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Sitting back… May 9, 2007

Posted by Simba in : Life Marvels, MBA, Work & Beyond , 5 comments

Ok, now, finally I am done with all my coursework and officially signed off except for the graduation bit. I haven’t blogged for a long time and I wont start making excuses. This last Term was busy as usual and I just got busy with academics and interviews. I had finally started getting some good news on the job front when the visa situation became bizarre.

For those of you in it, I am sorry - our timing really sucks! And for others who are not aware - Well, the H1B visas were all taken on the first day of application i.e April 1st. And about 20,000 visas that are reserved for all those who graduate from US Universities, they were taken a few days ago. While many with job offers played their luck with lottery, I stood wondering what would happen to me! It has always been a hard ride for me and I didn’t expect this to be any different. So, all my interviews and almost offers got stalled due to the visa situation. That truly sucks! Basically, though many companies want to hire us international students, they wont be able to due to legal restriction. I have about a year to stay here and make my stay worthwhile. I don’t think it will be any different next year or the year after till the government takes some measures. We all have been signing petitions to voice our concerns and hoping for some miracle. So, till the ah-moment, I guess I should fend for myself.

While I am not too happy to be in this position I have a feeling that things will be ok. I don’t think I would have been excited at something I wouldn’t enjoy doing for a long time. But I feel sad that I wont have a full time job and get into a comfortable life after all; after all this work! Phew! Who said life is easy, ah! Anyways, amongst some of the things I wish - more retailers on campus, more retailers willing to recruit internationals, more efforts from my side (who knew things would turn so dire so soon!) These days I have been doings ups-downs on a daily basis. I can work for non profits or keep looking for firms that will take a chance on me, But I am leaning on entrepreneurship - I plan to start my own small business, of course something to do with retail; either I go bust or make enough money to pay up my loans, only time will say! The next couple of months will be a lot of research and groundwork. Hang in there, I might just spill some beans in a few days :)

So, what happens if I go bankrupt? Ouch! I will pack my bags and go home! Now, let’s pray that it won’t be that bad….

And I move on… August 11, 2006

Posted by Simba in : Work & Beyond, General , 10 comments

As I sat across the table having our last lunch with our Director, I just realized how swiftly the whole of summer had gone by, at least with respect to my job. Exactly 2 months ago (yeah, it’s ‘ago’ here ;) ) I was sitting with the same people getting to know them and trying to be nice.. today, it was a more relaxed atmosphere… talking about the project, the work for them after I leave and the forward strategies for our department. On a scale of 10, I would give myself a 7 considering how much better I could have done stuff, quicker way of getting organized, faster way of meeting the right people etc etc. But ain’t that the way always?! In hindsight, everything could have been done better and faster.

I have given the same presentation about 4-5 times with a little bit of modification after each. And by the time we got to today’s last one, I was so tired but it is so fascinating how each team perceives the work. It was amazing how the senior management started working on the action items & timelines looking at my recommendations where as some of the other team members rolled up their eyes seeing more work coming their way. Some are so open to change where as others are so closed to all new ideas. It is pretty fascinating how the management tries to please both the extremes and in the end, get them to do exactly what it wants to be done!

And the big ‘O’ ;) question - Did I get an offer from Lowe’s? Well, at least, they literally didn’t invite me to a room and hand me a package saying so but they were pretty impressed with the work and the efforts that went in. As I was discussing with a close friend, I didnt get much of the negative feedback which is one way good, but obviously, they have been nice while appraising my work. But that kind of candid feedback would have given me a chance to understand things I should have done better and areas in myself which needs serious improvement. Retail is fascinating and the talk about ‘home-improvement’ will never go out of fashion! I dont know if I want to come back but it would be great to at least get an offer, it would validate my work, boost my confidence but to even get there, they need to have an open position in that department. I so wish I had gone ahead and met up with the people in some of the departments I wanted to work in but my health doing a roller-coaster this summer, I had to play it easy!

