We were fortunate to collect lots of information on the same, and that too a very qualitative one. I was supposed to prepare on ‘Strategic Alliances’, while other team members prepared for other modes of entry. It was during this preparation that I came across a case-study, wherein I came to know how important it is to learn from others if you want to succeed in the long run (especially in businesses).

This is the example of an alliance between two giant automobile companies in the world – Toyota and General Motors. During 1985, Toyota and GM joined hands to build the Chevrolet Nova. The alliance was structured as a formal joint venture, called ‘New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc., wherein each party had a 50% equity stake. The auto plant was located in Fremont, California.

As per a Japanese manager, Toyota achieved most of its objectives quickly from the alliance. It learnt about U.S. supply and transportation and got the confidence to manage U.S. workers. Now this knowledge was transferred to Georgetown, Kentucky, where the Japanese auto maker opened its own plant in 1988.

On the other hand, possibly all GM got was a new product ‘Chevrolet Nova’. Some GM managers complained that the knowledge they acquired through the alliance has never been put to good use inside GM. They believe they should have been kept together as a team to educate GM’s engineers and workers about the Japanese system. Instead, they were isolated and sent to various GM subsidiaries.

Lessons you can learn from this Case:

• Be open to learning: You must learn from others as much as possible and then apply the knowledge wherever and whenever required.
• Acquire new skills from others which you don’t have. Understand how acquiring those skills will benefit you in the present and the future.
• Don’t believe that fulfilling a particular objective is all that is required. There might be certain other hidden objectives which you may not realize now, but would soon once the opportunity to learn is lost.

Amazingly, I had all the confidence to crack the process and make my way through. This helped me to stay calm and composed initially. Soon came the time for interview.

While waiting for my turn, I was recollecting all the achievements I had in my life, just to keep my motivation level high. Finally, the big time arrived. As I entered in, I stood besides the chair, waiting to be asked to take the seat (I’ve heard from people that you must stand until the interviewer asks you to take the seat). Bingo! The first step was right.

“Please have a seat”, said one of the interviewers. I made myself comfortable, following which the process began. The interviewers were in their 20’s and looked highly intellectual. The owner of the company started with the first question to explain about my previous work experience, something which I wanted to be asked initially than the cliché and most irritating question ‘tell me something about yourself’.

Though shaky at the beginning, I started sharing my experience. I realized that I wasn’t doing that well. I knew it, but just wasn’t able to express myself in clear words. Somehow I managed to handle it at the end (I guess so). Soon after, the grilling process began, which I hardly ever imagined would take place.

There were few concept related questions and much practical based questions throughout the interview. Though I answered them, they were not convincing enough, which I was realizing at that moment itself, but still unable to do anything about it (This was probably one of the biggest mistakes I made).

Next came the time for ‘presence of mind’ kind of questions (Actually, these questions are thrown at you so quickly that you don’t understand how to react to them at that point of time). I somehow cleared them as well, not knowing how much I was able to impress the interviewers. (Mistake # 2)

When it came to the remuneration part (one of the toughest parts of the interview, believe me!), I was terrible at it again (Tip: while negotiating the remuneration, always make sure that you know the standard remuneration paid in that particular industry for a particular position). There came a time during this part wherein I was little greedy, not understanding whether it is really viable for the company or not (Mistake # 3). Moreover, I showed signs of expecting a higher remuneration from the company (in monetary terms) in return to what I give to the company.

Finally, when I was asked whether I had anything to share or ask I came back again to the remuneration part, asking how much would I be paid. (Big Blunder). That is how it all ended, not only the interview, but also an opportunity to work with a growing company wherein I would have got to learn hugely.

Lessons you can learn from this experience:

• Prepare well about whatever you’ve done in the past and whatever you’ve written in your Resume. This will make atleast 50% of the job easier for you to crack the interview.
• Remember, you are never greater than the company. Never expect anything in return. Always portray yourself as you want to give to the company as much as possible, without much expectation.
• Money is not everything. If you get a chance to work in a growing company, the lessons you’ll learn through the job would be much more in comparison to what you earn.
• Be Honest and Be Yourself.
• Do not be overconfident and greedy as it will take you nowhere in life.