Today, I officially hold my masters degree - MBA in Finance & Business Analytics with an 8.33 CGPA from Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College (VTU).
But this degree is more than just a piece of paper. It represents a journey from the lowest depths of despair to the heights of my dreams.
📍 2019: The Breaking Point
Five years ago, my world collapsed. My father lost his job, and our family hit a severe financial crisis. While my brother worked in a call center to keep us afloat, I moved to Chennai—not for a corporate job, but to work as a manual laborer. I earned ₹2,000 every two weeks. I spent my days loading heavy trucks and my nights crying under a blanket in a cramped PG, wondering if my education would ever matter. I felt I had lost all hope.
💡 The Turning Point: Mentors & Mindsets
The Architects of My Ambition: Ravishankar & Saurabh Kaushik
In 2019, I was a laborer in Chennai, earning ₹2,000 every two weeks and losing hope. I felt invisible to the world. That was until I met two mentors who saw a professional where I only saw a worker. To Make friends & connections I have not disclosed that I am Labour.
Mr. Ravishankar(Schneider Electric) : "The Engineer Who Taught Me Worth"
Mr. Ravishankar was an engineer at Schneider, but to me, he was the first person to tell me the truth about the world.
The Hard Truth: He didn't sugarcoat reality. He told me, "Family and society respect you when you earn your own way. The world only accepts those who have the fire to live better and the education to back it up."
The Lesson: He ignited the spark. He made me realize that to change my life, I had to change my value. He was the reason I decided that "laborer" was just a temporary title, not my identity.
Mr. Saurabh Kaushik(Head BD&Stratergy at GR Infraprojects Ltd): The Manager Who Taught Me Strategy.While I had the spark from Ravishankar, I didn't have a plan. That’s where Mr. Saurabh Kaushik, was a Manager at L&T, stepped in.
The "Paper" Method: He told me, "Don't just dream—plan. Take a piece of paper and build a roadmap. Keep it simple, keep it achievable, but keep moving."
The Lesson: He taught me the discipline of career mapping. He was the one who helped me realize that a massive goal (like working for a global company) is just a series of small, written-down steps.
🚀 The Climb
I started small. I enrolled in a local college over a shopping complex with a tuition fee of just ₹15,000.
The college was affiliated to Gulbarga University located at the center of the city. with a size of 300 students including all other degrees.
The photo you see on the left, YES! that's my degree college. The top floor open window that was my class room. And I am not ashamed of telling people about my college. Because this is the place which gave me my identity card or you can say a ticket to corporate world.
I took admission as Bachelor Business Management(BBM) in Human Resource.
Why commerce, because I always love connecting people and wanted to be in SUITS in all time of my life. I always wanted to choose a career where I will get a chance to work with fun and engaging with people.
In Om Siddi Vinayak Degree College, I started hosting & Anchoring the events and took active participation in all the extra curricular activities. Which helped me to build my stage fear and confidence building.
The Setback: In 2020, COVID-19 hit very hard. I got Covid +ve I was bedridden for two months. I lost all the hopes. All of sudden I felt like my dreams are about end and I am falling down again. But I did not give up. I used that time to master Excel and Power BI via YouTube. I graduated as the College Topper (8.54 CGPA) holding First Rank in my department.
I started looking for job immediately after the final exams. and finally I landed my first corporate role at Syngene International Limited (Biocon) Bangalore. I have joined as an HR-Admin, where I mastered my ground level skills. I handled the ground level human resources. Also, understand various administration policy and made some good connections with top level executives.
🎯 Levelling Up
I knew a bachelor degree wasn't enough to survive. To sustain in the corporate world you need Masters Degree. As I have mentioned above wanted the "Suits" life. So, I have decided to do Masters of Business Administration. Now the challenge was society has already set some standards. " Good college Better Placements". Now I was not having that huge source of fund. Many banks were ready to offer loan but then no one in the family was ready to sign the bank papers as a guarantee signature. I felt like I am begging to my family member & relatives. I couldn't afford a 10-20lakh MBA, so I returned to my roots and decided to purse MBA from a normal average tier college which saves my money and get a normal decent degree recognition for my career. In 2023 I got admission at Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College Bidar, where the tuition fees was 1.6 lakh. I took personal Loan of 2lakh. Purchased a laptop and uniform with that money and got admitted as management quota. I could have given competitive exams but I already lost so much of time in my life. I quit my stable job to study full-time.
I secured top rank position in my MBA. I learnt so many things such as the business etiquettes, professional manners, managerial skills and most important corporate communication.
In the 4th semester I got an opportunity for a internship at MRF Ankenpally Plant Sadashivpet , Telangana. It was a paid internship under the LEAD program. Where they use to pay me a stipend of 20k per month.
During my internship at MRF, I didn't just "do my job"—I built an inventory management software and wrote a 40-page HR manual. Within 17 days, I had the management's attention.
The Architects of My Career: HARISH AS & Bernard Bhutia
While my hard work laid the bricks, these two men provided the architecture for the life I live today.
Mr. Harish A Sanmukhchar: The Corporate Mirror
At Syngene, Mr. Harish was more than a boss; he was my "Corporate Guru." He realized I had the grit, but I lacked the "polish" of the MNC world.
