‘Apeejay’s mentoring sessions make you corporate-ready’

Soon after Rashi Singhal completed her MBA in HR and Marketing from the Apeejay School of Management (ASM), she started her professional journey in 2019 as an HR Recruiter with the startup Biz Staffing Comrade Pvt Ltd, started by a few Apeejay alumni. The startup gave her a platform to work in the IT recruitment sector where she worked for more than a year. Subsequently, the ASM alumna joined a consulting firm as an Associate Consultant wherein her core responsibilities were to execute the hiring process for organisations such as Myntra, Swiggy and so on. In  2021, Rashi got an opportunity to work with Milkbasket (RelianceJio) where she is working as a HR Executive. In a telephonic interview, the Delhi-based girl talks about how to advance one’s HR skills and more. Edited excerpts:

How did you decide to become an HR professional?

My interest in working in HR started when I was doing my internship with The Times of India. Although I was in the marketing team, I used to observe the people who were in the HR domain: how they used to execute their responsibilities and that really used to interest me. Since it was a three-month internship, I worked for two months in the marketing team and requested my manager that I would also like to work with the HR team. So that’s when I started imbibing skills that are relevant to be in the HR sector. And hence, I had made up my mind that whenever I will join a company I would want to work with the HR team.   

How important do you think internships are in building one’s professional path? 

Internships give you corporate experience and exposure. Internships provide an excellent learning curve for young graduates and students wherein they meet new people and make connections. They get hands-on knowledge in their career field. It’s because practical know-how about the particular field is as important as theoretical knowledge. Moreover, it also allows you to learn more about yourself. 

How did ASM groom you for your professional journey?

The best thing about Apeejay was the highly-qualified faculty who have played a very vital role in grooming us. Another interesting thing was the mentoring classes which they conducted. Apeejay’s mentoring sessions make you corporate ready and prepare you to face the challenges of the real job market. Not just how to prepare your resume but the faculty members train you at every step. Like when you join a company what are the important things one should know about the organisation and so on. Apart from that, the confidence that Apeejay has already imbibed in me. This has happened because of working on several live projects and at the same time, I was involved in a lot of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. The one that I fondly remember is working on the cancer awareness session. And if I talk about myself I lost my mother to cancer, so it was difficult for me to take that session. But simultaneously, that built more confidence in me, making me believe that I can be a part of any CSR activities. 

Please tell us two things you like about your profession and something you dislike?

Being an HR, I get to interact with more and more people, in fact new people. I know each and every person from my organisation. Whenever you are a part of the HR team, willingly or unwillingly, you will be interacting with each and every stakeholder and employees of the company. I connect with new people everyday via interviews, etc. At the same time, being an HR gives an exposure to conduct various sessions – online or offline – on different topics. When I was interning in The Times of India, they had conducted one Filmfare award and I was coordinating that. So being in this profession, you will be a part of each activity happening in the organisation. On the other hand, if I talk about something I do not like, it is on the recruitment side where the dropout ratio is fluctuating. Suppose I have made five offers, the ratio of joining is sometimes just one. The reason being that right  now the market is vast and people are getting counter offers and so the dropout ratio is high.  

As an HR Executive, how do you keep yourself updated? 

If I talk about my current organisation, every month online upskilling sessions are conducted which we attend. Each month LinkedIn certification courses are available that I attend and that helps me update my profile on LinkedIn. As many certifications you have, the more and more doors open to get work with well-reputed companies and brands.

Any quick tips for the aspirants looking to pursue a career in HR?

Aspirants must have a clear objective when they are choosing their career path. Accordingly, they must select their specialisation and work on building their skills in that particular domain.  So it’s important to set a goal. Never skip mentoring sessions and connect with your faculty to clear any kind of doubt (if you have). I am still in touch with some of my faculty members and that really helps me. Suppose I need a candidate for my organisation, or if I am facing any challenge they always help me out.