Q1. What did you do before the IE IMBA program?
I have varied experiences in different domains such as Production & Industrial, IT, Telecom research, Analysis, trading and Entrepreneurship (Construction). During my Engineering course, I designed and fabricated a Super-Mileage vehicle for a competition held in USA, and garnered finance for the project. My team won two awards for our country. In appreciation for my good performance in the project, I was selected to undergo training in Rolls Royce for the Six Sigma program. Despite having no knowledge of Information Technology, I joined Infosys and got a CGPA of 4.5 on the scale of 5. I joined Evalueserve.com as an Analyst and was staffed into an analysis project right away. I performed exceptionally well in the project. The project won the “The best Analysis Award”.
In order to gain hands on entrepreneurship experience I joined my uncle’s plastic raw material trading business, which my uncle was trying to establish in Ghaziabad. Due to my experience in analysis, I was able to correctly gauge the possible reasons of his firm’s non-performance in the area. In addition to working in the capacity of Marketing Head (Ghaziabad), I devised an account maintenance system and took care of all the accounts myself. The revenue was shot up from nearly 0 to USD 1.5 million in 15 months. Encouraged by this experience, I formed my own real estate firm and within two years my company completed two projects in two different states with an annual sales turnover of USD 1.8 million.
Dorothy Height once said, “Without community service, we would not have a strong quality of life. It’s important to the person who serves as well as the recipient. It’s the way in which we ourselves grow and develop.” Engaging in socially responsible activities has added greater relevance to my existence.
Having learned about the dire need to save water from my father who works for Delhi Jal Board (Water Board), I have made concerted effort to do so at the personal level. Moreover, I joined the India Water Foundation and Pratham Memorial Trust and participated in various projects run by these privately run agencies to educate people about saving water. In a bid to save the environment from further degradation, I carried out a project as a Consultant in DHI Group. The project entailed building a green and smart city in Delhi/NCR region.
To educate people in rural areas, I associated myself with an Engineering College in Gajrola, U.P. I thoroughly enjoy my post of Executive member as it provides me a chance to interact with the college students. I share their experiences, queries, problems, and goals and try to help them in whichever way I can. I am also planning to introduce scholarship programs for financially poor students. I welcomed the opportunity to teach Math at an institute where I spent two fulfilling years teaching my favorite subject and in turn assimilating the fresh ideas of my students.
I did all this while without neglecting my study, work or family; my mental strength made it all possible. By doing my bit, I have developed strength of character. I never lose faith in myself because I feel that only if you have faith in yourself, can others have faith in you.
The learning curve developed through this exposure has invested me with the ability to distinguish myself in the experiential rigor of a world-class business school such as IE.
Q2. What made you decide to choose the IE IMBA program?
In order for me to look for greener pastures and enhance my knowledge base I decided to scour for world-class MBA programs. Initially I short-listed five B-schools but in the end chose IE’s IMBA program since it was a perfect fit between my expectations and an MBA’s offerings. According to me, IE IMBA program fosters creativity and promotes learning by ensuring culturally and functionally diverse class to enhance skills pertaining to decision-making, creativity, problem solving, and other leadership attributes.
Q3. What is your favorite part of IE’s IMBA program and/or club activity?
My favorite part of IE’s MBA program is the assortment of candidates from different regions, functions, qualifications and personalities. This unique amalgamation of students provides a unique opportunity for students who aspire to garner as much knowledge as possible during one year. The different perspective that one gets is imperative for a professional to hone his skills and become a complete manager. The other resplendent part of IE is its ability to congregate and encourage students to form clubs and manage them as per their discretion. The club meetings mean serious business when it comes to organizing important events such as IE Consulting day, IE Cricket tournament in MBAT etc. These events are managed and organized by students under the aegis of IE.
The two traits mentioned above have the potential to elevate a student’s confidence by biblical proportions and enhance his personality to fight the daily rigors of a business environment.
Q4. What has your experience been so far?
My experience so far has been more than what I had expected before joining IE. I have made some long life friends, networked a lot, worked on different business ideas, explored many options for a career, learned a lot from students who have worked in different functions such as consulting, physiotherapy, CFA, pharmacy, marketing, supply chain, operations et al. The learning garnered has been stupendous and unparalleled. I have seen vagaries of life in Madrid. With friends, I have laughed at my miseries, cried at my achievements, hung out across Madrid, ate tapas and did so many unforgettable things. I will miss this experience once I step again into corporate world.
Q5. What are your future plans after IMBA?
As mentioned in my previous answers, I explored so many options during IMBA program. Initially I wanted to return to my business but now I have decided to start a new venture in Madrid with my friends. I am not at liberty to disclose the business venture details but can provide you with a heads-up that it is related with the growing obesity in people. We are targeting the health sector since people are becoming more and more health conscious every day. It is a very lucrative sector and the our belief has recently been reinforced by Apple’s launch of iPhone 6 and Apple watch that primarily focuses on health. I am hopeful that our venture will kick off with a boom.
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