Dear PlaceCom, From PlaceCom

Disclaimer: I’ve been where you were. Quite literally. So, even if we have more than a few years between us, I haven't forgotten what it’s like to be sandwiched between the increasing demands of HR folk and the ambitions of your batchmates - neither of whom may end up appreciating, let alone liking you for the seesaw that you’re trying to balance. (Also thrown in photo evidence for good measure)

Dear PlaceCom,

I have spent the last couple of weeks on campus at the launch of Godrej LOUD. The unforgiving rain aside, if there’s one way I could choose to spend my time - it is this, in conversation with young people. It’s fun, it’s real and it keeps me grounded. I have also had the chance to interact with many PlaceCommers - the second year team, now more worldly wise and feeling the pressure of being in charge of a new first year batch; the interim first year team, wearing their new responsibility with much pride - in person, on email, on LinkedIn, on phone calls. Through all our interactions, there’s one thing that is very clear - nothing much seems to have changed this year. Or last year. Or the one before that. Or the one before that... You get my drift.

That’s not a good thing. And I say this with all due respect to all of us who put this system in place and make it work - because it’s not just you as PlaceCom - it’s us as companies, your peers, your batchmates, your business schools. 

So, as someone on the “other side” (where by the way, the grass is not always greener), with a little bit more experience in how things pan out, here’s what I would tell my younger PlaceCom self (and you):

1. We both have skin in the game

Shhh - if this gets out, things could change. A lot ?? But seriously, stop for a moment and think. Making this recruiting season successful isn’t your priority alone. You’re not the only one invested in it. We are too. There’s a lot of senior leadership time and marketing spend going into our recruiting efforts. And when you think of it like that - where we are partners, not the stand offish company folk who preach down from the podium - it could change your approach. With partnership comes trust, which in this case translates into how authentic we can both be in our conversations on many things, including that dreaded question - What’s the slot?! (But let's not go there right now...)

2. Leave the suits to Suits

Seriously, don’t force the suiting up dress code. It just doesn’t work. If you don’t trust me, scroll through your LinkedIn feed. There’s no way you can tell one campus from another, let alone one person from another. As someone who helped propagate this at some point - my sincere apologies. We couldn’t have been more wrong. I’m very sure that I speak for more than just myself and Godrej when I say this - we want to get to know the people we are hiring. The real people behind the suits. Let us do that. Don’t make it feel like each person is the next. If we can’t get a real sense of the person, there’s a good chance we will make the wrong offer.

This is something that seriously worries me. I remember the first time we insisted that students come for Godrej events minus this dress code. It was met with horror. It took a lot of convincing and some serious persuasion (which thankfully we don’t have to do anymore). I’ve asked myself so often - Why? And I guess honestly, it boils down to this. Standardising is easy. Hence, the cookie cutter. But the world has changed. A lot of us go to work in jeans. Some of us dress more formally. And that’s ok. Adapt. At a time when we talk so much about diversity at the workplace, the least we can do is allow for differences to show on campus. You’d be surprised at how much dressing controls. It’s not just about the suits. It’s about standardising introductions and censoring communication and building hierarchy where we should be breaking it down. 

3. Be more than excel sheets 

You know how branding is so popular? Move some of that love to your batch. Ditch the standard templates that you inherited and start creating something distinctive. It’s like any other pitch - work out a real storyline. Think about what makes this different. Try a few options. Get creative with how you want to tell this story. Rope in your Marketing and Media teams and ask them to take a crack at it. Communication has changed so much. Use technology and data smartly to offer a feel of the batch. This isn’t about flashy templates and video editing skills. It’s about using whatever best allows you to tell your story. That could be anything from a one page infographic to video bytes from students. You start the storytelling when you introduce them, so you also play a big role in shaping the conversation. Push us to think of your batch as more than excel sheets. 

4. Don’t copy and paste

The easy option is to use the same email template, change the name of the company and recruiter, and hit “send”. Don’t. Those templates were created while you were still in school!  Instead, ask questions of recruiters - understand what they are looking for and then craft it accordingly. If it’s the first time you’re writing to them, then all the more reason to do your homework. Put yourself in their shoes. If for example, you’re dealing with an FMCG company like ours looking to hire for Sales, then show us how your campus preps students for it. It could be the courses you take, field work immersions, a steady trend of alumni joining similar roles. If it’s one of our newer real estate venture capital businesses, then pull out data to show entrepreneurial leanings. One size doesn’t fit all. You’ll need to work at this. It also means that you won’t be able to show the entire batch as potential hires. That’s ok. In fact, you’ll be doing us a big favour by helping narrow down who we should focus on.

