Prep Team, MDI Gurgaon

PSP Series
[Preparation for Summer Placements]

General Questions

Instructions:

• All the questions are mandatory

• Process to be followed:
o Use the space provided under “Pointers” to put down bullet points that would drive
your answer. These could be key words, critical sentences etc.
o Expand this structure in the space provided under “Detailed” – this space would contain
your complete answer in proper sentences, as per the word restrictions
• The soft copy of the PSP-01 document is to be uploaded as per the instructions given in the
mail.

• Deadline : 11:59:59 PM, 14th September 2020

• File naming convention : Roll No_Name_PSP01
• Font : Garamond (Font Size: 12 pt., Line spacing: 1.5 pt.)

• Spaces provided for the answers are only indicative

• Word/time limits provided are approximate. Speed of speech and time provided by interviewer
to respond, will vary

Name : Siddhanth Jalan

Roll No. : 20P058
 Prep Team, MDI Gurgaon

Question 1:
1a. One Liner to describe yourself: I am an innovative and an inquisitive person who is
always open to learn.

1b. 3 Adjectives:
Suggestion: Try not to overlap with strengths
1. Innovative
2. Inquisitive
3. Open to learn
1c. Introduce yourself.
Suggestions:
• Be chronological (either forward or reverse)
• Make the answer well-rounded; use as many of the following elements as possible in time/space given:
(work-ex, education, chosen MBA specialization, hobbies, achievements, one of the 3 highlights you have put in
CV)
Short Answer (150 words | 1 min. of speech):
• School College
• Inferno
• Work ex
• Strengths
• Hobbies
• Long term Goal
My name is Siddhanth Jalan. I completed my schooling from Don Bosco Park Circus,
Kolkata and my graduation in commerce from St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata. While in
school, I co-founded Inferno, which was an intra city indoor sporting tournament. We
successfully conducted 3 editions of the same. Post-graduation I was given the opportunity
to work for Exotic Fashions Private Limited in the capacity of a Junior Manager for a period
of 15 months. I was responsible for managing the inventory and the overall manufacturing
process which helped me develop my leadership and team building skill.
In my free time, I enjoy reading marketing and self-development books by authors like Seth
Godin, Ambi Parameswaran. I love playing sports like football, cricket and table-tennis. In
the long term, I see myself working in the marketing department of a company.
 Prep Team, MDI Gurgaon

Long Answer (300-350 words | 3 min. of speech):

• City, family
• School
• President
• Inferno
• College
• Mad over sports
• Hobbies
• Strengths
• Goals

My name is Siddhanth Jalan. I have been born and raised in Kolkata. I completed my
schooling from Don Bosco Park Circus, Kolkata. While in school, I was elected as the
President of the Hindi Cultural group of my school in class 12. I was responsible for
managing the group and conducting various events throughout the academic year. I was
also a part of the school cricket, football and table tennis team.
I take pride in informing that I founded my first start-up, ‘Inferno’ at the tender age of 16
when I was in class 9. Inferno was an intra-city indoor sporting tournament We successfully
conducted 3 editions of the same.
I completed my graduation in commerce from St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata and specialised
in Marketing. While in college, I was given an opportunity to work in an organisation called
‘Mad Over Sports’. We successfully conducted 5 sporting events in a period of just 1.5 years.
Post-graduation I worked with Exotic Fashions Private limited which manufactures and
exports small finished leather goods in the capacity of Junior Manager for a period of 15
months. My responsibilities included managing the inventory and supervising the
manufacturing process.
Leading teams of various departments and varying sizes has helped me develop not only my
leadership skills but has also help me become a better team player. In my free time, I like to
read and play sports. I particularly like marketing and self-development books by authors
like Seth Godin, Rhonda Byrne and Ambi Parameswaran. I enjoy playing cricket, football,
badminton and table tennis.
In the long run, I aspire to be the head of the marketing function of a large firm.
 Prep Team, MDI Gurgaon

Question 2:
Mention 3 strengths that you have. (300-350 words | 3 min. of speech)
Suggestion: Structure answer as: Situation - Action - Outcome
1. Leadership
2. Team player
3. Perseverance

Leadership – Over the years, I have developed this quality through the opportunities
presented to me. I was the President of the Hindi Cultural Group of my school, co-founder
of Inferno and captain of my club cricket team to name a few. I went through a constant
process of learning, unlearning and relearning as I went through the different roles in
different fields. One of the best things about these roles were that they were so different
from each other, some roles included managing 10 people, some 50 people, some even 100
people. Leadership has also helped me maintain and improve my performance since I
always strive to lead by example.

