Three students from the School of Business were hired by Accenture Strategy, creating a new milestone in placements. In a candid conversation, they reveal the roadmap that helped them bag the coveted offer – from detailed domain knowledge to a thorough understanding of the resume and more…

Every year, UPES School of Business students report high success rates and enter reputed companies as they walk out of the university. Maintaining that winning streak, three MBA students have landed coveted placements with leading company Accenture Strategy. They elucidate the plan of action that helped them achieve the feat.

Divya Bansal, MBA (Oil and Gas Management) – Natural Gas Business

There were three rounds in the placement process: skills-based, interview with the higher management, and the human resources (HR) round. I had kept my preparation simple. Apart from the domain knowledge, I focussed on my communication skills. I prepared basic questions such as the requirement of the company and why I wanted to join them.

Communication and soft skills are key for an MBA student. Few days before the placement drive, we had mock interviews with the faculty and the alumni. I worked on the feedback received from them. For instance, my pace of talking was fast. To improve that, I watched a few YouTube videos about how I can be strong in the introduction such that it covers all the aspects like the academic and family background in a concise manner.

In the first round, they asked me about the skills mentioned in my resume – such as leadership and being a team player. I justified those skills using suitable examples. I did not write anything in the resume that could put me in a spot.

Then they asked me technical questions, the role of digitization in the domain I am pursuing, and what I had done during my internship. During the HR round, they asked me the following: why I wanted to join the company, and where do I see myself in five years; why I had joined UPES, why MBA after engineering, and how would I contribute towards the growth of the company.

I made sure that I was confident about my answers and kept them simple without using jargon. I did not use any technical terms, about which I did not have enough knowledge. I tried to answer keeping the company’s perspective in mind: their requirements, the skills they were looking for, how can I be an asset to the company, and most importantly, if a pandemic-like situation was to appear in the future, how would I deal with it.

It is crucial to work on your communication skills; you may have the domain knowledge, but you may not be able to communicate it well. So, it is important to interact clearly with the interviewer.

Pratik Kshirsagar, MBA (Power Management)

I was a bit nervous since Accenture is a big brand name. However, as soon as I started talking, I became comfortable with the situation. The questions started coming up from the points I had mentioned in my answers. They were mostly from the domain, things I had mentioned in my resume, SIP projects, and the external projects I am working on. The interviewer had already worked in the country on which my SIP was based. So we ended up discussing the scenario there.

Later, we discussed the recent trends in the industry, tech implementations, my opinion on the same, and the future from an Indian and global perspective. I was even guided with my answers, where I was partially correct.

The second round was with the Managing Director. After the first turn, I became a bit more confident. They asked me if I would be able to cope with the pace and the changes.

The third round was the HR round. General questions like why MBA, UPES, Power Management and why Accenture, how I can contribute to the organization, and how I feel this will be a place to work for my career development were asked. Overall, I focused on keeping all the answers interactive, and it turned out to be a great experience.

Jayati Singh, MBA Logistics and Supply Chain Management

For me, the preparation began from our pre-semester learning sessions, wherein UPES provided us with the opportunity to interact with the best in the industry. Throughout the course, several webinars and sessions were conducted to understand the latest trends in the industry.

Even during the pandemic, our learning journey was smooth. The course curriculum and the projects were designed to equip us with domain knowledge and practical skills. All of this helped me in the first round, which was my skills interview.

We got constant support from the Career Services Team. They provided us with workshops, guest lectures, and sessions with alumni. The mock interviews were conducted by the faculty, where they provided us with feedback on the areas we had to work, and how we could present ourselves in a better way. My experience during the summer internship helped me ace the questions on the day of the interview.

There were questions related to the domain, for example, how to improve the logistic efficiency of India. Then there were questions related to leadership skills, which I answered based on my experiences, including the events I had participated in at UPES. There were also questions about why I wanted to go into consultancy. I had done meticulous research about the skills required by the consultant. Then, I did a personal analysis about where I see myself and whether I had those attributes.

The strategy for the preparation of the interview was to be thorough with my resume. If any questions popped out of that, I should be able to answer. I did a comprehensive study about the company and the role I was about to get into.

For the interview, I made sure that I communicated my thoughts in a structured way. I also practised my listening skills to make sure that I understand the questions clearly, take a pause, articulate my thoughts, and then answer the question.

I also illustrated a situation wherein I had worked in a team. I conveyed that I am coming with an open mind and that I am ready to learn. On the day of the interview, I did not think about selection or rejection; I was focused on the process and giving my best.