Kapil has been chosen as one of the top 50 most employable candidates across schools and programmes in India for the Class of 2016. He has one of the best 50 profiles among the candidates who participated in the Best50 competition.

About me

Quite often I have come across people quoting “Two roads diverged in in the yellow wood and I took the one less travelled by”. And I simply laugh it off, as I never had the luxury of choosing my path. Coming from very humble backgrounds, I had only one option: to struggle and to struggle hard till I succeed. Being from the rural hinterlands of Haryana, there have been times when I have been called rude, uncivilized, crass, brash etc. and have been written off in the so called “educated circles of our society”, but such things have always inspired me to work even harder and prove my mettle to the world. Despite studying in a vernacular school till 6^th standard, I made it a point to excel academically once I moved on to the ‘elite’ educated social circle. The first time I made my critics shut up was when I topped Bhiwani district in class 10^th CBSE board exams, and since then, such incidents have been oft repeated. During my B.Tech at NIT Kurukshetra, I was the academic topper throughout and consequently graduated with a CGPI of 9.6/ 10 and was awarded Institute gold medal as well for being the best performer in academics. Also, the ultimate proud moment for me and my family arrived when I was awarded the OP Jindal scholarship for leadership and excellence by Mr. Pranab Mukherjee.

Despite being a recluse in my primitive years, during the college, I made sure that I participate in a lot of extracurricular activities and winning just happened. Extracurricular activities aside, my core competency lied in understanding human behavior and managing people. During my undergrad period, I led a team of 117 volunteers as the Leader of NSS, NITK chapter, thereby contributing my bit for the greater good of society Also, I was a part of the core organizing team of our National level cultural fest Confluence.

After my graduation, I worked with Ashok Leyland ltd. In Sales, Service & Marketing, wherein me and my team revived the performance of Ashok Leyland Commercial Vehicles division and established it as the second largest player in the Vidarbha market, breathing down the neck of the largest behemoth in the Indian Commercial Vehicles industry; and also succeeded in being market leaders in certain segments; and that too in a period of just one year. During my MBA, I interned with P&G in their CBD division, wherein I rejigged the entire target setting and tracking procedure in Modern retail. One of the most significant achievements of my MBA life is placing a batch of 360 students in record 2.5 days in my capacity as a Placement Representative, XLRI. I have also qualified for the penultimate round of ABG ET Young leader programme, wherein I competed against 13000 students from premier B-schools and have also been a runner up in the Campus finale of Mahindra War Room.

Through my bitter sweet experiences in life, I have realized a key take away, “You always will keep on contemplating about things till the time you decide to get down to do them.” Even the smartest of people miss out on their goals sometimes just because they tend to procrastinate.

What have you done in your life that you are the proudest of?

Fortunately, enough for me, there have been quite a few incidents in my life which make me feel proud coupled with a placid sense of achievement. The topmost memory in my list would be the moment I was honored by Mr. Pranab Mukherjee for winning the OPJEMS scholarship and the same was published in various publications of the Jindal group. Watching my parents’ unbridled exuberant expressions after this achievement is one of the best memories of my life that I would keep on reminiscing about forever.

Also, my association with 'Slum Soccer', a Non-Profit Charitable organisation, which works towards improving the living standards of the underprivileged, homeless and slum-dwelling children by empowering them through football, building self-sufficient communities; is something that I am extremely proud of; and there is still a lot that I want to do for that very cause.

Meet the rest of India’s 50 Most Employable Management Graduates from the Class of 2016 here.

kapil grover

'The Uncoronated Underdog' - Kapil Grover - Best 50 - Class of 2016