Team player – During a particular football tournament, I acted selfish and put myself before
the team. My teammate was in a clear position to score a goal but instead of passing the
ball, I decided to go for personal glory. We did win the match but a sense of guilt developed
inside me. That’s when I realised that even if I had scored the goal, my conscience would
still tell me I had been selfish.
Team before self is a motto I live by after that day. After that, there have been numerous
instances where I have shown teamwork. While working for ‘Mad over Sports’, there were
many disagreements between me and another team member. I never lost my cool and was
always accommodative of his ideas and thus tried to take an action incorporating both
viewpoints.

Perseverance - My perseverance has helped my achieve many things in life. For example, I
weighed 103 kilograms in class 12. Through my hard work and determination I lost around
23 kilograms. Another instance where I displayed perseverance was during my MBA
entrance examinations. I had taken CAT in 2018 and did not perform well. Although I had
performed well in other entrance exams and had some decent converts, I wanted to get into
one of the top 10 MBA institutes. My perseverance coupled with passion and commitment
helped me score well in my 2nd attempt and get into a premier business school.
 Prep Team, MDI Gurgaon

Question 3:
Mention 3 weaknesses that you experience. (300-350 words | 3 min. of speech)
Suggestion: Structure answer as: Situation - Effect – Correction
1. Impatience
2. Stage Fright
3. Procrastination

Impatience – The primary reason I was not successful in learning guitar and Japanese is my
impatience. Both of these skills require time to develop. Unable to understand the
importance of the gestation period, I get excited by the prospect of achieving something
thereby getting disappointed if it takes time. This is exactly what happened and I left the
courses midway. Being perseverant, I decided to work on it and took corrective measures. I
consciously put effort to be patient and started practicing meditation. Recently, I started
practicing Japanese again and am patient this time.

Stage Fright – I was not apprehensive of being on stage. I was in fact a very active
participant in public speaking events. During one of those events I went blank in front of
250+ people. It was a very embarrassing experience and that led to me developing a fear of
being on the stage.
Over the years, there were instances where I tried to overcome this fear. They were not very
successful. Upon entering college, I had made up my mind that it was a fresh start for me
and that I would make the most out of it. I tried taking part in events, class presentations,
etc. moreover, I knew I wanted to pursue MBA and an important aspect of it is facing the
panel and speaking in front of audiences. Even at my MBA college, I am consciously trying
to be participative and overcoming my fear.

Procrastination – I have always had a habit of doing things at the last moment just before
the deadline, be it projects or exams. And the thing is that I have always manged to submit
and perform well irrespective up until a point when my grades started falling. That’s when I
realised that I had to changes my habit of doing things at the last moment. In order to do
that, I started by setting specific and small achievable goals. I made sure that I wasn’t
setting myself up for failure by setting very difficult goals as a sense of achievement was
important for me to break through my habit of procrastination.
 Prep Team, MDI Gurgaon

Question 4:
Where do you see yourself in 3-5 years (short term) and 10-15 years (long term)? (300-350
words | 3 min. of speech, each)
Suggestions:
• For short term, structure it as Role (optional) - Function - Industry
o Mention reason for alignment and how it helps to achieve long term goal
• For long term, connect it to some aspect of your personality
Short-term goals
• Practical exposure
• Explore myself
• Premier company
• Past experience
• Learning intricacies
• Growth

I had always been interested in the field of business, particularly the marketing function.
In the immediate short-term, I am looking to make the most out of my MBA experience by
gaining as much practical exposure as I can by taking part in case competitions and
discussions. I intend to explore myself and my capabilities and limitations so that I can
work on it and make myself industry ready which brings me to my short-term goal.

In the short-term (3-5 years), I want to work in the field of marketing and thus build a career
out of it. I will get an opportunity to apply the learnings of my MBA journey into the real life
world. Through the job, I will be able to modify the learnings to suit my goals.
My primary aim for the short-term is to maximise learning and thus I am open to different
kinds of roles in the marketing domain so as to gain cross-functional knowledge. My past
entrepreneurial and professional experience will help me relate to and better learn about
various marketing functions. Working in the marketing domain will help me apply, learn,
unlearn and relearn different concepts which I have learned over the years.
Not only will this help me gain industry exposure but will also help me grow as a person.
I will also get to know about my strengths and weaknesses. While I will develop and nurture
my strengths, I will look to work on my shortcomings so that I am prepared for the higher
management roles that I want to pursue.
 Prep Team, MDI Gurgaon

Long-term goals
• Family business
• Build a brand
• Teaching
• Sporting facility
• Personal

