‘Seek mentors in your career and be open to criticism,’ says Big 4 consultant 

A senior consultant in Deloitte India, Nishant Juneja says his profession is one that helps him hone the ability to find effective solutions even in the most challenging situations. Born in an Army family, the Apeejay alumnus has traversed cities throughout his growing-up years. In turn, it taught him adaptability, among other values that proved beneficial in his professional career. In an interview, he tells us more about his journey:

Take us through your journey at Apeejay Noida. What memories do you cherish?

My father worked in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA); in his last designation, he was the Director General of MCA. He retired in May of this year. That being said, because of his occupation, it was mandatory for us to move/change a city every two to three years. So, my journey with Apeejay begins with nursery class at Apeejay School Mahavir Marg in Jalandhar where I barely finished five months and my father got his next posting in Jammu. About five or six years later, when we moved again to Delhi (with a couple of destinations in between), I joined Apeejay Noida in the 6th standard. I was a scared little boy in a big city and another new school. I still remember Nirmal ma’am as my Maths teacher and Ahluwalia ma’am as my Social studies teacher with fond memories. I made great friends that I am still in touch with; I work with a couple of them in my current organisation too.

Also Read: ‘A management consultant is like a doctor for businesses’

In 8th standard, I left Delhi for Jalandhar again and joined Apeejay Jalandhar where I spent two years. We moved back to Delhi, and I joined Apeejay Noida again where I completed my 10th standard.

My most fond memories of Apeejay Noida include our annual parades, being part of the band team, and all the lifelong friends I made back in the day.

Fun fact – I have changed over 9 schools in my 12+2 years of schooling from 1996 to 2011.

Please take us through your professional journey.

My professional journey started with Infosys where I completed my 8th semester of Engineering in the Mysore Campus in 2015. It was my first time away from home–it took 4 modes of transport and more than half a day to reach there from my home in Delhi). I was fortunate enough to secure an internship with Deloitte India at their Gurgaon office. I worked in many setups in the first year to see what my calling was, and eventually found it in Information Security and Audit. I spent four years in Deloitte (till 2019) then I moved to Bangalore to join Viatris Pharmaceuticals (formerly Mylan), a Fortune 500 company to manage external IT audit compliance for the whole organisation. I left Viatris in 2021 to rejoin Deloitte, where I now lead multiple infosec compliance projects with an overall strength of 10+ people.

Can you tell us briefly about the work that you are doing currently?

I consult in Information Security and Audit projects. My work experience is mostly with Life Science and Health Care clients. I assist and manage audit compliance-related projects such as HIPAA, HITRUST, PCI DSS, SOX, SOC1, GDPR, NIST, ISO, etc, for all shapes and sizes of organisations. For the last couple of years, I have been more into the management side of things where I handle project planning, execution, and delivery which include financials, resourcing, and communications management. Parts of my job also require mentoring and coaching new hires and laterals, assisting in learning & development, college hiring, etc. Future roles for me will include practice building in addition to all the above.

How rewarding or challenging has the journey been so far? What are your key learnings?

Uniquely for me and my brother (also a shoutout to all defence kids and government kids), as we moved around a lot, we have adapted to settling into new situations extremely quickly. I hardly used to think before packing my bags and moving to a new location for a job or client visit. Working in consulting is rewarding on its own. Once you taste it, there is no going back. Consulting provides you with opportunities that do not get in the traditional goods or service industry until at a much later stage in your career. It boosts your confidence, gives you the ability to deal with challenging situations, the ability to work with less and deliver more, and an ability to look for solutions that others find challenging.

You must be up to date in your field to make it in consulting which means regular training in learning and development, certifications, seminars, etc. This can be both time and money-consuming, but it is rewarding, nonetheless.

 Your word of advice for students of Apeejay. 

With the internet available to everyone nowadays, one can easily look up for development in non-conventional fields. We now can make a lot of different choices that weren’t possible or available before. Please take your time to explore what you want to pursue, the next generation has the information, capability, and support to lead everyone into a better era. Seek out mentors and be open to criticism, I feel if I had been open to a little more experienced opinions, I could have achieved differently in my professional career.