A degree in Management is considered synonymous with white collar, high flying corporate executives and fat paying packages. But more than this, MBA is a dream, which can come true only with learning and implementing it in the best possible way. The zeal and enthusiasm to work for corporate and follow their culture of stimulation and motivation is necessary for the long-term growth and success of an individual.
Mr. Rahul Pandey, a proud alumnus of IIPM who completed his MBA in 2006, and is now working as a National Key Accounts Manager, at Carrefour, remembers his memorable journey at the institute. He was born and brought up in Patna, where he also completed his schooling. He is a Science Graduate and completed Chemistry Honours. Coming from a business background, Rahul joined his family business of movie production and construction soon after his graduation. He had never thought of working with corporate but then in the year 2004, he decided to pursue his Masters from The Indian Institute of Planning & Management.
Rahul confesses that he was an average student during his graduation days. He gives entire credit to IIPM for making him what he is today, in terms of his personality. IIPM gave him an enriching and enduring experience as it groomed him into a better individual with sophisticated and formal atmosphere.
Rahul calls IIPM as his support system, he reminiscences his advertising classes with Prof. K.K. Srivastava and other faculty members such as Prof. U.C Tiwari, Prof. Deepti Gupta and Prof. R.K Singh. The National Economic Planning (NEP) presentation helped Rahul overcome his stage fear and fear of public speaking.
He feels that now his key strengths are his improved presentation and interpersonal skills.
In order to gain ground zero experience in business, which according to Rahul helped in his MBA course, he contributed in the family business. Hailing from a political and business family, Rahul never thought of being a part of the corporate sector. Even his family had never pressurized him for anything and whatever he did was always his decision.
Rahul, through campus placement got the opportunity to work with ICICI Prudential. He worked for three to four months in his first job and then got a break with HSBC as Assistant Manager- Relationships, where he worked for three years. He then switched to, LG Electronics India Pvt Ltd, as an Area Manager for corporate sales in Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal. His role there was of generating and developing business and achieving business objective from all the B2B segments i.e. hospitality segment, hotels and resorts, corporate and institutions and employee welfare schemes i.e. CSD .
Rahul worked in LG for a year and then joined Carrefour, which is his current company; it has been a year since he is working there. Carrefour is a retail chain, with three divisions and Rahul takes care of the institution part at a pan-India level. They recently came up with promo cash and carry stores, where they primarily deal with traders, institutions and corporates.
Rahul expresses that at work front there are tough times where you ask questions like “why I am doing this work? how to survive in the organization?” but at the end of the day it is all about achieving goals.
When off work, he loves indulging in social work. He is associated with few NGO’s. He believes in the philosophy that there is no specific leadership style; he says, “While comparing working style, one has to be careful”. Talking about man-management skills, “every individual has different working style so one should be careful while dealing with different people.”
In today’s competitive world, Rahul feels that grasping what one learns is very necessary. An advice to the youngsters is that, “be prepared once you are entering the corporate world”, questions would be pouring in and since IIPM’s course is very vast, one should be prepared for all the questions. He thinks being personable is very essential. Completing MBA and getting a job is a dream and an individual should know what is required in the market. As a parting note Rahul quotes “People at the initial stages of their careers should be true to themselves”.
