Abhiroop Sharma shares his experience of studying at RICS SBE in a detailed Q&A

Abhiroop Sharma
Civil Engineer
MBA CEQS 2016-18
Placed in MACE as Cost Consultant


 

Tell me about your background, your childhood dreams regarding career choices, your plan for life in some detail.
A: I belong to state of Jammu & Kashmir. My father is Electrical Engineer in state services and my mother is a high school teacher. I have done my schooling from army school kaluchak, Jammu, after that I have completed my bachelors Civil Engineering from Lovely Professional University, Jalandhar (Punjab). I was placed in my bachelors placement drive and I got a job offer to work with contracting firm based out of Dubai (Al Rakha General Contracting LLC), I joined there and worked for 2 years as a Quality Control and Quality Assurance Engineer. I always had plans for higher studies/specialized courses. Initially I looked around for colleges/universities which offered any Master courses in Civil Engineering in UAE. Through my search I narrowed down to RICS and came to know they have recently started school of built environment in India and I really liked the curriculum that was offered in MBA CEQS course because I was more interested in financials of the construction projects, that’s what lured me to join RICS and I had a great learning experience here at RICS. Now I am really satisfied and I have a very broad insight about construction industry, there are lot of aspects in a construction project which were unknown to me despite of my working experience that I all learned though the MBA CEQS at RICS. All the guidance through industry experts and journey throughout my entire MBA was really marvelous. 

What made you go for MBA in RICS SBE?
A: I always had plans to go for master’s course after completing my bachelors. It was a great experience for me working in the industry after completing my bachelors that gave look inside the construction project and how industry works. When I was searching for pursuing a master’s degree during I was working I came to know about RICS and RICS SBE through internet. I was really in line with the MBA CEQS course offered because I really liked the curriculum. So I completed my 2 years Visa and joined RICS SBE and it has been one of the best decisions in my life. I have gained a lot as a professional.

I really liked the curriculum offered by the RICS SBE, plus it is backed by rich background of RICS. Here at RICS I had a great exposure to industry insights from different perspectives, under the guidance of experts who already have dedicated their lifetime to the industry. Now, I have a very confident outlook, very broad perspective, backed by in-depth knowledge of different aspects on which construction industry works.

How was your experience while learning at RICS SBE?
A: Here at RICS I had a great exposure to industry insights from different perspectives, under the guidance of experts who already have dedicated their lifetime to the industry. Now, I have a very confident outlook, very broad perspective, backed by in-depth knowledge of different aspects on which construction industry works. Learning through case studies, analytics, research, industry internship, site visits, guest lectures from industry experts and backed by experienced professionals as lecturers. These are the main pillars of learning at RICS. I am really satisfied with my whole learning experience at RICS and would recommend to all the young professionals who really seek growth in their career and bring about a positive change to construction industry.

Why would you recommend RICS SBE to others?
A:  What I loved the most about RICS SBE and following are the reasons I would like to recommend RICS SBE to all the young professionals who seek growth and want to bring transformational change in construction industry:

•   Learning through case studies, live project examples, site visits brings about a complete package of learning experience.

•   Curriculum is designed very well designed, it provides a very good amount of knowledge to fresher’s as well as experienced professionals.

•   Diversity at RICS SBE is another forte of RICS where you interact with professionals from different parts of India and come to know about the practices followed in different regions.

•   Guest lectures from Industry experts and getting to know about all the latest happenings of industry fills up the professional knowledge.

•   Pre placement and pre internship sessions are well planned and designed, it polishes a professional to face any kind of interview or process with much ease.

How was your internship experience?
A: I have done my internship from AECOM India, Bangalore. I am really thankful to RICS SBE for providing me with such a great opportunity. I worked in AECOM as Intern in their cost consultancy. It was a great experience working there with AECOM where I got a chance to apply my learnings in financials about construction industry. I was working directly under the guidance of Associate Director and I was continuously guided and given works related to Site financial reports, Reconciliation reports, Pre contract quantification, going through the contracts signed between AECOM and clients, regularly attending client meetings, negotiation meetings. These all activities gave me a very good experience of the industry and working at live projects was equally very profound learning experience. AECOM was really satisfied with my work so I was offered a PPO from AECOM to join after completion of my masters.

Tell us about your placement experience?
A: When placement drive started in month of November, MACE was very initial company to come to the campus for recruitment. I consulted and was very well guided by our placement head Prof. Nihar Nanyam. The job description of cost consultant was very in line with my future plans so I applied for it. I got shortlisted among other 13 students who applied for the job. On the day of first round of presentation and personal interview I was really confident. I was among the four candidates out of 13 initially shortlisted for the personal interview. Personal interview sessions went really well, I was asked questions like

•     Why do you want to join MACE?

•     Why should you be hired?

•     About my previous experience and some technical details?

•     About my future plans

I was among the two students who were finally shortlisted for the second round of personal interview with Country Manager of MACE Mr. Stuart Robinson in their Gurgaon office. I had a great interaction session with him and finally I was selected in MACE as cost consultant. I thank RICS SBE for giving me such a good opportunity.

What are your future plans?
A: I plan to join MACE as Cost Consultant and eventually grow in my career and bring about a positive transformational change to the construction industry. To apply all my knowledge and along with RICS ethical practices to my work and give my best to the industry, because Indian construction industry is going through a revolutionary change with technology so I want to give my adequate contribution to it. 

Do you think a generic MBA would have given the same opportunities?
A: Specialized MBA CEQS at RICS SBE is always a best choice I would recommend because it is more specific to industry, construction Industry itself is a quite big sector in itself and its financials are vividly different from other industries. So, all the young graduates who are more interested in construction industry whether they want to work in industry or plan to be a entrepreneur MBA from RICS will provide a better edge over the generic MBA specially for construction industry. Because the curriculum is designed in specialized manner that it gives a very good insight of the industry. Along with a very well designed curriculum support from industry experts, highly experienced lecturers, practical teaching methods , continuous assessments are another forte of specialized MBA at RICS SBE.