Abhishek's career move at Payeasy
XAT 2026 · DM · Medium · Decision Making
Passage / data set
Read the following scenario and answer the THREE questions that follow.
Abhishek, a student of a prestigious business school, gets interested in Payeasy, a fintech firm, after listening to a pre-placement talk by Neha Bhupati, a senior leader at the firm, and an alumna of the same business school. He joins Payeasy through campus placement. Neha plays a key role in recruiting him, seeing great potential in him.
Abhishek starts working in the digital payments vertical under Mukesh Kumar, who reports directly to Neha. Mukesh, Abhishek's direct superior, is impressed by his performance and rates him very high in the first year. Abhishek understands that if Mukesh consistently rates him as "Excellent Performer" for the second year as well, his chances of getting promoted will improve. (The organization promotes individuals who are consistently rated as "Excellent Performer" for at least two years by their immediate superiors.)
Over time, Abhishek realizes that the learning opportunities in his current role have plateaued. Given his longstanding interest in blockchain and cryptocurrency, he starts exploring opportunities in that vertical within the company. This change is not possible without the consent of his immediate boss, Mukesh. When Abhishek brings this up with Mukesh, he acknowledges Abhishek's curiosity and enthusiasm; however, he emphasizes how Abhishek's competencies fit him rightly into the current vertical. Mukesh assures Abhishek of more challenging assignments in the future, provided he remains a good team player. Further, he shares his skepticism about the long-term prospects of cryptocurrency. Hence, Mukesh politely declines Abhishek's request.
Question 1 of 3
Abhishek is not happy with Mukesh's decision. Abhishek is aware that he needs to be in the good books of Mukesh for his performance rating. However, he is passionate about cryptocurrency; hence, he considers approaching Neha directly to discuss a possible move. Neha can take such decisions independently, but Neha and Mukesh usually see eye to eye on most issues.
Which of the following reasons, IF TRUE, will BEST encourage Abhishek to reach out to Neha regarding his desired change to a different vertical?
- A.
Neha is known to Abhishek as they are alumni of the same business school.
- B.
Mukesh is infamous for not letting his team members go to any other vertical.
- C.
A colleague got her vertical changed by presenting her case to the higher-ups, bypassing her immediate boss.
- D.
Abhishek strongly feels that he cannot continue for one more year in his current role.
- E.
The crypto team is always running short of talented employees.
Question 2 of 3
Dissatisfied with Mukesh's response, Abhishek reaches out to Neha for a vertical change. Though she listens to Abhishek, she shares her displeasure with the request. In fact, she brushes his request off, telling him to resign from Payeasy if it does not charm him anymore. Abhishek gets worried as he has a huge educational loan to pay, and such a departure will put him in a fix.
Later that day, in one of the team meetings, Abhishek feels ignored as he is cut twice while he tries to share his project progress. Thereafter, he starts believing that Mukesh is not happy with him. This fear appears to get substantiated when Mukesh assigns an important project to another team member, which Abhishek wants to work on. His fear keeps growing regarding Neha and Mukesh not being happy with him. However, when he receives his annual rating, he finds out that Mukesh has rated him as the "best performer" of the year, based on his previous year's performance.
Abhishek wants his relationship with Mukesh to be back on track, as it was, before he reached out to Neha.
Which of the following options will BEST enable Abhishek rebuild his relationship with Mukesh?
- A.
Abhishek should stay low profile for some time as time heals the past.
- B.
Abhishek should double down on his performance to demonstrate his value to the team.
- C.
Abhishek should request Mukesh for an open discussion to get rid of any misunderstandings.
- D.
Abhishek should request Neha to help him in rebuilding his relationship with Mukesh.
- E.
Abhishek should reach out to Mukesh and apologize for his perceived immaturity.
Question 3 of 3
After two years at Payeasy, Abhishek applies to a competing firm and is called for an interview. The hiring manager, Amit, is impressed with Abhishek and tells him that he will take the final decision to select Abhishek in a day or two. After the interview, Amit wants to know more about Abhishek since Abhishek will be leading a team of 15 people and his people management skills are very important for the team's success. He calls Mukesh, Abhishek's superior. Mukesh is Amit's classmate who Amit trusts immensely. Mukesh informs Amit that though Abhishek is a good talent, he questions his superiors too often. Mukesh further shares that such a behavior makes it difficult for the superiors to manage the team.
Amit needs a good talent, but is confused if he should recruit Abhishek, given Mukesh's assessment of Abhishek.
Which of the following data will BEST enable Amit to take a decision on Abhishek's recruitment?
- A.
Amit's organization is very democratic, where people are encouraged to share their critical views without any fear of consequences.
- B.
Two years back, Mukesh discouraged Amit from offering a role to one of his subordinates, who later went to a competing firm and is now a star performer there.
- C.
Payeasy has been seeing attrition of good talent to Amit's organisation in the recent past due to the high salaries that Amit's organization offers.
- D.
Mukesh is known to be very possessive of his subordinates.
- E.
Abhishek was kind and cooperative throughout the selection process of Amit's organization.
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