ISBR Blog team interacted with Jayadev Mohapatra who is currently pursuing PGDM ( 2015- 17) at ISBR and got placed in General Electric ( GE) India. Here are the excerpts of his talks with us:
1. Tell us something about you?
Hi, I am Jayadev Mohapatra. I stayed in Delhi for 18 years and studied in Gyan Mandir Public School. I did my B tech (E & C) from KIIT, Bhubaneswar. My fathercurrently works as Director General, ICAR (Indian Council of Agriculture Research). My mother is a home maker. My sister is doing Clinical Psychology. And my hobbies are playing football on the field as well as on a PC,playing my 13-year-old guitar and photography but please don’t stop me and pose for a picture, I am more of a nature and wildlife photographer.
2. How did you prepare yourself for the interview of GE?
I got good exposure about various systems and processes during my Internship. It was challenging but helpful to get practical aspect of what you study. Further academic sessions with faculty added the value to what I learnt during internship. Mentorship sessions under the guidance of my mentor Mr. Abbas Ali sir helped me to overcome stage fear and improved my presentation skills.
3. Special mention to any incident related to your interview?
I had the first round of interview with manager, Supply Chain at GE. It was a technical interview where i could answer most of the questions because of the experience gained during internship. There were questions like “should we go for automation in a process or not? Justification for the same. “It may seem like a sudden act towards you by the manager but the answer to it is a simple one. “
3. What learning’s from college has helped you to achieve this?
I cannot quantify. There has been a lot that I learnt from faculty and peers. Under Mentorship Program, I participated in ‘Start up Spirits’. I was nervous on stage and found that I had to improve. I worked more on my communication skills to get desired results.
4. Which two members of ISBR team would you like to mention who guided you?
I would be grateful to Prof. VV Rao for his insightful lectures. In fact, I will miss his lectures for which I will have regrets. Also I would like to thank my mentor Mr. Abbas Ali sir for his regular guidance and advice.
5. What is your advice to your colleagues and juniors?
“Take internship very seriously.” It’s the foundation. You may not get the privilege of regular employee as an intern and your roles would vary on daily basis. You will face different challenges on daily basis in not so familiar environment. You might be pushed to your limits like you are going to office as early as 7 am and comeback at 11pm. But you must always remember that to gain something you need to put your effort towards it. I still remember the words of my boss during internship who told me, “If you want a badge and regular access then work hard and if u come back here, I will get you everything.” So we have to keep ourselves motivated. Even if we do not join the company later, we will get good knowledge & experience as a stepping stone. So, u can say that everything starts with you taking your internship seriously. Work hard when in office, it’s alright if you want to party after it. Don’t let it hamper your productivity and efficiency. Good Luck.
6. Tips for the 1st year students on- “How to start preparing themselves from now itself”?
Relax! Take it easy. Live your life a bit. Don’t get stuck into a daily routine of going to college and back to hostel/pg. Marks are not the only thing that you need to focus on. Experience different things, go to events and participate. Focus on your job in hand rather than being everywhere. Taking baby steps is fine but don’t be stagnated. Connecting to different people in industry is very important part of completing your MBA/PGDM. I met Mr. Sridharan, GE Electric. Meeting and connecting with helped me in understanding my core subject, RSCM, in the most rudimentary form by relating it to daily life. There have been more people with whom I got connected who in turn helped me in understanding about how the actual work gets differentiated depending on the industries. It helped me in understanding my proficiencies and I choose manufacturing industry. Don’t take tension as soon as you read this whole thing, opportunities are there, grab them. And enjoy as much as you can. Good Luck.