If I Gave You 50 Crore

So you want 50 crore? Well I am not exactly giving that out, but definitely telling you what to do when you are posed with this question.

A question that is often asked during interviews - "What would you do if I gave you 50 crore (or an "x" amount which is on the higher side)"


There are many ways to look at it & answer it. There is no right or wrong to this question. All that is required is your presence of mind. The way you answer this gives the interviewer an insight to your hidden personality, how responsible you are and where do you aim to land. It will tell him if you are a calculated risk taker who takes all the facts into consideration or just a simpleton who gets carried away by surprises. If you anticipate & how well are your equipped for the future. These are few of the qualities that every organisation looks at while hiring, specially at management levels. So after reading this am sure you know how to play your marbles. All the best and read on to see one perspective. Below is one of the ways I look at it and its worked wonders for me all the three times I have answered it in different interviews.


The natural & spontaneous thought that comes to a normal persons mind at that point is one of these:

1. I would sit and eat all my life.
2. Why would I work then.
3. I will invest all the money and earn interest and enjoy life.
4. I will go on a life long vacation
5. I would buy this office and interview you (i.e. the interviewer)

and many other such thoughts. If you didn't think of any of these you are not normal. :p Well, the fact is your interviewer is not looking for any of these answers.

Analyse

Didn't this strike you that if he had 50 crore "Why would HE give you?" Wouldn't he keep it for himself. Ok, so the argument for that is, come on its an hypothetical situation and the fact is if he is willing to give you 50 crore he has millions more for himself so don't ponder over it. Just accept it that he is willing to give you the amount, it may be his, his organisations or his father-in-laws. It just doesn't matter.

Now the next question - "Why would he give YOU?" Are you so handsome or a sexy siren that he would blow it all on you. No. Are you a blackmailer then. If that would have been the situation you wouldn't be sitting for an interview nor reading this. You would have many easier ways of getting money, may be even more than what is at stake.

Argue

One of the answers could be "I will INVEST it".Well this could be an apt answer. Now lets argue over it. Just invest would mean many things. Is it the stock exchange, business or something else. 

If your answer is the stock exchange then it shows that you are a lazy person and a nincompoop who hasn't considered the risk factors, which I need not tell you about.

If you say business it denotes that well you have that fire in you to work and toil and earn your bread and butter. This could be a nice answer but then putting all your eggs in the same basket would mean lack of foresight and planning. If the business is hit you are bankrupt and so are the people working below you. 

Now what? Well the next best answer would be "I would invest in a couple of business so as to ensure that if one bombs there are others on which I can fall on". That's a smart one but this shows your selfishness as you are just bothered about your well being and not bothered about your employees or team that slogs for you. There are many people dependent who will be laid off. This inhumane behavior and lack of concern for your team can go against you.

Answer

Well, in that case "I would distribute 4/5th of the amount in 4 different business i.e. 1/5th in each". This leaves you with 1/5th in your hand. This will raise suspicion at to why have you kept 1/5th aside. Are you gonna squander away 10 cr on your self. 

The most apt answer to this can be:

"I would invest 10 cr in 4 different business so as to ensure that all the eggs are not in one basket. The fact that I have kept 10 cr aside is because even though I have planned my actions, looking at the volatile nature of the market I might go wrong somewhere. And hence this sundry amount of 10 cr would help so that I can pump in this amount to revive the business that is getting affected."

Conclusion

The above reply shows that you are not lazy and would like to work, you have planned and are taking calculated risk by not putting all your eggs in one basket. You are not overconfident about never going wrong, hence you have anticipated & have a foresight because of which you have kept aside sufficient funds to pull it off when the need arises. Not to mention that this act of yours is selfless as you want to revive a business and not just run away from your responsibility and just shut it down.

If you have a better answer or an argument pen it down in the comments below. Let everyone benefit from it. Who knows even I could use it the next time and impress my interviewer further. ;)

Triangle or Box.. Its a Triangle in a BOX

We were having a casual conversation when this topic came up, Employement. How getting jobs was difficult. How does one sustain his position and why it has become so difficult to get a job today without stepping into some one else's space.

People have a misconception that there are no openings left for growing population of the country. To land a decent job one needs to use wrong ways or step onto someone's shoe. But I do not agree to this. I do not see the growing population to be a threath but this mentality of people which may one day indeed make people jobless.

The entire industry, whichever it may be, works on the triangle in a box effect. You must have heard a lot about the triangle and the inverted traingle but I totally defy it. Instead I belive in the triangle in a box scenario.

As you see the traingle it has a broad base and starts tapering at the top. The reason why people find it difficult to get jobs is becoz every one wants to be at the level which I refer to as the base of the triangle. No one ever tries to grow and get a job at levels above the base.

The misconception that people have is that according to the triangle effect its difficult to get jobs at higher level or grow as there are lesser jobs up there due to the tappering behaviour. Thats because they see it as just a triangle.

The reason why it has become a triangle is due to the lack of confidence people have and they dont dare nor dream. People do not want to skip levels and try for the next step above them. Hence there is a shortage of people at the top which has made it a triangle.

However the fact is that there is equivalent vacant space at the top, same as the base of the traingle of which only a tip has been used up. If you look at the situation now you will realise that its a triangle within the box. A traingle which shudn't be existing. A triangle which has the potential to be a complete box if we change our mindsets and dare to grow and climb the ladder.

There is sufficient space at the top which is being wasted not because tapering but because no one wants to reach to it.