My Journey From An MBA Aspirant To A Corporate Professional

It would be no exaggeration to address a B-School as a mock-corporate house where aspiring managers are groomed to become future industry leaders. Considering this viewpoint, a B-School becomes a crucial turning point in a student’s life. It is a B-school that imparts and inculcates the corporate etiquette and prepares students to face the demands of a fast-paced corporate life. Having known this fact at the time of inspecting the B-School landscape, I carefully shortlisted a few B-schools across the country where this fact is taken care of. After all, I didn’t want to land up a job without having the know-how of conducting myself.

During my shortlisting process, Sri Balaji Society (SBS) was one of my top choices. SBS is one of the leading B-schools in Pune and is famous for its curriculum and discipline. I had heard this from many of my seniors at the UG College who had pursued PGDM at SBS. So, though a bit apprehensive about how I would fit in, I went ahead and applied anyway, worked towards the GD/PI rounds, and was selected too.

Dress to Succeed

The training at SBS started much before the batch began on 8th June in the form of guidelines that arrived in my inbox explaining how to dress from Day 1. On my first day at SBS, I was stunned at the sight of smartly dressed students. It was a great day for me as I understood the importance of smart, corporate dressing and the respect it commands. Never in my undergrad had I come across students or even professors dressed up in a corporate attire which is appealing to the eye and gives a sense of responsibility. This was my very first lesson during the MBA, “Dress how you want to be addressed”. Much of this learning came my way during the induction period at SBS which, according to me, was the golden period in terms of learning. The two-month induction included the Bridge-cum-skill up gradation workshops which ensured that all participants from different streams came to the same level of understanding before setting ahead on the management curriculum.

The Rigour Begins…

A brilliant way to introduce fresh graduates to the rigorous of professional life was the Induction Presentation. Students formed into a team of two made a presentation on a management topic chosen from a pool of topics given by the Institute. The presentations were made to a packed auditorium with more than 500 in the audience followed by Q&A round. Truly, that was an experience! It did not just help me shed my inhibitions but also developed the confidence of preparing presentations at a short notice and presenting to a huge audience.

The induction at SBS also included numerous guest lectures from industry professionals. Fun elements were introduced during this period in the form of Aiyaswamy Cultural Fest which was an opportunity to gel with fellow students (I can write another full-length article on this!)

This was just the first brush with the SBS way of grooming. With the current MBA program at SBS, I had numerous opportunities to groom myself and get familiar with the corporate world.

The CIP

Another such learning came during my Corporate Interface Program (CIP). We got an opportunity to interact with the corporate stalwarts and work with them for a day. This was an enriching experience for me as it taught me two important learning:

1. How to approach the organization
This scenario is the most crucial, as this is the initial stage of creating an impression. As it’s famously said, “The first impression is the last impression.” But carving the first impression was not a problem, thanks to the intensive training given to us before the CIP.

2. Corporate Communication
Interacting with the corporate leaders helped me understand how Corporate Communication actually takes place. How a person should deal with clients and handle the situation. I realized, “If you just communicate you can get by. But if you communicate skillfully, you can work miracles.”

To sum it up, CIP taught me the nitty-gritty of becoming a Corporate Professional. From a raw bundle of skills to becoming a person with polished interpersonal skills, I think I have come a long way. And, I have only SBS and my wise judgement of choosing the right B-school, to thank for it.

I believe that with the hand holding and grooming provided by SBS, I will be able to transform myself to be a Corporate Professional in the true sense.