For all my openness to accepting new roles at work, and experimenting with all that Life has to offer, there are two things I would never have dreamed of doing :

1. Sign the “Form 16” (tax payables) for over 2,000 employees, as an authorized signatory of the organization
2. Represent the firm at the pre placement talk (PPT) at a leading Business School campus

Thanks to my joining the HR department, earlier this year, in my capacity as an Associate Vice President, I have now done both!

As luck would have it, the campus I was scheduled to talk at, was none other than my own business school – SIMSR.  Even though, a year or so after graduating from SIMSR, I had gone back to campus to teach a course in ‘Information Technology for Managers’, this was a whole different deal, altogether.

As any student in a b-school campus will admit, a big part of the benefit of doing an MBA is the job one lands after the degree.  And, let’s not forget that, for many of these students, the job they land after their MBA is often the first job of their life!

I am fortunate to be a part of an organization that, at the last count, is recruiting more than 1,000 people each month.  And, that meant, there were so many opportunities on offer for the eager eyes that had come to attend the PPT, all dressed in their formals. 

When my colleague introduced me as an alumnus of the institute, the auditorium roared with a round of applause!  I reckon my being there would have offered them a glimmer of hope – “If he can get where is, so can I”, they must’ve said to themselves.

The presentation went off smoothly.  The questions they asked were full of enthusiasm and interest.  I was also pleasantly surprised to note that many of them were well-informed about concepts like Six Sigma and Balanced Scorecard – They did not teach us things like that, back in my time!

I can only hope we made a good impression, and that many of them will want to join the organization I’m employed with, for a career of their choice.

On a personal note, this has got to be one of the most exciting and humbling experiences I’ve had, till date!