Students’ Speak: Never bet on one company during placements

Select your target companies, prepare for them extensively and always be ready with a plan B. Never bet on just one company. Prepare a priority list and act accordingly. Make every shot count and put your best foot forward. Most importantly, don't let one rejection affect your other opportunities.

Anxiety and nervousness are the most prominent feelings a person goes through during the pre-placement period. I happen to face that time now with placement season approaching. At this time, doubts start creeping up your brain and ambiguity starts hitting you up. All at once gets confusing and I am as confused and anxious as one could be. Questions start flashing in front of you. Which companies are visiting the campus? Are they on-board with good profiles? What packages are these companies offering? Am I prepared enough? Will I get my dream job? Is my skill-set enough to get me through? These never-ending questions consume you physically and more importantly, mentally.

I am an MBA fresher and one thing that excoriates me is the lack of experience. One thing that reverberates through all the MBA colleges is the importance of prior experience. This lack of experience took a dig at my confidence, and I started to feel that maybe this incompetency could hurt my opportunities in the placement season. Now, if you think, this feeling of incompetence is grave and frustrating, the important thing here is that almost everyone around you feels the same. I would suggest you to not allow this feeling to escalate and get the better out of yourself. One idea is to talk to your friends, parents, teachers or mentors. More importantly, talk to yourself. Never in your wildest dreams think that you are less than someone else. Demeaning yourself is the worst thing that you can do to yourself and that only infuriates the problem further. However, always and always take steps towards better growth.

If you lack something, start thinking of how you can overcome those obstacles. Never think you are incapable of doing something. Start balancing your life with activities that add discipline to your life while keeping the stress off you. Start working for the results that you want to see. Stop procrastinating and let not anything stop you. This tough time is a test of how well you can manage stress and in some sense, how good you are as a manager. Select your target companies, prepare for them extensively and always be ready with a plan B. Never bet on just one company. Prepare a priority list and act accordingly. Make every shot count and put your best foot forward. Most importantly, don't let one rejection affect your other opportunities.

 About the Author:

Utkarsh Rastogi is a student at University Business School, Panjab University, pursuing MBA in International Business. He is fascinated by the power of analytics and particularly marketing analytics. He has also been a part of the core organising team of TEDx as well as a Management Conclave in the past.