Conversations with a Project Management Trainee
1. Tell us a bit about yourself
My name is Jay Shah. I recently graduated from Babson College, USA with a master’s degree in Entrepreneurship. After completing the degree I had been working in the family business, V-Trans India Ltd. which is into third party logistics. After working for a nearly half a year I found a job at DHL supply chain in Mumbai itself. I’m currently a management trainee in the transportation division. My goal right now is to learn as much as I can from the biggest logistics company in the world, and work with the best of my abilities.
2. What do you enjoy about your current job?
Currently, I’m just enjoying the induction period per se. However, it is fascinating to know about the company as big as DHL. I do not think there could be a more complex company than DHL in the world. Given their worldwide operations and the complexities involved, it is amazing how efficiently these activities are carried out across different channels. How DHL does all this? It’s mainly because the processes are set and predefined- this is something worth mentioning.
3. Let’s zoom back, Can you describe a few challenges you faced while finding your internship at Pidilite Industries ?
Pidilite was my first internship outside my family business. It was also the most difficult to crack, given my dearth of work ex. I secured the internship through a referral. Little did I know, getting an internship was just a tip of the iceberg. Major challenges started after I joined.My role was a sales intern for their adhesive product Falcofix. In the first month I had to be on the field with a distributor going to different plywood stores where these kinds of products were mainly sold and do a market research on the same. Knocking at different stores, talking to shop owners gave me real insight of the world around us, of course it also gave me a first hand information on the market, the product and the competition. It was sort of a tedious job walking around the city for 6-8 hours every day but in retrospect, I learnt a lot from these experiences.
4. How was your experience at Mumbai Angels Network?
Mumbai Angels was a different experience altogether- It was a proper corporate job. I joined as a junior investment analyst. My role was to find startups and bring them on board which needed seed investments. In short, I was a sourcing intern. The thing that I liked about my job was that I got to talk to the founders directly while approaching them for investments. Hearing their entrepreneurship journey really helped me evolve and also built my communication skills. The work culture at MA is also very welcoming and informal. It’s like working in a startup where you can be wearing different hats at the same time.
5. How did your time at V-Trans help you gauge the industry and build connections?
Working in my family business was again a whole different experience for me. It wasn’t anywhere close to working outside. I joined the warehousing division as a management trainee and I was shadowing our National Manager. I learnt the whole whereabouts of warehousing, met with existing and potential clients. There was a bit of traveling too, since we have warehouse across the country. Whenever I used to meet an existing client I would first ask them to talk about what problems they are facing from our side, if there were any. I believe, it is really important to talk to your customers, they are your best and worst salesmen. So, working in the family business gave me a great exposure to a lot of departments- the freedom to do anything and learn anything that interested me is something I miss in my current job.
6. Would you want to change your journey of navigating through the different internships? If so, how and why?
No, I wouldn’t. I am grateful to all the learnings that I have got from working at different workplaces. The beauty of these internships were that I got to work in three different industries and that too in three different level of companies i.e MSMEs, SMEs and a corporate.
7. Any advice you would like to give recent graduates, especially those who are finding it difficult to navigate and find a path, especially amidst a pandemic?
I have also been through the struggle these graduates are going through. The key is to be patient. Use the free time to develop new skills online and do not stop networking either on LinkedIn or talking to your peers about possible job referrals. In fact, whenever you connect with someone from the industry and are fortunate to have a word with them do record the minutes and note down important points. Referrals are still the strongest source of job acquisition. Even attending webinars of your interest could help you connect with industry experts
