"Glad to be working for a firm that promises growth" - Avi Agarwal, XLRI Jamshedpur, PPO Holder-ABG

Meet Avi Agarwal, an Economics graduate who studied at the prestigious Jesus and Mary College in Delhi. She has recently gained a lucrative pre-placement offer from the Aditya Birla Group. A noted academic achiever with a career goal of making innovative solutions for emerging market problems, this Economics Honours pass-out scored a 96.4 percentile in her CAT exam and is currently pursuing her MBA from XLRI Jamshedpur in Human Resources Management (HRM).

Outside of the classroom, Avi enjoys songwriting and playing music. Besides considering herself a huge movie buff, Avi is also a hodophile- one who loves to travel and see the world in all its beauty. Let's have a look at her journey - from an intern at ABG to bagging the PPO! Don't you believe us? Read on then.

It was quite early in my life that I decided to go for an MBA, thanks to my mother. Since she is an MBA grad, I thought I could become one too. Going after an MBA was always my personal choice, but I always had my options open. I pursued graduation in Economics because I believe it is the bedrock on which the business establishes itself.

Had I not done my MBA, I would have surely done my Master’s in Economics. But entering the corporate world was what I had always wanted to do. And what is better than a management degree that sets up your pace in advance?

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COVID humein kis mod pe le aaya…

My pre-internship time was full of uncertainty, we had no clue how things would unfold. Will our internships be online or offline? Most probably, it had to be online, given the virus had ravaged the entire world.

The song that suits this period is, and I am sure you might have listened to it- “Pyaar humein kis mod pe le aaya?”. I’d just replace the word ‘Pyaar’ with ‘Covid’ and sing, “Covid humein kis mod pe le aaya, ki dil kare haye, koi toh bataye, kya hoga?” Because of the uncertainty that loomed largely, this is how I felt before my internship at ABG.

After my internship was over, I can proudly say that I had a wonderful and holistic MBA experience. After having bagged the PPO at ABG, I felt like “Badal pe paon hain, ya chota gaon hai, ab toh bhyi chal padi, apni ye nau hai.”

Self-belief over Self-doubt

I never felt intimidated by people who already had work experience at Aditya Birla Group. Earlier, there was a perception that freshers are at a certain disadvantage, that some companies might not prefer them. But honestly, I think it is the other way round. A lot of renowned companies are actually looking for freshers. So, there is no disadvantage as such. The only disadvantage I felt was that people who have some years of work experience are already used to working a certain number of hours in a day and can handle the work pressure efficiently.

On my toes, forever

It goes without saying that the COVID-19 pandemic did make us miss out on a lot of opportunities. And my learning curve would have been very different had I been in the place where I was working. But I would not say that I missed a lot because ABG ensures that even in remote settings, the employees and interns get whatever they want for their work to be completed. 

While working on my project, I never felt I was constrained because I was compelled to sit in front of the laptop. Instead, I could reach out to everyone in the organization at any moment. My responsibilities demanded the same, as I had to do a lot of stakeholder management, but that was never a problem, as people at ABG are so supportive that they never treat you like an intern, rather a full-time employee.

Leaving a trail, making my mark

There was this one time- when five minutes before the meeting with the CEO, my manager asked me to present the PPT. While I had prepared the PPT, up until that point, my manager Mister Vijay Sir had to present it. At that point, I felt that the ownership of my project has been acknowledged not only by my manager but my CEO as well. It was when I truly felt that I had left my mark at ABG.

From ABG Social Media Champ of the year to bagging a PPO

I never thought that I could be the ABG Social Media Champ of the year. Rather, it came to me as a surprise. I even thought that I am not in the race of getting a PPO. The Social Media Challenge was a wonderful way of engaging the interns in something that does not just work. We would get challenges every week- there were eight challenges in a month out of which five were group challenges and three were solo. 

During our first challenge, I got an opportunity to interact with students from other colleges and interns. This was the fun element as we worked virtually as a team and brainstormed on a lot of creative ideas. I really had a good time with them as well. It turned out to be a fun activity- working with the groups and putting our thoughts together. The challenges were quite meaningful exercises- we had to create PPTs, videos, posters, and a lot more. That really turned out to be a great learning experience for me because I never knew how to create videos but I learned because of my team. At the end of every challenge, 3 winners were announced and it kept us pretty engaged.

The last three rounds were the solo rounds and I think I did well in them too, especially the last two rounds. All our activities, exercises, and challenges were in one way or the other related to ABG. It didn't require a lot of effort because it was just a way of getting to know us better as a person and see our true selves. This showcased our true personality and how we related to ABG and the work that was going on. My friends continually motivated me to give all my effort into the challenges and do well.

Never letting go of my dreams

One tagline that I think suits perfectly for ABG is - “Own your dreams and soar high.” This stands true because people at ABG own what they are doing and can choose their own career path, and can shape their careers in their own way. People at ABG can own their aspirations.

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What do you need to do to grab a PPO at ABG?

It's no secret that Aditya Birla Group has been a dream company for many B-School students. However, not everyone has the opportunity to have their own workstation in the firm. If you want to get a PPO from ABG, what attributes do you need to have?

The interviewers at ABG look for a candidate who would like to be associated with the company on a long-term basis. Your intent should never deviate from learning and growing, in ways both personally and professionally. It is your job to convince the interviewers about your candidature and end the interview on an optimistic note. 

It is suggested that you break down your end goals into deliverables with daily or two-day deadlines. This will make it easier to track the progress. When you apply at ABG, prepare yourself to tackle questions from the senior management during the final project review presentation. For example, if you want to work in the HR department, it is advised that you work on HR relevant subjects apart from your project. This shall definitely give you ample opportunity to hone your HR concepts. Moreover, if you are working as an intern at ABG and want to secure a PPO, make sure you are aligned with your manager. For instance, at the end of every week, outline your learnings to your manager in an email and ensure you both were on the same page throughout the project. 

We are excited to see you as the next entrant in ABG and then share your success story with our community.

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