Introduction
Hi, I am Katya Lohani, currently working at Mindtree as a senior associate in HR - Talent Acquisition. I did my B.Com Honours from GD Birla Centre of Education in Kolkata and completed my post-graduation from Xaviers Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship in Chennai. I have a non-engineering background, and I continued my way through the profession of Human Resources since my undergraduate days.
How did you come across this job at Mindtree?
To be honest, Mindtree wasn't on my list of companies I was applying to; when I was looking for jobs, I had other plans. But around December and January, I found out about Mindtree and decided to give it a try. I applied, but because of the big Christmas and New Years' break, I didn't hear from them for almost a month. Ultimately I received an email, I was interviewed, and I got the internship at Mindtree. After a few months, I got this job. I work for the campus hiring team of Mindtree.
What does your day in the life of being in the Talent Acquisition team look like?
HR has many subcategories and teams. There's a payroll team, an employee relation team, an employee engagement team, the centre of excellence, etc. Talent recruitment or acquisition is one of the many functions of the HR team. I am working as an HR, my work is talent acquisition in the campus hiring team. The talent acquisition team hires people according to the company's demands. Putting the right talent in the right place, that's what talent acquisition is all about.
How was your journey from being an intern to directly becoming a senior at Mindtree?
It's how Mindtree operates - it's their work culture. They start with the senior designate positions because they don't really have the position of a 'junior' as such. Even if the senior associate position is the lowest in the company hierarchy, they give you the title of a senior; they don't want you to describe yourself as a lead associate or a junior, etc. It's just a title, to be honest. In the hierarchy, the lowest is a senior associate, followed by an associate manager, then the director, etc. It's not easy getting hired in the IT sector, more so if all you have on your CV is work experience as a junior or an intern. It made me think about why I should go to some other company to work as an intern or a junior when this company is providing me with a better job title.
What makes Mindtree unique among other companies?
I worked as an intern from March to June; after 3 months of work, I got a full-time job at Mindtree. Their work culture is very unique as it doesn't have the culture of overloading an individual with all the work. They believe in seeing, learning, and then doing. I'm still learning things and growing; they are not pushing me with an overload of work. If the company gives too many tasks to the intern in the initial month, they'll feel like this company is pestering them with all kinds of work from the beginning itself. At Mindtree, you are allowed to explore the company, and it allows the person to grow and learn, so the workload isn't pressurizing. We watch our seniors, watch our team, and learn in the first year. The workload is light, and the focus is on learning. In contrast, other companies get you so overloaded with projects and tasks from the first week onward that you don't even get to know the company or the work you have to do clearly.
How important are internships for college students?
Internships are very important as they give us practical knowledge and experience, and these are the first things you are asked about in an interview. You can learn your curriculum and study and get good grades, but they will ask about your experience. My aim was to learn and get an understanding of how things work. I was satisfied that I was learning something at the end of the day, even if I was doing it for free. Your primary goal should be to gain knowledge. I learned a lot of things in my first sales internship that I still remember and that has helped me a lot throughout my journey. After my sales internship, I applied for HR internships to give it a try, which I enjoyed a lot and wanted to follow that path. I felt satisfied with this field. So I feel it's important to keep doing various internships as it will help us to find out what fits us the best.
What are the top 3 skills a person should possess if they want to pursue a career in HR?
Communication skills are the most important. You have to be good at communicating with your employees and possible future recruiters. So it is important to give them a good feeling about the company. You should also be very good at spotting the right person for the right job. You have to understand what the company wants, the type of skills they are looking for, etc. Being able to review CVs and having an idea about what you are looking for in a person and what skills should be in their CV is also an important skill. To recognize a good CV, you need to have a good CV yourself and have the knowledge of what makes for an interview-winning CV. Other than these, technical skills are extremely important, but it's not just for HR, but for most jobs really. Knowing valuable tools and/or software like Excel, PowerPoint, etc is something most companies look for.
What are your suggestions on work-life balance for interns and freshers?
Since my undergraduate days, I've always made sure I do my best and make the most of my time. I do not like wasting my time, I make sure to do something productive every day. You should of course enjoy your life as well, go out with friends, have fun, maintain your social life, and do things you enjoy doing but there should be a balance. You have to work and grow as a person and learn things but at the same time, it's important to have fun in your life.