Work Update

I'm back again to update you guys about what's been happening at my end. I will try to post at least once a month since anything beyond that will probably be a bit ambitious.
I joined Cognizant on 20th May. Its been a good 2 months here and I can safely say that the transition from the academic world to the professional world has been smooth.
As I have probably mentioned earlier that I have joined the Life Sciences vertical at Kolkata. Now, the LS vertical was earlier based out of Chennai & Pune (also B'lore). So, everything is practically very new. Its an extremely small community here at Kolkata. One apsect is that everything is still quite fluid at the moment. However, on the positive side there is a very bright scope to establish this competency over here and of course, a lot of initiatives are in the pipeline. We have ambitious delivery targets over the next few months and coupled with that an aggressive ramp up plan.
As far as I am concerned, I am trying to acquire the LS domain knowledge necessary for consulting assignments. Apart from that I'm getting a taste of responding to RFPs. That's all from my end as of now. Take care. Ciao.

Convocation Pics!

Hey guys, I'm finally back after a long hiatus...before you jump to any conclusion let me tell you that my absence from blogging was due to 2 reasons. Firstly, my laptop had conked & secondly I was out of town for a while. This is precisely the reason why I haven't replied to my mails. Apologise for the same.
I had been to XLRI during 9-10th May to attend the convocation. It felt really nice to meet everyone one last time before we embark upon our respective journeys. Today I have uploaded a few convocation pics.

GMP Placements - Part 2

As promised earlier, I will talk about my interview experiences over here. The placements were conducted in Mumbai during 9-16th February at Renaissance (Powai). While my batchmates (except placecom & logistics team) were travelling via train from JSR to Mumbai I decided to catch a flight on 7th morning.
Our accommodation was arranged at Hotel Lake Side which was around 10 minutes walk from the placement venue. Internet facility was not available so a lot of guys availed the Tata Indicom data card facility. At hindsight it was a wise decision. I relaxed during the next couple of days since I knew that there was a tough week ahead of me. The rest of the guys reached on 8th morning.
I had heard a lot about NITTIE and could not resist exploring the campus since it was just 5 min walk from our place. Every night we had dinner at the NITTIE canteen (pure vegetarian). The IT companies that were scheduled for Day 1 were CTS, Accenture, IBM S&C and Satyam. Among these 4 companies I had shortlists from all but Accenture. So, "Day One" was gonna be a hectic day for me...to be continued in the next part.

Finally, done with my MBA!

The 1st thing I did today morning was submit the PJM Mid-term & Term-papers. After that I rushed to get the signatures on the Clearance Form, from the various depts...wasn't too surprised to find nobody in office even though the clock was showing 11 AM. Basically, had no time time to even glance at the B2B book. The duration of today's B2B end-term paper was 2 hrs but I submitted my paper in less than an hr. After that I quickly grabbed lunch & again rushed to get the signatures. Once this job was complete, I rushed back to my room, completed the SDM project & mailed across the same to the faculty. Luckily I also remembered to take a printout of my train ticket - I'm leaving for home tomorrow :-)
Now, finally I have got some time to publish this post. BTW, I just remembered that I have to pack my bags now since there's a party at 10:45 PM which I cannot miss - probably the last bash at XLRI. So, I gotta go now but you guys keep watching this space since I will be posting daily from home regarding placements et al. Ciao!

One more to go!

Today I had the Project Management end-term. Although the duration was 2.5 hrs I doubt whether anyone was able to finish the paper. Any exam which exceeds 1.5 hours is quite tiring & so I'm of the opinion that no exams should exceed 1.5 hours. This makes sense especially when the weightage is usually only 30-35% of the entire marks.
To think of it during the 3rd term, on a couple of occasions I had taken up 3 end-term exams in a single day - 1st Day: Organizational Change & Development, Product & Brand Management & E-Business and 2nd Day: Strategies of Cooperation, Marketing Strategy & International Financial Management.
Thankfully, tomorrow I have B2B Marketing. I do not intend touch my book before the exam primarily because of 2 reasons - 1> The exam is an open-book (MCQ format) 2> More importantly tomorrow I have to submit my PJM mid-term assignment, PJM term-paper & SADMAN project and so I have absolutely no time.
I remember the 1st time when I entered the hallowed portals of Fr. Prabhu Hall (exam hall of XLRI) - it was for the QT exam. I was quite nervous at the time :-) but slowly during the course of the exam all my fears subsided. At the time I was trying to do a fast-forward in time & wondering what will it be like when I enter the Fr. Prabhu Hall for the very last time. Well, the moment has come now & I will be entering the same place for the last time tomorrow in my academic life @ XLRI. Guess, I should be feeling very happy but somehow I'm feeling a tinge of sadness - dunno why..

