Every aspirant has a different story, different needs, and different circumstances. But the hustle remains the same; here is a success story of alumni and his perspective regarding India’s toughest exam for admission in top B-schools of our country.
During my second year of Engineering at MNNIT Allahabad, I developed an interest in research and decided to do a master's in technology. I started developing my profile to get an admit from a top university in the USA. I was fortunate to bag a research internship with the esteemed Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore, where I got to work on some of the path-breaking projects with some of the best brains in the country. I remember interacting with several top-notch professors. But one conversation is significantly etched in my mind when I talked to a professor who also had a very
successful start-up. He told me that it's good that you are learning technology and research but if you want to be successful, make sure that you learn about the nuance of business too. I didn't know at that time that I would end up choosing the same path a few years down the line.
I was in the final year of my Engineering and got placed with one of the biggest automobile firms in India – Tata Motors. I had thought that after working for 1-2 years in R&D, I would go on and pursue my masters. Being an Engineer, I was expecting I will be joining as a GET in a technical role. But as the protagonist in the movie Forrest Gum, says, Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you are going to get, Indeed, a big surprise was waiting for me. I was posted in the Sales and Marketing division as territory Sales Manager based out of Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. I was adrift in the cloud of alien marketing jargon. It was not that I did not like my new job, but I had never grappled like this. For the first time, I realized what moving out of my comfort zone means.
But slowly, I started learning about it. And to my surprise, within a few months, I learned quite a bit about sales and marketing. Exposure to the business side of things changed many things for me. It was the stint that piqued my interest in the business. It was by that time I had decided that I would pursue the same path. Later I moved to a new role in Tata Motors, where I was based out of Pune Plant, where I handled the role of cost engineer. The role gave me exposure to finance and operations.
After moving to Pune, I had started preparing for CAT. The journey was not easy. After working for 12 hours in the office, I would return and give a three-hour CAT mock daily. And then spend the next two hours analyzing the mistakes. I prepared for CAT for almost five months, and I had the same routine. I did nothing other than giving TIME and IMS mocks. I used to read the newspaper daily, though, which helped me in improving my RC as well as helped me later in my interviews with B- Schools. The interviews from B-schools were mostly around my work experience, my academic background, and why I wanted to do an MBA. Finally, all things fell in place, and I got admission to one of the top B-schools in the country. To say the least, the past few years have been a roller coaster ride for me. But the journey so far has been very enriching and rewarding. I am learning continuously and hope to do so in the future as well. As I am writing this, I am on my corporate internship working with the biggest FMCG firm in the world. MBA has truly changed my Life!
Inspiring story, isn’t it? But, was it all possible without external guidance? Surely not. Like
Eklavya had Dronacharya, Arjun had Krishna and Chandragupta had Kautilya, every aspirant needs a mentor in his life, for the strategic planning, for his expertise, for right guidance. Not only that at times mentors become your biggest cheerleader, they inspire you, they motivate you to bring out the best version of you. Mentors make you realize what your true potential is. But before that let us discuss a few essential things.
What is mentoring?
Mentoring is all about guiding a young mind and showing him the right path, which coincides with an aspirant’s goals. It is a supportive relationship, it can be formal as well as informal he should be able to push you and drive you out of your comfort zone. It should be noted that active mentoring is what most mentees seek from their mentors, nobody likes to be neglected or side-lined. A good mentor is one who can push your seventies and eighties to the nineties. If you look around yourself you find small
coaching centers with less crowd is the place where you can find real mentors. Big coaching centers in metropolitan cities have just become a fish market and it is practically not possible to mentor each and every student. A mentor must have expertise in his field, he should be master at his craft therefore prior research is really crucial and contacting seniors who have experienced it. Not only offline you can also find mentors online there are various platforms for the same, obviously, the interaction wouldn’t be personalized but then it all boils down from person to person, if you are one of those who
catch things easily then it is just a cakewalk for you. At times it can get really difficult for you if you are preparing all on your own with the help of self-study but if you have a mentor by your side who you can look up to at times of difficulty, he can guide you through dark paths.
Launch your Graphy