Part A: Why Aditya Birla Group is big in your life?
Moving to a different city is always a scary nightmare. More so when you belong to a small city and have got the opportunity to work in the tier 1 city like Bengaluru. Yes, this was my situation when I got my first job offer, soon after my graduation and I had to join the office located in Bengaluru. I had to report to the company’s office in Electronics City within a week. It gave me very less time to make all the arrangements and make the shift. My parents added to my worries by asking a number of questions whose answer I too didn’t know. I just bought some formals, packed my bags and left to start a new chapter in my life. The company gave me accommodation for a week so I had ample time to make arrangements and look for a decent flat. But the next thing on my mind was how to buy the necessary items. There was a long list comprising of things like bedding, kitchen cookware and what not and a tight budget. One of my colleagues in the office recommended me to go to More store where I will be able to find all the items as per my requirement.
The very next weekend before making the shift to my new apartment I went to the store. I was in awe of the mammoth scale of the store and the variety of the brands it had. The product placement in the store was strategically done so as to minimize the customer movement and customer service executives were present on every aisle to assist the customers and guide them. Within a span of 90 minutes, I was able to complete my list and went to the counter. The payment counter was also state of the art, designed to reduce the waiting time. My overall experience was astonishing. It makes me wonder now, how a company that started its legacy more than 150 years ago, has become so pivotal part of our lives that we barely notice them, but they are always there, looking after our day to day requirements.
Part B: How you overcame challenges to achieve your ambitions in life so far?
“Overcoming the unexpected”
After working in one of the leading IT companies in the country for a couple of years, I decided to go for higher education. The road was tough ahead, as preparing for top B-school is not easy and doing that while you are working is itself add on to the challenge. It was hard to get time on weekdays and only weekends were available for the preparation. With only a few months remaining in the entrance exam, I starting devoting more and more time for the preparation. Suddenly I was put on a different project in the company, which made my situation much worse. The new project was crucial for the company and consumed much of my time. I was starting to lose the sight of my ambition of studying in a top b school in the country.
One day while having a talk to my manager about my situation he told me how I needed to manage time and that helped me overcome the challenges that came my way. It motivated me to rethink my strategy, the time was short and a lot had to be done. I started by utilizing the time I wasted while commuting to the office. It took me around 30-40 minutes to reach the office by cab, depending upon the traffic. I downloaded an app on my mobile through which I was able to access material and give short mocks while I was commuting in the cab. I started managing my work more efficiently and planned my meetings with clients in such a way that gave me some more free time during my work hours which I used to for my preparation. Finally, the D -Day came, I kept myself calm and gave my best. I scored well and was able to fulfill my dream to study in one of the top b school in the country.