The Art of Communication: He spent hours sitting with me, helping me draft emails. He taught me that in the corporate world, it’s not just what you say, but how you say it.
Diplomacy: He taught me the "Convincing & Diplomatic" way to handle stakeholders. He showed me how to manage ground-level staff with empathy while communicating with high-level executives with confidence. He turned a "worker" into a "professional."
Mr. Bernard Bhutia: The Visionary & The "Mr. Perfectionist"
If Mr. Harish taught me how to survive the corporate world, Mr. Bernard taught me how to conquer it.
Meeting him during his workshop at my college was a "spark" moment. Even though I wasn't his official student at Woxsen University, he saw my hunger for growth and opened his doors to me.
Building a "Future Vision": Mr. Bernard is a man of immense strategy. He didn't just talk about my next job; he talked about my next decade. He challenged me to look past my current struggles and visualize where I wanted to stand in the global market.
The Strategy of Sustainability: He taught me that getting into a company like PwC is only 10% of the battle—staying there and growing requires a specific mindset. He gave me the strategies to overcome corporate challenges before I even faced them.
Mr. Bernard Bhutia currently posted as Head of Woxsen Study Abroad Cell.
The Book of Life: Mr Bernard was a head of COTD in Woxsen University. During that period he & his team has decided to give the job seekers and young freshers a ultimate guide to clear the corporate interviews. With all of there years of experiences and stories they have written a wonderful book called Career Connect. This is book is all about the Attitude & Aptitude. I bought this book from amazon and when I started utilizing it, made me felt so engaging. The book has been divided in various sections and cover all the points you want to know before getting in to corporate world. It includes Restructuring Oneself, Mastering Personal Interviews, Group discussion, Decoding Aptitude for campus placement, Quantitative, Logical Reasoning and Verbal Reasoning.
Thanks to amazing Authors: Bernard sir, Avinash Y B, Srijata Chakrabarty, Sambit Patra.
This Career Connect book helped to understand the aptitude & group discussion. I am proud to say that with the help of this book I was able to crack so many walk-in interviews and HR round especially the Group discussion part. It will tell you, how to maintain your body posture, eye contact, and to steal opportunity when someone is already speaking in a row in a positive and professional way. And most important they mentioned about active listening.
The best part of this book is that you will find success stories examples in it.
A Heart of Gold: The most emotional moment of my journey was driving to Woxsen to tell him I cracked the PwC interview. It was a sudden surprise to my mentor. As it was a second meet after the college workshop and as Woxsen fall in the mid highway section, I really did not find anything near Woxsen to gift him or to take something to his house. There was a small cafe, I took some bunch of Ice-Creams & Biscuits and went inside the Woxsen. Where usually you need an entry fee ticket to get inside the campus for me it was just a call away from him. He didn't treat me like a stranger; he welcomed me with open arms into his home, introduced me to his wife, and celebrated my success as if it were his own.
He heard my complete story, that how I cracked in to big four - PwC and did the unbelievable achievement that to from a average based college from a small town. I can see in his eyes. It was filled with happiness and proud moment for him.
When he signed his autograph for me and gave me his pen, it wasn't just a gift—it was a baton being passed. He made me believe that I belonged in the
"Big Four."
Why I'm sharing this....
I share this because many people think success is a "solo" journey. It’s not. It’s about finding the right people who see your fire and help it become a flame.
To Mr. Bernard—thank you for being the wind beneath my wings. I am at PwC today because you decided to invest your time in a boy who had nothing but a dream.
🏢 Today
I am proud to be an L&D Operational Analyst at PwC Acceleration Center India. I joined as a contractor but one day I will hopefully secure the permanent employee for sure.
I’ve gone from begging for a ₹2,000 paycheck to working with a global team at a Big Four firm. So much of struggle and various challenges. But everything was worth. These things made me strong enough of to conquer the world. Looks like I am getting over exaggerating Hahaha! But to be honest this is the truth and reality of the life.
A statement from my side.
"If you are struggling today, if you are crying under your blanket, please know: The plan might change, but the goal shouldn't. Keep learning. Find mentors. Don't let your current situation define your final destination."
~Vishwajeeth Pujari~
Instagram Page: @Vishwajeeth_1
Gmail ID: Vishwajeeth24@gmail.com
My Creative life: Youtube Channel @Vishwajeeth Vlogs
https://youtube.com/@vishwajeethvlogs?si=O4fIQ4xAqLR_XVW8
LinkedIn Page: www.linkedin.com/in/vishwajeeth-vishwajeeth-121526259
Link for that Awesome Book: https://amzn.in/d/bE774Lb
Or you can search it as Career Connect Book in Amazon. Its Just worth of Rs 500/-.
Please note: I am not doing any sponsorship for this book or getting paid for mentioning it in my story. This is just a Genuine Feedback I am sharing, so that other people who are lacking behind or searching for correct way to crack interviews-this for them.
#MBA #SuccessStory #PwC #CareerJourney #Resilience #Inspiration #Grit #Education #Mentorship #Motivation
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