My journey from college to Home First Finance Company India Limited -By Manish Rai from ISB&M Pune

My college life which was full of learning, enjoyment, and memories brought a life turning moment in the month of December 2019 for me. While pursuing an MBA every student has a dream to get placed in a good organization. In October, companies started visiting the campus and I was all set to get my dream job. But as the saying goes, success and happiness do not come easy and so, I was rejected by one of the best IT companies in the final round. However, I geared up again and in November, we received a job description of Home First Finance Company India Limited, which is where my journey from college to the corporate world began.

Getting a good MBA college is easy but getting a good role is tough, and I decided that I will only join an organization that offers a good role. I started collecting information about this company through various sources, and by the end of my research I realised that this organization offered numerous opportunities and I could work on myself and grow at Home First Finance Company India Limited.

As it was one of the best roles for a finance student, competition increased. Everyone wanted to be a part of this company. I started updating myself for each round of Home First. My professor helped me a lot while preparing for this company’s selection process.

The selection process

There are various rounds in the selection process starting from shortlisting, based on your past percentage, group discussion, the first round of interviews, aptitude tests, psychometric tests, and finally top management interview round.

The selection process is tough, so the level of preparation has to be top-notch. In the first round of interview, they assessed candidates on their finance knowledge and thought process and whether or not the candidate was suitable for that. I was in the 4th place to go for the interview and I was anxious and nervous the entire time but all of it vanished as soon as the interview started. I was sure that I would be shortlisted. At midnight on that day, we received the news that 5 students were shortlisted for further rounds which will be held in Mumbai at the Head office of this company.

I got 3 days time to prepare myself for further rounds and on 9th December 2020, early in the morning, we all left for Mumbai. I focused on not being nervous during the interview. The psychometric and aptitude test started as soon as we reached there. 4 of us were shortlisted for the final interview round, they checked my confidence, honesty and integrity.

I went to college the next day (10th December 2020), attended a lecture and in the afternoon went back to the flat for lunch when I received a call from the Placement cell to report to college immediately. I quickly went to college and they congratulated me as I was selected.

It was the best moment as I could see my parents' dream come true. I just wanted to share that moment with them.

My time at Home First Finance Company India Limited

I was called early by the organization to join and I moved to Mumbai in January 2020. I was taken by my manager to have a 3-day meeting trip in Pune. One great learning for me on the very first day of my job was the art of maintaining a client relationship.

On the 3rd day, we went back to Mumbai but I took many lessons with me from the first 3 days itself. On the 4th day, I went to the office where everybody greeted me and on the very same day, the HR team conducted an induction for me. I was welcomed in the team by the VP and I was handed out the role of a Management Associate.

Working under the top management of the company and handling such large portfolios helped me learn a lot of things in the last one year. It not only developed me for my future roles but I witnessed an overall growth.

Over a period of time, all the learnings which I gained would help me in capitalizing my future success. I am not only developing my job role but also am developing a thought process along with my personality, here at Home First Finance Company India Limited.

Talking about the organization culture, from day one I was impressed that there wasn't any hierarchy. Everybody had access to everything. A young and energetic team can lead to growth only. We celebrated each and every festival together and birthdays were not missed. In my word, I can say that this workplace is all about fun and growth.

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Manish Rai - ISB&M Pune

(Batch of 2018-20)

Manish Rai is a self-motivated commerce graduate with finance skills. He likes to take initiative, seek out new challenges, has a positive attitude, learns from mistakes and aims to provide effective leadership. He is also a workaholic with a dosage of fun.