Written by Utsav Gandhi

January 3rd, 2017

AUSTIN, TX – Ram Mohan, a student from Varanasi, India, is currently enrolled in graduate school at the University of Texas at Austin. Having completed most of his two-year master’s program in mechanical engineering, he is now gearing up for job interviews for internships and full-time positions. Like other immigrants before him, he hopes to be a step closer towards realizing his and his parents’ dreams.

What he has realized though, is that simply having a strong grasp over his mechanical engineering subject matter expertise is not enough – instead, he has understood that “small-talk” in corporate America regarding weather and American football is crucial to start every conversation.

Manifesting itself in every office elevator ride, in restaurants in conversation with servers, at grocery stores before checking out, at the bus stop while waiting with fellow passengers, Mr. Mohan knows he must possess a working knowledge of the daily and weekly weather forecast as well as the current state of affairs regarding the Longhorns and Spurs if he is to gain any headway and score “brownie points” with interviewers.

Mr. Mohan prepares by fervently updating the Weather Channel and mentally practicing his conversions from Celsius to Fahrenheit, as well as keeping a running loop of SportsCenter on his TV whenever he has nothing else to do.