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last week was my first touch with work pressure…and i mean pressure thts worse than a guy who hasnt shat for 7 months…!!

am working on a model. a project feasibility model. we wanna see if the project tht we abt to undertake makes business sense for us…and if it doesnt, then how can we ensure that it does. so basically…whatever happens…we will do the project…!! we jst hv to show tht it will work as well…

as wud be obvious…any such feasibility model….will hv its dose of P&L statements, balance sheets, cash flow statements…and the works.

now anyone…who has ever come in close contact with me…including the one i passed while coming out of the elevator this morning…knows tht my sole purpose in this world is a 3-step process…

Step 1
find out who was the guy who made the 1st balance sheet in the world…! the P&L statement or the cash flow statement ‘inventors’ will also do…

Step 2
find out if he is still alive…! chances r tht he is not…!

Step 3
find out who are his living descendents. and then aka ‘the da vinci code’….bloody launch the worst ever cult group to wipe tht entire race. in the process…also attempt to remove all possible traces of accounting in this world…and alongwith them…the god damn accountants…!!!!


which…translated in english language….means…tht i hate…i mean…ohhhhh soooo muuuchhhh….HATE…acounts…! it was my first B-grade at ISB…and if it wasnt for AP, GC, AG and the likes…i wud hv sunk without a trace…!!!

so…it was torture…all the way…and its not funny when u come up with your version of the model…and are told…”uuuummmmmm….cash balance…can never be negative….but good try…DODO…”

it was so bad…tht the past 4 days hv been the following:

– dreaming…no no…nightmaring…about the spreadsheet….! nightmares about my life being a bloody balance sheet wherein my weight is adding on….to the liabilities side…! cash flow statement…and what the F is capitalization…

– sitting in the loo…ostensibly shitting…for 45 mins…with my ISB accounting book…!

– at the shop, after realizing tht i am out of monies…asking R..”tere paas cash flow hai…????”


the model is done…and i think…its comes out well…! thank god…

~a

PS:

1. for all those concerned…i think its almost a proven fact now that consulting is possibly the only field which required you to hv paid attention during your MBA. possibly speaks for the reason why they always look for the toppers…!
2. AD topped the marketing course at ISB. which speaks for the fact that he hasnt been studying…cause it wont hv happened if he did…! :)

u always hear about it…but never wanna believe. and then it finally happens…and u r left thinking…”shit…it was true..and i never believed…”

my current team is an all IIM team…and if you are in consulting…the chances of this not happening are equivalent to that of america’s hottest model with vital stats of 40-40-40..! and its an awesome team…i love all 3 of them…cause they r fun…and extremely smart…and very very professional and hardworking.

however, it jst happens…and invariably atleast once a day…when i get that random..”oh tu to yeh kar lega…tu isb se hai…”…”tu likh le yeh slide…tu to isb se hai…english to sikhaate honge…”

given me…i jst laugh it off….or better still…join in….”nahi…maine english waala elective nahi liya tha…”..! but then i do think…i hope thye r not serious. i mean…i hope at some level they really dont have that iim vs isb attitude.

whats fuels this thought is the fact that my 1st team…which too was an all iim one (40-40-40…yeah…the same joke..!)…never did anything like this. yah…there used to be those…”these guys are kings yaar…they r frm isb…used to ACs all day and room service..”…but then…extremely rare. meant more as a filler statement than anything else…

anyways…probably i am thinking too much into it. work has been quite demnading…but not hectic. the standards r really high…which is good in a way. although its really demoralizing when you dont reach up to them. i can say that i havent been performing the way i would want to…

leaving for home in 2 hrs…! life is a travel bag…

life’s good..

:)

~a

its a tough job…and now i realize why…

when companies come on campus…motherhood statements are made by the dozen..

…”we are ranked first in the north delhi pin code 110004 IT shops based off the DDA market”
…”our employee satisfaction is amongst the highest in the world…says our VP, who is no more with us”
…”revenues hv grown by 12%…which is indicative of the times to come…(yah right…the industry grew by 30%…so we can foresee the times!!)”

but then…some are genuine…which is what makes their job that much tougher. i mean…amidst the pleathora of companies that come and do a belly dance at ISB…its not easy for the students to distinguish the good frm the fibbers…! when everyone is talking about the same thing…how the hell does one decide the pecking order.

and this…ultimately…and unfortunately…results in a simple criteria. more the money…better the company…or atleast…if not better…thats where i am gonna go…

was just reading an interview of Anne Deering (http://www.filefactory.com/?dad350), a partner at A.T. Kearney…and she describes ATK as an 80 yr old start-up firm. which is so true. i can see it for myself…everywhere the mood is that of ‘oh we hv to bring this child up…and gotta do it soon’…!

and when asked as to what kind of people do we look for, she names stuff such as curiosity, passion for learning…etc etc..! oh for god sake…we hear this from everyone…so whats different…

its only when you start working in the firmdo you realize that all these things are the only one that shall hold you good…! you have to be curious about what you do…when given a job you have to ask…”tell me whats this for…why am i supposed to do it..”…cause as an SBA you will be at times required to do stuff that doesnt quite excite you…! crunch numbers…make presentations…google like for 3-4 hours…for stupid data..!

but then in the long run…and i can so totally see it already…the ones who do well…are the ones who know what they are doing…and why they are doing it…! cause thats when you develop an appreciation for the kind of work you do…


so yeah…back to what the main theme was…its really tough to know when is a company simply lying…or when is it being truly genuine. unfortunately…unless you hvnt experienced a similar firm…its very tough to juxtapose 2 firms and see which one is better..


the best way…i can guess…is to ask the alums. cause we r experiencing what you guys shall experience…! and believe me…this feedback about the company shall be extremely crucial…

~a

PS: needless to say…ATK is not the only consulting firm which talks genuinely about what they want and how they function. every other consulting firm i can think of (well almost…surely the top ones)…would be very true when they tell you what kind of people they look for…and how they go about looking for them..!