Indian MBA Student’s Kellogg MBA Experience
Today, we will chat with someone special, who has made it from Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan to the global stage through her indomitable will. Our guest today is Garima Sharma, a current first-year student in Kellogg’s full-time 2Y MBA program from the Class of 2021. Garima has already been leaving her mark while pursuing a Kellogg MBA. As of this writing, Garima is starting the Spring quarter, which would mark the conclusion of her first year as part of her Kellogg MBA journey.
After completing her engineering in India, Garima worked in an all-male environment in manufacturing within ITC, following which she helped scale operations at LetsTransport – a leading logistics firm in India. Without further ado, we will get right into our Q&A.
CTM: Garima, thank you so much for joining us today. Can you share with our readers your first experience when you joined Kellogg?
Garima: Happy to do so, Nupur. The Fall Quarter started off and we were immediately split into sections and there were section competitions and fun activities, which helped enhance the bonding experience. The experience was amazing from the get-go and I felt an immediate connection with my section mates. While it was initially overwhelming to meet so many new people, within no time, I felt connected to so many of my peers. There are activities for different personality types – be it large parties, small group dinners or one-on-one coffee chats, you can find your kind of people during this exploratory phase. There is something for everyone. Interestingly, in college and at my workplaces, I’ve had more male friends, especially owing to the skewed gender ratios. Kellogg has given me an opportunity to become close friends with many strong and impressive women! In August, I participated in KWEST to Spain and Mediterranean along with 14 other individuals and this was an unforgettable experience.
CTM: Thanks for sharing that, Garima. It sounds like Kellogg truly does its bit to strengthen the ties early on among students. Can you share the activities at Kellogg that have been most meaningful for you?
Garima: One of the highlights for me surely has to be when I met Mr. Krishnamurthy Venkata Subramanian – the Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India. He dined with a select handful of students in a closed group setting. It was magical to talk to him in such an intimate environment, like a colleague. He patiently spoke to all of us and addressed all our questions. I could have otherwise never imagined having such easy access to someone like him at such an early age!
Another event that I greatly enjoyed was the Drag Show, which was a culture shock initially and also one of my most enjoyable experiences. I was impressed by the progressive and jolly vibe and how much people cheer for and support each other!
One activity that I would like to make a special mention of is ‘Engage’. My career peer, a second-year student by the name of Chandni, recommended Engage and I now recommend it to anyone who cares to listen! ‘Engage’ falls under the purview of Diversity & Inclusion at Kellogg. Kellogg truly walks the talk in this domain. Participants are paired in groups of six students each who meet for two dinners every quarter, for a total of eight dinners over the course of the academic year. The participants, each belonging to different communities or possessing some diverse attribute, read pre-assigned reading materials and watch impactful videos and then come together in a setting where a coordinator facilitates the discussion. There are eight parameters for diversity that are considered here, including socio-economic, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc. My group comprised someone Asian, someone who was born and raised in the U.S. but has Indian parents and someone who’s homosexual. Group discussions included what matters most to us and why. These discussions were eye openers for me and helped me become more attuned to implicit biases. For instance, looking at this one guy, I thought this person was the poster boy white American “privileged kid”, but they turned out to be from an impoverished background and were extremely involved with non-profit organizations. Another person was an Indian born and raised in America. He shared how Indians thought he was not Indian enough in following traditions, whereas Americans judged him as a brown boy. Such experiences will certainly enable me in my efforts as a leader in the future.
Kellogg has this concept of themed weeks dedicated to specific causes wherein respective clubs organize events pertaining to the cause for the whole week. For instance, there is Pride Week (P@K), African Week, Asian Week, etc. These opportunities have provided me incredibly meaningful experiences, which I will cherish for a lifetime. Additionally, I’ve enjoyed participating in events such as Fall Ball and Diwali, which have been incredible. Currently, we were in the process of preparing for Bollywood Bash, where I was scheduled to participate in two dance groups. Alas!
CTM: I guess, in these times more than any, this emphasizes our shared humanity. Garima, given this is a topic of great interest for our readers, can you speak about your recruiting journey, in which I understand you’ve had tremendous success?
