Scaler Diaries: Sankalp Chawla’s Journey To Mercedez-Benz

Sankalp Chawla
5 Min Read

My current professional expertise is the sum total of all my experiences: the rejections as well as the achievements. I am currently working at Mercedes-Benz, but the journey of reaching there is worth reminiscing.

I had always been interested in playing around with computers. While interest in a field is important for ascertaining professional success in life, at the same time the scope of the field is extremely pertinent too. My interest developed further when I was introduced to the impact of this ever-evolving arena. Also, seeing my seniors and alumni accomplish their goals in the field bolstered my interest. I did my graduation in engineering and got placed.

It is a well-known fact that you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with. Throughout my education, I have had very competitive friends. Such a set of friends not only motivated me to keep doing better but also guided me whenever I needed direction in understanding the nuances of the industry. For example, whenever any major interview used to come up, I would do a thorough background research of my own. This also included gathering views and experiences of my friends and even their acquaintances if they were placed in a similar organisation.

Anyway, for many people, their first organisation comes off as a disappointment or a discouraging experience. In my case, it was quite the opposite. I got multiple hands-on projects to utilize my skills upon. From developing applications to their deployment, my first job gave me 360 degree working and learning experience. Although I am currently working at Mercedes Benz, I can never forget the role of my first organisation in laying a foundation stone for future success.

While I am on the subject of stepping stones of my career, let me discuss the role of Scaler in my professional journey. During my initial graduation years, I was surfing for answers to some DS Algo problems on quora and came across Mr. Anshuman’s answers. I was impressed by the level of logic that complemented his answers and thus viewed his profile. He had just started with InterviewBit at that time. I didn’t enrol for the programme at that time as my job was quite hectic.

After a year or so, I again came across Scaler’s programme. This time it had an immediate appeal with greater room for flexibility to maintain a balance between working and learning at Scaler. While the brunt of time management was still there throughout the course, I was able to juggle between the two.

I was assisted at every step of the placement journey: offers, negotiations, and referrals. Now the problem was when your job offer comes through some other source, you end up doubting whether you were capable enough to receive it had you been on your own.

I wanted to boost my self-confidence by testing the interview field alone, so I went for a few interviews without any assistance. Cracking the interview solely by my own efforts filled me with confidence in my own abilities.

And eventually, through such combined efforts, the Mercedes Benz offer eventually came along. I won’t lie, I did face rejections from a few companies before coming to Mercedes. It would pull me down during those times. But now, when I look back, my current professional experience and expertise is the sum total of all the learnings that I gained through those rejections.

I still recall Anshuman’s words from the first session he took. He stressed on how to get 1% better each day. At the outset, these lines sound overused, I agree. But I have lived these words throughout my journey and I stand by the fact that- “consistency is the key”. While external support like that of Scaler might fuel your journey, you have to be consistent on your own. You have to keep solving problems to get better – a bit every single day.

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