'Success Ke Peeche Mat Bhaago, Excellence Ka Peecha Karo, Success Jhak Maarke Tumhare Peeche Ayegi' - Parish Vyas, First Year MBA Topper at SIES

1. Tell us about your educational background. Why did you decide of pursuing MBA? Why did you choose SIES?

I am a 2012 batch passout Computer Engineer from a reputed college in Navi Mumbai. MBA was just a career option while I was pursuing my Engineering. Like most of us in India, one decides what he/she really wants as a career after he/she has pursued engineering but I realised the need of Management not only in my career but also in my life while I was working with TCS for 18 months as a Software Developer. I soon realised that I may be good at the work I am doing but I will be the best in a Management career. It takes a lot of courage to quit a handsomely paid, secure and a “normal” job to enter a world of uncertainty. To be very honest, SIES was something which just happened to me and the variables on which I took the decision of entering the college were typical of themselves namely, quality of education, placement records, affordability and its brand value.

2. "To be one amongst the toppers of my batch"- was that a strategy from day one of B- School or something that evolved eventually? 

Being one of the toppers of my batch was overwhelming and unexpected for me but never a strategy. The fact that all of my batch-mates have landed up with me in the same college is by itself the evidence of equality of our mental levels. The way I see it is that hard work and dedication will be the only differentiating factors among you and your batch-mates for any course. Besides, the success that one gets can never be accredited to one person. For me, it was my parents, teachers, friends and then my own determination. Being a cinephile, I tend to relate and learn most things of my life from movies. In this case, my mantra was learnt by “Rancho” from “3-Idiots” which said “Success k peeche mat bhaago,  excellence ka peecha karo, success  jhak maarke tumhare peeche ayegi”

3. Walk us through your academic journey in the first year – How did you pace yourself academically in the first, second term?

My academic journey in the first year was very different in comparison with my graduation course. It included practical studies, group projects and assignments which taught me leadership, networking, time and resource management. SIES has a pool of professors to teach, encourage and review our performance. The college also encourages internal and external events which help us in knowing and improving our position with respect to other reputed management colleges. The cultural fests like “VIRTUALITIES”  allows  students to participate and show their talent.

4. What is the contribution of your Professors/ college in your success?

I realised the immense contribution of the professors of my college when they no longer remained my teachers and became my mentors. The professors have not only helped us with the understanding of the subjects theoretically but also given us an industry perspective of the subjects.

5. Tell us about the most interesting experience that happened in the last one year that changed your outlook towards the B-Schools studies.

My outlook before joining a B-School was more external meaning I related my career satisfaction which I aspire to have the things like brand value, infrastructure, placements records, affordability of the B-School and, more importantly, the return on investment. Although these are factors which one cannot overlook while choosing a B-school. But I would like to add that the whole experience which I have received from a B-school is and always be dependent on your own attitude towards the management studies and the college. In the last one year, I have adopted some learnings in my life, most important being that everything and in this case any B-School can only influence, educate, inspire  you but it’s your actions, efforts, priorities and performance which will lead you towards the path of success.

6. If you were to go back in time and change one thing about the last year, what would it be?

I strongly believe in renowned writer Javed Akhtar’s words-

“Kyun daren zindagi me

Kya hoga

Kuch na hoga to tajurba hoga”

And therefore, I would not like to change anything about the last year. I embrace both good and “not so good ”experiences about the last year.

7. B- School is mostly about group activities. Were you used to this kind of team endeavour’s or was it a new experience for you? How would you rate your performance during the team activities?’

I was quite acquainted with the concept of group activities owing to my experience in TCS. However, group activities in B-Schools are not really the same. It is not easy to direct or lead the group naturally. I remember my teams taking efforts by understanding each other and dividing the tasks equally. I rate my performance decently during the team activities as I found my graph growing and now I am more insightful in this kind of activities.

8. Tell us about your summer internship.

The process of summer placements is a mock to final placements. The importance of a summer internship experience is in par with that of any job experience if there is before pursuing MBA. Owing to these reasons I wished to get placed as early as possible  in the whole summer placement season. But that was not the case with me. I guess each company in which I wasn’t selected taught me something or the other and I finally landed up in GlobalSpace Healthcare Technologies. I was lucky enough to get excellent mentors, an unusual profile and a very interesting one too. I would advise MBA aspirants to take any opportunity during summer placements if there is no specific company or a sector in which you are very keen on. As I had no past experience in Marketing before MBA, I took my summer internship as a good opportunity to get skilled in the field.

9. How important do you think is the involvement in Extra- Curricular activities? Do you think these activities tend to deviate a student's mind from the initial academic goals set?

As I stressed upon earlier, a student’s own priorities are responsible for having a balance between extra-curricular activities and academics. I believe it is extremely important to get involved in non-academic activities as these are something which comes out of a person naturally and effortlessly. Besides, who knows what this involvement could turn into. For all, we know one may find a career associated to his/her talents and hobbies.

10. What would you like to advise to this year's batch w.r.t academics, activities, & in general about the B- School life? 

I would  like to advise the students to not look at a B-School as a “career changing  platform” instead, utilise this time to find your passion even if it is not associated with your academic goals and then try to do justice to your dreams. I would want students to remember that an MBA or a B-school can sure boost their careers but it will be their own drive and intensity to have a good life which will take them forward.