CQ FMCG_Luminaries|Parush Patel| Nestlé

Parush Patel
Placed at Nestlé

Interviewed By:

Hello everyone, today we have Mr Parush Patel who has been placed at Nestle and is currently pursuing an MBA at IIM Ahmedabad. So we are here to interview him regarding his preparations and strategies to crack the interview of this company. So firstly could you explain to us about your role in the company?

Hello everyone. My role at Nestle is a Technical Leadership Program in the field of Food Processing. I will handle manufacturing, and this includes an initial training period followed by leading technical projects related in the various factories across the country. By the end of my 2nd year, I was very clear about my interest and the food processing space and knew that I want to pursue my career in this field.

Ok Parush. Now could you brief us about the interview process?

There were 3 stages of the interview, the first one was CV shortlisting. Since I was sure what I wanted to pursue, I had built my profile accordingly, which included multiple internships in the food sector across the value chain, and this helped a lot in getting shortlisted for the job. The shortlisted candidates from the Food process engineering specialization of Agricultural and Food Engineering department with profiles which aligned with their job requirements for the Technical Leadership program. The second round was a general group discussion round. The third round was the Personal Interview(PI) round.

Ok Parush. Could you tell us about the shortlisting and GD round?

The candidates were shortlisted completely on the basis of CV and there were no CGPA criteria. In GD round, from a group of 10- 15 members, 4–5 members were shortlisted. The topic was very generic and in my case, it was “The rise of the e-commerce industry is impacting the businesses of the retailers/brick-and-mortar stores.”

Ok Parush. Could you brief us about the PI round?

The PI round was classified into 3 broad categories apart from the beginning introductory questions. The first round of questions was from my internships. They delved deeper into the technical details of the work that I did during my internships. The 2nd round of questions was related to the course curriculum. These included courses that were relevant to the food processing sector, such as basics of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics and other departmental food courses. The questions were very basic as they wanted to understand the clarity of concepts. The 3rd round was based on leadership abilities and extra-curricular activities. It was more of a situation-based scenario.

Ok Parush. For the core field, is it more important to have in-depth knowledge of each topic or having an overview is fine?

In the interview, they asked me about my favourite topics and the interview continued with that topic. So you should have a brief overview of everything that you’ve studied and detailed understanding of the topics that you’re comfortable with.

Ok Parush. So coming to the PORs, is the no. of PORs more important or the work we have done in the POR is more important?

Well both have their own importance. While CV shortlisting, they may consider the number of PORs while in the PI round, things will change and they will be asking about the work you’ve done and how it has shaped you. You need to show that you’ve driven a significant impact wherever you’ve worked. Similarly, in the CV as well, you need to highlight the impact that you’ve created while you held the responsibility.

Ok Parush. Could you please guide us how an individual can prepare for CAT along with the interview preparation?

I was preparing for placement in the core field right from my first year so I didn’t have to go out of my way to work for this. I had been performing well academically, and I made sure that I could grasp whatever knowledge I could during my internships. Coming to the courses, you can revise them a couple of days before the interview. So in the placement semester, I used most of my time and energy for the CAT preparation.

Thank you Parush for all the valuable information. We have reached the end of the interview. Is there any message you want to give to the juniors of KGP?

Yeah, it will help more if you participate in a lot of activities in your UG curriculum. Explore more in the first year. In the second year, figure out what you want. In 3rd year, you should know what to pursue. By 4th year you should have expertise in that field and find opportunities where your passion lies. While a lot of people sideline academics, I think it’s super important to have a good CG because I think that’s something that will help you wherever you go.

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