8 months, 6 stages, phases of anxiety, a few curveballs – all leading to one big evening. I first heard of “Are You in the List” in 2012 when my colleague won the award. Ever since, I’ve wanted to be ‘on the list’. What I didn’t know is that the journey to the award would be as fascinating as the award itself.
While I sailed through the first few stages (or so I’d like to believe), I was almost sure that I wouldn’t make it past the video interview. I’d just landed from a long vacation in a different continent where I had minimal internet connection only to realize I had less than 24 hours to complete this stage. Throw in jet lag, a massive load of emails at work and back-to-back meetings; I was sure that the interview was headed towards disaster. In some ways, maybe it was. The internet had decided to give me trouble and even post the interview, I wasn’t sure if the assessors would be able to decipher what I’d said. I could do little but wait and watch. Thankfully, the God’s were on my side.
Then came the case study. While I’d done my best to keep the booked slot available, life in the world of HR is rather unpredictable. I over-estimated my capabilities and ended up having to send in my case study file in 45 minutes and rushing from one meeting to another (Can you tell how meetings rule my life?). But I took the call, impressed my assessor (I hope he doesn’t think otherwise) and made it.
When I travelled to Bangalore for my final interview and had zero curveballs, I was instantly suspicious. I ended up having the most amazing conversation with the panelists and walked out feeling like a million dollars; but nothing can beat hearing your name on stage and collecting the award from the biggest names in HR. What a moment!
When it’s all done & dusted, the question we’ve now been faced with is – What next? After our 30 seconds of fame (more like 15 days), how do we use this platform to push forward in our fields. Some answers come easy but there’s more to it than just using it to reach out a wider audience, getting a better job and having a larger pool of great minds to bounce ideas with. What’s more? I don’t know but I’m definitely going to find out!
P.S: Now you know why a post didn’t come along this Sunday. I was too drunk on joy 🙂
https://www.peoplematters.in/article/leadership/are-you-in-the-list-2016-winner-ankita-poddar-14666
The HR Business Partner Story 
Congrats Ankita for making it to this coveted list 🙂 Would like to read more from your blogs in the coming days… 🙂
Thank you so much! I do hope to keep churning out my thoughts here 🙂