I returned to college in mid March for the last two weeks at SCMHRD; two weeks filled with exams and vivas. Began first shot of the exams with the viva for our Finance Paper on 21st March. It was short, to the point and sweet with average marks. We also collected out hall tickets on that day.

Two days prior to that Sneha got placed. It was also the same day that Namrata manage to break a leg (and I?m not talking show business) while shopping. She sure got fussed over for two weeks.

My first written paper was for World Class Management on 26th of March and the paper turned out to be a real bouncer for the entire batch. We still await results, which are due in June / July.

On 26th we all set out for Sneha?s treat at Sigri in Dhole Patil Road, Pune. I had been to Sigri last year for one of the many admissions treats and liked the place. This time we went with the Barbeque buffet and it was simply fabulous. I stuffed myself up with fish, prawns and chicken and washed it all down with three triple scoops of strawberry ice cream.

And, the next day, I went out with the Admissions Team, viz. Anoop, Maria, Radhika and Ravi. Rashmi also joined for dinner. We went over to Rajwada, which I had visited once. The service at that place is painfully slow, but the food is decently edible.

We intended to stop off for ice cream and stuff but rushed to catch the last bus back to college.

The remaining days at SCMHRD were two more papers and a viva, lots of clearance forms and final packing as I headed back home to Mumbai.

The last week in Mumbai was actually just a few days as I got my belongings ready for transportation to Bangalore. Lil white mouse was a real blessing as she helped me a great deal with all this. During the time we manage to spare some time to visit Tunga?s Something Fishy, where we drew up our highest bill ever over prawns and fish and Zodiac, a place I haven?t been to since a very long time.

The transporters picked up all my stuff on Saturday and I dropped my bike over on Sunday before I flew down to Bangalore. The driver who received me at the airport was a very chatty guy and pointed out quite a few places as we passed them during the 90 minute drive to the guesthouse.

Today was the first day at work and was an excellent day. I like the place here. This week, I plan on searching for a good 1BHK in Bangalore.

BTW, in all likelihood, this may possibly be my second last post to be filed under College. The last possibly be the results, if I have the time!

Spent most of Sunday working on the Project Management presentation for Monday evening and so had to spend the little time available on Monday morning preparing for the Corporate Finance quiz. The quiz turned out to be dedicated to the time value of money which was pretty decent, so I won’t complain about that. Could have done better I guess.

Tuesday usually is a light day, as is Wednesday. However, they are usually consumed in working on the new Financial Statement Analysis case or some other assignment that manages to crop up.

Monday to Wednesday evenings were spent interviewing juniors for the Admissions Core Committee, the last obligation we have before we move out of the Admissions Committee.

One last thing in the pipeline is the conversion of the existing slow SCMHRD website template into a faster loading one. Have the junior Web Committee to assist me this time.

Now, back to FSA.

Semester 3 is definitely lighter than the past two semesters, possibly because I don’t have admissions work

Have spent the last week interviewing juniors for the Corporate Communications Team. The interviews have been mini-ragging sessions in themselves.

Some members of the junior batch are really bad, while some were really good. This time the selection procedure was better organized than last year.

We have also finished of the first set of interviews for the Admissions Team as of yesterday. Next round for the shortlisted candidates is on Monday.

One thing is definite about the interviews. It is easier to get into SCMHRD than to get into an SCMHRD committee. You may not get grilled that much in your interview for SCMHRD, but the interviews here is a totally different story!

Have to pay my fees for this year and so headed to Mumbai to make the DD for the same. Completed a lot of work for my Mom today in addition to this.

Off for a nice dinner now with you know who. To be continued…

This day last year, more than 180 students found their way to a Business School in Hinjewadi. The school was Symbiosis Centre for Management and HRD and yours truly was one of those 180+ students.

The first fortnight at SCMHRD was crazy. But, that was just the beginning.

What followed was a crazy semester during which Ravi and me formed the WebComm and redesigned and relaunched the SCMHRD website.

Also joined the Admissions Team, which would ensure that the next semester would be more hectic than the first. Not because of the hectic schedule we have at college, but because Admissions demanded our total dedication, which we did. The admissions process was a hit, as well as everything preceding to it.
It did come at the cost of lack of sleep and surely not-so-great grades. But, we learnt a lot both theoretically and practically.

The second semester exams ensured that for a change we got some sleep and the last two months of summer internship ensured that I got the luxury of weekends.

I’ve learnt a lot in the last two months, and finally decided to take Finance as my major. Just hope everything works well in that regards.

As of today, the Admissions Process has finally come to an end. The Final Merit List for SCMHRD is now available on the website.

Admissions work at SCMHRD has been an excellent experience indeed. We did everything that was to be done, right from designing every single page of the brochure to sending teams on drives, to advertisements and finally the entire GDPI process.

