Advice of a Brother for His Sister-Part 1
Series on discussions between siblings on career choice, decision making and navigating college
Context:
This section will talk about the overall context of the series- “Advice of a brother for his sister”
My sister has recently been admitted to XLRI(Xavier School of Management, India) college for Post Graduate Diploma in General Management. Since I have done an MBA in Operations Management, and as an elder sibling there are a few pieces of advice I try giving my sister and they are captured in a conversational tone and unfiltered.
The style of this series is a query and the answers/advice or perspective of an elder brother. Also, this helps me miss my sister a bit less as she left her home to pursue her studies in a different city in India.
Topic:
This section will talk about the context specific to my sister’s query and how I was able to give an answer, not necessarily the answers are correct but it's just a perspective, provided based on the information available at hand and my personal experience in similar situations.
In India when we join a Full-time Management course, primarily we have to compete for Committees in college. There are Placement Committees, Alumni Committees, Consulting Committee, Guest lecture Committees, Mess Committees, etc. These committees play an important role in nurturing us during our college time and providing friends for life along with developing our skills in leadership. Each of them has a purpose and is not necessarily superior or inferior.
This conversation captures the discussion around an open-ended question- “Which committee should I join and aspire for during my college?”
Sister: So which committee should I select?
Me: Depends…(A typical consulting way of answering..)
Sister: On What??? (Being frustrated)
Me: Depends on what you aspire for. Is there a particular committee you would want to talk about?
Sister: Umm..May be Placement Committee or Guest Lecture Committee
Me: Is there a reason why you are looking at only these and there are many out there?
Sister: (Murmuring: Shouldn’t I be the one asking questions?)Ya, because I want to bring good companies to the college and strive for the best available corporate outreach program for myself and my batchmates.
Me: (Thinking to myself: Ah..for the larger good.. I think I have heard that before! Since my sister is kind of a Robinhood for the people who don’t speak up) OK what do you think these committees do?
Sister: Well, the Placecom (Placement committee) is primarily responsible for building the database and coordinating the corporate hiring process for the students.
The Guest Lecture Committee ensures that the latest progress done in corporate, on applications of technology and management principles are brought to the classroom. This helps the institution to align its curriculum and empower students to solve practical challenges faced by organizations.
Me: OK, that’s impressive, it seems you have done your research. How do you think you will add value to these committees then?
Sister: Well, I will try to build the database of the leads we can pursue and bring Organizational representatives from different fields to talk to us for Guest Lectures. On Placecom I would try my best to position my batch as the most diverse and elite bunch of people any organization would like to hire from..
Me: Ok let's focus on the Placecom bit here.. What would you rely on as your sources for corporate outreach? In simple words, you would need to call people and then talk about your batch right? How would you get the database to talk to the right people?
Sister: I guess there would be a repository of past recruiters who are happy with our Alumni, then there are Alumni, who are at influential designations, and finally the corporate touch points established through Guest Lectures and Consulting projects which the students do as part of earning credits.
Me: That sounds good, then the most important question is are you willing to shoulder the burden of such a responsibility? What is the “Why” behind the work and hours you will have to put in for the same?
Sister: I guess it would make me happy when I see my batchmates implement their knowledge in the domain of their choice. In the process, they would improve their quality of life both through financial means and having high job satisfaction!
Me: Well then, I guess you have your answers then…
Sister: Yep, I already knew the answers, I don’t know why I waste time talking to you. you are no help.
Me: (Silence..)
Sister: I am kidding. You can take some credit, you limelight hogger!
