On 6th of March I got to know that I made to the Finals through this Tweet
12th March 2014 was not just another ordinary day for me.I opened my eyes in the morning with a shine in my eyes and a smile on my face. Here was the day, I had been waiting for. I knew it was going to be a day which I will remember for the rest of my life with some good amount of learning experience. I reached at the HCL Technologies Office at Mapple Towers, Sector 125 around 10.30 pm with 2 more finalists, Anandan Pillai from Gurgaon and Sweta Bhatt, who came all the way from Pune for the Final Interview. There I had the opportunity to meet the Social Media Head Mr. Devam Saxena who explained us the whole process regarding the 3 rounds that we were going to have with different leaders at different HCL locations in Noida.Within next 5 minutes he became friendly with us. I knew it was going to be tricky since it was my first interview ever. I guess that's what Karma is all about.
Round 1 of Final Round
The Interviewer Mr. Soumen Chatterjee- Leader - Strategic People Initiatives at HCL was quiet friendly at the beginning may be he knew I wasn't having any Professional Experience. He started with Why my Social Usernames are related to Golf. I told him because I play Golf and I am deeply connected with the game. He smiled and then asked more questions,which all went pretty well. He tried to know my experience in Social media so far and also about the current projects I am working on. The Interview lasted for 20 minutes and I was quite nervous. But thankfully,everything went well. I will be very honest in admitting that it felt like the toughest round of them all. Mr.Saumen Chatterjee is the kind of man who would not settle for anything less than the best. No wonder he is leading his department so efficiently.
Round 2 of Final Round (My Favourite)
We were told that the Round 2 will held at Sector 126 HCL office (SEZ) which was really massive. We were so confused in the beginning about which building we were supposed to visit. Then while searching for the building we decided to have lunch as we all were feeling hungry. We had food at the HCL Cafeteria which was actually bigger than any Shopping Mall's Food Court (Yes I mean it). After we were done with the lunch, we left for the 2nd Round of interview scheduled to start at 2pm. I was actually very much excited about this round because the next Interviewer was going to be my personal Favourite Mr. Apurva Chamaria who is the Director & Head of Global Brand & Digital Marketing at HCL Technologies. I could feel excitement and nervousness simultaneously. I was the first one to enter the Interviewing Room (I was saying to myself Prashant you are so gone!). Mr. Apurva Chamaria is a very knowledgeable and positive person. The moment I took my seat I could feel that breeze of positivity flowing on my face. As a result I really enjoyed the interview which seemed like an intellectual conversation to me. Mr Apurva Chamaria asked me different questions related to Digital Media and Social Media. He asked me regarding my previous work, my experience in Social Media and the Best Campaigns I know about or been a part of. I may not recall some of the questions but yes I can tell you it was the best Round among all 3. He ended the Interview very politely. This round lasted for 40 minutes and I enjoyed every single second of it. I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it. If its an art to make interviewee feel comfortable,then I must say Mr. Apurva Chamaria has mastered it. His humble nature has left an unfading impression on me which is going to last till my last breath.
Round 3 of Final round
The final round of interview was at HCL Headquarters, Sector 3 with Mr. Kalyan Kumar who is the Head of SVP & Chief Technologist at HCL ISD. This round of interview, once again, was cheer fun.Initially I was a little nervous but Mr .Kalyan Kumar brought me out of my shell. It was quite amusing to answer the questions. He asked me why should they hire me. He gave me some situations and asked me about how I would have handled them.In the end he also asked me if I had any questions to ask him. I asked him if they will be having high expectations from the guy who will be selected in the Coolest Interview Ever And Mr. Kalyan Replied. Oh yes!Definitely. I replied to him "Alright!I am looking forward to it" Mr. Kalyan was like "Oh That's really nice".So this is how this Round ended.
Now I was supposed to meet Coolest Interview Ever Team .I was so happy to meet Mr. Gaurav Kakkar, Srishti Dugar, Maneesh Choudhary and Piyush Khosla .Of course Devam was with us the whole day. We all had Coffee together at the Cafeteria. They were so happy to meet us all as well. I actually forgot to get a photo clicked with them( I regret that now). The last thing left was a few questions from the HCL Social Media team regarding my experience with the Coolest Interview Ever.
A special mention to Devam for being so friendly and being with us throughout the day.And Yes Devam I will definitely write a book about the Good Guard and the Bad Guard :) We all laughed together and there were a few moments when we felt like that it wasn't an interview but a great outing with the HCL Technologies. I mean these guys have proved this was actually the Coolest interview Ever.
Thank you HCL Technologies for the wonderful memories of Coolest Interview Ever. Forget about the result It was a great learning experience for me. I was able to get so much of information and meet so many learned people.I will keep these memories with me forever.