One thing I was absolutely thrilled about were the people I have worked here with. They are probably the best I have seen in the corporate world. 6 years into corporate before B-school and I haven’t met anyone even close to how nice these people have been! But then again, I was here for too short a time to make some gradiose statements but at least I got see happy faces and genuine smiles .. people truly loved their jobs, though I constantly felt like shaking up some of them to get things done faster!

And I got a chance to make some fantastic friends here.. some of the things I have learnt now…roll up my eyes when I see disgusting things, use a lot of ‘whatever’ & ‘hell’, sigh loudly, try to blow my “where’s” & “when’s” (to accentuate the ‘w’ in them!), make up my own veggie dishes on any restuarant’s menu, pick up some great accessories and blow up big $ on them and pretend that it doesn’t matter….. all these & more. But seriously, learnt a lot of things from my fellow interns and it has been amazing… tweak my dressing sense, eat more salads & less of spice, take less coffee & soda, work out more religiously, keep going on that treadmill even when my heart is threatening to stop any minute, work on learning more about Hindu scriptures and visiting more churches! I have a lot of friends who hail from different churches around and so badly wanted to go with them on every Sunday but somehow couldnt make it … will start doing it once I get back to school. My fellow intern and close friend was a Mormon with whom I spent a large part of one Sunday, knowing so much about their beliefs & faith. It is amazing how strongly they connect with God! Hopefully, some of her great attributes will rub off on me.. also received a lovely parting gift - “The Book of Mormon” :)

I start school in a week’s time. Though I am kind of sad about leaving Lowe’s and missing the people here, I am pretty excited to start off school, meet good ol’ friends, start worrying about grades & quizzes, nag about crazy schedules and curse some of the course works! Ah, blissful second year…. I wish! I think I am over loading much stuff this year than last, but not on the academic part. I will try to pen in some of the interesting stuff I will latch onto pretty soon. But by the looks of it now, it sure seems like a big year with a lot of ‘ACTION’ items.. things to set into motion, plans to work on, things to lay down and kick start new beginnings! :) And I move on…

Yada yada yada… July 26, 2006

Posted by Simba in : Work & Beyond, Frivolous Me , 8 comments

…whatever. Okai, I have about 4 days to wind up my act and come up with my first ‘final’ presentation! I have no idea what I am going to do! The reports that I am supposed to be using as the base for all my analysis seems to be seriously flawed and I get to know about it now. Hmmmph! The surveys that I had sent out to validate my findings.. well, let alone validate… I need to use them as a first finding report. And the percentage of survey takers seems to be so bad that the whole thing might look skewed. I havent done almost 50% of the things that I should have completed by now. I havent spoken to half the people I want to, in order to get their opinion on my recommendations. And my recommendation sucks! I have almost no material to talk about nor any numbers to fall upon. For the life of me, I dont know where to go from here or what do about everything. And my supposedly creative brain has fallen prey to the corporate environment around me and refuses to budge. Maybe its that thick ‘old-age-memory-lapse’ layer which is the culprit, after all, for blocking up my innate creative juices. 

When I look back on all the stuff I have done over the summer, all I can see is numbers and numbers. Now, my mind draws up sheets of excel even in my sleep and I am squinting at the screen to ensure that I dont ask the ‘Window/Door’ vendor about a sink! So, why am I sitting here and blogging when I have so many things to do… Hmmm, thats an amazing question that I am asking myself at this point! Well, maybe I dont want to lose you as my blog reader, maybe I want my counter to keep counting up & beyond, maybe I am tired of messing up so many things that I can only think of keeping this blog intact, or maybe.. I have finally lost it! :)

We all have bad days and bad times. So do I. But after what I have been through with regards to my health, I cannot say.. how trivial all these seems at this point! So, I might not be able to impress the people out here, or worse, disappoint them and not get that final offer. The only thing that would bother me is if I knew i could have done a better job than I ended up doing.. well, is that the case..maybe, to some extent but surely nothing to spend sleepless nights about! All these…surely doesnt define the way I look at things. If it means so much to me, I will come back to work for them again next year even if it means, staring a fresh post-mba-job-hunt web page ;) But that’s ok. I can still dream of better days and many a better times! It is wonderful to wake up in the morning and see the bright sun make its way through the blinds… its a beautiful day, everyday is a wonderful beginning… and I hope to keep it that way!

