“Each day in GIM was akin to preparation for the corporate world,” says Ms. Rituparna Chakraborty, alum from the 1999 Batch who has gone on to have a prolific corporate career. She is the Senior Vice President of TeamLease, and President of Indian Staffing Federation, and she attributes a lot of her success to her education at Goa Institute of Management. She talks about her journey of enrolling with the institute on a gut instinct to making a place for herself in the industry over the course of a few years.
Ms. Chakraborty had already gained experience working with an industrial unit as a Sales & Marketing professional. But she wanted to pursue a PGDM program to boost her career prospects, and things worked out in a way that led her to GIM. “I would say it all worked out for the best because I gained so much here,” she says thoughtfully. “The non-cognitive lessons are my biggest takeaways and I learned to handle pressure, stress, work together as a team, use creativity in my work and, of course, I also learned a lot about human relationships.”
The experience exceeded her expectations by far because things like late night quizzes, overnight project completion, the 5 mark bombshells in the name of short quizzes etc., prepared her for what was to come as a professional. Ms. Chakraborty reflects on the time gone by as she says, “GIM even then was known for its solid faculty team, which was an asset. Their contributions to our learning are immense. Today, that aspect coupled with state of the art amenities have given the institute an edge over the others around.”
The learning at the institute definitely gave Ms. Chakraborty the edge in her professional career and allowed her to achieve her lofty goals. She claims to be a sales professional by choice and passion, but the industry she belongs to is Human Resources related. Throwing some light on Indian Staffing Federation, she adds, “We aim to be a representative voice of staffing as an industry. We want to engage with public policy makers to influence legislative changes in our labour law environment, fuel formal job creation and make flexi staffing a preferred choice of employment.”
Through her passion, commitment and dedication, Ms. Chakraborty has made a place for herself in the corporate world. She has seen it change over the years and is the right person to talk about the role of women in the current scenario. “The growing acceptance of women at workplace is probably one of the highest impact changes happening in the professional sphere. Women are gradually getting into male dominated areas of sales and marketing, she explains. “Unfortunately though many women join at entry level, they drop out at mid and senior level.”
And what are the things that future Human Resource professionals amongst the students at the institute should know about? Does Ms. Chakraborty have any advice for them? She thinks carefully before replying, “Please don’t opt for HR because you think it’s a comfortable and cushy job. Its role today is closely linked to business growth and it’s not just a supporting role, but an integral function of an organization. The field is for you if you want to interact with people, understand how businesses function and are interested in labour laws, etc.”
Ms. Chakraborty continues to cherish fond memories from her time at the institute. One of the most memorable ones is obviously meeting her now husband on her first day at the institute. Clearly, the institute has given her a lot. She recounts the times with a smile and says, “From our sales and distribution management classes to four in one bike rides around Panjim, the Mahi Mahila Mandal gang to all night dance parties, and, of course, the learning every step of the way. It has all made us who we are today,” she concludes.
The experience exceeded her expectations by far because things like late night quizzes, overnight project completion, the 5 mark bombshells in the name of short quizzes etc., prepared her for what was to come as a professional.