The GDPI process this year was held at the International Convention Centre in Pune from the 27th of January and the 2nd of February, followed by interviews for handicapped candidates on 3rd at our college itself.

Yours truly was responsible for the initial identity verification process and the entire Ground Floor area of the centre… to put it in words, “no candidate was allowed to enter the 5th floor without being cleared by Ajay”.

Had picked an excellent team to work with me for those seven days and so faced hardly any problem. Infact, at the cost of being called a boaster, we ensured that the process ran perfectly on time by sending the groups up well within the desired time. This meant sending up 45 students every single hour. No candidate was turned back and we ensured that everyone was accomadated even if they came late or had some other commitments.

The celebration after the GDPI process spanned two parties, one at Malaka Spice in Koregoan Park and another at Sigree in Dhole Patil road. It ensured that I had a good amount of meats to eat
This ofcourse excludes the two major parties, one on New Year’s Eve and the other by our Director, besides the many tiny treats we’ve enjoyed.

Well, am going to miss that life.

Next week is lined up with tonnes of assignment and project submissions, even more FCQs and tests, as well as many we missed due to our work.

Normal life, here we come!

At the time of this post, I have been awake for 24 hours, of which almost all of it was spent in the admissions room.

Have I been busy or have I been bored, considering my last post was two months back!

Well, busy is more like it.

WebComm Team

This team was instituted after Ravi and I joined / founded it. And work was hectic the last week of August and the first week of September.

While we did get the SCMHRD site up and running, as you can see it is painfully slow. There’s absolutely nothing I can do to speed it up except redesign the entire site.

I’ve been working on a layout and speeded up the entire thing. A test site has worked decently, but I guess I will have to move away from tables totally as I do with all my other sites.

As part of the team, I spent a lot of time in the Admissions room and so was asked to join it officially…

Admissions

…which I did

And as a result, the last two months have been extremely crazily busy. We released the Admissions Brochure, which has come out pretty well. We’ll most likely release a PDF version of it for those interested.

Also been looking into the advertising in magazines and newspapers. Can be both entertaining and quite a pain at times. But, it definitely has improved my negotiation skills.

Answering phonecalls is the most painful part of Admissions. For one, most of the calls are regarding distance learning. SCMHRD doesn’t offer that and for distance MBA, you need to contact SCDL. The second set of questions are about the Management Quotas. This is handled directly by the Symbiosis Society.

The last thing we did (besides tonnes of others) was load the trucks. Between three of us guys, we handled some 2-3 tonnes of materials several times. If you’re talking TQM, we did that.

Brochures should be available in all leading career coaching institutes all over India.

College and Exams

Finally got done with the Semester I examinations! Well, atleast gave all the papers and am now awaiting the results. Studied for most of the papers on Day-1 except for accounts which began on Day-2!

As for accounts, that still remains a challenge as I got that paper to give yet again. Had expected a backlog but was surprised to have been joined by over 100 others as well!

Summer Placements

Summer Placements were painful, especially when we could see several Freshers snatching up jobs, while we work-ex people struggled to find one. I’m hoping the tables turn in the Final Placements next year.
Anyway, got placed on Day1 at eClerx, which has its offices in Mumbai

Sem II begins

We’ve selected our electives. I chose Operations Management II, Sales and Distribution and Brand Management. With these three I could cover the 8 credits that I needed to choose. It will also help me in my transistion towards an Operations Major, which I am strongly considering.

Ohh, and we’re on our Diwali break. Will be going back to Pune early Monday morning. Ravi tells me that there is tonnes of work to be done on Monday and Tuesday. At the same time, will have to juggle with lectures to attend!

Life @ SCMHRD!

Happy Diwali my dear readers

Had written in yesterday about the NMAT being held on Sunday.

My center for the same was Satheye College in Vile Parle. Picked up AJJ on the way there. We reached there well in time. And this turned out to be really early, because we just had to kill time until ten minutes before the exam.

The paper was OK. I attempted a decent amount. But, I just don’t know what to expect!

Made it for mass in time, the roads were extremely clear Long sermon…

Today was eventful, in the sense that I finished the application work of two more colleges, viz. NITIE and MDI.

I still another 4-5 colleges left to apply to which should be done by next week.

Before that met up with pals in Powai. We intended to go to Pizza Hut, but dropped the idea because of the long waiting time. Did I mention that I hate waiting for my food?

We ended up eating Alu Parathas at Galleria in Powai. (I always forget to take pics!)

After this I dropped in at NITIE. It happens to be an extremely peaceful and beautiful place with a good amount of greenery and just overlooking Vihar Lake.

The people in the admissions office were also nice to interact with and submitting the form was extremely simple. I like quick and simple processes. Getting in there is going to take some effort however.

Spent the rest of the day at home. Ex-colleagues called up today, which was surprising. It’s nice people still think about me

Tomorrow will be all study-study as well as more form filling. Sunday is the usual AIMCAT, the last one before the CAT.