I would want to eventually move up the corporate ladder into the higher management
positions which would help me contribute significantly to the industry in general and the
company in specific. I would want to be at a position where I would have the decision-
making power to make significant contributions and influence markets.
Ultimately, I would like to go back to my family business as I aspire to expand and take
it the greatest heights possible. The corporate stint will quip me with cross-functional
knowledge, a strong network of top professionals and the confidence to take my
business to new heights. Apart from expanding the product line and product market I
also aspire to build a brand for my company and thus would like to eventually enter the
retail channel also.
I also love to teach and have mentored 4 students for the MBA entrance examination. I
love to share my experience and knowledge with people so as to inspire and help them
avoid the mistakes that I have made. Therefore, I also see myself developing and
starting a mentorship program where I would guide a few selected students to help
achieve their dreams.
I firmly believe that India has great potential in terms of sporting talents, particularly the
rural population. I envision creating a talent development sporting centre which would
identify and nurture future talents. Through this I hope that I will be able to make
meaningful contributions to the society.
 Prep Team, MDI Gurgaon

Question 5:
Give an instance when you stepped in, took charge, mustered support, and influenced the
outcome of a project/decision by displaying leadership qualities. What were your learnings?
(300-350 words | 3 min. of speech)
Suggestion: Structure answer as: Situation – Action – Outcome – Learning (technical & non-technical)
• Inconsistencies
• Quality control
• Stock
• Repair
• Leadership

Post-graduation I was given the opportunity to work for Exotic Fashions Private Limited in
the capacity of a Junior Manager. The firm manufactures and exports small leather goods. I
was responsible for managing the inventory and supervising the overall manufacturing
process. Since it was my very first job I was a bit apprehensive of how I would perform and
whether people would listen to my suggestions.
After working for a few months, I noticed some inconsistencies in the factory which were
leading to unnecessary loss of resources like time and money. I knew that I had limited
power and hence decided to take up this issue to my supervisor who was a bit apprehensive
of my suggestions and it took some convincing and he finally agreed to give me a chance to
execute my suggestions.
Since there were inefficiencies in the quality control department, low quality products were
getting approved. I decided to hire an additional worker to ensure efficient checking of the
finished goods. Now, checking was more efficient and the number of goods for repair
started increasing due to which I had to relocate 2 workers from the stitching department to
the repair department.
I also noticed that there was some existing stock of raw materials which were not being
used. In order to reduce wastage and save costs, I decided to quantify the amount of stock
that was kept. This quantification helped us save costs as purchase of new raw materials
decreased.
This role not only helped me gain practical exposure into the business world but also helped
me gain confidence regarding my abilities. It helped me become a better decision maker
and also helped me develop my leadership skills.
 Prep Team, MDI Gurgaon

Question 6:
What has been your greatest achievement till date? Why do you think this is your greatest
achievement? (300-350 words | 3 min. of speech)
Suggestion:
• Structure answer as: Situation – Action – Outcome
• Achievement can be used to validate a personal strength, etc.
• What can be commonly considered as achievements - anything for which recognition was received
• Inferno
• Young
• First start-up
• No help from elders
• Failed then bounced back
My greatest achievement has to be my first start-up, Inferno. ‘Inferno’ was a one of its kind
intra-city indoor cricket and football tournament. While there were many tournaments
available for the outdoor version of the stated sports, the indoor version had none. I decided
to take matter into my own hands and thus talked to my friends about the idea I had. They
were easily convinced and thus Inferno was born.
I would never have thought that a simple idea of organising a tournament would not only
help popularise the Indoor version of cricket and football but also create a community. More
than 250+ people ranging from 13 years to 45 years participated in the tournament and
connected with each other. I can proudly claim that Inferno introduced more than 150+
people to the indoor version of the sports. Post inferno, there was a significant increase in
the number of indoor cricket tournaments and the big players had entered who had budgets
more than 10 times what we had.
More importantly, it taught me many lessons with regard to the working of the business
world. I learned the art of diplomacy, handling pressure situations, negotiation and
handling failure. We did not take help from our elders. We used to visit malls, complexes
and clubs in order to find sponsorships and participants.
In the first year we received a sponsorship of just 5,000 and in the third year we received a
sponsorship of around 30,000.
The overall journey was very satisfying because throughout the journey we were constantly
learning and applying various business concepts. After suffering a loss in the first year, we
came back stronger in the 2nd year by reducing costs, introducing new events and increasing
revenue sources.
 Prep Team, MDI Gurgaon

Question 7:
Share one instance where you failed and how you handled it. (300-350 words | 3 min. of
speech)
Suggestion:
• Structure answer as: Situation – Action – Effect – Learning
• Failure can be used to identify a personal weakness, help set a life goal etc.
• Co-found Inferno
• Failure
• Made changes
• Bounced back

