Part A
Founded as a cotton trading firm in the year 1857, Aditya Birla Group of Companies has come a long way since to establish itself as India’s third largest private sector conglomerate with a revenue of approximately US$44.3 Billion in 2018. From supplying concrete to build massive structures like the Bandra-Worli Sea Link to supplying carbon for manufacturing tyres, ABG is a part of our lives in one or the other way.
We all know how big ABG is. If you ask me personally, two weeks ago, when I was still trying to find my feet in a completely new environment of a residential MBA, Pantaloons, to be precise Peter England came to my help. An MBA college has its own set of challenges and business formals is one of them. I thought I had found the perfect white shirt but I was wrong. To find a plain white shirt at such short notice was not easy. The first store I visited was Pantaloons, out of panic and frustration. My friends laughed at me, asked me to visit a branded store but I was out of time. That store was my last hope. To my surprise, more than anyone else’s, I got what I needed which is something quite rare when you are in a tier 2 city, desperately trying to get something so specific. Pantaloons has been my one stop for fulfilling my fashion needs since and I’ve never been disappointed.
Sustainability has been the talk of the day for quite a few years now. It was only recently when I was preparing for my CAT interviews that I started to read into various initiatives that companies take. I was inspired by the great job Aditya Birla Group has been doing. One such initiative is UltraTech Cement fulfilling more than 85% of its power requirement through captive thermal power plants and waste heat recovery systems. This sets an example for not only me as a future manager but also to other companies on how to help sustain our depleting resources. I hope to follow their leadership one day and help develop a better world.
Part B
Challenges in life can be both daunting and inspiring. It is about how you perceive them to be. I’ve always strived to improve myself and be a better version of who I was yesterday. I believe in learning from my mistakes and setting my own examples to draw inspiration when I feel low. One such instance I look back upon quite a few times is when I took up the challenge to break the record of highest sourcing of candidate profiles. The previous record was 22 and I managed to source 32 in a day. To source 32 profiles it takes at least 250+ cold calls and that was not even my core job responsibility. I was a business development executive but my boss wanted me to learn this since the company was a recruitment firm. Having stepped up to the challenge, I realised how determined and ambitious I was. Perseverance makes all the difference.
CAT 2018 was my second attempt since I did not perform as expected in CAT 2017. I was in a phase where I was disappointed with myself. The challenge was to not only do well in studies but to also get my self-confidence back. What made it even more difficult was achieving this seemingly impossible task while working. I had very little time to work on myself and become better at studying. I used to draw positive reinforcements from performing well at my workplace. I needed someone to talk to - a mentor - but since I rarely got time to interact with someone on a daily basis, I decided to be my own help. I got to know myself better. I did better than my target in CAT 2018 and fulfilled my dream of being a part of a prestigious B-school.
#IIMRaipur #ABGLPWooMe