I recently appeared for the AAJ Supply Chain Management ā Software Development Executive campus placement drive at SRMCEM, Lucknow. I wasn't selected in the final round, but Iām sharing my experience because I found it difficult to find an actual interview experience while preparing for the drive.
1. Job Details
- Company: AAJ Supply Chain Management
- Role: Procurement Executive
- Location: Noida, Sector 142
- CTC: ā¹4ā5 LPA
- Training: 1 month
- Training Stipend: ā¹10,000
- Bond: No
- Eligible: Final-year B.Tech Data Science & MBA
- Academic Criteria: 70% throughout
2. Selection Process
Around 100 students applied.
The process was:
100 Applicants ā 30 Shortlisted ā 7 Cleared GD ā 2 Final Shortlisted
I was among the 30 students shortlisted for the GD + PI rounds.
3. Group Discussion
The GD was conducted online. and ours topic was "is remote work better or offline work at office better?"
My biggest takeaway: GD is not about speaking the most.
Focus on:
- Making logical points
- Listening to others
- Not interrupting unnecessarily
- Staying relevant
- Speaking clearly and confidently
- Building on others' points when possible
7 out of 30 candidates cleared the GD, and I was one of them.
4. Personal Interview
The PI was also conducted online and was more focused on role fit and practical thinking than technical questions.
I was asked around 3ā4 main questions:
1. Tell me about yourself.
Don't just repeat your resume. Keep it concise and connect your background with the role.
2. Why Software executive when you're a Data Science student?
This was an important one.
If you're from CS/Data Science applying for this, be ready to clearly explain why you're interested in procurement, negotiation and supply-chain operations.
3. Why don't you go for a more technical role?
This came as a follow-up.
Don't say that you're choosing procurement because you couldn't get a technical job. Instead, explain how your analytical/problem-solving skills can be useful in an operations-oriented role and why the role genuinely interests you.
4. Negotiation Scenario
The interviewer gave me a practical vendor negotiation situation and asked how I would handle it.
This is worth preparing for.
Don't make negotiation simply about "asking the vendor to reduce the price." Think about cost, quality, reliability, relationships, alternatives and long-term value.
5. Final Result
All 7 GD-qualified candidates appeared for the PI.
After the PI, 2 candidates were shortlisted for the final interview, and unfortunately, I wasn't one of them.
My biggest takeaway was that a good resume and technical skills aren't enough when you're applying outside your core field. You need to convincingly explain why you want the role and how your existing skills transfer to it.
Final Journey
100 Applicants ā 30 Shortlisted ā GD Cleared ā PI ā Final 2
I couldn't make the final two, but the experience gave me a good understanding of how a Procurement/Supply Chain interview actually works.
For anyone from Data Science/CS applying for a non-tech role, prepare the "Why this role instead of tech?" question especially well. In my interview, it became one of the main discussion points.
