Aditya Pathak

During my initial days of work, freshly graduated from IIT Kharagpur, I was in a client meeting when somehow, I made a numerical mistake in the presentation. This client was no ordinary client, they were the biggest e-commerce industry of India, and I had messed up there in their boardroom full of investors and senior leadership. I could feel how that subtle mistake in presentation made the client uncomfortable.  This incident was minute but it had blown my head and put me into a dilemma, what if I’m at the wrong place? What if this is not something meant for me? I started lacking confidence and doubted everything I do, luckily with the motivation and support from people around me, I eventually got my confidence back and all those conflicts in my head started to diminish. One day I got into a thought that youths in our country have the talent but no proper guidance to achieve what they desire. So, I started to mentor students/job-seekers focusing mainly on rural women and kids from rural areas and eventually connecting them to hiring managers. It gave me an immense satisfaction and pleasure after realising that I had found a way to give back to the society. Soon I cleared MBA entrance exam and joined IIM-Kozhikode.

I opened a YouTube channel where I acted as a mediator between people having industry exposure and people who wanted to incur their knowledge. I was pursuing MBA during the pandemic and it was a peak time for me as I was appearing for my finals. Certainly, it wasn’t a challenge until one day I had to interview someone. Of course, that someone was no simple person that I could postpone the interview and the date of the exam could not be changed for me as well. So, on one side I had my MBA exam which would decide my fate while on the other hand there was this YouTube podcast which would be helping thousands of students to gain clarity on their careers in the supply chain sector.  My teammates and I were thinking what could be done and how can we manage both the situations? It was a time of crisis for me since the show did not have an anchor. I started searching for someone who can fill that position. It was then a lady came to my rescue, she was working in IT and had experience in anchoring and also was equally experienced in the industrial sector from where our guest hailed. It felt like such a relief that I couldn’t express.

The day had finally arrived when I had my exam and also the interview and neither of them could be postponed or cancelled because timings overlapped. Everything was at stake. One side I had my MBA finals which I could not risk failing because of the hefty education loan taken for an IIM MBA and on the other side I had to interview someone whose time was very precious to gain. But thankfully the exam was online and so was the interview. It was a 3-hour exam. With all tricks and techniques in my mind, I managed to wind it up in 1:15 hrs. Out of 12-14 questions, I attempted 4 and a few MCQs. I was terrified to hit the submit button but had no other choice. I had a rush in my head and heart, I could feel the flow of blood but then I focused on co-anchoring the show (interview). I was very glad and excited to interview the Founder of “Let’s Transport” Sudarshan Ravi, who is a figure in Forbes 30 under 30. The podcast went well but I had sleepless nights thinking of the results of the exam. I even doubted my decision of leaving in the middle of the exam. If I failed, a sum of money would be wasted and also, I would have to reattempt the exam; hence I would need a year more. I had a pile of thoughts. After a few days, the day of the results arrived. I passed the subject by 2-3 marks. Had it been one wrong statement in my answers, I would have failed. I felt blessed, I somehow passed. It was a nerve-wracking experience for me. I took a risk and marked this event in my memories forever.

Total Work Experience : 5 Years (EY-Parthenon , Redseer , Shadowfax , Zomato , Swiggy , Tata , Coal India Limited , Vedanta )