Report on Alumni talk – “ Career Development: Pathway to Success” on 18.02.2025

 

                     SRM VALLIAMMAI ENGINEERING COLLEGE                    (An Autonomous Institution)

SRM Nagar, Kattankulathur-603203.

DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES

 

Report on Alumni talk – “ Career Development: Pathway to Success”

 

 

Date & Time:	18.02.2025 & 1.30 pm – 3.45 pm
Venue :	New Building Seminar Hall
Beneficiaries:	I Year MBA students
Objective:	To offer career guidance and networking support.
Outcome	Students get to know about their seniors’ experience in coping  with Industry.
No. of Participants	230 Students
Convener:	Dr. Venkata Sai Srinivasa Rao Muramalla, Professor & HOD
Coordinators	Dr. L. Sujatha, Associate Professor Ms. G. Sathya, Assistant Professor
Co-coordinators	Dr. M. Hemasundari, Assistant Professor
Organizing Committee:	MBA Staff Members

Encl:

1.     Event report

2.     Sample Photographs

 

 

Coordinators                                    Head of the Department                            Vice-Principal

 

                                                           

                                                                                        

Principal

 

 

Event Report

 

The alumni talk event inaugurated with two guest speakers,  Mr. V. Balaji, Accounts Manager, Apple India Pvt.Ltd for Tamilnadu and Kerala of  batch : 2007-2009  and Ms. R. Divya, HR Advisor, Flex, TMZ Millennia, Business Park of batch 2013-2015. Dr. Venkata Sai Srinivasa Rao Muramalla, Head, Department of Management Studies has presided the event. Dr. L.Sujatha, Associate professor and Ms. G. Sathya, Assistant Professor are the events coordinators and Dr. M. Hemasundari, Assistant Professor was  event co-coordinator.

 

 

 

Mr. V. Balaji, specialized in Marketing and Finance. He  chosen finance as his profession and has 12 years of Industry experience. He worked at companies like Serco BPO, American Express services India ltd. He is an author to 2 Tamil books and worked as Radio Jockey in FM Rainbow.

 

Ms. R. Divya, specializes in HR & Marketing. She has chosen HR as her  profession and has 8 years of industry experience in handling HR activities like hiring, leave management, benefits exists and employee data management. She is skilled in managing the full employee lifecycle with tools like workday.  

 

Ms. Divya initiated her speech with thought-provoking questions about why students choose MBA and what industry expects from Management students. She emphasized career development is more than just securing a job.  She addressed the importance of Internship and projects to develop experience and exposure of industrial practice. She also insisted that her juniors to identify and develop skills which are  crucial for today competitive edge.

She interactively discussed SWOT analysis, stressing its importance for both individuals and organizations in self-assessment and goal setting. She suggested students to network actively with alumni, professors, and industry professionals and to constantly upgrade their technical and soft skills to stay relevant in the corporate world.

She also encouraged students to explore entrepreneurship opportunities, citing successful examples like the CEO of Vilvah, who built a brand from scratch without an MBA degree. She concluded by stressing that industry readiness is not an advantage but a necessity, urging students to develop flexibility, time management, emotional intelligence, and stress management skills to seize opportunities.

Mr. Balaji captivated the audience with three defining incidents from his life, each offering a valuable lesson.

 

 

At first, he shared his school experience which   led  his journey as an author when a teacher’s remark about his name appearing only twice in exams challenged him to write books. His first book, Maname Nee Marividu, won Best Self-Improvement Book of the Year (2004), marking the beginning of his literary career.

Secondly with his college Experience he shared a life-changing moment when he met Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam during the Vision 2020 event at Bharathidasan University. Dr. Kalam’s question—"How do you want to be remembered?"—resonated deeply, reinforcing the importance of purpose-driven careers.

Thirdly, professional journey, this was a transition from being an RJ at FM Rainbow 101.4 to working with Apple was an inspiring testament to how continuous learning and preparation can lead to unexpected opportunities. His radio show on Steve Jobs attracted record-breaking engagement, eventually leading to a job opportunity at Apple through a consultancy call. At the outset, he encouraged students to embrace challenges as opportunities and emphasized that lost opportunities are not the last opportunities.

We thank our  Management, Director Dr. B. Chidhambara Rajan,  Principal Dr. M. Murugan, and Vice-Principal Dr. S. Visalakshi for the guidance and motivation to conduct such events.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coordinators                                                                                                     Head of the Department