Also, it's perfectly ok to make it personal by perhaps referencing a previous conversion or building in a topic that you know matters to them. It tells the other person that you remember it. Personally, I’d take a customised email with a couple of typos over the prefect template with no real insight.

5. Leverage the right people

I’m handing out some major trade secrets with this one ?? It’s always amused me how negotiations work on campuses. It seems to be a given that the PlaceCommer in charge of our company will handle all “negotiations” with us. That’s pretty much like saying that only the project lead should be responsible for getting the work done. I can assure you that if I followed that, a majority of my successful projects would never have turned out that way. This isn’t one person’s responsibility. This is the responsibility of the batch, if not the business school. So, treat it like that. Tap into whatever you can and find the best person for the job. You’d be surprised at how much it can change things. One particularly enterprising campus we partner realised this some years ago. They always sent people who interned with us to these “negotiations”. It worked so well for everyone. They had a better sense of what we were looking for and we were more likely to have open, authentic conversations with them. 

6. Stand your ground

Don't get bullied. I thought of a prettier way to say this, but there isn't. You will be tested in more ways than one. You will caught in some not very pretty choices and you will feel the pressure. That's part of the job now. But don't forget for a moment that you have the power to choose how conversations turn out. Don't cower down when people crank up the pressure. Learn how to be fair and firm, but polite. Understand that while you may be dealing with people much older than you, you too have a say - you are representing your business school. One of the best ways to do this is by being honest. Don't just tell recruiters what they want to hear - tell them the truth. Instead of assuring them that they will get 'day minus whatever', tell them honestly how you rank companies and what it would take for them to get there. It's not easy, but the story ends much better than it would when they turn up on campus and find out that it's a different slot from the one you promised them.

7. Hold everyone accountable

I know that PlaceCom and fear share a strange symbiotic relationship. But no successful relationship has ever run on fear. It takes sharing, mutual respect and authenticity to make relationships work. This is no different.

There's this thing that happens on campus when recruiters walk into the room. First, everyone stands up. Second, after a polite welcome, everyone sits down when asked to. Third, PlaceCom places themselves strategically at all exits and proceeds to stand there throughout the session. I did it too when I was in PlaceCom. It was second nature. We stood and kept watch and made eye contact with anyone who was dozing off. Now, pause. When you stand at the exit, it signals to me that you think the batch may scoot at the first chance they got, had that been unmanned. That's not very complimentary ?? And it's symptomatic of a much larger ecosystem and its unspoken laws. Why not try turning this on its head? Isn't the success of the session - and by that I mean the impression you're creating for the visiting company - a shared responsibility of the batch? Instead of having to play the Night's Watch, why not try an honest conversation and co-create responsibility? That goes for how you engage, the research you do, maybe even who you invite and how you time the sessions. Then, once agreed, hold everyone accountable for following through.

8. There’s life after a “No”

You’re not going to convert every conversation into real recruiting. That’s ok. Disappointing, but ok. Because at the end of the day, recruiters have to make choices basis their hiring numbers, and conversion and performance trends. The best you can do is to put forward all the data they need to make that choice. Then, respect it. And look to the longer term. You may be PlaceCom for a year, but the company and your institute will be around for much longer. How you manage the conversation could impact that relationship. Find a way to stay top of mind, because things could change later on. It’s much the same for us as recruiters too, when we are looking to start out on a new campus. It takes time to build any relationship and show results. 

9. Remember what you're in it for

Why did you choose to join PlaceCom? Clearly not because it was going to be the easy way out! Perhaps because you thought it would teach you leadership skills. Perhaps you enjoy negotiations ?? Perhaps you enjoy the rush of taking charge. Perhaps you're a nice person and you truly just want to help out your batch. Perhaps it was to boost your CV. Whatever it was, keep it front and centre and try making it work for you. If you're not convinced this is worth it, it'll be tough to pull off the late nights and difficult conversations and sometimes thankless glances in corridors.

It's also good to have a shared purpose as a team. It helps you lean on each other and make tradeoffs, because let's face it - someone is going to have to give in at some point. You can't make all your companies happy all of the time. So, what're you in it for?

10. Have fun

Phew! After all of this, it may seems a bit ironic, but yes - you can have fun. So, make it happen. It could be the small stuff in the shared jokes, team traditions and of course, team parties. I still remember the fun times - bringing in my birthday with my PlaceCom team. It could be struggling through the tougher times - because no one will know what it's like than your team. You will spend more time with each other than anyone else on campus and you will become friends. All of this will also happen. So make sure you're not so busy that you miss it.

From,

PlaceCom