I interviewed with Mr. Gulam Zia, his Advisory Services National Head. The Advisory division at Knight Frank includes the Research, Consulting and Valuation departments. When I walked in to Mr. Zia’s office, he was shouting on the phone. As I learnt during the course of the conversation, he was shouting at someone from a large bank, a company which is a client of Knight Frank. I did not know whether to be aghast or amused at the fact that he was telling off a client for taking too long to reach a decision on whether to give Knight Frank business or not.
He kept the phone and said, “You can imagine how good business is for me to be able to shout at one of our biggest clients like that!” I just grinned nervously. Then he said, “Tell me, have you ever traveled by local train in your life?” I did not expect that to be my opening interview question. I was thinking up an answer to reply to “Tell me more about yourself” or something to that effect. I said that I had traveled by local train, as everyone in Bombay has. He then said, “The reason I ask is because every month Mr. Vakil sends spoilt brats of his big shot friends to work here. Are you a spoilt brat?” I said, “No, sir.” He continued. “They are all blue blooded princes who just come here to have a ball and not do any work. Are you a blue blooded prince?” I said again, “No, sir.” Then he said, “They go away in two months, and leave us the hassle of training a new person all over again. Are you going to run away in two months?” By now, I was losing my patience. I had not come here to be judged right off the bat. I kept my cool and replied, No, sir. I am looking to work with Knight Frank for a couple of years, maybe three.” He replied in a mocking tone, “How do I know you won’t stay for two years and instead run away in two months?” I lost it. I snapped back, “How do I know you won’t make me sweep the floor once I start working here?” He backed off and said, “Look, I don’t mean to be rude, but I am skeptical of you dedication because of the channel you come through. The kids who usually come through Mr. Vakil are usually the spoilt brats. But I must say I am not yet convinced of your dedication.” I replied, “I don’t know how I can prove my dedication, but some more information on the job profile would be helpful.” He asked me some questions on my background and my short- and long-term goals. Then he asked, “You said you have a BBA in Marketing and you want to do an MBA in Finance. Where does this real estate job fit in?” To which I replied, I did Marketing as a start to a full set of skills which will be completed with my MBA in Finance. But I don’t want to do a job in Marketing. I would love a Finance job, but I won’t get one because I am not qualified. So it doesn’t really matter what I do in the middle of the two degrees. Besides, real estate, like mutual funds or equities, is an asset. At the end of the day, I am learning asset management.” A small smile appeared on his face. Then he said, “I will ask you one last question, and it will decide whether I want to hire you or not. When can you start?” To which I impulsively replied, “It is 5.15pm. There are 45 minutes left in the day. I’ll work for those 45 minutes if you would like me to.”
He smiled and said, “You will start Monday. Welcome aboard.”
