DTDC Express DGM - Marketing Interview Questions and Answers

Interview preparation tips for other job seekers - I got a call from a job consultant. She shared my CV with the company and told me that Utkarsh Narain, Chief of Staff would take my interview the same day.

It was a virtual meeting. This guy turned up for the interview and kept his camera off. He gave me an excuse saying that he is traveling.

After some generic questions, he told me that he would consider my candidature after I give him a marketing presentation. He had no clue what needed to be in the presentation and what exactly he is looking for.

Since I viewed his LinkedIn profile and knew that he hasn't handled any marketing roles in his career he must be confused. To make things simpler for him I told him to give me a problem statement and I will try to solve that problem through my presentation.

He was still confused and started saying things like DTDC never had a marketing team and it was only incepted some years ago and we got an agency who had presented us the positioning and other things. It was irrelevant. Then I told him that I will try to gather maximum information from the public domain and present a plan.

This confused man showed me a high level of desperation. When I told him that I would need 5 days to present the same he told me that he only has 2 days.

I worked overnight and screened through countless articles, and interviews and also tried to do a sentiment analysis of his brand.

I reverted to him in 2 days. In my mail I had requested you to give me an opportunity to present my ideas to him one on one. It never happened. This confused and so-called chief of staff never responded to my mail.

Then I don't hear anything from him for a week.

After 10 days the consultant sends me a one-liner mail stating - DTDC is not going ahead with your profile. No reason was provided as such.

Well, I was not surprised. The guy Utkarsh Narain hasn't had any clarity about the role that he was hiring for. The JD given to the consultant was half-baked and didn't present a clear picture of things expected from a candidate.

It was funny, to say the least. DTDC as a brand has earned a very bad reputation. It was bound to happen when the company hasn't invested any money in branding or had any custodian of the brand in the past. Marketing and branding were never on their priority list.

They got Sourav Ganguly as their brand ambassador but they don't know how to use him effectively in their brand campaigns. In fact Utkarsh Narain told me the same during the interview itself. Well, I can see this guy Utkarsh is certainly dimwitted for sure but he is modest.

As a result, they made a mess of the whole brand and now planning to hire someone to pass on the buck. Confused people.

It was a colossal waste of time to invest my time in such dimwitted employers.