S1E9 The Hunt for a Marketing Midas: “Day 8 - Robinhood”
Divya K
After the earlier disappointing interviews for their Head of Marketing, Mr. Mogambo was at peace today knowing Autumn Leaf was doing what they were really good at - identifying and attracting the best possible talent for their Leadership position.
Mr. Mogambo’s cell phone buzzed precisely at 4 PM on Friday.
“Hello.”
“Good Afternoon Mr. Mogambo, this is Hina from Autumn Leaf. How are you?”
“Good Afternoon Hina. I am good. How are you?”
“I am doing great Mr. Mogambo. I am calling to check your availability to meet with Robin and Asher, coming Monday and Tuesday. I have just sent you their profiles.”
“Oh, okay. Give me a minute, let me review them”…Mr. Mogambo quickly checked his email, found what he was looking for and went through the profiles of the two candidates.
Robinhood Pandey. Interesting name… Mr. Mogambo found certain instances in his profile which posed red flags. But he argued with himself that Hina wouldn’t have sent the profile without exploring all those.Asher Hussain. Mogambo found the resume of this candidate so interesting that he even clicked his LinkedIn profile and quickly browsed through it.
“Thank you Hina, Asher looks great. I have some doubts about Robinhood but I will meet him as well.”
“Yes, Asher is good. And don’t worry about Robinhood, we have done some Reference Checks and he is good too.”
“Okay then, I can meet one of them on Monday morning at 10 AM and another on Tuesday at the same time. Does this work?”
“Sure, I will schedule Robin at 10 AM on Monday. I have to check with Asher and if 10 AM Tuesday is convenient, you will receive an Interview Schedule from Expertite to block your calendar. Is that fine?”
“Yes, thank you Hina. Bye.”
9:45 AM on Monday.
While he was again going through Robinhood’s profile in their recruitment management system Expertite, Ramlal called and informed about the arrival of the candidate. Mogambo asked him to lead him in.
“Hello Mr. Mogambo. I am Robinhood Pandey. You can call me Robin.”
Shaking hands with him, Mr. Mogambo replied, “Hello Robin. Please take a seat. So, would you like some coffee, tea or Chocolate Shake?”
“Sure, I have heard great stuff about your Chocolate Shake. I would love that.” Robinhood replied with a smile.
“I believe you have moved to Bangalore recently. Hope you didn’t face any difficulty finding our office. Did you?”
“No, no. Absolutely not. The Expertite Interview Schedule email had a Google Maps link. I simply followed it. It was very easy.”
“Well Robin, why don’t you take me through your professional experience so far.”
“Hmm. After completing my graduation in Chemical Engineering, I worked for six years in a well-known Pharmaceuticals MNC in Mumbai. Then, I did my MBA in Marketing from [blanked out]. Since then, I have worked at two consumer companies as a Marketing Team Lead and Deputy Head of Marketing respectively.”
“Interesting. Why did you choose to pursue an MBA in Marketing six years after being employed with a well-known Pharma company?”
“I have always been interested in Marketing and championed many campaigns since my school days. But I had several family obligations which required me to earn after my Engineering was over. Dad’s health was failing. My younger sister’s marriage was coming up. And my younger brother had just got admitted in IIT Delhi”…he said with some pride, then continued “So I appeared for the highest paying job during the engineering campus selections and I got through [Pharma MNC]. I worked there till my family was settled and I could support the costs of my MBA. Then, when the time was right, I switched to what I like the most.”
“Okay. As per your resume, in the middle of your career, when everything seemed to be going great for you, you left everything to pursue something on your own for two years...”
“Yes, that was to pursue my aspiration of founding a B2B Marketing company. I worked day and night to keep it going, but I made some poor judgements in giving credit to customers which led to losses and I had to shut it down. But at some point in time, when I have enough capital and experience, I am still determined to make it happen.”
Is there any possibility that he might mess up here too, or leave us suddenly, or am I being too harsh on him? After all, everyone has a right to try and pursue what he or she wants at some point of time or the other. Besides, he is honest in admitting his failures...
“Okay, Robin. After your last tenure at ‘Lord of the Onion Rings Pvt. Ltd.’, you have been doing part time consulting. Could you explain why you left the previous organization, got into consulting and now seeking a full-time role?”
With a little laugh, looking at Mr. Mogambo, Robin replied, “I quit Onion Rings, but on amicable terms. After working there for a couple of years when we grew the business by more than 200% year on year, I realized that the founders and the new investors who had come in had radically different growth plans. I was caught in the tug of war to adjudicate what would work in the best interest of the Onion Rings brand. Before things went too south, I decided to exit. This was also the time when some of my friends were starting their own companies. They wanted my assistance in Marketing. It was a welcome change, but financial obligations have made me look out now for a full-time role.”
“Oh. Okay.”
Though Mr. Mogambo still had some doubts, there was something in this guy that Mr. Mogambo’s heart was fighting for him. Was it his honesty? His ability to take risks?
To check his depth of knowledge, he asked Robinhood some marketing related questions. Mogambo was satisfied with his answers. But his mind was not at rest, not completely.
They exchanged formal greetings and Mr. Mogambo told Robinhood that their HR will contact him for further process.
“Sure Mr. Mogambo. Hope to hear from you soon.” And Robin went his way.
Mr. Mogambo was thinking hard. Robin’s marketing acumen had delivered stellar results earlier and his satisfactory answers made him a desirable candidate, but his history of starts and stops was something which lingered in his mind. Suddenly, he remembered he knew someone who was in ‘Onion Rings’ earlier. And instantly he picked up his phone and dialed a number.
The phone started to ring.
Don’t miss the next episode to know what’s beyond that phone call !
About the author: Divya K
In case you missed the last 8 episodes, here they are: