Tell us about yourself, your educational and professional background.
I am Chakshu Kalra. Born and brought up in Delhi. I am an Electrical Engineer, did my graduation from IP University in 2011 and my post-Graduation from IIM Ranchi in PGDHRM in 2016. Before joining IIM Ranchi, I was working with Schneider Electric as Design Engineer for three years. I received Best Outgoing Student Award and Book Prize for securing 5
th Rank. I will be joining RBL Bank as HR. I along with a friend started ‘Khanak Jewelry’ –a Quilling Accessories online store.
What attributes are essential for a candidate to thrive in a career in HR?
To build a career in HR it is important to be Humble, to know the business, to have zeal to learn, to be adaptable, approachable and innovative. Also, HR involves dealing with people who belongs to different backgrounds, different personalities therefore you need to be creative & innovative to deal with them.
What are the best aspects of having a career in HR?
Human resource is the biggest asset for any organization and as an HR you have a role in renovating the systems and process in order to extract the best out of them. HR function started as an operational role and now it has transformed into more of a strategic role. Hence you have a wide scope of learning, innovation, improvement, which I think is best about being in HR.
What part of your experience in your B-school has been most helpful in your career?
I tried to utilize every opportunity that came my way and this helped a lot in my all-round development. I was involved in committees, competitions, academics, events, my start up, etc. The most helpful of all was Khanak Jewelry. We started as a hobby to make quilling earrings and from there we tried to take it to another level where we started to sell it. We initially focused on the college students as our prime audience and gradually expanded it to different cities. We took workshops of the staff in the hostel premises, so that they can also learn and use this as a source of income. And I am happy to say that we succeeded to some extent in achieving that. And now we are working to take Khanak a step ahead.
What did you miss out on doing/trying at your B-school?
I think we should have started Khanak earlier rather than in the last few months. It would have provided us with a better insight on what went wrong, what was right, what needs improvement, etc. But I think MBA is all about trying, learning and breaking your own shells, this is something I surely did.
What advice would you like to give to the forthcoming batches of your B-school?
Try everything during your MBA, no matter whether you succeed in it or not but taking that first step is very important. It brings to you a huge amount of learning and that is why you are there for. It is good to know theories and concepts but their practical application is something which is very important. So, don’t just stick to books, participate in competitions, be part of events, do something apart from just studying.
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