A long awaited break :-)

Today thankfully I do not have any endterm paper. I've been taking up exams right from 19th. We also have endless assignments & submissions. I' m currently working on 3 project submissions simultaneously - IT Strategy Whitepaper, B2B Project (IBM - From Product to Solution Selling), SDM (Sales & DIstribution strategy of AMUL).
Tomorrow I have the Retail Mgmt paper. Friday is the BIG one - IT Strategy. After that another break on saturday followed by the PJM & B2B endterms on sunday & monday respectively.
I have already booked my tickets for Kolkata. I'm planning to leave on 29th morning. Will return on 9th May to attend the Convocation.

Last Class @ XLRI

Today we will attend our last class at XLRI and a 1 year long journey will come to an end.
I vividly remember my first day...the Prof. started discussing abstract concepts like linearity of a circle while explaining the case methodology & also stressing the importance of putting our thoughts in spatio temporal coordinates and explicitly stating the implicit assumptions. At the time, I used to wonder what the hell is going on :-)
The 1 year journey has been an overwhelming experience for all of us. For me it was filled with fun, laughter & jokes all the way. I would take this opportunity to acknowledge that its been a privilege sharing the same space with a group of diverse & brilliant set of individuals like the current batch of GMPians. The GMP spirit will continue to remain forever in our hearts...

GMP Placments - Part 1

Many of you have requested me to share my personal experience of the GMP placements. I will share my interview experiences with you so that it may give the future candidates some insights regarding the actual process.
However, it will be possible for me to do this only next week since I'm currently busy with my end-term exams.
For starters though, let me share with you that I had received 4 job offers -> Cognizant Business Consulting (CBC), TCS Global Consulting Practice (GCP), HP and MindTree Consulting. I will take you through each of the interview experiences so that you can get a feel of it.
I gotta go now since tomorrow morning I have the INM end-term & B2B presentations. Catch ya soon!

End Term Exams!

End Term exams commence from tomorrow...
My schedule is as follows:

Date & Subject
19-04-08 - CAPEX & Contemporary Business Practice

20-04-08 - Services Marketing

21-04-08 - Sales & Distribution Management

22-04-08 - International Management

24-04-08 - Retail Management

25-04-08 - IT Strategy

27-04-08 - Project Management

28-04-08 - B2B Marketing

I can hardly wait for 28th to arrive :-)

Nice Pics

CTS - Joining Details

Got my #1 choice of vertical and location – Life Sciences in Kolkata! Few people have been so lucky to get exactly what they wished for. I had specified Pune as my preferred location since Life Sciences was not there in Kolkata. However, CTS is now setting up this vertical in Kolkata & I'll be a part of the process. Its always nice to be associated with a competency from its inception stage - provides a very good learning platform.
It reminds of my IBM days - at the time I joined IBM the DW&BI competency was in its nascent stage & I witnessed its explosive growth to where it is today :-) The opportunity provided me a lot of visibility & career growth.
My doj is 20th May. It suits me fine since the convocation is on 10th May. Two of my batchmates will also be joining CTS. My wife may come down to JSR to attend the convocation ceremony. I wanted to get my parents as well but they may be out of town during the time so lets see what happens.

2 down, 6 more to go!

Today I attended the last lectures of 2 electives - IT Strategy & International Management. This week & the next are predictably the most hectic phases of this term. I have 3 lectures tomorrow (sunday). Currently I'm working on the SDM midterm quiz (take-home).
While at face value it seems that take-home exams are a safe bet the reality is that they are a lot more time consuming & difficult in terms of complexity. I guess that's the faculty's way of ensuring that he / she normalizes any benefit that you derive from a take-home quiz.
I'm still not feeling nostalgic about the fact that these are my last few days @ XLRI. Maybe, next week I'll be in a more contemplative mood. One thing is for sure, for experienced folks like us a 1 year MBA is always a very safe bet. The reason is that by the time you reach the 9th/10th month the novelty starts wearing down. This is however not the case with freshers in the 2 year MBA. For them its fun, laughter & joy (with a sprinkling of studies as well) and the halo effect tends to stay for quite a while. This is my perception & anyone else has a right to disagree.

GMP 2008 Placement Report

Number of students in the batch - 60
Number of students who sat for placements - 53
Highest Domestic Offer - 33.82 Lakhs INR
Highest International Offer - 130000 USD
Average of individual offers - 17.81 Lakhs INR
Total Number of Offers - 105


"With just two years of organized placement support from the Institute, the one year General Management Programme of XLRI has firmly established itself as a source of quality talent for recruiters. There were a number of recruiters who personally expressed their extreme satisfaction with the quality of the participants. These positive comments reinforce our belief that we are doing things right as far as our one year programme goes." quoted Prof. Uday Damodaran, Chairperson of the Placements at XLRI.

