Shailee Choudhary

Meet Shailee Choudhary - AIR 1 -May 2015  1) One fact about Shailee’s school and college days, which we haven’t known before? 2) Why CA when no one in the family? 3) Did you opt for Regular College or Correspondence? Rationale  4) 7 attempts in CA Inter and AIR 1 in CA Final – what a contrast? What explains this?  5) What was your preparation strategy for CA Final – live classes, videos? Which teachers?  6) Did people ever say AIR-1 was a breeze 7) With AIR -1 – Was placement a breeze?  Were there other aspects like article ship brand, college ( SRCC ) etc. which acted as bottlenecks 8) How did Wipro Cohort happen? Because honestly, I thought it could have been FMCG or Leadership Programs as well 9) What’s your daily life at Wipro? How could you shift to Delhi?  10) Few years down the line, what matters most? Ranks or is it specific plug & play experience like IT FP&A?  11) If you were to rewind, what would you do differently? 12) Your mantra for fitness and fun 13) Advice to youngsters

A Lawyer, A Miss India Finalist & now IIM-A - Meet Adya Niraj!

From CA to Management Consulting_ Nitisha's Unconventional journey | CA | EY | McKinsey

(In Conversation) Sakshi Gupta | CA AIR 1 in IPCC | Deloitte | HUL |  BCG | TA | LinkedIn

Simran Somani on things which every CA aspirant for MBA must know

10 things which an MBA aspiring CA must know-  Simran Somani - CA,IIM Ahmedabad Co22, Nestlé | PwC  In this video, Simran Somani explains   1) How to get CA Articleship at Big 4 , in her case PwC Chennai . How to crack CA Final in first attempt? And later during CA placements and IIM interviews, does the brand help. What about those who aren’t either of rankers and/Big 4? Can they get selected?  2) Do CAs have a percentile relaxation when it comes to getting shortlisted? What is the minimum percentile needed for a call? How Simran got a call with a 97ish percentile because of her CA?   3) Impact of Under-graduation from IGNOU through distance learning? How IGNOU gives you the average of CPT and Inter marks as your graduation score, if you are pursuing CA? How that impacts your CAT Application Score   4) Which was tougher – CA or CAT ? Can hardworking people without exceptional IQ crack the CAT?   5) Which study material to follow? Which Test Series? Importance of Mock Exams  6)  When is the right time to attempt the CAT if you are a CA final student (Not qualified yet)? And what if you are a freshly qualified CA (May attempts)  7) How is the IIM Ahmedabad interview experience? Is it ok to feel stressed?  8) What about the opportunity cost of 2 years’ salary foregone plus the fees? So, say you are earning in the 15-20 lacs p.a. brackets? Does the economics of MBA work out? Or should one not just think myopic and take a longer term view  9) Importance of extra-curriculars - The Unconventional MBA – your "CAT to Call to Convert" motto?  10) Importance of Networking

Devang Toshniwal's dream run - from CA to BCG to PE  In this exciting conversation, Devang talks candidly about the high& lows of his student life. We explore aspects like role of a Big 4 articleship in CA Final preparation and job as a fresher. He speaks about how to get into management consulting - MBB , which in case of Devang was BCG and histhe daily life there. We then try to demystify the storied world of Private Equity - how Devang got into Warburg Pincus as a CA, what is the career path there and whats gives him the adrenaline rush for his job.

How to build a super career in Marketing- Indranil Chakraborty- IIM Lucknow | Unilever | Storyworks

