Interactive talk
In the competitive race engulfing the campus, everyone is running after career and money. And it is necessary too. All of us have that big burden of responsibilities and expectations over us. Many a times, we get really confused as to what all to do in the college, how to manage time, etc. So, we often seek the advice of seniors. With the same line of thought, we, the team of IIT Heartbeat, had an interactive talk with Abhishek Bansal, a 2007 IITR alumnus, to give us some guidance. Here’s the overview of the motivational talk:
Tell us about your family background. Why did you choose engineering as your career path over other career options?
I have always lived in a nuclear family. My parents live in NCR region. My father initially had a business which didn’t work so he shifted to service. Like any middle class family, my family was also highly oriented towards studies. In my intermediate, I had a great inclination towards computer science. So, engineering was a very natural choice for me. I qualified JEE in 2003 and joined IIT Roorkee with Electrical Engineering.
What were your feelings when you first stepped in IIT Roorkee?
I still remember the day when I was standing outside my hostel and my father was saying good-bye to me. I had tears in my eyes and I just didn’t want to separate from my parents. For one month, I always cried on phone and insisted to come back home. It was the first time when I had to live away from my family. But the days passed by and I made some very good friends. In later years of my college life, many a times I needed to stay back in college and things went good.
What did you do in your summer vacations at the end of 1st and 2nd year which mostly students waste doing nothing?
At the end of 1st year, I came back home and joined some computer courses to learn various programming languages. At the end of 2nd year, I did a project under Summer Undergraduate Research Award (SURA). My project was selected and I got 1st prize for that. It was a very worthy experience for me.
What target did you set for your 3rd year?
At the end of 5th semester, I actually started mailing the professors to get a foreign internship in my interest areas. Fortunately, I got response from two institutes, one in Germany and other in Honda Research Institute, Japan. I went to Germany for my 3rd year internship.
What was your next step after coming back from internship?
Before going for my internship, I had plans to go for higher studies abroad after B.Tech. But during the course of my internship in Germany, my mother fell ill. At that time, I decided to settle in India so that I could remain nearer to my family. After coming back from Germany, I started preparing for CAT. I got 99.64 percentile in CAT and got calls from IIM B, L, I and Kozhikode. At the same time, I was also selected in the company “National Instruments” which opened primarily for Electrical. I was very much eager to join this company rather than doing MBA because tech was something to which I wanted to remain associated with. But my parents insisted that I may have to do MBA at a later stage and since I was getting a chance I should accept it. So, I joined IIM Bangalore and passed out in 2009.
After passing out from IIM Bangalore, what career path have you followed?
There were only two broad areas in IIM which people mostly preferred, viz. Finance sector and Investment Banking. Since I was tech-oriented so I chose Financing as my sector. But it was then that recession occurred and hence, no financing company visited our campus. Yet, I finally got a job in G E Capital Services. Within one year, I realized that this was not the kind of job that I wanted to do. So, I quit this company and joined Credit Suisse. I worked there for 4 years and during this period, I learned great stuffs. But then I started feeling that I didn’t like this job as well. So, I joined Justdial. I am currently part of Justdial for over 1.5 years.
Are you satisfied with your job right now? Any more plans to change?
I am currently fully satisfied with my job. I have to work with the CEO of the company and have a huge say in decision making. I have to work with the team members where I guide and groom them. My set of responsibilities has increased and it is huge. But I like it very much. So, no more plans to change!
How do company requirements differ from the course structure that we are being taught in the college? Do you feel they teach us out-dated stuffs?
I think there will be always a gap between our course structure and current technology and it’s very natural. As far as company requirements are concerned, they basically test your aptitude skills and they just want to check how much quick-learner you are. So this difference doesn’t create a problem at that point.
What suggestion would you like to give to your juniors so that they can ensure a successful career for themselves irrespective of their branch?
I would highly recommend them that don’t run after money at the time of placements. It’s not the end of your career; it’s just the starting. This career is of 30 years not two or three or five years! Once you get into any company, there you will learn a lot of things. Either you will grow in the same company or you will change the job and have further better options. Just try to learn as much you can. The knowledge and experience which you gain in the college remain with you forever.