Don’t go for a career which is a current fad: Rashi Gupta

FIIB, Delhi

I did my schooling from Carmel School, Digwadih–a small town located in Dhanbad district of Jharkhand. Since my parents studied Science and so did my elder sisters, it was an easy and obvious choice for me to opt for Science in class XI and class XII. Another major reason for choosing Science was the availability of a good school in Dhanbad with a very good course curriculum in Science. In Science stream, I was keen on opting for Mathematics more than Biology, since I was very good with numbers. Dissection of plants and animals never interested me.

While pursuing my graduation, MBA was the most talked about post-graduation course. Thus, I started preparing for MBA in my third year of college. I joined some crash course to understand better what would be the pattern of entrance test papers. I soon realized that rather than depending on these courses, it is better to concentrate on your own preparations. However, with third year college studies, hostel life to manage, minimum preparation and almost no guidance, I appeared in CAT and MAT entrance tests.

My suggestion to students who are preparing for MBA entrance exams is to practice a lot of English Grammar, Logical Reasoning, and basic Mathematics. Try to solve as many sample papers as possible. Nowadays, MBA colleges are offering many courses. Thus, ensure that you read about the course curriculum of each of these courses to identify your interest area which you would be able to hold and follow for two years in MBA, and then later in your career.

I never wanted to pursue a career in domestic marketing or anything related to local sales and marketing. Thus, I targeted only those institutes which were offering courses in international marketing or international business. About 20 years ago, we just had Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) and Fortune Institute of International Business (FIIB) offering such courses in Delhi-NCR (maybe in India as well), thus choosing a management institute was an easy task for me.

What I learnt in my college life

College life was full of fun and projects. Since IB was the only stream, we only had two batches – seniors and us - in the institute. Thus teachers were more focused on imparting education. We worked in different teams every time while preparing for a project. The institute helped me enhance my presentation skills and gave me the basic technical education required to start a career in international business. My first job placement through FIIB was in Haldiram’s exports department. However, when I joined Haldiram’s, I soon realized that the company was planning for exports and they were wanting to utilize my time for domestic sales. Thus, I did not pursue the job further. I was happy with my decision and had I not taken that risk, I would have been in a career which I didn’t wish to pursue. Thus, my advice is to be cautious while selecting your career in your early days itself, as this is the foundation for your coming years.

After Haldiram’s, I worked with Zara International for 9 long years doing international trading in different capacities. This shift in my career was the right move as it helped me learn a lot and has contributed effectively to where I am today.

I had always wanted to pursue PhD but immediately after MBA, the PhD degree was being offered only for MBA degree holders. Thus, I waited for the right opportunity when education sector started accepting diplomas as well for PhD. It is then I took the entrance test, got admission in PhD and completed it. With a full-time job and marriage, it was not an easy task, but I had the support of my family and friends. This really boosted my career.

One thing that has always worked for me in my career is my hunger to learn more. Technical education imparted by FIIB really helped me to understand the new business well and show to my manager that I am capable of handling shipments as I have the technical understanding. Over the years, I have tried to keep myself updated with market trends in operations, logistics and supply chain. This helps me to suggest new ways and means to look at challenges that we face in our daily work. This and my PhD, helps me stay connected with students of this generation through guest lectures in various institutes.

My advice to aspirants: Please go for a career which really interests you, not for a career which is just a current fad.

About the Author:

My name is Rashi Gupta and I earned a post graduate degree in International Business from FIIB. I have completed my doctorate in operational aspects of multi-commodity exchanges of India from Aligarh Muslim University in 2014. I also pursued MPhil. I have been a guest faculty to a few management institutes for imparting lectures on vessel operations, international documentation and trade execution. I am currently working with Project Management Office, and I am involved in Cross Border project as the APAC Process and Work Transition Lead.