Garima: First, I would like to share something extraordinary and surprising. During the recruiting month, there was a whole month dedicated to head massage, meditation, etc. for people to relax as they are preparing for and heading for job interviews!
Kellogg has nurtured a culture of “giving back” as part of the school’s DNA. Second-year students are always willing to bend over backwards and contribute to the success of first-year students, which is a huge differentiator in recruiting efforts. People are just a Slack message away and would help you to any extent. This same behavior then becomes ingrained within first-year students and they pay-it-forward when they become second-years. This has created a virtuous cycle, which is a win-win for students, the school and our global communities.
Kellogg is a leader in consulting for a reason. When people use the word ‘collaboration’ to describe our community, I now get it more than ever before. It’s not just jargon, the entire community lives by this mantra. Candidates recruiting for consulting prepare 40-50 mock cases with industry representatives and second-year students. If a first-year student asks, second-year students willingly take the time to prepare 1Ys. Speaking to friends at other M7 MBA programs, I learnt that 15-20 mock cases are par for course and second-year students may not be as involved in first-year students’ recruiting efforts.
Having said the above, I want to share that I knew from the outset that I wanted to recruit for Venture Capital (VC) roles. I spoke to several individuals working in VC, which provided me a lay of the land. Moreover, my experience of having worked at Lightbox in a VC role for my pre-MBA internship helped me in this regard as well. I went to SF as part of Kellogg’s student-led VC trek, meeting VC firms such as Kleiner Perkins. This helped me develop a strong perspective on the industry from a global perspective, as informed by thought leaders in the industry.
In my Winter Break, I visited India and met a dozen or so firms, enriching my thinking with an India-centric perspective. The Kellogg brand is great in opening doors; Kellogg is a widely-recognized and respected name in India. These visits led to interviews and I finally accepted an offer with a VC firm in Bangalore for my summer internship. Here, I want to share an important experience with prospective applicants, especially ones switching industries, as it can get overwhelming since many industries might not hire in a structured manner and there is always an information arbitrage for anyone entering a new industry. My first interview did not result in immediate success. However, I requested feedback, which was invaluable in my future successes. My intent with sharing this is to showcase the importance of growth and learning from failure. I believe it’s meaningful to fail and learn instead of waiting to give the perfect shot.
Kellogg has numerous structured initiatives like interview prep groups (IPGs), mock interviews for every industry with designated second-year students, etc. One structured activity at Kellogg that is especially incredible for aspirants wanting to work in VC is VC Lab. It’s a competitive activity to gain entry to as only 20 students are ultimately selected. This is an exceptional program where the school enabled me to build a strong resume and facilitated conversations with funds. This program led to my selection with OCA Ventures – one of the most popular funds in Chicago. I have been selected for the Spring Quarter and this counts for 1 credit. In light of the pandemic, I am exploring postponing this to Fall so I can do this in-person. As part of this activity, I would compress all my classes within two days and work out of the fund for two full days of the week, traveling to Chicago every Monday and Wednesday. This is a phenomenal program within Kellogg and I could not be happier with my experience.
CTM: Garima, thank you for sharing your unusual and exciting recruiting experiences. An important question that is currently weighing in the minds of several applicants is how has the global pandemic, caused by the novel Coronavirus i.e. COVID-19, impacted your MBA experience? And, how has Kellogg supported you in handling this crisis?
Garima: My respect for Kellogg has increased multifold over the past several months and especially in the past couple of weeks. Kellogg’s administration has sent emails saying, “We understand you may be facing financial difficulties in light of all that’s going on and we are here to help.” There are task forces that have been established to support students through platforms such as Slack. This is in direct contrast with the messaging I have heard from other schools, wherein some asked international students to vacate the campuses overnight. Kellogg is on the other end of the spectrum reinforcing messaging such as, “dining halls will be open for those of you who cannot make it out.” So, even people who have been stuck at McManus Hall, have not been left stranded.
If I talk specifically about myself, the school has been extremely supportive of my efforts to return to India, as I participate in the Spring quarter virtually from India. Classes are being held on Blue Jeans. I am grateful to be with my family during this time before I head for my summer internship to Bangalore.
