We are entering into that part of the life when we are supposed to be matured. The transition from UG to PG, a stage when grass no longer means greenary and education no longer means learning. The application of all the values inculcated in us from childhood to go from one door to another. Having gone through the placement processes and interviews for mba schools, one thing that struck me right in the centre of my funny bone was the effortless lies of the students...and what more-- we are trained to do so. The lying start way way back in school when the "punishments" were set for defaulters. 2 options: lie and go free; be honest and take the punishment. You don't need strategic calculations to decide which one. And then ofcourse, the liars who beat the system become 'studs' and the poor little honest fellow is a 'dumbo'. Fast forward to the present, now we are matured. We learn to lie judiciously, in a beautifully organized synchro that fits with our profile and the whole part of us fits into their company/college. Its just that now it is not lying, it is called 'tactics', 'presentation skills', 'marketing skills'. The 'CV' (curriculum vitae- I can bet more than half the students don't know the full form) is where they judge as to how good one can lie in exactly 1 page in an organized way in a particular format. And then they all expect the organizations to be ethical and moral and to keep values above everything else. Just to present the idea, here are some of my favourite lines that i heard/used/witnessed -->
Q. Why this company/college?
A. This has been my dream company all my life .....
(My dreams are directly proportional to the pay package)
Q. Why MBA?
A. My skills suit this profile and an MBA is the missing part of me....
(Bcoz i tried everything else, and failed miserably)
Q. Why should we choose you over the other 40 people sitting outside?
A. I have skills better than them that are perfect for this profile....
(They all already have 1 job)
Q. Why is your academic scores average?
A. I believe that only academics is not the solution, you have to be good in all....
(some people have to get low to balance out the average)
Q. Describe yourself in 1 word.
A. Honest
(no comments)
Q. Where do you see yourself 5 years down the line.
A. As a project leader in your company in ....
(please keep me in 'your' company for 5 years atleast)
Q. If another company pays you better package, will you leave ours?
A. Absolutely not. Loyalty is ....
(I am very satisfied as long as you give everything I ask)
There are plenty more but just can't remember now...but you just start to wonder how good a liar are the people on top, our 'idols'.
nice....could have been longer.
ReplyDelete@abhinav: ty
ReplyDeletespecial thanks to mashu (arpit maheshwari) for chipping in with questions and suggestions.
ReplyDeletesome people have to get low to balance out the average... lolest!! loved all d answers!! absolutely true!! :D
ReplyDeletecheers!
of 3 lakh ppl who wanted in, 300 made it; brilliance, dedication and intellect cannot make you stand out in a crowd which is so competitive,maybe lying can. an IIM would not have been worse off if it selected any of its shortlisted candidates at random, simply because there is no dearth of good students in our country, whether you pick from the first thousand or the next, they are all good. unfortunately educational institues choose us rather than us choosing them, whether this justifies lying, i know not but the system surely breeds liars. But there is a glimmer of hope, I am certain that the owner of this blog did not give a single answer in his interviews that was dishonest.
ReplyDeletenice one........it's just the system.
ReplyDelete@salil:id all are good then u shouldn't take those who stands out by lying intead choose those who are honest. I think being honest is in itself stands out.
ReplyDeletenice post.......answers mast the!!!
but dream company = highest pay is not abad thing it can still be ur dream company for only reason of pay if that fulfil ur goals...
@ishan: i assumed a "good" liar, one who appears just as honest as the truly honest guy.
ReplyDelete@AV: ty...that was my fav too :P
ReplyDelete@Kaaran: so finally everything on the system ehh?
ReplyDelete@ishan: waise toh nothing is bad....just that everyone wishes something and says something else...and the one who does best is the winner :P
ReplyDelete@salil: blame it on the system or culture, but ur presumption that ppl who are "good" liars are the best is not right...u r already taking a prejudiced stand.
ReplyDeletei never said "good" liars are best, i am saying they APPEAR best, and are extremely successful at least in the short run. Selfish, dishonest cheats are the ones who make it big; i only state this fact I wont take a stand in their support.
ReplyDeleteaah after reading the blog nostalgia creeps in :P :P
ReplyDelete@salil: accepted.
ReplyDelete@arindam: hehe...the same thing TIME ppl will sell as "how to succeed in interview" :P
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on the fact that lying has become an integral part of our lives. The last post on my blog was about the pursuit of truth. When life is full of lies, every once in a while when you come accross the truth you may brush it aside! Be it the system, be it the competition human beings in general would lie about a hell lot of things or at least present part truth.
ReplyDeleteBut the most important thing is, we lied even in our childhood, only thing is that all of us got better at it with time.
i agree with u actually but this is kalyug nad it will go on increasing so better we shuld adopt with it n njoy lyf..neways all goin to die in 2012 :D
ReplyDelete