Time and again, with our research within the InsideIIM community and outside, we’ve observed that Consulting is one of the most preferred career options for MBA students and graduates. It promises a high-growth career, whopping salary figures & extraordinary exposure through working with CXOs and top-level executives. But with all these lucrative and hard-to-miss benefits of the job, there also comes a high-stress environment, frequent travel and a negatively tilted work-life balance that most Consultants complain of. And the truth is, it’s sometimes hard to deal with it.
Riya Chhabra has seen this all and came out a winner but with a very unusual journey! From earning a B.A. from DU to a PG Diploma from Indian Institute of Mass Communication to a couple of stints at JP Morgan Chase and Milaap, a social enterprise; all with an inspiring & unique tale. She attempted the GMAT for the 2nd time, albeit a successful one this time and landed at INSEAD. From here on, Riya worked at McKinsey for more than 4 years in New York and London before joining the Growth Strategy team at Facebook at London, this February.
Watch this candid and tell-all conversation where Riya reveals the how she maintained her work-life balance despite being in a stressful and highly competitive environment. She also mentions the impact of a high-growth career with frequent international travel and relocation and how she navigated her personal life on that front. The early stage of Riya’s corporate career was a time when there were only a few women at leadership positions and the corporate world, unknowingly, still viewed women managers through a gendered lens. Here, she talks about how she dealt with it on a personal level and how things are changing.
*This video was shot in July 2020 when Riya was working with McKinsey. Currently, she works in the Growth Strategy team at Facebook in London.