The more IT companies give out mind boggling number of campus offers to engineering graduates, more the number of IT professionals who seem to have a sequential wish list – Bell the CAT, Sell the RAT, and Remove the tag (IIM).
IIM is more commonly referred to as the temple of learning management in India, but I am referring to it here as the “Indian IT Male”, thus IIM, a tag many want to get rid off. Selling the RAT is an exciting world, where an Instagram sells for “One Billion Dollars” and a FaceBook for “One Hundred Billion Dollars”. Belling the CAT is a stage where rumours follow all aspirants and finance aspirants follow only the word “Investment Banking”.
Having managed to reach the pedestal of a decent B-School, I started planning and digging into the realities of my career path as the next fin-wiz, but I soon realized that in the financial services sector selling even a baby RAT is a hot commodity. Beggars are not choosers and this is very true for a 3.5 year old “IIM”. But a strong will and a clear objective can turn the tide in your favour. The desire to be part of the financial services industry, which had been burning inside me for the past many years, helped me earn much more than expected.
Words like brand, stipend and location rule the world of Campus Placements. But what is never heard of is the most significant word “profile”. Based on my mindset and against the guidance of some of the experienced people around me, I grabbed an offer with a boutique advisory firm. My peers would talk about brands and stipend but I would speak of my profile with a start up private equity advisory firm in Chennai. For this, I would get expressions such as, “Dude, are you nuts!!!” Eight weeks into my internship, I felt that management schools should introduce a course which would help students be flexible in decision making. Not only would it help students make better career decisions but would also help their future organizations.
The excitement within me to begin my career in a field of my interest was in for a bumpy ride. Auto Rickshaw drivers would quote exorbitant rates was what my Chennai based friends had informed me before hand, but I never knew that the same would be true for Airport prepaid taxis as well. So the first hole in my wallet was big and hence not a “whoa” feeling on landing in the city where I would be spending the next couple of months.
If earnings met expectations, then “the rat” of the “rat race” would not be part of “the race”. Never had I heard of earnings being “4X” of expectations. But for the first time in my life, that was what came into my kitty. My expectation from the summer internship was to gain an insight into the financial services sector. Not only was I able to achieve this, but was also able to apply a part of the theoretical concepts I had learnt till then. Also, I was able to get a clear understanding about a niche segment of the financial world. Interestingly, the exposure to the breadth of the manufacturing sector and involved interactions, through secondary research, with first generation entrepreneurs, multiplied my earnings to “4X times my expectations. Never before during my earlier employment, had I been given an in-depth feedback on my abilities and areas of improvement.
Hence, the summer internship program helped enhance my confidence in the decision to pursue finance as my career stream. At this juncture of my life, I now have a direction in which I should enhance my skill-set so as to reach my full potential.
The world of sought after PPOs (Pre-Placement Offers) on completion of internships might not be mine, but I surely have achieved a plethora of PPOs (Pre-Placement Opportunities).
IIM is more commonly referred to as the temple of learning management in India, but I am referring to it here as the “Indian IT Male”, thus IIM, a tag many want to get rid off. Selling the RAT is an exciting world, where an Instagram sells for “One Billion Dollars” and a FaceBook for “One Hundred Billion Dollars”. Belling the CAT is a stage where rumours follow all aspirants and finance aspirants follow only the word “Investment Banking”.
Having managed to reach the pedestal of a decent B-School, I started planning and digging into the realities of my career path as the next fin-wiz, but I soon realized that in the financial services sector selling even a baby RAT is a hot commodity. Beggars are not choosers and this is very true for a 3.5 year old “IIM”. But a strong will and a clear objective can turn the tide in your favour. The desire to be part of the financial services industry, which had been burning inside me for the past many years, helped me earn much more than expected.
Words like brand, stipend and location rule the world of Campus Placements. But what is never heard of is the most significant word “profile”. Based on my mindset and against the guidance of some of the experienced people around me, I grabbed an offer with a boutique advisory firm. My peers would talk about brands and stipend but I would speak of my profile with a start up private equity advisory firm in Chennai. For this, I would get expressions such as, “Dude, are you nuts!!!” Eight weeks into my internship, I felt that management schools should introduce a course which would help students be flexible in decision making. Not only would it help students make better career decisions but would also help their future organizations.
The excitement within me to begin my career in a field of my interest was in for a bumpy ride. Auto Rickshaw drivers would quote exorbitant rates was what my Chennai based friends had informed me before hand, but I never knew that the same would be true for Airport prepaid taxis as well. So the first hole in my wallet was big and hence not a “whoa” feeling on landing in the city where I would be spending the next couple of months.
If earnings met expectations, then “the rat” of the “rat race” would not be part of “the race”. Never had I heard of earnings being “4X” of expectations. But for the first time in my life, that was what came into my kitty. My expectation from the summer internship was to gain an insight into the financial services sector. Not only was I able to achieve this, but was also able to apply a part of the theoretical concepts I had learnt till then. Also, I was able to get a clear understanding about a niche segment of the financial world. Interestingly, the exposure to the breadth of the manufacturing sector and involved interactions, through secondary research, with first generation entrepreneurs, multiplied my earnings to “4X times my expectations. Never before during my earlier employment, had I been given an in-depth feedback on my abilities and areas of improvement.
Hence, the summer internship program helped enhance my confidence in the decision to pursue finance as my career stream. At this juncture of my life, I now have a direction in which I should enhance my skill-set so as to reach my full potential.
The world of sought after PPOs (Pre-Placement Offers) on completion of internships might not be mine, but I surely have achieved a plethora of PPOs (Pre-Placement Opportunities).
....u must be proud to get such insights 