Beautiful Thought

True glory is to be found not in the golden prizes or ego gratification, but in the silent conquest of oneself.

Busy days are here again!

In my last post I mentioned that I've relaxing for quite sometime. Well, that is about to change now. I have 2 quizzes on friday - 1> SMRM and 2> CAPEX (MCQ). This time around we do not have any midterm for CAPEX. Instead we will have to submit 2 case (take home). I wish if this were the norm instead of the exception (at least in the 4th term).
Anyways, this term my resolution is to put only the minimum effort required and relax. I've never been too grade conscious so this attitude suits me fine ;-) I'm amazed to see the energy level of some of my batchmates. They have been consistent in their efforts throughtout these 10 months and are still slogging away to glory even at the fag end of the course. Anyways, priorities differ and they surely have their own reasons which I'm definitely not questioning.
Just an observation -> The people who crammed the most are not the ones who performed the best during placements - in fact its just the reverse. This may come as a surprise for some of you but the important thing to consider is the individual's focus. Those of who were focussed towards grades have very high CGPA but not necessarily the best jobs in campus while those who were focussed towards their goals (read placements) were all extremely successful in their endeavours. Hardwork always pays!

Relaxed Mood

Today I had only one session - Sales & Distribution Management. So I slept like a log of dead wood throughout the day. Thesedays, I'm either attending classes or sleeping. We've reached almost the midpoint of the 4th term & till now its been quite relaxed so I'm just wondering whether life could continue in a similar fashion for the next 3 weeks also. Tomorrow we have a quiz in IT Strategy. We have to analyse a case - 'Otis Elevator: Accelerating Business Transformation with IT'.
Every term becomes pretty hectic during the end phase due to assignments, submissions & presentations (not to forget the quizzes) etc. So this time around I have decided to proactively complete at least all the individual assignments etc so that the course doesn't become end heavy (pun unintended).

American Gangster

After a long time I had a day entirely to myself. I didn't touch any books and instead watched a movie - American Gangster. It is based on a true story.
Nobody used to notice Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington), the quiet driver for one of the inner city's leading black crime bosses. However, when his boss suddenly dies, Frank exploits the opening in the power structure to build his own empire and create his own version of the American Dream. Through ingenuity and a strict business ethic, he comes to rule the inner-city drug trade and floods the streets with a purer product at a better price. Lucas outplays all of the leading crime syndicates and becomes not only one of the city's mainline corrupters, but part of its circle of legit civic superstars. Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe) is an outcast cop close enough to the streets to feel a shift of control in the drug underworld. Roberts believes someone is climbing the rungs above the known Mafia families and starts to suspect that a black power player has come from nowhere to dominate the scene. Both Lucas and Roberts share a rigorous ethical code that sets them apart from their own colleagues, which makes them lone figures on opposite sides of the law. The destinies of these two men will become intertwined as they approach a confrontation in which only one of them can come out on top.

ROI of an MBA - The Tangibles

If you guys remember in one of my recent posts I was discussing about the intangible benefits of an MBA program. I have put together an ROI calculator to provide a clear assessment of the feasibility of an MBA program in course of my career.
ROI is an essential criterion to judge the effectiveness of any program. This calculator does not take into account non-tangibles like value addition. The tool takes into account aspects like tuition fees, annualized personal/incidental expenses of the person, opportunity costs, and expected hike in salary after a job from MBA. Here, I have not accounted for Time Value of Money (assumption is that rate of growth of future salary will be higher post-mba).
I am attaching the screenshot for a sample calculation. Just click on the picture to view the enlarged image. If you need the ROI calculator just drop your e-mail id & I will send across the tool.

Lost in thought

Finally, the CTS offer letter has arrived (albeit a softcopy) today. It contains the terms of the offer & compensation breakdown. The details regarding the date of joining and location will be communicated later.
A very close friend of mine is doing his MBA from ISB. His convocation is on 5th April and he will be joining the new job anytime around mid-April. I cannot help but envy him at this point of time. Although the experience at XLRI has been awesome I can hardly wait for my own convocation date to arrive.
I have interacted with a lot of guys from the incoming batch and they seem to be a highly energetic & spirited set of individuals. It sometimes puts me in a reflective mood as I tread one year back in my memories. It seems like y'day when I first came down to XLRI and its about time that we must vacate the campus. The show must go on..

The End is Near !

Got a mail today - 28th April will be the date for last end-term Exam.
We have to take no-dues clearance( libraray, a/cs etc) before the Convocation.
The Convocation will be on 10th May (saturday).
We are expected to be present at 10 AM for rehearsals & other formalities
The actual Function will be held in evening followed by a dinner.
Another 29 days before classes are over...lot of work before I reach that point.