Some of the brightest minds and leading personalities in the world of business have risen from failure. It’s your ability to take setbacks into your stride and turn the opportunities into success that proves your mettle as a professional. That’s exactly what Santosh, PGDM 2016 – 18 at VJIM, Hyderabad did after he failed to make it past the first round of placements for his ‘dream company’. “It was tough but I realized companies don’t reject candidates, they choose those who are ideal for their organization. After that I got shortlisted by every company,” he says wisely. And his reward was placement with a top brand like ITC Ltd. He tells us how it all happened.

Getting down to the basics

As an engineering graduate Santosh admits that he had no knowledge of management concepts when he enrolled with VJIM, Hyderabad. He chose to be a generalist with knowledge of core subjects rather than being a specialist in one. The nature of the program encouraged him in his pursuit. “Dynamic and updated course structure, affable faculty, mentoring system and career vision schooling systems for placement preparations are four factors that make VJIM stand out from other B Schools. These elements of learning were crucial for my growth too,” he adds.

Building on the strong foundation

According to Santosh, VJIM, Hyderabad offers students a number of platforms to showcase their talents and grow as professionals. He singles out the influence of AIMA games where he had to take solo responsibilities, manage teams and improvise to overcome worst case scenarios. “My SIP with Trip Thrill, a startup company in Tourism Industry was another building block in my journey. My project was to acquire homestays for the company in Coorg and market them on online platforms. I could put my learning into practice in a short span of time,” he says.

Santosh believes these experiences will help him in his professional life as he takes on the role of a Sales Manager with ITC. Besides the learning he takes memories of open air dinners in the hostel, canteen hangout sessions and placement parties. Given his own prestigious placement, you’d imagine that his party was one to remember.