I co-founded Inferno in 2013 at the tender age of 16. Inferno was an intra-city indoor cricket
and football tournament. Inferno was a product of my passion for sports and business. It
was a one of the few tournaments which gave a platform to amateur sportspersons to
celebrate and play competitive sports. We had formulated our plans, made a budget, talked
to potential teams and everything looked perfect and set to go. Soon, reality struck and we
ended up getting just one sponsor and 6 teams. We ended up suffering a loss of around
50,000.
Now, 50,000 was a huge amount for me considering my age and the fact that my parents
suffered monetary loss because of me. I did not want my first start-up to end in a loss and
therefore I convinced my co-founders to give it another shot.
We identified our mistakes from the past year. Our biggest mistake was overestimating our
revenues. We decided to be more practical in our approach and decided to hold the worst
case scenario for costs and revenue. A large part of our costs were to be covered through our
sponsorship deals but since we weren’t getting any sponsors we deciding to add two more
events and increased the registration fee. We also negotiated a deal and got a reduced price
for the venue.
The 2nd edition ended up being a huge success as we not only witnessed a 3 times growth in
participation but also generated a profit of around 60,000.
We went ahead and conducted a third edition too which witnessed similar number of
participants. Our costs had increased as we had tried something new in the third year and
thus ended up generating a profit of around 40,000.
 Prep Team, MDI Gurgaon

Question 8:
Tell us about a situation where you faced an ethical dilemma. How did you handle the
situation? (300-350 words | 3 min. of speech)
Suggestion:
• Professional or personal example
• Structure answer as: Situation – What personality trait/skill influenced the decision – Learning
• Cultural event
• Bollywood snippet

While in school, I was stuck in a peculiar situation, where I had to actually go against my
school and my team members.
I was the President of the Hindi Cultural Group of my school. During the flagship annual
fest, we were responsible for organizing the cultural dance and singing competition. Our
goal was to promote Indian culture and heritage. Hence, we decided to allow only pure
classical music and songs for the competition.
On the day of the competition everything went ahead as planned without any technical or
logistical glitches. Soon, the competition was over and the results were announced. Our
school dance team managed to place 3rd in the competition. After the results were
announced, a girl from another school approached me and said that the song our school
team had used had a snippet from a Bollywood song.
Upon receiving the complaint, we went through the track and noticed that a very small
snippet of a Bollywood song was used. No one else (including the judges) had noticed.
When we had a team discussion, I was surprised to find out that all of them wanted to let it
go. They said that the rules had clearly mentioned that the decision of the judges will be
final. If we look at it technically, then my team was right. It was the judges’ responsibility
and they took the final decision. But I knew that as the President of the club, it was my duty
to set the right example for others and do the right thing.
I stood my ground and convinced my team that disqualifying our school was the right
decision. We informed the judges and they disqualified our team. One of the most
important aspects of being a leader is leading by example. If that day I had let the incident
pass by unnoticed, my juniors would have done the same when faced with a similar
situation. I believe that in times like these the true capability of a leader is tested and I am
glad that I could come out on the right side of it.
 Prep Team, MDI Gurgaon

Question 9:
Why MBA in these times? (300-350 words | 3 min. of speech)
Suggestion: Structure answer as Background - Goal - how MBA will help; involve present themes like COVID19

• Best time to pursue MBA

• Case study angle
• Positivity
• Accountability
• Support
• Dream

I have always been fascinated with the world of business and want to head the marketing
division of a company. Thus, I took commerce in school when given a choice. After that, I
joined St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata where I completed my graduation in commerce and
specialised in marketing. Thus, the next natural step towards my goal was to pursue a
degree in MBA.
An education in MBA will help me gain cross-functional knowledge and the technical
knowhow required to enter the corporate world. It will also provide me with a host
opportunity to apply the theoretical knowledge gained in the classroom in the practical
world through case competitions, live projects, internships, etc.
According to me, there could not have been a better time to do an MBA. Taking a cue from
my MBA class I feel like I am in the middle of a huge real life case study right now. The
business world is concerned with tackling the financial turmoil and surviving the pandemic
and through various corporate session we are getting first-hand experience as to what
different business are doing. Thus, I feel that my learning is getting amplified due to the
Covid scenario as business saving decisions are being taken everywhere.
Moreover, while the economy is facing turbulence, I would use this opportunity to equip
myself with the knowledge and skills to become an effective and efficient manager. I believe
that one of the most important aspects of running a business is utilizing the available
resources and make the most out of it. This particularly stands true in the face of adversities.
Pursuing MBA from a premier business school has always been my dream and the online
mode has in turn inculcated a sense of responsibility in me because instead of being
demotivated by the current scenario, I am looking at all the positives that doing MBA in the
current scenario is providing me with.