CHIT-CHAT with Alumni Season II: Episode 5- Transitioning from Engineering to Non-engineering fields
Published: 2021-12-23 18:34:36

The **SPECTRUM** club is one of the core technical societies of the College of Engineering and Technology, Bhubaneshwar founded in 2015 by **Mr.Bikram Keshari Panda**(2015 graduate), scrutinizing on the sole motive of Instrumentation and Electronics Engineering branch having a club of its own.

Apart from being involved in a plethora of competitions and technical events, the club decided to start its very own "**Alumni Talk Series**" called **"Chit-Chat with Alumni"**.

The first season of the series served as a torch bearer for the students to connect with their seniors contributing in both their personal and professional development. And we have continued to strengthen the bond even further with the **Second Series**.

The fifth episode of Season 2 was hosted on the 28th of November, 2021 and the speaker for the evening was **Mrs. Ashpruha Pujari**.

Mrs. Ashpruha Pujari graduated from CET Civil Engineering in 2004 and later got an MBA from Indiana University, USA double majoring in Finance and Supply Chain. Her professional life spans working across industries in Fortune 500 companies like Infosys, Ernst & Young and Tesla. She is currently at Meta (formerly Facebook) where she manages a lot of their Strategic Suppliers across the Globe. She has worked as a Software Engineer, a Management Consultant and a Supply Chain professional.

![Image 1](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/vfhq65k8i1qcp93rw9d2.jpg)

Mrs. Pujari started off with giving a glimpse of her life as a student by showing a few pictures of her college. She discussed about the confusion faced by students regarding placements which she herself had also faced during her final year. She talked about her journey as a software engineer which played a critical role in her life before MBA which helped her learn many skill-sets helping her in transition to a non-engineering field. 

![Image2](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/mfq46s3jzir4k82o78nz.jpg) 
She briefed us about her MBA life with her moving to another country. Working with wide variety of people played a crucial role for her as it opens up mind, boosts confidence and enhances one’s perspective. It gave her an exposure to different lifestyle and economy present there. She summed up MBA as teaching one **“How to walk the walk and talk the talk”**. It helped in to refining oneself and and presenting being confident to converse about anything and everything, thus forming a great skill-set. Putting yourself under stress-test helps in adding value to your assets.

![Image3](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/1o4x0uzn6j9gu4pjg2xh.jpg) 

![Image5](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/6p7aftqetrzxhjo2f2so.jpg)

She walked us through her professional career in Ernst & Young and Tesla, providing a detailed analysis of both the companies. She advised us to always be mindful of where we work as “**Its’ not just a company finding you are a good fit, it’s also about you finding whether they are a good fit, i.e., their company and culture.**” 

![Image 4](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/s2l6qi2wgen7xtqpw5cp.jpg)


![Image 7](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/wpfk0lpydlc1lxg4ja91.jpg)


![Image8](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/pqxoay4glyw4ir4eg1fi.jpg)

She put stress on **networking** as an important aspect in today’s world. Networking is all about seeking knowledge of work culture of a particular company to understand the ethics here. Polishing your image is also very important as it helps in landing one’s dream job and always having an advantage at hand. 


![Image9](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/asb74vf55j0fv65qpeh2.jpg)

Lastly, She encouraged us to always be on the run thinking about what we want to do next, what we want to achieve next.


![Image10](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/nprhdt3hkk3r17zy6cck.jpg)

The conference was followed by an interactive Q n A with students asking questions ranging from her decision to transition to a non-engineering field to all the pros and cons faced by her.
 
One of the attendees, Anup Paikray asked about her 
**How to cope up with the stress in the industry**
 to which she replied:
“To always stay on top of your game and always know what’s in your control so that you can better it even further. To keep on polishing your skill-set and always have a plan to move forward and not to bother with what one can’t do anything about.”

It was an honor to have interacted with her. We wish her all the best for all her future endeavors!