Life Update July 13, 2006

Posted by Simba in : Life Marvels, Work & Beyond, Frivolous Me , 9 comments

When posts on a blog become less frequent, then it’s not a blog update, rather it’s a life update. The last month has almost been one helluva roller coaster ride. I wish I never ever go through such a upheaval again. Never ever. People closer to me have gone far away and those further away have come closer. Its weird when trouble comes, it really pours!

We always hear about people dying and people coming down with incurable diseases. What if you come to know that sadly, now, its your turn to be real sick! I have been worried, scared and almost dead thinking about what I might have contacted. It has been a journey with many anxious nights and worrisome days. I am still far away from knowing what is wrong but slowly & painfully I will get there. I have been so mad at God for a long time, most probably the most bitter amongst all his men. Never had I made my peace with Him. But with so many things going out of sync, there is only Him to turn to! It’s so surprising that we so easily forget to thank Him for the blessings but once we are a wreck, we miss him so dearly.

And of course, PaGaLGirL will be closed soon. Maybe it’s the way it is meant to be! My first venture fails horribly but it has been a learning experience. Building a community is definitely not my forte and maybe venturing into unknown at a wrong time was not sucha great idea. Too many bad mouthings & words have been flung into thin air which has reduced wonderful relationships and friendships to almost nothing. It is too sad things had to turn so bitter. Have been overwhelmed by the support I got from the entire girl community! Its truly awesome! But now, I have almost run out of things I would have wanted to say!

Work front has been ok. Too much work and too less time. There goes weekends & free evenings. I have to wind up a lot of stuff, the biggest problem being I need to figure out everything. The project I am handling is probably the most undefined of the lot. Either they presumed that I am too smart to figure it out or they didnt have the faintest idea why they hired me! Phew! I will let you know how that will go..rather, how it will all end! Final offer tho bhool jao! :P

Have a couple of interesting things coming up and will definitely post about them. I have made some very good friends in my internship circle and we all do have a lot of fun once we get out of work. Tired. Will pen a better post later. So exhausted!!

Work and beyond… June 14, 2006

Posted by Simba in : Life Marvels, Work & Beyond , 8 comments

I know I haven’t written for a while. The last few days, my life has been almost a haze which I cannot describe. Hope God up there will bestow the strength in me to make the right decision and move on. I have always wondered why life throws up strange things at different stages of life, maybe its all a game.. something you will always be working on & trying to overcome. Its been almost a battle with myself to come in terms with how I have changed over the last one year! I have even lost sense of what kind of a person I am, things I believe in, priniciples I would follow and people I would die for! Now, I am taking some time off to figure out all that and more, it feels weird.. its almost like teaching the kid within me the first few steps. I have always seen life as a big furry fun ball but now, I understand how serious life can be.. It teaches you things in some of the hardest challenges in life. I am facing probably my hardest challenge.. lets see where I go from here….

If you are thinking that all this has got to do with my MBA & my job… you are so wrong! :D No, I dont have any regrets for coming sucha long way to study and get a life. Life, I did get.. & more. After the GATE, I was pretty much moving stuff & shifting which took a lot of time. I started my first job in Corporate America and think I am doing ok, just dont ask me what I am doing… becos I dont know! I need to figure out something that has gone wrong and I dont have the slightest clue where to start. So, maybe I will restrain from the normal advice part *wink* We had an awesome Orientation Week for all the incoming interns and it was so fun. I keep thinking that some day I will get so old that I will stop enjoying all these get-togethers & celebrations.. but dont think, I am getting any closer to that one at least! There was a time when I was the youngest of the whole lot.. I am not the oldest, not yet..but sure getting there! :) Its been an awesome journey so far and I know, I have much farther to go… The office is a beautiful place to work in overlooking a beautiful countryside. My fellow interns are so much fun and its great hangin around with them. We are planning to get somewhere this weekend.. there are too many things around this place and boy, summer is here! The last weekend was an absolute bliss, doing the best I normally do.. lazing around! Work slowly will start picking up in full gear & you will some whines & nags. You are warned! LOL! I am out for now.. More laterz.

