My aim is to become an engineering thought leader, who brings in a change as a consequence of his extensive experience both as a student and as a mentor. I hope to build a system that works on the foundation of building a supportive foundation for the generation to come.
I belong to an educated family, with my father working at Advents Group as an Executive Director, and my mother, being a homemaker in a town near Lucknow. We were always taught to remain connected to the roots of the foundation that makes us whole and although it has been years since then, this learning is one thing that I take with me everywhere.
I had had minimal exposure to computers in my childhood. Even though I took up computer science as my engineering branch in college, the real one on one rendezvous in the sector started as a fascination towards computers towards the end of my college life. It was only after getting placed through my college that I realized how much I gravitated towards technology as an idea and I haven’t looked back since.
I did my engineering from a college in Tamil Nadu and coming from the northern part of the country and settling in a whole different culture was a difficult task, but the connections I made, the learnings that became a part of me were all worth it. Some of my friends from college are still my closest friends and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. My college has had a crucial part to play in my cumulative development, however comparatively speaking, the mentorship that came my way in my corporate career was a class apart.
One of the most important things in my life has been the presence of my mentors. Fortunately for me, I came across them at a very right time in my career when I could use their guidance to literally turn my life around and aim for the better. Come to think of it, logical thinking and programming came very naturally to me. I was always interested in the idea of how this particular realm of the industry worked and somehow when the right time came along, I found my way into it. From then on, I started enjoying all of it.
I have been working as a Senior Engineering Manager in the Data Platforms Team in Target Corporations, India for almost a year and four months now. The role is something that excites me to get up every day and give my best no matter what comes in the way and I believe as long as this motivation curls inside you, there is nothing that can hold you back from aspiring for the better and eventually, achieving it.
My journey up until now wouldn’t have been complete if not for my mentors being my strength from the very beginning and so all that I do today in the shoes of a mentor, is just a way to balance it out in the universe.
I had been practicing on Interviewbit earlier, however, Scalar being a part of the establishment was something that I wasn’t aware of. I got to know about them when one of the administrative staff reached out to me for pitching this very authentic and might I add, exciting idea of mentorship for fresh graduates, and honestly, I took the opportunity as it came. Having a mentor who has the knowledge and expertise to turn your life around shouldn’t be a privilege for only some and this right here is my small contribution towards that vision.
Scaler is not just a hiring platform, it is a hiring ecosystem where all of us learn from each other, some more than the others. A learning process is always a mutually symbiotic relationship and that is what is the most exciting about it. I come in anticipating a young zeal and enthusiasm towards life and engineering in my mentees and they come in anticipating experience and resilience, and so far the equation has been nothing but fruitful.
My only advice to the young techies out there is to keep talking to whoever you can, whenever you can. Nothing helps more than getting to know people’s lived experiences, the problems they have faced, and the solutions they thought of. Talking not only helps you find your groove but also lets you know that whatever happens, you are not alone in this situation.
My motivation towards this task is the connection that I have with my mentees, the feeling to get someone out of a tough spot is always unrivaled and to imagine that I am being a catalyst in someone else’s journey of self-realization and actualization is a feat in itself.
I have around 8 mentees under me and all of them are doing incredibly well in their field of interest. If asked to give one piece of advice to a new learner, I would suggest that they take their time and don’t get carried away with the content they are supposed to prepare. It is okay to study just half of your syllabus, just make sure that you study it well.