Sharbani Sengupta (SKEMA 2016): "I always keep seeking new challenges"

After working a few years in India, her home country, as an IT engineer, Sharbani decides to explore new horizons. She chooses to study in France and join SKEMA Business School, in Nice. Currently living in Germany, this ambitious woman shares with us the highlights, challenges and successes she met during these expatriations.

Can you tell us about your academic and professional background?

I was born and brought up in the East of India, in a very small town. I worked in India for 3 years, as an IT engineer, a developer and in a techno-functional role. After that, I decided to move abroad for my studies, to learn a bit more about how things work outside India and get some knowledge from a new country. I moved to France and I joined the one-year program « Business Consulting and Information Systems Management », in SKEMA Business School, in Nice.

This program was very much related to the things I wanted to do (consulting, business…), and not too confined to IT.

After this program, I did an internship in France, in the strategy and process consulting area, and then I continued working there. After 4 years in France, I moved to Germany, where I currently live.

My background was primarily in engineering, business consulting and information systems management. Then, I have moved more towards strategy consulting, innovation, process consulting, project management, change management and so on. These are my main areas of work.

I'm also a trainer for certification courses like PMP, change management, knowledge management, CAPM, Scrum Master, Agile and so on.

How was your experience at SKEMA Business School? What were the main highlights of the program?

Overall, it was an amazing experience. Coming from a country like India, which is very multicultural, I'm used to being surrounded by a lot of cultures. But European culture is completely different: the way people work, the camaraderie that people have between each other… There were definitely a lot of positive discoveries from a cultural perspective.

I'm also a dancer and I'm very much into art and culture. I also like to talk to new people, learn from people...And SKEMA offers so many opportunities to do that with all the different clubs and communities. 

Also, the program was very international. That allowed me to know people from all over the world and that was very interesting for me because I was able to learn not only from French people, but also from people coming from the US, Latin America, Asia, from different parts of Europe...SKEMA gave me that exposure. 

In terms of the education aspect, I was amazed by how knowledgeable the teachers were. I was very inspired by the way they delivered the courses.

Also, I loved how compact the program was, with a lot of things to learn in a short period of time. That was the right program for me because I love to learn at a very dynamic pace.

I also liked the fact that there were all these subjects, which gave a very overview of business in general. It was very well structured.

I can proudly say that I'm using almost all the knowledge that I gained from SKEMA, which I think is very rare. The return on investment has been very high for me.

Can you tell us about your current activity?

I am currently a consultant in Munich. I work for different companies specialized in retail customer, manufacturing customer and education-based.

For one of the clients, I'm working in the area of project management. For another one, I'm working in the area of strategy process and innovation consulting and for the last one, I'm working as a strategy consultant.  

I currently lead a lot of strategic projects, which is very interesting: what actions to take after a business analysis; how IT can map a lot more with the business; how do we ensure that the strategy is implemented by the operations teams... 

What would you say are the main differences in management culture between France and India?

While I have been mostly lucky with the management culture in India, from what I have heard and seen, there is still some level of micro-management and the need to prove yourself every day and that you have worked for X hours.

Also, the time of work is very flexible in Europe. In France and Germany, I feel like it's okay if you're not in the office for a few hours because you have a personal appointment or if you arrive a bit later in the morning. In India, it's a bit more complicated.  I certainly cannot generalize, but I personally have experienced more flexibility and trust in Europe.

Would you have any advice for students who come from abroad and want to build an international career?

I feel that it's so important, especially when you are coming from outside, to be confident in your knowledge.

For example, during an interview, you have to remember that the company is interviewing you because you have the skills and knowledge, and when someone hires you, it's because they find that they can benefit from you. It’s important to remember that you deserve it. 

And if it doesn't work out, it's not a failure, it's just a mismatch. I think that it is so important that we never take it as a failure.

Also, I think it is essential to put in an effort to integrate with a new culture, because you gain a lot more compared to when you stay in your shell, not putting effort to learn the language, not interacting or making new friends... There are so many things to learn from people and this is all very rich. It shouldn’t be just about coming, studying, scoring and getting a job. 

Was it very important for you to have an international career?

Absolutely. It's always fascinating for me to be in international culture, and to live in different countries. I love that. My mother keeps saying that I’m like a bird who keeps flying and cannot stay in one place!

I love to keep moving from one place to the other and gain everything I can from this new country. I hate comfort zones and I always say that I don't like it when things start getting very easy. That’s why I always keep seeking new challenges that excite me.

Contact: Sharbani Sengupta, Consultant - RYOSHI GmbH 

Interview by lepetitjournal.com for SKEMA Alumni