Lowe’s I goes! April 26, 2006

Posted by Simba in : Wiggles, Work & Beyond, Success , 17 comments

And I am thrilled beyond anything. Lowe’s is a gaint retailer and I am helping them with Strategy & Operations. Today, I have accepted my offer and will be heading out to Mooresville, a couple of hours drive from here! No winners for guessing whether I will take the offer or not… ;)

Now, how the hell did I land up here considering that I was gunning for tech/telecom firms. Well, dont we all get lucky once in a while! :D Actually I had imagined that my transition into the tech sector would be easier considering my back ground in hard core telecom but it turned out that getting into any field & function is quite a bit of a challenge and takes an enormous amount of work! To dispel all wild assumptions, let me be clear.. I am not absolutely thrilled with techology firms, but yes the application of technology is fascinating to some extent! In a wild way, I had interviewed with 2 tech firms here for good positions and an offer from them would have calmed me a long time back but I wouldnt have been like thrilled about it!

I just cant tell you how happy that I am for breaking this ’stigma’ of techie, am sure anyone in this field can vouch for that! I was not into software or IT, more like a hardware/operations kind of gal but still I was viewed all the same. Now, at least I can boast of breaking the shackles and entering a new market of retailing. The work seems interesting and I really liked the people I got to meet during my interview. So, this phase should be a new learning experience! New kind of work in a new environment with new people… Of course, all this was made possible by a simple 3 lettered word - ‘MBA’ :)

As PG said, I guess I have learnt a lot from this whole process of internship hunting than I would have had I received an offer from my first interview. Today. I can write mails to people whose names I cannot pronounce, I can pick up the phone and cold call anyone, reach out to people who I think can be of help.. I mean, arent these some of the skills that we absolutely seek as business leaders! Am sure all these wont go a waste and I can’t stress on how much self-learning this process in itself gives.. yes, I cried, nagged, cribbed about the world being insensitive & life being unfair.. I will never go back on that.. I have faced innumerable sad days wondering where I was heading and so many self doubts about my own capability! So, did all this vanish into thin air with one small job offer.. Hell no! But it atleast altered my thought pattern, it gave me new avenues I could do things, better ways of getting stuff done… I would not want to go through those stressful days again and can empathize with everyone whoz been there! But put me again in such demanding situations, I can pick on certain cards to make my game a little, a tad little, simpler!

LOL, now I worry about being a total bummer during my internship.. what if I am a total loser & they decide to kick me out! Will I be the first one in the history of Fuqua to have a student kicked out in the middle of a summer internship?!

And life goes on… ;)

Internship - Nailed! April 20, 2006

Posted by Simba in : MBA, Work & Beyond, Success , 29 comments

I cant tell you how happy and relieved I am today. I just got an offer and I am so thrilled that I cant even think! Hugs to all those who stayed with my nags through out. I will give more details later on. Am just so happy that I cant think straight now! :D

Yipeeeeeeeeeeeeee!! So, I am working this summer too!!!!! LOL!

