Facade Matters a Lot....

Facade is the term used to define the external appearances in retailing. Similar to retailing, the external appearances matters a lot even for an individual to survive in today’s world. You might be a person who does not have the real stuff that is required. But how you project yourself to this outside world do matters a lot.
For instance take my life. I hadn’t been a great personality till date as far as I know. I am an average person who, like all others, wants to enjoy a lot and study less. But my father is a man of expectations. He really expects a lot from both of us, me and my brother. At many times both of us would not be able to satisfy him completely. Those were the times where he used to reduce his expectations so that it meets our end results. But both I and my brother used to strive hard to satisfy his expectations. We do it sincerely most of the times. But in some cases we really couldn’t help ourselves as our make is not suitable for those types.
This being so there came my final year of UG. My father wished that I should do my higher studies continuously after the completion of my UG. A tough task indeed. It is not an easy job to carry out the higher studies immediately after your UG. That too if your UG is either BE or B Tech then it is very much difficult which could be well understood by those who are doing or had done their BE or B Tech. The reason why I am saying difficult is that there are lot of choices for a BE or a B Tech student for his PG. He can either do an MS or an MBA or he could very well do an ME. Even in case of an MBA, he can do it in India or in abroad. But one thing matters a lot while doing an MBA or an ME in India. You had to do your PG in a good institution or else it is of no use.
I decided to do an MBA in India. The first option that comes to your mind is to write CAT (Common Admission Test). Though CAT is primarily conducted by IIMs for their admission, the scores are taken by most of the top B Schools in India. I actually prepared for the CAT a year back. But the preparation was not up to the mark to write that years’ CAT. I dint even take the pain to brush up my knowledge for the examination. One thing about this exam is that many top B Schools would close their application entries for the next academic year the day before the CAT exam. So once a person finds himself competitive in the CAT exam that was conducted and thinks of applying for any of the Top B Schools it would not be possible for him to apply as most of the B Schools would have their last date for application submission the day before the CAT exam date. Though the application submission for IIMs is default on writing CAT, it is not possible for a person without any preparation to get shortlisted for IIMs in his first attempt itself as IIMs would look for individual sessions cut off mark which is a difficult task for accomplishment. A person without any preparation could possibly score a higher overall percentile but it is not possible for him to cross the average required percentile in all the individual sessions of the exam which would be declared by the IIMs. I wrote my first CAT exam on one November without any preparation but with the hope that I would write the same exam for sure in the next year too and this would be a mock test for my next CAT. This is the kind of thought which most of the persons who appear for CAT exam for the first time would have in their minds.

The Big Day

There came the big day, the day of my first CAT exam. I went and wrote the exam. My performance was satisfactory in quants and DI but I am very well sure that it was not up to the mark in verbal. This was the individual assessment made by me at the time when I left the exam hall. During the discussion with my friends about the exam, I came to know that I had done a comparatively good job. With this being so I hadn’t applied for any of the top B Schools till date with the confidence that I would surely not perform up to the mark in this year’s CAT. That very evening tentative results for the morning held CAT exam would be published in many of the CAT coaching center websites. On verifying those answers I came to know that I would be able to score a decent percentile. Having raised such a confidence in my mind I rushed to my CAT coaching center in order to ask for some guidance of what I can do next at that point of time. I was suggested to put the application for the remaining two Top B Schools whose last date for application submissions would usually be a week or two after CAT exam date. Thanks to their slow processing, I got my chance of usefully utilization that year’s CAT score. Then comes the toughest part, the preparation time period for the interviews. Out of applied two colleges, I got the call from only one college. This made my job easier so that I can focus on only one interview. In a sense it also made my strike a fearful one because I had only one chance to prove myself as I got a call for an interview from only one college.

