ION Day- A joyous ride with great take aways !!

It started off in the early December’15 and went quiet for a while and then came as a blessing in the mid-January’16.

When things seemed to have settled down, there was a surprise call which said, “You have been shortlisted for the interview.” For a moment I was awestruck and couldn’t respond to it, but then yeah, I had a feeling of something good was going to happen and it did. The short listing was on the PAN India basis and being among the few from all over the country is a great feeling in itself. ION Trading; that was the company we were going to give a shot at. The best part of it was that it was supposed to be held in Noida office and all the expenses of the students appearing for the interview would be borne by the company itself. Adding to that, it was a blessing in disguise for a person like me who loved travelling.

After a week, our wait came to an end when we received the mail containing the details of the flight tickets and the hotel as well. A little bit of nervousness started pounding in, but I was sure that there will be a lot to take away from the ION day (that’s what the grand recruitment process was called). I had made up my mind to visit the ION trading’s office at Noida no matter what the outcome would be.

This opportunity served as an industrial visit, a small tour to Delhi which would ease our nerves, a change in routine life and most of all a chance to test our abilities. We started from Hyderabad and touched down at Delhi IGI airport at 5:00 pm. As we awaited our cab we met people from various colleges and our circle started expanding. After a while we got to know that the cab had been stuck up in the Delhi’s daily traffic and would take around 2 hours to reach the airport. So, with the consent of the higher officials we decided to reach the hotel allotted to us by our own. After having a brief talk among us we decided to have a glimpse of the capital city by taking the metro.

To relax ourselves, we decided to have a look at the India Gate. We clicked a few pictures and after a while all of us were hungry. Being in the Northern part of India, it would be stupid if we didn’t try out the Delhi chat. To fill our tummy’s we reached a street near Laxmi Nagar metro station and tried the chat and sweets. It was then, we got to know why North India was known for its chat. At last we took a metro and reached the nearest metro station to our hotel and from there we reached the hotel on foot. On the way we had sight of grand weddings and crackers that were being burst on that occasion. The sight was beautiful. That was the end of our first evening that we spent at Delhi. The hotel was great the varieties at the dinner added to our delight.

Next day we were supposed to wake up early in the morning and had to touch down at the ION trading office by 8:45am. All of us woke up and got ready and were feeling refreshed after the fun we had had the previous evening. We were all ready to give our best and not care about the result. At the ION office we were dropped in the cabs and, there we were at their office. Soon, we were addressed by the HR. We were informed about the schedule for the day and that indicated a day packed with enjoyment.

The process started and all of us were given kits along with a card which indicated, to which group we belonged. Then we were taken to the office and had to write a Cognitive test which was followed by a couple of group activities each lasting for 45 minutes. For the first task we were given a pack of around 150-200 straws and a tape. We had to build a structure in such a way that it was tall and stable.  Following this activity we were asked to assess ourselves and a few flaws were indicated on which we could improve on. The second group activity was much more fun where we were given a problem statement and asked to come up with a solution. We had to design a picture of controlling the traffic in the busy streets of India with time, money and space constraints keeping in mind the safety of the pedestrians as well. It was a test of nerves, patience, team effort and presence of mind. We were assessed on various parameters like our ability to work in a team, communication skills, respect for others ideas etc.

By then it was lunch time and we had 45 minutes to refresh ourselves and have our lunch and then it was results time. Just to ease our nerves the panel members made us play a game and had chit chat with us for a while. This eased our nerves quite a bit. And the moment came, Richa ma’am (HR of ION trading) walked in with the results. Heart beats pumped up and skipped a few beats here and there. I couldn’t get through, but yeah was pretty happy for the three, among the six of us, belonging to our college could get through.

We were later addressed by Mr. Sanjay Chikara (All India Head of ION Trading) and that made all of us feel pretty good. He asked us not to lose hope because that wasn’t the end. His words were quite pleasing and also helped us gain back our confidence. Few among us gave our feedback and then we were asked to leave for our hotel.

Three of us, with the consent of the official taking care of logistics got to the nearby metro station and planned to visit the Red fort. It felt great being at the historical monument. The Bharat Parv happening at the Red fort added glitters to the glory of the fort. At 6:30 pm we started from Red fort via Chandni Chowk for the airport. We were back in Hyderabad by 11:30pm.

To sum it up, my ION trading journey started with an intention of touring Delhi, but at the end of the process I realized that it was much more than just a Delhi tour. We were shown a video initially which termed ION trading as Innovative and Integrated, and I have to say, it was. ION trading also invests a lot in its employees which indicates that they value their people and also their work culture a lot. The ION day, not just taught me a few lessons for life but also helped me expand my circle, adapt to new environment, develop skills that were necessary for survival in the corporate world etc. They never let us feel that we were in a place completely unknown to us. Overall the journey of ION trading was an iconic fusion of fun, enjoyment, learning and work. I will never regret failing to get through the ION day process, but for sure I will cherish the memories and experiences that the ION day had in store for us.        

It was immense pleasure being a part of ION day and a hearty thank you to ION trading for giving me this opportunity.

CHEERS TO ION DAY!!