Stand out in a crowd: Value the importance of extracurriculars -By Palash from AISSMS IOIT

Facing and converting a B-Shool interview for a fresher is not a cakewalk. A lot of things are taken into consideration during the selection process. You will, on reading my experience understand the importance of extracurriculars in your CV and how it can supplement your academia and personality with grace and charm.

As I entered the interview room, I submitted my resume copies to all the three panelists sitting on the other side of the table. The panel consisted of two men and one lady, who was the alumna of the same college. First things first, I greeted the panel as  I entered and was asked to have a seat.

Interviewer I: Tell us about yourself.

I started stating some basic information and moved on to my achievements. My response went something like:

My name is Palash Sandip Saroware and I am a computer engineering graduate. I’ve done my engineering from AISSMS college from Pune under Savitri Bai Phule Pune University which ranks 10th among top universities in India. I come from a small-town Ahmednagar in Maharashtra which is known for its significant history and vivid culture. During my engineering, I did three projects and gave two seminars. Having said that I was selected as a Vice-President of Computer Engineering Students Association, where I got the opportunity to conduct various social, technical and cultural activities.

I was also appointed as cultural head for the college annual fest ‘Alacrity’ which is one of the top college fests in Pune. Coming towards my extra-curricular activities and achievements, I am passionate about performing arts. I was awarded as the best dancer for a contemporary act in ‘Firodiya Karandak’, a national level musical play-act competition. I have also represented my college in semifinals of MTV channel ‘Colors of youth’. I do visual, sound and graphics editing as part-time chores. I write a blog on Wordpress that talks about teenage experiences. To give a closing statement, I would like to say that I opposed to the idea of rigidity and would love to change with time and situations in order to benefit my credibility and growth.

Interviewer II: Good. You are involved in so many activities, when do you get time to do all these things? Why do you want to pursue an MBA?

My interest lies in management and I aim to become a profound manager in a reputed company. I later realized that subconsciously I was engaged in coordinating and managing various activities. I am really intrigued by managing and handling processes of an organization. I am looking forward to learning, mastering and sharpening my skills in the required field. Sticking to my technical domain, I would also like to pursue a career in analytics.

(They asked me about my internship and grilled me by asking a few technical questions related to my projects. They twisted questions where I got a little stressed but managed to answer all of them.)

Interviewer III: You have mentioned a lot of extracurricular achievements. Tell us, what all you learned and how these activities will help you in the MBA?

Sir, I would like to share some of my experiences on how performing extracurricular activities helped me develop my personality, taught me team building, leadership skills, and time management.

I was shy, lacked confident, hesitated in talking, and had only a few friends. Getting into the cultural and social club of my college boosted my confidence, removed my fear of interacting with people, and gave me a good command over speech and stance. Dance taught me to express and present myself, music taught me to apply a systematic approach and synchronisation, just like beats and rhythm and lastly acting taught me to get command over language and research.

Being the cultural head I organized, coordinated and managed three events on a single day successfully for which I was also awarded the best cultural and event head. Holding this title I learned about team building, coordination, leadership, and value of time. When I was the Vice-President, I conducted various activities, where I got to learn about organizing, budgeting, documentation, and scheduling of activities. I think overall, taking active participation in such activities on top of academics has added value to my overall personality and development. All these skills are required in an MBA student. And also it’s in my bucket list to be an ‘Influencer’ sometime soon and start my own art studio along with my friends who share similar interests.

(I was asked to answer a few general questions, for instance, why are you choosing this particular college and how I can contribute to society? I answered with a positive attitude.)

Overall the panelists were really happy with my interview which was more of a conversational one. And voila! I converted the interview!

I would like to say that for me extracurricular activities have played a major role not only in the interview but also in building my profile and personality, boosting my confidence, broadening my perspective and balancing my average academic records. It’s all about experiencing and connecting with new things.

I hope I was able to highlight enough the importance of extracurriculars. It’s you who has to decide whether you want to be an all-rounder or a narrow specialist!

This article was submitted as an entry to Become an Author 2.0 with Dare2Compete.