“If Chanda Kochar and Arundhati Bhattacharya could make it to the top in an industry predominantly headed by men, why can’t Kritika Ray!” was the Kolkata girl’s question to his interviewer. With this kind of confidence and focus in mind, Jaipuria Institute of Management, Lucknow’s Kritika got the desired attention of her interviewers even though her initial rapid-fires weren’t going very well according to her. At the moment, she is all set to join India’s largest private sector lender by assets- HDFC in a matter of few months.

Kritika as a fresher in the industry might lack a couple of professional traits but confidence and optimism aren’t among them. She had to take the heat of three rounds before she was announced among the selected from the four campuses of Jaipuria Institute of Management. The first round was Aptitude test which consisted of questions in english, reasoning, quantitative ability, sales management, customer management, etc. The second round was Group Discussion “where they filtered us on our communication, ability to think fast and sponteneity. Oh, none of it was easy but the third round was yet to come,” exclaims Kritika with a determined smile on her face. The third round was the final round. Throughout the interview they were checking knowledge on banking sector, marketing skills, flexibility with locations, managing stress situations, etc. “By the time it ended, it seemed almost impossible to even imagine I could make it through, however, I was satisfied because I had put my all,” chuckles Kritika.

At Jaipuria Institute of Management, Lucknow students are vetted and immersed in rigorous activities to outperform in the final interviews. With a healthy peer competition, each one are made to ace the race of week zero placements. The Placement Cell arranges multiple mock GDs, mock PIs, pre-placement talks, Personality Development Programmes, workshops, seminars to help students beat the fear of facing senior professionals across the table. “By the time we run through them and face the real interviews, let’s say, we are almost bulletproof, guarded and ready from every aspect,” explains Kritika. Therefore, it is of little surprise to see Jaipurians making it to some of the leading companies across the world and alumni heading the highest of offices in the five continents.

We asked Kritika about her go-to resources these two years of PGDM at Jaipuria Institute of Management, Lucknow? For her, the answer came almost in reflex-“my faculty; especially Prof. Richa Srivastava my mentor. She has been a consistent support all through. Plus, the way Finance is taught or dealt here as a subject in PGDM is extraordinarily experiential. We completed numerous national-international case studies, projects, analysed situations, learnt from role plays, heard top industry leaders from the BFSI field, attended impacting internships to sharpen our claws for better grip of the segment.”

Of course, for Kritika who had come to Lucknow all the way from Kolkata, a starting package of Rs. 6.45 lacs right at her first job did call for a lot of celebration. It started with the first phone call to her home and joyous exchange of greetings with friends at the B-school!