In our list of India's Best 50 - the 50 Most Employable Students from the Class of 2020-22, 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, Jai Shrivastava, has shown an incredible amount of passion to achieve his true potential. Read on and find out his story!
The following are Jai Shrivastava’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, Jai'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.
I remember this instance from my school days, where we used to have this competition - Best Athlete of the school, every year for senior secondary students. I was eligible for the same in the academic year 2013-14. The competition tests one's athletic capabilities and had 7 different athletic events. Winning this competition was a dream for almost every student interested in sports including myself. I knew there were several other participating students who had higher stamina and strength than I had. Hence, I started my practice 2 months before the competition. I ran before and post my classes and did several endurance and strength exercises at odd times. Balancing my IIT-JEE preparation, I didn't miss a single day of not working out. Finally, I stood 1st in 4 of the 7 events, winning the Best Athlete for the year 2013-14 over 100 participants. This incident was long back but has given me an important life lesson - Set a goal, work hard and go all out to achieve it.
When was the last time someone relied on you? OR What did you do which was purely for someone else - a truly selfless act.
During our summer internship period, one of my friends who was interning at Patanjali Ayurved as a marketing intern; went through a tough time for a week. The week was crucial as he had to submit a mid internship deck to his manager. He narrated this entire scenario with me and I took the responsibility for this submission. He provided with necessary documents, details and the things that he has worked on over the past few weeks. I managed to complete the deck and showed the draft to my friend. After a few changes, I shared the final deck with him which he then submitted to his manager. I think this was a truly selfless act as he still owes me a treat at our college canteen.
Tell us about a time when you disagreed with an opinion/idea/decision. What did you do about it?
I have always believed in the idea of brainstorming with a group. At MICA, I am part of Team Interface 2020-22 ( Brand management and PR Wing of MICA ), where we formulate many short & long term strategies, execute campaigns, and work on several ideas throughout the year. That said, I have always ensured to have a brainstorming session with the entire team before taking a final call on an idea. A brainstorming session is bound to have different opinions, thoughts, debates etc., and that is something I thoroughly enjoy. Recently, our committee was organizing a national level marketing competition for undergrads - Impetus 3.0, where we were doing an iPhone giveaway. We had a lot of ideas as to how to go about it, closing down to 3 ideas. A couple of members believed in an idea that I disliked and wasn't sure about going ahead. I asked for another round of discussion and gave inputs that everyone now agreed. We then tweaked the idea a little and executed it.
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 which has led you to do deep work in that field?
One domain in which I think a have some level of expertise is Podcast and podcasting. For more than a year, I have been hosting and producing MICAST - MICA's official podcast where we interview several eminent personalities across various fields like Business, management, films, sportsperson etc. To understand how people consume podcasts, I have studied several reports available on the internet and talked to leaders in the podcast industry. During this period, I have understood the how of end-to-end production of podcast episodes, curation of a season, and metrics to look for measuring the success of the podcast. In this span, I have also consulted and helped individuals & small brands to start their podcasts.
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?
10 Million Dollars is a considerable amount to have in a bank at the stage where I am currently in my life. As an MBA student, I would be more than happy to start my own company and apply all my learnings to it. For the same, I will take out 3-4% of the amount to hire people, scale and market the company. I will take some time out to understand how venture capitals or investors work in the start-up space and then participate by funding a few small start-ups and helping to grow. I have a lot of philanthropic initiatives in my mind that I wish to take forward. Still, it will require some years of experience & understanding of life and its benefits in society. Hence I will save the rest of the amount and use it when I think it is the right time.
Any Other Comments Or Factors You Would Like To Highlight About Yourself?
Based on the inputs and feedbacks from my fellow team members over the different periods of my life, I am a successful leader who can manage people, time & ideas very well. With the kind of work I have done in the past, like curating content for the Podcast shows or content for a national level magazine, I can develop different ideas and initiates. I love talking and interviewing people, and I have continued this passion for about four years now.
Read the stories of the other Employable Graduates here!