Can the IIM Grads who are joining these e-comm sites answer my 7 interview questions?

So, I saw this front page report in the Economic Times today:

Bravo!!

I salute the new professional direction the IIM grads are taking! 

Now, while this grand new business of e-commerce opens upto the best management brains in India - 'THE' IIM grads, I wanna ask them 7 interview questions.

These are 7 questions I would ask them if I was running an e-commerce site and was interviewing them:

Question 1:

Can you please tell me which are the dot com, Internet and Mobile Industry case studies that you studied in detail when you were in IIM?

Question 2:

Do you understand the CONCEPT of Viral Marketing? Was that taught or explained in the IIM marketing curriculum? If yes, tell me how to measure Viral Marketing.

Question 3:

Do you believe in Businesses that lose money forever? That a business can actually CREATE value while it continues to bleed? If yes, which Company do you idolize that does this?

If no, why are you joining an e-comm site?

Question 4:

How will you market an e-commerce site? Have you studied the business of SEO and SEM that exists in the Internet world? Have you come across a notion that sometimes Marketing does not cost money?

Question 5:

What are your career plans for the future? If 90% of e-comm sites were to die, how would you make a transition to your next job? 

In the past, most of the IIM grads joined Citibank and Colgate and P&G - Companies that never died. So how are you thinking about your career?

Question 6:

How do you plan to work with and respect your boss, who is probably just as old as you are, and has only a couple of years of work experience?

Is he or she the kind of mentor - especially 'The' First Boss, you are looking for?

Do you think, when you look back 30 years from now, this person will pop up as the person who taught you everything? 

Question 7:

If suppose tomorrow, the VCs who have invested in this e-comm Company, land up in office and ask everyone to take a 50% salary cut, to make the Company Survive - would you accept it?

Did they ever teach you at IIM, that sometimes, salaries COULD FALL, and not rise? 

Depending on the 'satisfactory' index of these answers, I shall reserve my judgement to hire or not.

Oh, I forgot ... oooops.... No one asked me in the first place :-(((

****** 

Tags: E-Commerce sites in India, IIM Jobs, IIM grads join E-Commerce companies

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by chirag on February 20, 2012 at 1:23pm

Q6 is a little unfair. Probably true in most cases. But still.

BTW, People go to IIM so they can join companies that never die.

Permalink Reply by Deep Velani on February 20, 2012 at 2:35pm

Truly one of the questions which I would like to ask, but won't. 

Permalink Reply by Tejas Shah on February 20, 2012 at 3:01pm

hmm.. then why are they joining companies in the ecommerce market which is bound to be consolidated.. the consolidation could be through M&A's or the company running out of cash..

Permalink Reply by Anirudh B Balotiaa on February 20, 2012 at 2:36pm

In my experience, everyone(who go into IIM and considering to) joins IIM to get a job with a plum salary. Later their reason may change, but thats definitely the motivating factor to slog their bums for CAT, GD, PI.

But very interesting questions nevertheeless. With Social Media Marketing invading marketing functions globally, I have a feeling this trend will continue. How many cos. surive to hire is another discussion alltogether!  

Q6, first part makes sense, next two sub questions...hmm...I dont quiet get in this context. Are you saying that majority of IIM grads look for a famous boss as their first boss?

Permalink Reply by Alok 'Rodinhood' Kejriwal on February 20, 2012 at 2:50pm

Anirudh - they don't LOOk for a famous boss - they just get one.

May not be direct reporting, but somehow, if you join HDFC, from a good IIM, you will meet Deepak Parekh in some meeting or presentation and he will impact you for the rest of your life.

I know so so many people who are 39-42 and remember their 'first' boss who taught them everything!

Permalink Reply by Anirudh B Balotiaa on February 20, 2012 at 2:56pm

Hmm interesting!

I guess once some one passes out from IIM..they immd. climb few ladders, get into the team which for example interacts with Deepak Parekh and get impacted early on ?

Damn..wished I had planned my life better and earlier...for an MBA from IIM! ;-)

Permalink Reply by chirag on February 20, 2012 at 3:31pm

I buy this point. I am not 39-42 yet. But yes I remember my first boss and yes he pretty much taught me everything.

The flip side being. Can someone who is your age (i.e. the IIM Grad) not teach you everything?

Permalink Reply by arpit shekhar on February 20, 2012 at 4:53pm

Everyone in this world learns at every stage....IIM guys have to shed their image and work ....with their boss who may be more enterprising and innovative..out of the box like...Our Dear Rodinhood Sir...may or may not be from IIM.Nowadays small kids teach us which we were never able to learn.....As far as companies dying is concerned they should be capable enough doctors to revive the same or set up new ones after analysing why they failed....everything goes to basics,,,

Permalink Reply by Saurabh Poddar on March 14, 2012 at 7:56pm

Alok,

Q6 .....how about adding one more line to the first line ....." and the boss is a school or a college dropout"  ????.....

Permalink Reply by Abhik Prasad on February 20, 2012 at 4:06pm

Not really. there are few outliers on occasion :)

Permalink Reply by Abhishek Bharadwaj on February 20, 2012 at 4:38pm

They would fail in Question 4.

SEO and SEM are nowhere taught, be it IITs or IIMs or any other professional institute.  Another interesting thing is that every one has heard of SEO and SEM but no one knows what is it!!.   Even 90 percent of Indian IT Brigade is unaware of what these stuffs are.

Permalink Reply by Anirudh B Balotiaa on February 20, 2012 at 6:22pm

I agree with Abhishek.

 Many people in Sales/Marketing are good at doing it offline, online is a totally new game for them. Many are not even on Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn(atleast in their personal capacity) which are by far the biggest game changes as far as Social Media Marketing/Social Networking goes.

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