Penning down my thoughts…….
Date: Feb 10, 2013 12:30 pm
Place: SCIT, Pune
Rewinding back to January 21, 2013 when the GE-PI shortlist of SCIT was announced and I was elated when my name featured in it; it was the first GE-PI call of my life and I was not going to let go of this opportunity.
My experience in the Information Security domain in a top IT company propelled me to go for this niche course in SCIT.
And since then, my journey has been pleasing thanks to the Admissions team at SCIT. Be it promptly responding to a plethora of queries asked on the portal, guiding aspirants like me on various MBA portals over the Internet…they have been there throughout, found time for us and assisted us in spite of their busy schedule and academic course.
The first result of this meticulous planning and organization was evident in the GE-PI mail itself which left no room for doubt regarding the schedule of the BIG day, process, documents to carry et al.
Fast forward to February 10, 2013 12:30 pm…the D-Day!
There I was donning the professional look waiting at the SCIT entrance staring at the huge poster displayed. I guess it was related to the admissions and the flagship event – Graffiti!
I was guided to the registration desk by a smartly dressed SCIT student volunteer. And then the process started…..
The next 4:30 mins of my life will truly be cherished, not just because of me being a first time attendee of a GE-PI, but because of the management of the entire process by the SCIT admissions team, faculty, volunteers and behind the scenes guys n gals(pardon me in case I missed anyone).
My first scene was a huge number of SCIT aspirants seated in an orderly fashion awaiting further instructions from the student volunteers. Once the registration formalities were done with, all of us were escorted to a seminar hall where we were to face our first test of the GE-PI process..the ‘Written Communications Skill’ test!
After a briefing, the essay topic was announced and we were staring at the huge timer (reminded me of a similar scene from one of the Harry Potter flicks). In 15 mins it was all over and the tension eased off. It being lunch time, it was very kind of the SCIT team to give us refreshments. But all the nerves had killed my hunger and I postponed my lunch.
If this was just the trailer, we were to soon face some more action! We were divided into various groups and were soon engrossed in facing the various tasks of the GE-PI process.
To help us keep a real-time track of the updates and schedule, the current status of the tasks that the groups were undergoing was displayed.
Soon our group was summoned for the document verification process. The administrators were extremely polite and helpful and it was all over in a matter of minutes.
Then was the wait for our first big test…’Group Exercise/Discussion’. I had read from the previous experiences of aspirants and knew it was going to be a picture based group exercise. But all the preparations and mindset that you have is of little use when you are on the field facing the moderators.
The moment we were shown the picture, our Group Discussion turned into a fish market with every aspirant trying to pitch in seamers, swingers and doosras. Twice the moderators had to play the role of a third umpire and issued us a yellow card! In the end, we ourselves didn’t know when the time ended.
Our group came out and then the ice broke. All of us had a good chat and we used it to our advantage in the second group exercise that awaited us.
We were greeted by 3 panellists; Raman Sir/Dr. Raman (Director-SCIT), a faculty of SCIT and an SCIT alumnus. The aura of Raman Sir left us speechless and to be frank, we were quite scared. We were given a case study and asked to analyse and present our opinion. Raman Sir twisted the situation to test our adaptability and put on our thinking caps to give tactical, honest, ethical answers. Some aspirants actually got too much emotional and attached to the case and all of us had to cool them down. It was a very good experience interacting with the senior most person of SCIT.
The two back to back group exercises had taken a toll and we got a breather before the ‘Subjective and HR interviews’ were scheduled.
Soon, the volunteers guided us to the interview room…heartbeat increasing with every moment, this was a chance to present myself in a one to one situation and I was eagerly looking forward to it. First came the Subjective interview. There were two interviewers who were going to test me. They were quite friendly and we had a healthy discussion. I tried my best to market myself and it was a good experience.
Soon it was over and I was to face the final delivery, HR interview before signing off. Again there were two interviewers who were very chilled out, friendly and at the same time understanding. We discussed my hobbies, passions, extracurricular activities et al. Again it was an awesome experience to end the day on a high.
Once all the activities were done with, we went through the checklist, feedback and pending documentation procedure. It was a hectic day not just for the aspirants but for the student volunteers as well. Despite that, they were cheerful, eager to assist us and lead from the front…all qualities of a good management student imbibed by an equally good B-School.
At the end, we had an option to take a campus tour and interact with the seniors and clarify all our doubts. I guess our naive questions must have reminded the seniors of their initial days! But all our questions were answered with enthusiasm and it was pleasing to hear.
I only realized it was dusk and had skipped my lunch when I came outside the campus and had a headache. But that pain was worth the day spent at SCIT GE-PI process…every minute of it!
Slowly I trudged outside the campus gates looking out of the corner of my eye thinking of February 28, 2013…Judgement Day..when the results will be announced.
Looking forward to it and hope that my dreams turn into reality!
Regards,
Akshay Deshpande
(Budding aspirant)
SNAP ID – 2006471
