Mystory@Anand Chand: How my chosen course and college experience shaped my career path

Mystory@Anand Chand

Life is what we make it. That’s true. Happiness lies in our own hand. In order to get success in life, we really need to think ahead and really believe in our self. The time when I had to choose my stream was really tough. It was 2010. I had just passed class 10th from ICSE Board and was wondering what’s next. I had a reward trip to Hong Kong from my aunt Sanjukta, who is the most amazing person I had have ever come across. My 14-days trip to Hong Kong will be always be memorable one in for me in this life for sure. My aunt Sanjukta is an inspirational figure and has made me the person I am today.

How I chose my course

I was really a confused teen back then and always kept changing my decision on the stream of my choice. I started researching on the different streams to see which one I should be selecting: Science or Commerce or Art. I was also told by my friend circle and family members that Commerce and Arts are a secondary option and that second best is never enough. So, I decided to opt for Science at the +2 level, but to be honest, I had to change this decision as I was really bad in Physics and Maths.

Finally I chose Commerce as my stream of study. I also had a liking for sales and marketing. Since childhood, I loved ads that came with attractive packaging and tag lines. This was a natural affinity. The reason I didn’t choose Arts was because I was not much interested in History, Civics or Geography.  In my family, everyone is from Science background, except my father and myself. You can imagine it was really hard to choose Commerce due to social pressure but I had always believed in my gut feeling. We should not take up things that are beyond our knowledge.

How I chose my college

Coming to the decision of choosing GEMS B School for BBA and MBA. This was quite by accident actually. Since class 11^th, I was in touch with various career magazines.  In one such magazine, I came across a beautiful page where the Royal Bangalore Palace was highlighted and the headline read, “Learn while you earn/Study-Work-Study model”. It was a programme where as soon as you get admission to MBA course, you get a placement based on your specialization in a week or month of joining. I would have a 5-day-working with two days of classroom teaching on the weekends. After completing the BBA programme, the student is immediately placed in a company related to his/her chosen specialization, and this is a part of the course curriculum. So, once the student completes the two year programme, he/she is awarded with a full time UGC recognised MBA Degree with 2 years of work experience.

GEMS B-school places the student in a suitable job related to the student's specialisation such as HR, Marketing, Retail, Finance, Banking, Construction etc. with a full-time salary. On completion of the programme, MBA degree is awarded by Bharathiar University.

It sounded really hectic but it was also a great career option. For this I needed to be a Graduate. After a proper research, I found that they have a 5-year program which is a BBA+MBA. It was also a cost effective program. I spoke to my father about it. He enquired about it and found out that a relative of mine happened to be a former student of the same college. That created a comfort zone and a good feedback from him added to this sense of comfort. I also found that the faculty, environment and the extra-curricular activities of the college are brilliant.

Securing admission to GEMS

GEMS admits students through their entrance test called, GAT or GEMS Admission Test, only. The single point entry for both BBA and MBA, is an online test of about 60 minutes. I had completed the test successfully and got the results in two hours. Questions are multiple choice-based on general knowledge, mostly of class 10^th and 12^th level.

I started preparing for GAT a month before. I referred to English dailies, my class 10^th sample papers and avidly discussed current news affairs with my friends and relatives. This helped me in cracking the GEMS entrance test.

I don’t really like the idea of coaching classes. If we are up to date with news and current events of the world, we can crack any interviews/admission test, especially for management/business education. Thus knowledge is power in today’s competitive world.

Choosing GEMS B-school was the last and the final decision of 2012. My first option was Garden City College, Bangalore. Then I changed my decision to Alliance University. But I was amazed by GEMS B School and its unique ‘LEARN AND EARN’ program. In other colleges, I was supposed to study and attend classes but at GEMS there was no wastage of time and I started working while studying. There’s nothing wrong if we start earning while learning. It saves two years of your life.

What I learnt on campus

Managing work as well as managing education is indeed tough and hectic. One really needs to have the self-belief as well as self-confidence, while patience is the key.

My MBA years were bound to be hectic and challenging, this is what I had heard from my seniors. I had to attend classes on weekends and work on the weekdays. It’s an Industry Synergized MBA, where a student will be working as well as learning for a period of two years. Working Monday through Friday from 9:30am to 7:30pm as an Area Sales Manager; coming back to college campus on weekends for classes on Saturday 2pm to 6pm & on Sunday 9am to 6pm), does not sound easy. I am really pushing myself harder every day to be better in academics as well as in the corporate sphere.