Congratulations @iAmGolfy for making it to the Round 3 of #CoolestInterviewEver. How's your journey so far? pic.twitter.com/6WX5o6oRxv
— HCL Technologies (@hcltech) March 6, 2014
The Final Round Day 12th March 2014 was not just another ordinary day for me.I opened my eyes in the morning with a shine in my eyes and a smile on my face. Here was the day, I had been waiting for. I knew it was going to be a day which I will remember for the rest of my life with some good amount of learning experience. I reached at the HCL Technologies Office at Mapple Towers, Sector 125 around 10.30 pm with 2 more finalists, Anandan Pillai from Gurgaon and Sweta Bhatt, who came all the way from Pune for the Final Interview. There I had the opportunity to meet the Social Media Head Mr. Devam Saxena who explained us the whole process regarding the 3 rounds that we were going to have with different leaders at different HCL locations in Noida.Within next 5 minutes he became friendly with us. I knew it was going to be tricky since it was my first interview ever. I guess that's what Karma is all about.
Round 1 of Final Round
The Interviewer Mr. Soumen Chatterjee- Leader - Strategic People Initiatives at HCL was quiet friendly at the beginning may be he knew I wasn't having any Professional Experience. He started with Why my Social Usernames are related to Golf. I told him because I play Golf and I am deeply connected with the game. He smiled and then asked more questions,which all went pretty well. He tried to know my experience in Social media so far and also about the current projects I am working on. The Interview lasted for 20 minutes and I was quite nervous. But thankfully,everything went well. I will be very honest in admitting that it felt like the toughest round of them all. Mr.Saumen Chatterjee is the kind of man who would not settle for anything less than the best. No wonder he is leading his department so efficiently.
Round 2 of Final Round (My Favourite)
We were told that the Round 2 will held at Sector 126 HCL office (SEZ) which was really massive. We were so confused in the beginning about which building we were supposed to visit. Then while searching for the building we decided to have lunch as we all were feeling hungry. We had food at the HCL Cafeteria which was actually bigger than any Shopping Mall's Food Court (Yes I mean it). After we were done with the lunch, we left for the 2nd Round of interview scheduled to start at 2pm. I was actually very much excited about this round because the next Interviewer was going to be my personal Favourite Mr. Apurva Chamaria who is the Director & Head of Global Brand & Digital Marketing at HCL Technologies. I could feel excitement and nervousness simultaneously. I was the first one to enter the Interviewing Room (I was saying to myself Prashant you are so gone!). Mr. Apurva Chamaria is a very knowledgeable and positive person. The moment I took my seat I could feel that breeze of positivity flowing on my face. As a result I really enjoyed the interview which seemed like an intellectual conversation to me. Mr Apurva Chamaria asked me different questions related to Digital Media and Social Media. He asked me regarding my previous work, my experience in Social Media and the Best Campaigns I know about or been a part of. I may not recall some of the questions but yes I can tell you it was the best Round among all 3. He ended the Interview very politely. This round lasted for 40 minutes and I enjoyed every single second of it. I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it. If its an art to make interviewee feel comfortable,then I must say Mr. Apurva Chamaria has mastered it. His humble nature has left an unfading impression on me which is going to last till my last breath.
Round 3 of Final round
The final round of interview was at HCL Headquarters, Sector 3 with Mr. Kalyan Kumar who is the Head of SVP & Chief Technologist at HCL ISD. This round of interview, once again, was cheer fun.Initially I was a little nervous but Mr .Kalyan Kumar brought me out of my shell. It was quite amusing to answer the questions. He asked me why should they hire me. He gave me some situations and asked me about how I would have handled them.In the end he also asked me if I had any questions to ask him. I asked him if they will be having high expectations from the guy who will be selected in the Coolest Interview Ever And Mr. Kalyan Replied. Oh yes!Definitely. I replied to him "Alright!I am looking forward to it" Mr. Kalyan was like "Oh That's really nice".So this is how this Round ended.
Now I was supposed to meet Coolest Interview Ever Team .I was so happy to meet Mr. Gaurav Kakkar, Srishti Dugar, Maneesh Choudhary and Piyush Khosla .Of course Devam was with us the whole day. We all had Coffee together at the Cafeteria. They were so happy to meet us all as well. I actually forgot to get a photo clicked with them( I regret that now). The last thing left was a few questions from the HCL Social Media team regarding my experience with the Coolest Interview Ever.
A special mention to Devam for being so friendly and being with us throughout the day.And Yes Devam I will definitely write a book about the Good Guard and the Bad Guard :) We all laughed together and there were a few moments when we felt like that it wasn't an interview but a great outing with the HCL Technologies. I mean these guys have proved this was actually the Coolest interview Ever.
Thank you HCL Technologies for the wonderful memories of Coolest Interview Ever. Forget about the result It was a great learning experience for me. I was able to get so much of information and meet so many learned people.I will keep these memories with me forever.
