Part A -This is a story about my journey from a suburb to reach one of the premier management institutes of the country. The start of my story is very similar to that of thousands of engineers around the country. A meritorious student performs well in the entrance exam and joins an engineering college. So I joined Jalpaiguri Government Engineering College in the department of Electronics and Communication engineering. My college was in North Bengal and it’s location was it’s biggest disadvantage. It failed to attract good teachers and companies. The competition for placement was immense as we all knew we had only a limited chance. I will fast forward to the day of my interview. I stood nervous outside the interview room, dressed in a set of formals purchased from Pantaloons, specially for that occasion. My first set of branded formals from Peter England. As I was finally called for the interview, I approached with apprehension. I was really nervous but grew steady as the interview progressed. I did well and was selected. I breathed a sigh of relief.
A special value was attached to the pair of formals I wore on my interview day. It was my lucky dress. I wore them again on my first day of job. The nervous engineer slowly but steadily transformed into a confident consultant as the days went by. As a consultant it was important for power dressing. I purchased formals from Louis Philippe and Van Heusen. It reinforced a sense of confidence. In my quest to gain specialized knowledge I appeared for CAT. Guess what I wore on the day of my CAP interview? It was the same pair of formals from Peter England which I have kept preserved. I cleared the CAP round and got admitted to IIM Ranchi. Aditya Birla group in a way became an intrinsic part of my journey.
Part B – As a working professional I faced numerous challenges. To me these were excellent learning opportunities. I would like to share an experience from my work. I was effectively a fresher then, having joined PricewaterhouseCoopers Pvt Ltd just 3 months back. I was receiving training from a senior whom I was to replace in the project. The technology was new to me and I had to process a lot in the short time span. I never understood the gravity of the situation I would soon find myself into. After completion of the brief training I had to travel to client location to demonstrate the reports that we had developed. My senior had conveyed that all the reports were checked and I would just have to present them to the client. However as the UAT sessions began I realised that none of the data appeared correctly in the reports. I was directly in the firing line. As my colleague tried to figure the data discrepancy, I had to ensure the correct information flowed into the reports. The reports were transactional in nature, refreshing every 15 minutes. Testing them was no easy task. The intense pressure of the situation moulded me. I started to become less overwhelmed by the magnitude of the task and focused on fixing small blocks. Slowly and steadily the data started to match.
Once everything was in place I had to make a presentation to the engaging partner from client side. It had to be flawless as successful go-live of the project depended upon it. It was my chance to shine as my manager had given me a rare opportunity and I needed to prove myself. The presentation was delivered flawlessly and it impressed the client. In a short time I had made my mark. Guess what I wore on the day of the presentation? It was my old pair of trusted formals from Peter England!