Internship Rambling March 20, 2006

Posted by Simba in : MBA, Duke, Work & Beyond, General , 17 comments

Ok, Stop grinning! I am desperate! My time is running out! And I got this fantastic idea from a good pal, long time blogger, DMN. :) We all are looking for Summers aka Internships and with each passing day, I am losing patience! Now, lets not get into the argument about if I ever had some! Term 4 began today and I am the least loaded as I have to concentrate on job-hunt! Phew, I wish I was sitting in my cool,air-conditioned office way back in Mumbai taking my nice pay chek and fighting with my boss! Nah, I would never say that! Thank God, I am sitting here worrying about my summer job rather than be doing the kind of work that I used to do! LOLz! Puneet, I know, I still need to get to you about the kind of requirements I am looking at! In brief, I have been a techie, worked on Optical & Wireless technologies for about 6 years prior to MBA. Any strategy, business development or consulting position in the Technology or Telecom sector would be great as I would be helpless in coming out with creative strategies to sell some ketchup! :) Actually, for a while, I toyed with the idea of working on the Finance side as that really interests me but then again, without any prior experience, its hard to make a transition! Now, dont even get me talking about some of the interviews we, as international students, cannot apply! Hmmph!

Back to my rambling, till date, I have given 4 interviews and only the first one I managed to make it to the second round. For all others, I still havent heard from them! Now, does that mean a Ding from them! Maybe or may not be, but one thing is absolutely sure, they are not crazy about you! If they are, they will get back to you a day or two after your interview. So, I might be in for a surprise if I actually get to hear something positive from these. Anyway, moving on, the off-campus job search is painful as there are no rules for this game. You might turn out lucky if the alums reply back or you might get some real bad, cold shoulders. So, how am I going to wade through these things. I dont know but I guess, I will survive! No, at this point, I am not hopeful of getting an awesome job but it helps to get a decent one that I would enjoy for my summers. Most of the engineers are in pretty much the same position, at least the desis but some of them have been lucky to beat the rest in this cat race! Most of the commerce grads have accepted various positions in different sectors of the Finance world. So, does this thing gotto do anything wrt the engineering bit, I am not really sure but sadly, most of the technical companies that were here called only US citizens which kinda made it hard for all of us! If the tech sector dont want the tech junta, I cant see anyone else needing us! There are a few tech consulting firms around and they are doing a host of activities in the wireless domain! Would I be interested.. absolutely! But they are a very few and you need some tremendous patience to follow through till the end. So, with time running out.. I have just about a month to finalize this else I am pretty much free for the summers! :|

Now, am I disappointed about being at this stage. I guess not when you talk about the whole grand scheme of things, that is basically when I sit down with my grand-children to tell them gory tales about how recklessly I survived a summer with no food & no money but with tremendous energy! But for time being, I must accept that it is very disappointing not to have the opportunity (mind you, not the job perse!) to put forth a stellar candidature. So, what will I do? LOLz, you will see a lot more action in the PaGaL land and a lot of thought-dump here on this blog! So, would I be considered a failure..and should not be writing my MBA articles…Ahem! Only time can answer this question! :) Hey, Class of ‘08.. dont be scared when you read this! I wish there were many many more desis who were writing blogs who would convince you that getting a summer is a stroll in the park.. but there aint many! So, take my words with a pinch of salt! Its better to be aware of the reality bites, not to be disheartened! Fuqua is a great school and my getting/ not-getting a job is not a good estimate about the school perse! Comments in form of job offers would be highly appreciated ;) LOL!

Edit - I have started the Internship Hunt page to keep track! I have no reason to crib if I dont try enough! :|

Overloaded January 21, 2004

Posted by Simba in : Wiggles, Work & Beyond , add a comment

My god!!!

If i say that I am overloaded, it would be just undermining my schedule. Yesterday I left home at 8 in the morning & reached at 10 pm. Started off with one essay at office. At 10ish started with official work… damn every single person got on my nerves… didnt take a single break till 3pm (lunch cum coffee break).. & continued till 6:30pm.

Then rushed to my gym.. had a great workout…:):).. due to the lack of time.. I actually hurried up without taking any breaks in between!!! Then.. had my guitar class at 9pm…I really need to put in some work here.. need a lot of practiceeeeeeeeeeee…..

I also need to work on this blog of mine & make it all colourful.. When shall i do that.. hmmmm… may be once i am done with ISB essays :) :)…..