S P Jain (Global) alumnus Chetan Sodhani shines
Chetan Sodhani, an S P Jain MBA alumnus (from the class of 2009), belongs to a conservative Marwari family (a business community in India) who own a logistics and textile machine parts manufacturing business. Chetan is a qualified Chartered Accountant and Company Secretary, and was working at the Statutory Audit division of PwC when he realised that his passion for investment banking could eventually lead him to a dream career in consulting. Pursuing an MBA degree seemed to be the first (and right) step in this direction. After researching hard and evaluating numerous options that would give him the right leverage and exposure, Chetan zeroed in on S P Jain’s Global MBA program.
Having wanted a program that could be completed in a shorter duration, and one that would give him the opportunity to build a portfolio of international experience, Chetan was confident of his decision. Looking back to his pre-MBA days, Chetan remembers stumbling across a couple of Master’s programs from other Indian and international business schools promising global exposure. S P Jain’s Global MBA seemed to fit in best with his aspirations of gaining international exposure and embarking on a global career.
Upon completing the program, Chetan was able to kick-start his dream career in the Private Equity industry and gain tremendous industry exposure during his short stint there. Soon afterwards, he decided to don the entrepreneur’s cap and set up a waste management business. Chetan believes that time-management, multi-tasking and conflict resolution skills – his key takeaways from the S P Jain MBA program – are now helping him manage and take his entrepreneurial venture to greater heights. When questioned about future plans,he shares his vision of growing the business by integrating different levels of the value chain. He specifies that he is currently integrating his business backwards and applying many of the lessons he learned from the operations management and finance modules he undertook as part of his MBA education.
Among other things, Chetan is most appreciative of the guidance and support extended by the school’s Career Development Services which he believes were extremely helpful in preparing him for interviews and in boosting his employability quotient, confidence and morale. He also highlights that S P Jain can and must continue to upgrade its prevailing placement procedure by forming strategic partnerships with head hunting firms, maybe even involving internships.
When asked to comment on the Return on Investment, Chetan is quick to highlight that it was much better than what we initially anticipated. He explains that the reduced opportunity cost is an add-on as well as the head-start that one gets over peers who opt for two-year MBA programs. Apart from the monetary benefits, the exposure, diversity and global learning aspects provide an unparalleled edge when compared to MBA programs from other reputed institutions. Chetan adds that his personal(and professional) takeaways from the program such as improved analytical and thinking skills, and the ability to structure, reason and articulate have helped him in applying theoretical concepts effectively at the workplace. He stresses that such benefits are for a lifetime and cannot be measured in monetary terms.
On a concluding note, Chetan advises MBA aspirants, especially those who are seasoned professionals, to consider this program if they are looking to get back to their careers as soon as possible with the additional benefits of global exposure to multi-cultural teams, and prospects of working in the Southeast Asian and Middle Eastern markets.
We thank Chetan for this candid interview, and wish him the very best in his future endeavours. Graduates, like Chetan, keep the S P Jain flag flying high.
(Ms. Anjana Guha interviewed our alumni Chetan Sodhani).
