Should I Accept a Management Trainee Role at a New E-commerce Company? Seeking Advice on Future HR Transition

Seeking Advice on Job Offer in E-commerce

I am an MBA graduate in HR and Marketing (fresher) and have received an offer from a company called INDIACOD, which is set to launch next month. It is an online shopping company similar to Amazon, Flipkart, Jabong, and eBay. The position offered is for a Management Trainee.

Should I join this company? Please advise if the experience will be valuable in the future. I plan to work in this company for the next two years, but my primary interest lies in HR. Is it possible to transition to an HR role after two years?

Career Path for MBA Freshers

Any MBA fresher is usually taken in as a Management Trainee but is assigned to a department after a period of training. If you can, why not check out if you will be put into HR after the training period? This shouldn't be tough, presuming your major in MBA is HR (with minors being Marketing).

All the best.

Regards,
TS

Please request a meeting with your future employer to understand your role. Prepare for the discussion with a top-down approach, connecting the organization's vision to your daily tasks. Avoid raising doubts about what has been offered to you if it is still unclear.

Areas to Consider Asking About

- Reporting structure
- Information flow
- Overview of the processes you would be managing
- Day-to-day tasks
- Training and learning support at work
- Mentorship and opportunities for growth

Whether this role would help you become an HR professional in two years will depend on what you do during this time. Here's an article on Interviewee's questions https://www.citeman.com/12086-interv...albreaker.html that might help you organize your thoughts. Wishing you all the best!

Regards

Thank you, Tajsateesh and (Cite Contribution). HR & Marketing were both my majors. I didn't have any minors. Also, they told me that I have to handle all the operations, including Marketing, HR... everything.

Understanding Your Role and Reporting Structure

How big is the team, and who would you report to? Is your reporting manager a functional head or the organization owner? Get clarity on the tasks you would be required to deliver. Let them know you want to prepare and research to be able to deliver on them once you join. Try to keep fewer blind spots in terms of your work area. Remain keen to learn in every area they mention. Map the information flow and escalation matrix, as this will get you crystal clear about your role.

Starting with a Broad Role

Often, a role with a stretched list of tasks is the best role to start with, as it will give you an overview of most of the processes. Thereafter, you can pick the one you are most inspired by.

Small Team Dynamics

The team is very small. My reporting manager is also the organization owner. The job is mainly tilted towards marketing.

Honest Insights on Hybrid Roles in Small Firms

A small firm is looking to hire new talent for a revenue-oriented role. Talents are more billable when they work for a profit center rather than a cost center, which mostly includes support services.

The size of your firm doesn't necessitate maintaining a cost center; hence, it will create hybrid roles, incorporating deliverables from both cost and profit centers, respectively.

Your potential earnings can be high as you are likely to have a mix of both. Additionally, you get to work directly with the organization owner, which will enhance your maturity far more than any other role.

However, how far will this help you advance to the next level is what we need to brainstorm now. Let's take a hard look. If you leave without significant learning from the firm, managing tasks primarily in sales and marketing, does it help you become an HR professional? Honestly, no, it won't. The support function will remain a lesser priority in your job compared to the revenue-oriented one.

You may have experience in hiring, with HR responsibilities from entry to exit, even managing a team and their performance appraisals too! This is what we call HR Operations. This kind of exposure is different from any role as a recruiter or even line-HR at the entry level. Compared to any other role in the same spectrum, this prepares you to be an HR professional, but it doesn't get you there.

My suggestion is, if you don't have a job in hand, it's good to accept this offer. You will gain a lot of experience. Later, you can frame your experience and apply for HR roles. Even if you join a recruitment consultancy or a training firm, you will need to manage marketing and sales at almost every level. Marketing may not pose a problem until what you are selling at your job will.

Consider this role and then switch once you find the deliverables that interest you. Wish you all the best!

Regards,

Thank you for your question. I want to know if 2 years of experience will be enough to shift into a different functional area, or should I try beforehand? I am asking this because I have big plans ahead.

Yes, the organization is small, so you might have a greater view of the process, provided your reporting manager remains transparent. This organization will offer you many responsibilities, as the team size is likely to remain small. A start-up generally has a close-knit structure; hence, you will get to observe other functions very closely. The downside will, at most, be a brand that is not very widely known and future growth, if the leadership doesn't plan anything for you.

Consider Other Options

What are the other options you have? Look for roles that will not be pigeonholed with a cookie-cutter work function. That will essentially form a bottleneck to your learning.

Thank you. I want to know, will 2 years be enough experience to shift into a different functional area, or should I try beforehand? I am asking this because I have big plans ahead.

There is a famous saying: "Learn lessons from the past, mind the present, and the future will take care of itself." It's great to have big plans, but wise are those men and women who have a vision but are smart enough to take care of the current situation. Doing an MBA is good! As of now, you have a job offer, whether in a big group or small group. Well, there is nothing big or small; it's our mindset. If you analyze your current situation, you will make a sensible, wise decision.

If you have another offer, then compare. If none, then join with a positive attitude. But remember, the journey will be very difficult. Small Indian owner organizations are tough to work with as the owner often feels like a ruler and that he is the one paying the salary. Decision-making is centralized, and there is little to no delegation, but their expectations are very high. In theory, such Indian owners want performance like Google, Amex, Accenture, or Tata's, but when it comes to funds and giving back to employees, they are usually very conservative.

So, keep these points in mind. Just remember your final goal, and until then work hard with dedication and honesty. Yes, at least working for 2 years should be your motto. Who knows, your owner may be a great professional, and later you may start enjoying the work and would like to continue for another 5 years, 10 years. The advantage in such small organizations with a single owner is that your work is highlighted quickly, unlike in large corporates. In small single Indian owner start-ups, work is more, challenges are high, but you get recognition and get noticed soon. If you are spotted through your hard work and extra effort, the owner will take care of you. Rest assured.

So, just go ahead, dare to dream of a new dawn, step ahead, take a giant leap, have belief, knowledge, and skills. Most importantly, believe in yourself, and one day you will be an achiever!

Regards,
Rajesh Satyal
Head of Human Resources
[Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons]