Deepak Bhagtani, who completed his post-graduation from a leading management college, is today placed with Tech Mahindra Ltd. Deepak talks to Corporate Citizen about his first break into the corporate world
Today, Deepak is placed with the IT division of one of the leading IT giants of the country, Tech Mahindra Ltd. There were companies coming over to the campus on a daily basis, but unfortunately, despite repeated attempts, Deepak wasn’t able to get through to any of them. However, he did not lose hope. Let’s hear his story
“Since our placement season began, I was interviewed by various companies, but somehow I was unable to crack any of them. I decided not to give up. Instead, I would write about every company process that I sat for and would analyse the reason for my failure. I had decided to work on my mistakes instead of repeating them,” says Deepak.
Deepak regularly stayed in touch with the college alumni, through the social media platform, and would ask them for guidance as to how he should go about preparing for the interview process. This helped him to understand the interview process in detail, the kind of questions asked and so on.
The interview process at Tech Mahindra started with an aptitude round, followed by the psychometric test, which was followed by group discussion (GD).
“My topic for the group discussion was on the current topic of smart cities - good idea or bad idea. We were given some time to write down our points and later talk about it. I was the only one in the group who spoke about both its pros and cons, highlighting the same. I got through. After clearing my GD round, we had two personal interview rounds. In the first round, the interviewer asked me about my family background, my course, my internship project and so on. Soon after, they gave me a real-life scenario to solve. The second round was purely technical where they asked me some questions on project management. They also gave me various scenarios relating to the profile offered to me and questioned me on the same. They also asked me about some of the latest Modi start-up policies announced recently,” he detailed about the interview process.
“It was just the third day of college, we had a workshop or rather an ice-breaker session where we were asked to introduce ourselves and know more about our group members. After two months of induction, we were sent to our respective sections, as per our chosen specialisations. Although we had a very hectic schedule, starting 8 am in the morning till 6.30 pm, sometimes extended till 8 pm in the night, with more than ten subjects per semester, I believe, it was all part of the training given to us, so that we could learn to handle stress and be more flexible at our workplace, which is extremely essential for surviving in today’s corporate world,” recalls Deepak.
Since Deepak was majoring in Systems, the batch was given an exposure to many technical subjects, along with other management subjects. “Initially, I found it difficult to manage all of them at one go, but eventually we learnt to cope up with the pressure and the tight schedule. It taught us ways to manage our professional and personal life efficiently,” he added.
“Our college has tied up with SAP India and we are supposed to complete 200 hours of SAP e-learning in SD module, after which we can go in for a global certification. Fortunately, I was able to maintain 100 percent attendance here and was awarded with 100 percent Learning Hour Record and thereafter were sent to Dubai, UAE to attend the Asia HRD meet that took place in June 2015. Our college strongly believes that apart from studies, we should also be involved in extracurricular for our overall development. I was the cultural coordinator for various events in my college and also volunteered for the blood donation camp that takes place every year, at the campus. That apart, I also got a chance to attend various informative seminars held in Mumbai and Pune and meet up with a lot of corporate stalwarts from the industry,” noted Deepak.
“Initially, I found it difficult to manage all of them at one go, but eventually we learnt to cope up with the pressure and the tight schedule. It taught us ways to manage our professional and personal life, efficiently”
At the global Asia HRD meet in Dubai, Deepak got a chance to network and interact with the corporate stalwarts from all over the world and gain knowledge about the their corporate culture. Since he was part of the volunteering team, he also learnt to manage this kind of global event.
Deepak hails from Ajmer, Rajasthan, where he did his schooling from. “I did my secondary and higher secondary from St. Stephen’s School, Ajmer. My father always believed that I should be independent and move out of home, as staying away from home will teach me a lot. That’s how I moved out of Ajmer to pursue my engineering. I relocated to Jaipur, Rajasthan to complete my B.Tech in Electronics and Communications. Initially, I was confused if I should take up a job or go in for higher studies; however my family helped me take a decision and I decided to pursue my post-graduation, specialising in Systems,” reminisces Deepak.
Deepak’s father is a retired assistant accounts officer from State Government and mother, a homemaker. His elder sisters are married, one is employed with the Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education, while the other one is a teacher in a private school.
“I like to travel, play basketball, manage events, plan a trip, plan parties, hangout with friends and so on,” says Deepak. An avid traveller, he has visited a lot of forts, historic monuments in and around Jaipur, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Ajmer, Jaigarh and Nahargarh. His favourite cities include Pune, Chandigarh and Surat. “My friends sometimes term me as the ‘guide’ on the tour,” laughs Deepak, adding, “I am keen on visiting the eastern part of the country in the near future.”
“Don’t regret for what is gone; instead prepare for things which are yet to come,” he signs of.
By Mahalakshmi Hariharan
