagree. He would just smile and nod in agreement.
Mr. Mogambo changed the topic to verify his doubt.
“Suppose everything goes alright and you get selected here. Some issue comes up while you are with us; for example, Mr. Gabbar Singh doesn’t want to follow your recommended marketing campaign. What would be your next step?” Mr. Mogambo asked.
“I will think of some other campaign idea.”
“What if you suggest a very good idea, but he still doesn’t agree with you, then?”
“Then I will do whatever he will ask me to do” again that nervous smile.
“Won’t you put forward your views and explain your rationale for considering a particular campaign idea?”
“If my boss tells me to do or change something, I should do it, Sir. I must. That’s respect, right?” smiling.
“Hmm… as you say. Okay, why are there so many job changes in your career?”
“I wanted to explore more.”
“You could have perhaps done that without changing jobs so often. I mean, have you tried pushing the limits?”
“If you say so, Sir. In Bitter Chocolates, I will definitely look forward to implementing your advice” that nervous smile continues.
Mr. Mogambo was really wondering how Samba always caved in so soon. Throughout the discussion, he had not tried even once to put up any argument supporting his opinion or views.
With a clear sigh, Mr. Mogambo said, “Okay Samba, it was a nice discussion with you. You will be contacted by our HR for further steps.”
“Oh…Yes Sir, No problem” with a nervous smile, he held out his hand to shake with Mr. Mogambo’s. Shaking hands and sharing a smile, Samba went away.
Mr. Mogambo was a bit worried. Like the Day 4 candidate Prashant, this candidate too, had relevant experience, but he had a personality issue that could play against them at times. A leader, who is not confident and lacks conviction, cannot lead a team or important organization initiatives.
“All the candidates I have met so far have been less than satisfactory on personality traits which are so essential in leadership positions. It is such a waste when professionals further their domain knowledge but do not grow as individuals” Mogambo thought.
What’s your take? Should Mogambo consider Samba or not? Check out our next few episodes to unravel the mystery.
About the author: Divya K
In case you missed the last 5 episodes, here they are: