00:00I'm Simran Singh. I'm from Patna Bihar and right now I'm pursuing PGGM in soil with major in
00:07marketing and minor in analytics and recently I got placed at Kohler. I have done BSc in agriculture
00:13and before that I also prepared for NEED for full four years. Unable to do so I opted for ICAR.
00:21It
00:21is a national level exam and I qualified that with a scholarship and then I went for agriculture.
00:28After that I moved to MBA because during my agriculture there were so many courses related
00:34to business so that developed my interest in business and hence I opted for MBA. After giving
00:41my competitive exam like CAT and NMAT I contacted with so many soil alumni and some of them I knew
00:48personally also and they are really at good place in their career. So that helped me understand what
00:55actually soil is and according to me soil doesn't just make you corporate ready. It helps you evolve
01:02360 degree overall as a human being and yes there is a USP of soil design thinking so that also
01:10attracted me. It helps you solve big business problems with creativity as well as empathy. So
01:17these all factors helped me choose soil. Well there has been a lot of transformation. It was really a
01:22transformative journey for me. The journey has been very transformative for me and soil has helped me
01:28a lot in this. So the main thing I would like to point out is that it didn't just help
01:33me boost my
01:34personality but also it have enriched values within me. How a human being should be and like its courses
01:43design thinking, the Himalayan retreat, the social innovation program. All of these courses the
01:50sourcing inspiration classes. These have helped a lot building my personality and it has helped me
01:58handling the stress management, how to be a leader, how to be a team player. Yes it's a known belief
02:04that gap years are a disadvantage when it comes to placement but honestly I don't think it that way.
02:11Recruiters today don't succeed on the gap. They rather see your caliber. They look at your potential
02:17and what fresh perspective of value you can bring to their organization. Even in my case I have four
02:24years of gap because I was preparing for NEET but I don't consider it as a setback rather I focused
02:32on
02:33how to move ahead in life and also I come from a very different background which is agriculture.
02:38not many people pursue agriculture as a career when it comes to their graduation. So that also brings a
02:47very different perspective. Even recruiters were also very curious to know about my background. Even
02:55here in classrooms at Soil my experiences, my way of thinking and my examples which I brought to various
03:03discussions were very different and faculty do appreciated it a lot. So in group discussions,
03:10other people also used to get a very different angle, very different perspective for the discussions.
03:18So overall I would like to say that diversity of thought is what recruiters really value. Even coming
03:25from non-engineering background, I did not face a lot of trouble pursuing marketing along with analytics
03:32because Soil made learning curve manageable. Here at Soil we have supportive faculties, peer learnings
03:39and rigorous projects and case-based study presentations. So these helped me a lot build confidence within me.
03:47So today I can say that I can comfortably work with data analytics and I can comfortably use those
03:54skills in real-world problems. So for me neither the gap nor the background was a disadvantage. So they were
04:01actually a part of my journey which helped me eventually grow, think differently and get placed
04:07at Kohler. So the placement process of Kohler was very structured and smooth. So there was a four-step
04:13process. First was resume screening. Second was psychometric process. Third was group discussion and
04:20fourth and final was personal interview. So during my group discussion, the topic was related to
04:25FMCG and FMCG sector. So I spoke throughout the group discussion, even I concluded. I didn't speak unnecessary,
04:33but yes, they looked for my confidence. They looked for what inputs am I giving. And talking about my personal
04:41interview, the interview started with they asked about introducing myself and that question was somewhat
04:48different. They didn't just say that, tell me about yourself. They said, how are you as an individual?
04:53So you have to prepare it that way also. Other than that, they were very keen to know about my
05:00agriculture
05:00background. They also wanted to know that why I want to go into sales. And other than that, they also
05:07asked
05:07about my hobbies and interests. And they also asked a lot of question around my resume about social innovation
05:14program, which I did about summer internship and the life project, which I did. So there are various
05:20things which helped me crack the interview process. First one is definitely the career development session
05:25at Soil. So they helped me to find my resume. There were various group discussions and mock interviews,
05:33which we used to give. The continuous feedback also helped me strengthen my resume. And yes, at Soil,
05:40there are various guest lectures, there are industry visits, which helped me know what the corporate world
05:48is. And that gradually helped me build confidence within. So one advice, which I would like to give is
05:55see people say that hard work is important. Some say that smart work is important. But according to me,
06:02consistency is what play a big role. Even if you are a hard worker, or if you are a smart
06:08worker,
06:08you have to be consistent throughout, even if you have career, even if you have ear gap, or you have
06:15a different background that actually sets you apart. What matters is your confidence and your
06:22willingness to grow. What matters is your confidence and your willingness to grow. Believe in yourself and
06:28be confident in whatever path you choose in your life.