Preparation Phase

It is generally advised for those who are preparing for CAT to read the daily newspaper and develop their general knowledge. The reason for asking students to read the dailies is that the topics given in the GDs (Group Discussions), which are conducted by these top B Schools as a part of their selection process, may also involve current affairs. So it is advisable to read the dailies without which it is generally not possible to outshine in GDs and the interviews conducted by these top B Schools. Scenario being so, I did not had the habit of reading newspaper those days. This was a major drawback for me. Moreover I never used to read any of the books other than my subject books (even that was only during my semester times). Moreover I did not have quotable hobbies at that point of time (this is applicable even in the present days). All these things stood as a huge terrain in front of me during this phase. My coaching center started conducting mock GDs for those students who got call for the interviews from various institutions. Me and my friend used to go to those mock GD sessions regularly. That friend of mine made a sincere attempt at that CAT and he got an extra ordinary percentile. Moreover he also got calls from many premiere B Schools. He used to read newspapers daily and had got a lot of quotable hobbies. He was also strong in his hobbies. Even though I used to quote certain hobbies in my resume I did not had a great knowledge about those things. The only point where I out stood him was in academics. Academics did not make a much difference at that level. So it was not a competitive edge for me. During our mock GDs we would mostly get topics on the current affairs, a difficult part for me to deal with. I had a voice with great pitch and I always used it aptly where I wanted. All the other members who used to attend these mock GDs along with us were just like my friend, too sincere in their preparations. The only ‘odd man out’ there was me. As soon as the GD commences there would be a lot of fight going around in the discussion panel about the topic. Initially a person would start the discussion from one end. This person does so in order to get the advantage of ‘the beginner’ title. Generally in a GD it is assumed that one who begins the GD has some leadership skills. I do not believe in those facts, maybe it is not true in all the cases. Even before that person could complete his point another person would start his turn from another end of the panel. All the other members in the panel have to look at the one who makes his point in order to create the impression among the minds of the judges that they would also listen to other members’ points. Only first two members can make their points in a silent environment. The real GD starts only after the second member makes his point. There starts the ferocious discussion once the second member is done. The reason being so is that it is generally assumed that those who do not makes his point within the first one and half minute after the start of the GD is not so competitive and he doesn’t know much about the topic. So others would try to put in their views within that time frame. Then comes the great question of maintaining the consistency. We had to put in our views into the discussion at regular intervals. The judges should not feel that we are not contributing to the discussion for a long period of time. In addition to that we had to show our leadership qualities and other good tendencies like giving opportunities to others, etc during the entire GD session. A fifteen minute of this process would make your throat dried and your entire thought process exhausted.
I generally used to make m first point only after one and half or two minutes later. Initially I used what others speak about the topic. The reason being most of the times I don’t know what the topic is all about. I used to make my point from the argument of the other members in the panel. I capitalized on my voice pitch and would make my point clearly and boldly. This was done by me for the mere reason of survival. If we did not make some points in the GD then we will be pointed out in the last to make some views on that topic. I usually feel it as a humiliation. In order to avoid that thing I generally used to make points which would be derived from others argument. I used to follow certain rules and regulations while I participated in these discussions. So far I was successful in those things. Even though I made my points from others argument I never used to support others argument. Like this I had many small principles which I would follow in these discussions. All these made me a valid identity in these discussions. But all these things were done only for my survival but not to project my competence.

Realization of the Fact

My coaching center also conducted three mock interviews before the closing of the coaching classes for that academic year. I missed the first two due to various other non professional reasons. I tried to make a sincere effort on the last mock interview by attending it. I was the last one to reach the place. All others had left after their mock interviews. The only person remaining there was my sincere friend. After his interview was completed they called me in. I went in and said that this was my first mock interview. Initially they asked for my name, the only question that I was able to answer. Then gushed the sequence of questions. After that I was not even able to answer even a single question. Lastly they advised me that my preparation for the interview was nil and if I continued like this to the final interview then definitely I would not make it. Thanks to their advise it still made me satisfied that I would definitely attend the forth coming years’ CAT exam. After my mock interview I came out and told what happened inside to my friend who was waiting outside for me.
On hearing my actual scenario he mentioned that so long he had the intention that I was preparing sincerely for my final interview by daily going through the newspaper and having a gasp of other stuffs like reading books and watching English news channels to develop my general knowledge. Only on that day he came to know that I hadn’t even started doing any of this. But my projection of things in the GD sessions made him think like that. This clearly pointed out to me that it is not really important to know all the stuffs around you. It is enough if you were able to express the right things at the right time. All that matters is that how you project yourself to the outside world. People should know to ride on the situations and convert it into a success story on their side.
My further activities were based on this fact. I dint even prepare after that. With the little knowledge I know and with the things I had, I made through my final GD and interview in a successful manner. All I did was I projected myself as if I know everything under the sun in a humble fashion and I properly capitalized on the situations. Finally, to my own astonishment, I got through the interview and was selected as a student of that college for that academic year. So this clearly suggest me that the external appearances (what we project outside) do matters a lot in life.....