Since I was aware that this would be a challenging situation, I had planned it in advance in my last year of Graduation. I made a routine and ensured that I review my studies once or twice a week for at least two hours a day. I managed mostly in early morning hours: I would wake up at 6 am and study till 8 am. The rest of the day was for office work. I also put extra few hours on Sunday evenings after classes were over. Many of my friends would be enjoying tasty biryani or a wonderful evening at a café or pub, but I restrained myself and dedicate these two years completely to academics.

As the semester starts, I will have 5 months to prepare. I get leaves from work during exams so that I can prepare for my exam.

I am sharing a few things that will help other students that are planning to adopt such schedule in life:

1. Respect your job                 

2. Do not complain

3. Study in the morning

4. Make notes during the class

5. Ask questions to the professors

6. Work smart on weekdays as well as on weekends

7. Always keep the PDF format of your subject wise notes in your devices

How my college shaped my personality

My college, GEMS B-School has supported me in many ways. They have introduced me to one of the finest faculty and arranged wonderful workshops for building my career. Ever since I was in the undergraduate programme, they did their best to build me like a ship so that I could set a sail. Not only this, there was also great support from our Dean.

We had at least two workshops or a seminar in a month, which were made mandatory. We were also given the opportunity, in every semester, to interact with faculty members who were unique in their own ways. This was one of the best exposure that I could have got for shaping my career.

We had GD, mock tests and presentations almost every week. Our classes were always lively. We had several industrial visits to L&T, Karnataka MILK Federation, Salem Steel Plant and many more. At the end of the second year we were taken for a training session which was in a village called Awerahalli, in the outskirts of Bangalore. The venue, Value lanes Camp, was basically an area for military and corporate training. We were taken to the location where we were given various task on leadership, decision making, controlling, coordination, planning etc. The training session was for two days. On the first day we were given various challenging tasks and a workshop. The day ended with a DJ night by camp fire. On the second day, we were introduced to rappelling, raft building, trekking with our eyes closed. The training session was fun and left us with great learning. They were the best days of my life.

GEMS also has lots of campus drives and they have tie-ups with many companies. We were given opportunities to attend their seminars on placement and how to crack an interview.

This is something our Dean Dr. M.I.M. Nehruzii has to say and I will be always grateful to him.

“Welcome to GEMS, the B-School with a difference. We are sure you want to know what the difference is. Right from the ambience, curriculum, methodology, faculty and the conditioning, everything is going to be unconventional and different, all with a specific purpose.

GEMS is a voyage. Our goal is to build you like a ship, majestically and meticulously, to enable you to sail unruffled into the choppy seas of business. Whether you are going to choose the passage of corporate executive, business professional or entrepreneur, our aim is to reinforce you in such a way, you are able to cruise with equanimity without ever compromising on business ethics. Every minute you spend here is going to equip and enlighten you, empower and energise you so that you can weather any storm.

Set sail, we have many nautical miles to conquer and coasts to anchor.’’

No doubt all my exposure and learning at GEMS are really helping me outside. My father is a business man and all this learning is helping me in reshaping his business. My father loves to hear my advice. Moreover I am planning to start my own business. Time is really precious. We often complain and take things for granted. Proper time management will not only help us get ahead in life but will also help in bringing out the positive side in us.

Following are few points on successful Time Management:

1. Always prepare Do-to-list on a regular or weekly basis

2. Have a lovely little journal in hand and note down the idea you get

3. Work hard on your crafts

4. Have a priority in life

5. Limit use of social media

6. Focus on the important task first and jump to the next one only when it is completed

7. Make notes in the form of brainstorming and mind mapping

8. Review your notes in the morning

9. Find your perfect time of the morning or night

10. Have chamomile tea and take enough rest

About the Author:

This is Anand Chand, currently pursuing MBA at GEMS B-School, Bangalore. I’m an Area Sales Manager in a reputed real estate firm in Bangalore. I have an overall one year of experience in Education and Real estate domain. I like to engage myself in educating children in orphanages. I like reading, writing novel, especially work of fiction. I also like to participate in management skill trainings. I love music and try my best to listen to as much new music available in this world. In addition to all this, I also look for creativity and love technology and love to design house interiors.