In our list of India's Best 50 - the 50 Most Employable Students from the Class of 2021-23, we feature MBA students who have walked that extra mile and done that little more to stand out! One of those featured in today's story, Aditya Chandak, has shown an incredible amount of passion to achieve his true potential. Read on and find out his story!
The following are Aditya Chandak’s set of responses to a questionnaire floated amongst MBA graduates to determine the top 50 Most Employable MBA Graduates of the Class of 2022. Amongst the massive number of entries and responses being evaluated, Aditya's story and profile stood out. Here's his story in his own words.
Name an instance where you wanted something and went out of your comfort zone to achieve it OR Tell us the biggest risk you have taken so far in your life.
Stepping out of your comfort zone happens at the moment you least expect. I had taken the biggest risk of my life at the moment when I decided to pursue my MBA. Along with my graduation, I had completed several certifications in the field of 3D visualization & I had taken up a full-time job in the same domain post my graduation. I had gained an experience of 24 months in that field & I was quite comfortable in that field. I was climbing the ladders of success & was pretty comfortable at the work I was doing. Being adept with the current happenings at that time, I sensed a fear of automation looming at my industry in the near future. AI was becoming so robust that it had the potential to remove the human factor, increases efficiency, and improves productivity. I somehow felt that the AI in the future would be so strong that it can replace the work which I was manually doing with some specific commands given by my employer. I talked to several seniors in the same industry to understand the future of the field in which I was working & to no surprise I received mixed opinions leaving me to the same difficulty. Here I stood at a conundrum of whether to be in my comfort zone & continue with the way it was happening or make an industry shift as I was sure the human element cant be completely ignored. After weeks of continuous thinking, I decided to leave my well-paying job & seek to pursue a higher degree of education. As I was sure, management can't be left in the hands of robots as it requires human intelligence. Being an average student throughout my life, it was very challenging for me to take this step & aim to complete my MBA from one of the top B-schools of India. It may end to be a terrible debacle for me if I wouldn't get what I wanted & wasted crucial years of my life for which I could have easily achieved a promotion at my earlier job & reached a new position. Still, I gathered all of my courage & after 2 years of strenuous studies & multiple failures, I was able to crack JBIMS & secure AIR 24 in the CMAT exam. If I had to take my admission in any random B-school in India then I would have repented on my decision for my entire life.
When was the last time someone relied on you? OR What did you do which was purely for someone else - a truly selfless act?
It was in the last month, for one of my close acquaintances. It was clocking 2 AM in the night & she was leaving her office & the streets had a history of not being safe at the night. She was a bit scared of traveling alone even in a cab. In order to feel comfortable, she instantly called me & asked to be on the call for the entire duration till the time she reaches her home. On hearing about the scenario, rather than being on the call, I got up from my deep sleep & went to her office to pick her up because I felt being on the call even will not be safe for her. I tried reaching their as early as possible, picked her up & dropped her home safely. She relied on me, because I had promised that I shall always be there no matter what & she can truly trust me.
Tell us about a time when you disagreed with an opinion/idea/decision. What did you do about it?
I had a lot of conflicts with my former boss. We had a totally different philosophy when it came to acquiring new customers, and closing deals. I considered some of their sales techniques unethical, and I shared my feedback with them. But they cared only about making as much money as possible, and dismissed any suggestions I made. Honestly, I could not work for them anymore. It's fine for me to disagree about minor things, but telling lies to customers is really not my cup of coffee. I tried to change things, I explained everything, without emotions, trying to understand their perspective. But it didn't work out, I tried to the best level possible as I could.I tried connecting with other managers from different departments & persuaded to make him to understand the unethical practices. But eventually, at the end, I decided to leave the business, as I can't work in an environment that stands against my ethics
What is the one thing you can claim to have some level of expertise or depth of knowledge in - it could be anything - a subject, a sport, a hobby, a venture, an initiative that has led you to do deep work in that field?
HANDLING MONEYIt is one of the things which has pulled my interest from 10th standard. I belong to that category who likes being frugal & saving money wherever possible & investing it for my future self.I've devised a particular strategy & a ratio for my spending & investments. I've invested in 60% of the avenues available for investment & to date have developed a corpus that I'm sure my spendthrift friends would have generated 10 years from now. This has helped me understand the value of money & how it plays an important factor at various stages of your life. Along with that, it has helped me learn in depth the various avenues of investment & how one can one multiply its investment in the long term.
If 10 Million Dollars (approximately INR 75 Crores) is given to you to use it any way you deem fit what would you do with this corpus?
If I am given that sort of amount, here is how I would allocate it. First of all, I will split it into two sections of 5:3:2:1. The 50% would be directly invested in the assets to the best of my knowledge & these funds shall be later utilized for the better overall development of my upcoming family. For the 50% segment, I will allocate 15% to low-risk, 25% to medium-risk, and 15% to high-risk investments, spread across equity markets, money markets, commodities, and real estate. With the final 15%, I would invest in potential high-growth Indian start-ups.
30% of the corpus shall be used to fund my idea which I had always dreamt of converting into actuality helping society & making their lives more convenient. 20% shall be used for the wants of my life & help me improve the standard of my living. Through this, I want my family to have a much better standard of living than what were currently having.
The remaining 10% shall be used as a donation to an NGO. 50% of which shall be used for the pets & the remaining 50% shall be used for orphans. The underlying emotion is to contribute to all the entities that have helped me develop as an individual.
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As per government tax payers' data and our assessment, only about 6,00,000 Indian taxpayers earn an annual 'salaried' income of INR 30 lacs or above. And only 11,00,000 Indian taxpayers earn a 'total' income of INR 30 lacs or more.
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