Day I

I look like going on a hottest date of my life till date. Best fit suit . .. crisp n clean white shirt .. polished shoes .. trimmed nails and nicely cropped hair .. feeling as fresh as I can .. ..where am I going..? really on a date..? ..NO.. I am on my way to first interview round of my dream company. Have already checked the bus routes. I am on time. Had a good breakfast. Feeling positive.. confident.. have to change three buses and as per my calculations will be there at the company well within time. BUT a minor hiccup. Due to construction work, route of second bus has been changed for two days .. aahh.. couple of words of appreciation for the guys who manage the website for missing out on updating this little piece of information .. nyways.. I evaluate my options..decide to go via alternate route.. .. after changing couple of more buses n bit of anxiety, reach the place 10 min ahead of the interview. Job well done. Check with receptionist of the firm. I really wonder if she is the receptionist.. she looks much more capable then handling the job of a receptionist;) .. nyways.. I try to recollect my thoughts .. all the hard work I hv done for interview preparation.. to get into this dream company.. stick to the basics.. 5-8 rules to make it past this interview.. recall them n remember them.. alrite.. 2 min before interview.. this is it.. now or never.. Senior consultant appears from a hidden door and greets me with the warmth I never expected. I try to keep upto him with energy and at the same time try to remain calm. But I fail miserably.. We go to a conf. room. 3 min walk ..in those 3 min we had already discussed mine 90 min bus travel, his morning 60 min work and lovely weather..

Enter the room. Have a seat opposite to the Robert, ease a bit . .. try to relax.. (oo.. rule #1 keep smiling).. settle down.. some more chit chat.. about school n firm in general.. some market stuff.. alrite let us start the interview.. he says.. n I wish can we talk in general for a bit more.. nyways I said sure..

he glances over my resume.. lot of stuff professionally and on other fronts .. can I briefly tell him something in general about myself? he asks.. the std Q.. ... well I start off with a nice smile.. n spit out a nicely prepared answer to this one.. but I missed out on couple of things which I should have mentioned to direct the interview in that direction BUT.. anyways.. keep going.. 90 sec.. thts it try to finish it off.. 105 sec.. I have given him every relevant detail of my 27 years..wow.. talk about elevator pitch.. Ok.. thts good .. nothing impresses him in that... bad signal..

Robert says he will now ask me one market sizing Q.. aaahh the dreaded one.. I hate these Qs.. n I say sure.. Give me a rough estimate of number of flower buds being sold/purchased in Vancouver in a year..? Wht.. My mind went blank for a sec. Cmon man.. its ur time.. I try to recover from the shock.. I ask him politely if I can take couple of moments to think about the problem. How will I do it.. think think.. fast.. 5 sec.. 10 sec alrite.. now start.. I start to explain ur methodology.. ask couple of Qs.. I move further.. n there I am.. in the end I have one number which looked pretty big but.. .. I recheck my calculations.. n logic.. ny outlier.. nopes.. I give my figure.. he asks couple of Qs related to that..I explain him the rationale of my assumptions etc... over.. ok move on move on..

Next he asks me a business case.. how will I help his client from shipping industry to improve the profitability ? .. went on for 20-25 min .. alrite its almost been 50 min since I entered into that room.. Robert finally says if I have some Qs for him.. I ask him couple of Qs... which I always wanted to ask guys working in the firm.. and the interview was over.. we walk out of the interview.. n thats it... I thank him for taking his time .. n before I leave the office I make it a point to thank the smart n good looking (thts n understatement) receptionist ..BUT surprise surprise.. there is somebody else sitting at the front desk.. equally smart n vibrant n good looking .. wow.. I want to work in this firm.. another incentive (I wish I could add tht to dozen of factors I have listed for my interview..)..

I take the longest route back to my home.. since I dont have to change the bus in this case.. n the moment I was boarding the bus.. beep beep.. beep beep.. its getting louder.. beeep beeeeeep.. more louder.. beeeeeeeeeeeppppppppppp wht is this.. I realize I am in my bed.. n wht happened was yet another dream.. I double check.. yes.. it is 8.10 am in the morning and I am again going to be late for my morning lecture.. ...Run run.. no suits.. no crisp shirts.. no nicely cropped hair.. u grab a quick bite.. freshen up.. n rush to make it in time ( within 10 min of the official time)..

Time does not wait for us ...
Its better for us to keep us pace with time..