​​​​​​​Going to Sheffield was definitely one of the best decisions of my life.

What are your main responsibilities in your current role?

• Recruitment: Responsible for managing the entire recruitment life cycle, from mapping, composing job descriptions, sourcing and screening profiles, for both technical and non-technical roles
• Conducting preliminary rounds of interviews
• Collecting and managing Induction credentials of candidates
• Creating and rolling out employment contracts to new hires
• Employee engagement and recognition: Assisting the HR head of the company to organize monthly birthday celebrations for employees, women’s day, ethnic day celebrations
• Being the interface between external stakeholders and company,
• Planning and managing documents for dealership, pricing, execution of plan
• L&D: Assisting the HR Head in Designing and Implementing a learning program for Tier 1 employees and administering 360 degree survey
• Liaised with the L&T Prayas trust and documented their effort in creating over 50k masks and created a video to promote the contribution of the NGO to the society, amidst the pandemic
• Contract labor management: Liaising with Team Lease, the primary manpower providers for L&T in managing employee data, attendance, payroll of contract laborers

Please outline your career history: how did you get to where you are today?
Prior to L&T, I was working at a startup in London called CognitionX. My roles and responsibilities there were as follows:

• Recruitment: Worked as a Recruiter, sourcing new candidates, by composing and posting job descriptions on ‘Angellist’ and approaching via LinkedIn
• Screening resumes and conducting background checks
• Organizing and conducting In-person and telephonic Interviews and assessing candidates
• Following up with the candidates and screening them against the job criteria
• Organizing and coordinating interviews with managers and CxO’s
• Liaising with Internal and external stakeholders to fulfil hiring needs
• Learning and Development: Played a key role to ensure learning and development needs are analyzed and prioritized
•  Conducting Employee Needs and Performance Analysis through surveys and accordingly designing Employee Improvement Plans
• Ensure consistent application of established learning and development principles
• Facilitation of training focused on leadership, employee onboarding, and training effectiveness updates through surveys
• Delivered critical training program for company policies, and new processes
• Assisted in redesigning employee handbook, organization structure and onboarding procedure
• Organized personality workshops through liaising with external network to enhance team engagement and cohesion
• Management and evolution of company benefits & compensation as we scaled, in line with budgets and culture
• Reported monthly to the Board on key HR and Recruitment metrics
• Part of organizing committee of CogX, the biggest AI festival in UK
• Awards Management Associate: Working with the CogX Awards team, finalizing award categories, finalists and contacting them. Responsible for the Awards Production
   
• Marketing Manager: Responsible for managing the social media channels of the company and keeping it up to date with the help of the software- Hootsuite
• Partnership Management: Contacting prospective partners, pitching CogX to them, negotiating and securing ecosystem and media partners In addition to the above, I also worked across several part time roles, whilst pursuing MSc, one of them being that of an HR Advisor, in As Suffa, an NGO in Sheffield.

Why did you want to come to the University of Sheffield to study your chosen degree?
I chose the University of Sheffield (UoS) and their MSc Human Resource Management programme. UoS has a very strong alumni base in India, and Sheffield University Management School (SUMS) is one of the best business schools worldwide. The course is accredited by CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) giving me the professional edge that every student aspires to have. To support my study abroad, I had applied for the India Postgraduate Merit Scholarship, with barely any hopes of getting it. But I was overwhelmed and enthused when I was awarded the same. This boost helped me approach my studies with confidence. Before arriving in Sheffield, I was in constant touch with the International Student Ambassadors who gave us detailed information. UoS is known for providing a wonderful student experience, and even before reaching Sheffield, I got a taste of that.

What were your favourite things about or best memories of the University of Sheffield?
Going to UoS was definitely one of the best decisions of my life. I studied in a department with over 80 academic staff; each having their own specialisation. What fascinates me the most is the approach towards their subject. Even though some courses were theory-based, they are approached in a pragmatic way. This encourages students to think critically, and analyse how the theory can be applied to the field of HR. We were judged on the basis of our understanding and not our knowledge. The way in which we are assessed is unique. It allows us to reflect both individually and in a group. We develop not just academically but also personally. The course had both academic and practical elements to it. We were constantly encouraged by the Employability Hub to participate in the Employee Based Dissertation Project, where we got to work with an organisation to gain real world experience and complete our dissertations. SUMS also regularly organised training sessions and talks with HR professionals from in and around the U.K.I had the opportunity to meet and live with people from different parts of the world. Thriving in such a multicultural environment, learning about other cultures, countries was amazing.

Please explain how has your qualification and/or time at Sheffield helped you in your career?
In addition to the academic support, there are many life skills that I learnt in my time in Sheffield. Qualities like communication, time management, multi tasking, team work, etc that are very sought after in the workplace and are also extremely important in leading a life were improved in Sheffield. Not only was I responsible to meet deadlines, but I was also managing my expenses, cooking, laundry, working part time as well. This experience really led me to be confident enough to lead the life that I do now, where I work 9-6 then run an entire house on my own.

What has been your greatest achievement to date?
I vividly remember the moment I received the email informing me that I had been awarded the Postgraduate Merit Scholarship, I was waiting to be called in for my visa interview. I honestly couldn't believe what I was reading and I re-read the email 5 or 6 times until I was sure I was reading it right, that I had actually received the scholarship. I am so thankful to the University for awarding me the scholarship and the opportunity to study at Sheffield.