July 21, 2020 - I was calling it a day at
Sovereign Wallet Networks and typing my progress for the day on Slack. When an email ping distracted me, it was titled -
“IIM Jammu Chairperson”. I carefully clicked on the notification. To my surprise, I had received an admission offer letter from the
Indian Institute of Management Jammu for the
MBA 2020-22 program. Finally, I got in!
Back story
- April 2020, MBA admission offer letters were circulated by most of the IIMs. I had received none but only waitlisted for IIM Jammu and IIM Visakhapatnam. I was a little disappointed but to fill the void I started pursuing my passion for UX designing. Gave numerous interviews and finally landed a job at Sovereign Wallet Network as a UX designer. The work was fascinating - I was working in the blockchain and cryptocurrency sector. I thoroughly enjoyed the design autonomy at work. My designer friends reading this article will cherish the importance of design autonomy at work! There was a learning curve associated with the job at SWN, but I was able to quickly come on par with my colleagues. Constant communication and transparency at work helped me with quick on-boarding. Within one month at SWN I was able to present a prototype for a brand new concept in the field of the blockchain (Self Sovereign Identity -
Read more here).
The admission offer letter brought with it a feeling of happiness and dilemma. I was thrilled to embark upon my MBA journey but I was reluctant to leave behind a job that I worked hard to secure. It was a difficult choice but my business mindset told me that I should pursue an MBA and take up this opportunity. Working in corporate for two years had helped me realize that I was lacking when it came to understanding businesses. Online platforms were widely available to provide academic concepts to business, management, and administration. But they lacked the soul of B-school - the community at the institute. People with diverse backgrounds discussing their perspectives to handle crises and situations. After all, the person behind the machine is the most critical resource.
July 23, 2020 - I embarked on my MBA journey. My first task was to accept the offer and pay my fees for the first trimester. It was the best feeling ever because I paid my fees from my savings. An elaborate registration process followed the fees payment process. Every step was exciting and enchanting. I may be biased here because I had paid for my own education. Once on-boarded on IIM Jammu virtual classroom program (due to ongoing pandemic). I was quickly absorbed into MS teams, email, and WhatsApp communication channels.
The first feel of a B-schools’ most dreaded deadlines I got was in the form of an interview process for student committees at IIM Jammu. Starting with the Placement Committee, Disha Committee, and Industry Interaction Cell. We had course introductory classes in the morning, and interview processes for committees at night stretching into late nights or early mornings. I remember my round three for the Placement Committee, I was called in for an interview at 3 AM and it was my birthday! Giving interviews on your birthday is a weird feeling, believe me. I thank my lucky stars - I sailed through the selection process at the Placement Committee. It was one of a kind experience for me. The entire process was filled with thrill, excitement, uncertainty, and surprises. I thank all my seniors at IIM Jammu to help me through the process and we bonded very well with our seniors. Even when we were connecting virtually!
August 3, 2020 - Day 1 for classes at IIM Jammu - all connected virtually. “Am I audible?”, “Can you see my screen?”, “I am having some network issues, can you repeat” was new-normal now. It was a brand new experience for most of us. I had my own reservation when it came to attending classes online. After all, I joined MBA for the sole purpose of interacting face-to-face with my faculty members and student body to learn from their experiences. But I was in for a surprise. I found out that IIM Jammu had made the entire process of B-school learning seamlessly even if we were connected remotely. I was able to join classes from the convenience of my bed, quickly jump between classes (kiddos MS Teams and Google Meets), interact with guest lecturers, and approach authorities at the campus seamlessly. My preference for Virtual Classroom grew over the Physical Classroom program. Workload and time management had come efficient and effective because traveling time was removed from the picture.
I am enjoying and learning a lot at IIM Jammu. But I would like to give my readers some pointers which will help you get most out of your MBA programs -
- Join a student committee, preferably the Placement Committee, which will help you directly get involved in all the crucial processes inside and outside the campus.
- If you are an experienced professional help your batch-mates, especially freshers, understand the functionality and latest job trends in the industry.
- Showcase the skills you learned during your tenure at corporate.
- Be open to learning, unlearning, and relearning. By utilizing your skills on campus while upgrading the skills with time.
- Explore all the different fields - register for all webinars inside and outside your MBA program. I usually register for all the guest lectures and webinars conducted by IIM Ahmedabad through their LinkedIn page and YouTube channel.
- Be active on Dare2Compete (Open the link here)
If you want the most crucial take away from this article. Then I would say,
upskill yourself every day. Now that you have an IIM tag attached to your profile we must not stop here. We must keep making higher goals and work towards them every day. All the best and happy learning!
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