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com +91-9996867899
 Stay Awesome.
Stay Productive.

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#Chapter 1

T.M.S.A.Y.

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"My name is Divas Gupta and I hail from Dehradun. I have done my schooling
from Brightlands School, Dehradun. I scored 89% in class 10th and 94% in
class 12th. Currently I am in my 2nd year pursuing M.B.A. from Blah Blah
College, Delhi. My strengths are that I am a hardworking, punctual, and sincere
candidate. My hobbies are listening to music and reading books. "

Well, that's the most common answer that we get to hear from the
candidates whenever we start the interview with the question -
"Tell me something about yourself."

Indeed, the candidate has rehearsed these lines umpteen number

of times and I certainly admire the effort they have put in to master
those lines. It often reminds me of Bruce Lee when he said-

"I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear
the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times."

But my admiration for their effort soon converts into a feeling of

concern when I realize that the master kick might fail to bring in
the desired result. An opportunity to take control & drive the
interview forward may get overshadowed the moment the
candidate starts filling in the following blanks-

"My name is _______ and I hail from _______. I have done my schooling
from _____________. I scored _____ in class 10th and ____ in class 12th.
Currently I am in my ____ year pursuing ________ from __________. My
strengths are that I am a hardworking, punctual and sincere
candidate. My hobbies are listening to music and reading books."

Ironically the last two lines still remain as constant for many. In a
country of about 1.3 billion hardworking, punctual and sincere
individuals, even the hobbies are still limited to listening to Honey
Singh and drooling over the pages of Chetan Bhagat.

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Okay! So, can we dare to have masala dosa with strawberry
chutney?

Yes, why not!

No matter it ain't the regular combination, but it has the potential

to tantalize your taste buds.

Let your unique Masala Dosa make the Hiring Manager crave for
more of you.

For a delectable YOU, the choice of ingredients in the form of words

backed up with an engaging style of conversation, garnished with
the right articulation & expression would do justice to your core
base of knowledge and wisdom.

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#Chapter 2

BS

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BS.

These two letters would decide what you do with your life.

These two letters would decide whether you will become

successful in life or die complaining about life.

These two letters would shape your future.

These two letters would decide whether you would nail the
interview or get nailed down in the process.

Often during the interview, you seem to know everything yet do

not know the one most important thing- YOU.

The lack of self-awareness has doomed the brightest of the

candidates. Perfect grades, perfect internship experiences fail
when you get caught in the web woven by the interviewer.

In my experience of training, counselling and interviewing

thousands of candidates I realized that the candidate either doesn't
know himself or does not want to know himself.

The former case can be handled by introducing the candidate to the

psychometric tests, self-reflection exercises, and then guiding him
through his strengths and challenges. However, in the latter case
where the candidate refrains from knowing himself further, a more
personalized approach of one-on-one coaching to the extent of
handholding would help.

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Often you are too scared to scratch the surface and go at a deeper
level of understanding yourself. There may be those dark secrets
which you don't want someone else to know and would prefer to
carry the baggage of emotions instead of travelling light.

In quest to maintain the social image due to unknowingly creeped

in peer pressure, you become more vulnerable instead. On the face
of it, you come up as an amazingly confident, astoundingly
eloquent, well rounded personality but the moment someone
pricks that sensitive point which you have been trying to hide, the
bubble bursts and the real you surfaces outwards.

Yes!

The two letters may be a slang for many but those who have seen
success would acknowledge the power of Belief System.

The self-talk that you are not worthy enough would do more harm
than the harsh remarks you may hear at the workplace. The belief
that I am less competent as I hail from a small town will indeed
belittle your presence.

It is the belief system that makes you come across as a blunt,

arrogant personality. In order to be humble you need to
recondition your mind by revisiting your beliefs.

I was often told in my childhood that..."money is the root cause of all

evils. It is bad. Stay away from it."

I grew up with this belief system and faced lot of challenges when
dealing with financial transactions in day to day operations of
running my company. Being broke to making millions today
happened with the change in belief system.

Nobody cares what you go through when you are jobless and have
no money. When things don't work out and you goof up one

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interview after another, it's only you who is affected. You end up
contributing to the number of educated, qualified jobless beings.

And guess what !

It's you or may be your loved ones who would be concerned. Apart
from that nobody cares.

Either you stick to your belief system and keep blaming the college,
the placement department, the industry, the government, the
nation or may be the whole world.

Or instead take ownership of your actions, introspect and figure

out the mental blocks and craft your life the way you want.

Ultimately it is your belief system that needs to be fixed.

Choice is yours.

Always remember that be it the product selling or personal selling,

it is the conviction that would give you 80% result.

The rest is just communication.

Unless and until you have that conviction within yourself about
your genuine self, you cannot brand and sell yourself in the
interview.

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BONUS
(In order to land up for an interview, learn how to draft a Cover Letter)

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#Chapter 3

Uncover the
Cover Letter

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Enough said!

People have short attention spans- repeat- people have short

attention spans. And with multiple jobs at hand, the attention time
devoted per task is further on a decline.

One notification on your smartphone screen - One tiny touch and

voila! You travel through random data, searching for relevance and
solace.

Just take a moment and dare to step into the hiring manager's
shoes or may be the high heels and you shall experience the pain of
digging out the WIIFM (What's In It For Me) content from the heaps
of data laden in the one-page letter that covers more than it is
supposed to cover.

Since brevity is the soul of wit, so be it.

One Page.

Three paragraphs.

Period.

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First Paragraph –

In the first paragraph of your cover letter, explain why you are
sending your resume to the employer.

The opening statement should grab the reader’s attention. The

purpose of your cover letter is to get the reader to open your
resume. And you make this possible by means of the most powerful
weapon in your arsenal - Personal Branding; which would
indirectly influence your articulation of thoughts and choice of
words in the rest of the letter.

Do mention where you heard about the job, particularly if you had
a reference associated with the company.

Briefly mention how your skills and experience match the

company's requirements.

This would set the ball rolling for the prospective employer.

Second Paragraph -

Use the second paragraph to emphasize why this employer should

hire you.

Elaborate on the qualifications & skills you possess that will make
you a worthy intern or attorney.

Link it with your relevant experience, map your area of interest

with employer's area of expertise and the job role you are applying
to.

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Third Paragraph -

In the final paragraph, extend gratitude towards the employer for

taking the time to review your application.

Tell them how to reach you. You may also wish to state that you
will reach out to the employer in a week to follow-up. And then do
the needful.

These three paragraphs come with a hidden clause. You have to

create new paragraphs for every application you apply for.
Customization is the key. Not everybody loves roses. You have to
plant some new flowers in your garden of wisdom. There is no such
thing as a generic cover letter.

You need to be the Sylvester Stallone in order to be the Rambo of

the firm you choose to work with. So, do remember to brand
yourself as a perfect "fit" for the role that you are applying to.

Highlight all your credentials by not just "telling" but by using

tangible examples to "quantify" your work experience.

Yes! The trailer has to influence the hiring manager to buy tickets
(schedule an interview) to watch your entire movie.

Wishing you a box office hit!

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