Shrishti

Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta

“I am a passionate individual; I love to push my limits by setting up challenging milestones for myself and going the extra mile to achieve these goals.”

Hometown: Bangalore, Karnataka, India

Fun Fact About Yourself: I am a huge fan of Korean culture, and love K-dramas and Blackpink.

Undergraduate School and Major: National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra; Bachelors of Engineering in Electronics & Telecommunication

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: MakeMyTrip Limited, Assistant Manager – Analytics

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of IIM Calcutta’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school, and why was it so important to you? Getting admit into IIM Calcutta is the opportunity of a lifetime. The program is challenging, rigorous, and very thoughtfully designed. The students have diverse work experience from multitudes of industries. Here, we challenge the status quo daily and collaborate with people very different from ourselves. Another huge advantage of choosing this program is the opportunity to learn from the country’s leading management faculty.

What has been your favorite course or extracurricular activity at IIM Calcutta? What has been the most important lesson that you have learned from it? I think all the courses we have are pretty informative and very engaging. If I have to pick one, I would say ‘Information Technology’ is the one I enjoyed the most. The numerous case discussions of the digital transformation journey of some of the world’s top firms were enlightening. It really puts into perspective the digital disruption happening in multitudes of industries, the importance of continuous innovation, and really understanding the needs of your consumer and addressing those needs to stay relevant in the industry.

What has been the best part of studying business in Calcutta? The best part of IIM Calcutta is undoubtedly the opportunity to learn from the world-class faculty. Every session is enlightening and we are introduced to new ways of thinking. Moreover, IIM Calcutta’s lush green campus, with its lakes and diverse wildlife, is beautiful; nobody could ask for a more conducive environment for learning.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: Prior to coming here, I was working in the analytics domain of an online travel company. As the pandemic hit, the impact on the travel industry was massive: the entire business came to a standstill. People were looking up to our team to provide some insights – any insights at all – into the situation. But there was no usable data for this unforeseen situation. I, and my team, went above and beyond the call of duty and called customers to gain insights into customer sentiments, decoded who was traveling and why they were traveling, and how we can modify our offerings to suit the customer needs. As the business slowly took off after some time, we kept a close watch and informed the concerned teams of the pain points and unique demands of the customers, which were taken into consideration, and initiatives were launched accordingly. This experience gave a sense of fulfillment to my professional purpose.

Describe your biggest accomplishment as an MBA student so far: The decision to return to academics, when you are set in your ways and have a successful career, was a tough call. The process of unlearning and relearning, challenging yourself, challenging what you know, and gaining a new perspective can be daunting. I am glad that I stepped out of my comfort zone, put my best foot forward, and accepted a challenging environment. This itself makes the whole journey appreciable.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point and what do you hope to do after graduation? My biggest motivation to pursue an MBA was my inquisitive nature and the constant desire to be better than my present self. As a product analyst, I was involved with the launch of many products and was always fascinated by the amount of research, planning, and strategizing that went into each decision point. Post my MBA, I am planning to work internationally on the strategic and business perspectives, leveraging my knowledge of analytics to use the plethora of data available today to make well-informed strategic decisions.

What advice would you give to help potential applicants gain admission into IIM Calcutta? I think the most important thing is to be sure about one’s goals. The ‘why question’ is important; why do you want to do an MBA? With sorted clarity on it, one’s sincerity, ambition, and vision will reflect in their application as well as in the interviews.

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