Career Conversation with Indranil Chakraborty (IC) -- an alumnus of Jadavpur University and IIM Lucknow who has spent ~20 yrs in marketing roles at Unilever , TTSL, Mahindra Resorts. Later he became an Entrepreneur @ Storyworks  In this free wheeling discussion, we discuss about his schooling at St Edmund Shillong, key takeaways in terms of value based education, English speaking skills, an outgoing personality.   Then we ask why he opted for the Engineering+MBA combination as the 'hot formula' for success - was it as popular in the 80s as much as its today. He said that it was a lot of sequential events, thus a lot of luck and serendipity played its role  We also touched upon his views on having work experience before MBA  We move to how his marketing & sales experiences were at HUL across locations like Nepal, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata etc. We asked about whether brand management is as glamourous as it sounds from the outside. He demystifies a lot of concepts surrounding the field of Marketing. Also talks about the importance of having a good first boss who can mentor you well, as much as an employer brand and pay. But he realizes that that may not always be possible, but if possible, one must do due diligence. Also, he explained why marketing companies are willing to pay top dollar for graduates from the IIMs, less to do with whats actually taught there and more to do with the character traits one exhibits as he/she reaches there and the filtration process.   He shared his experiences trying to set up the Build a Bear brand https://www.buildabear.com/ as a franchisee in India.   He then shared how the shift from a Lux/Lakme and Breeze to prepaid SIMs and holiday experiences were, from a marketing standpoint.   Then he explained how the transition to Storyworks happened, a lot of luck and serendipity played its role, the initial resistances,   He then shared his views on whats better - Job or Entrepreneurship, his take on the recent startup funding scenario ; how the ones that are going to solve unaddressed problems will survive. He also wondered whether the path to profitability being secondary as the focus is on building companies for IPOs/valuation instead of for consumers.   Recently we had the WorldMentalHealthDay and he also was kind enough to share his experience with overcoming bipolar disorder during his HUL days, how the company was very supportive and how the stigma surrounding mental health must be replaced by the societal realization that seeking external help for mental health issues ( chemical imbalances) are as normal as someone having a doctor being consulted for a toothache or an injury. The usual approach of people saying 'Hey come one, cheer up, lets go for a movie just doesnt work'  He spoke about his views on Youth and their career aspirations, acknowledging that the current generation is more informed as well as ambitious. But also has to overcome a sense of entitlement and also realise that growth comes at its own pace automatically once you keep working hard.   LinkedIn Profile https://www.linkedin.com/in/indranil-chakraborty-ic-54ab791/

Bhupendra Tiwary  works as AVP Research, Infrastructure, Real Estate, Telecom & Media at ICICI Securities. He is CA Inter, MBA from IBS, Hyderabad and CFA Charterholder  In this exciting conversation,  he takes you through how he built a career in Equity Research over the last decade. He offers a repertoire of insights about the Equity Research profession, the highs and the lows,  difference between Buy Side and Sell Side, entry barriers, pre-requisites such as Financial Modeling, ability of analyse financial statements, look at broader sectoral trends etc, educational qualifications , especially in Indian  context and his mantras for life in general - role of family, friends et all  Questions  Welcome Bhupendra,  One thing about you as a personal/professional that the world doesn’t know – it would be Breaking News on this channel  Your Dad is an Astrologer. Did you ever want to step into his shoes?  Don Bosco, St Xaviers and then IBS Hyderabad 2008-10– did this fit in your scheme of things? Or was it just that you didn’t want to wait for another year to take CAT again? Does B-school brand matter while entry into Equity Research? Infra & Real Estate, Mid-Caps, Telecom and Media (to clarify as it’s not TMT, as this excludes Technology) and now covering all together, you’ve come a long way into the storied world of Equity Research? How’s the feel. Basically what is your daily life? The highs and lows?  Technically you are into Sell-Side. How different is it from Buy Side. From career growth, work life balance perspective.  You set Target Prices? Does that entail complex Financial Modeling? What if they aren’t achieved? Is there a lot of pressure? When you achieve them, do the market participants say Wow – Bhupendra – great job?  You are a CFA charter holder. This fits well in your scheme of things. What’s your take on a fresher wanting to enter Equity Research, on the basis of a CFA?  For an aspirant of this field, CA/MBA/CFA - how does one get in? Entry barriers?  What is the typical career path here? Any exit options (but I must acknowledge that you have been pretty stable at ICICI Sec   Can someone, with say 2 years into Corporate Accounts at Lupin, switch to Pharma sector Equity Desk, because he/she always loved Equity? Your mantra for fitness, rejuvenation  Final thoughts

 Bhupendra Tiwary sharing his Equity Reseacrh journey