Great experiences: Night shifts, sales, solo travel

When I first joined VSNL, we were assigned to a function where it was a 24x7 rotation shift. During the night shifts, we had to continuously monitor availability of services. The internet was very nascent at that time, and we didn’t have smartphones or ubiquitous access like we do today. So, we used to look forward to these shifts because we got the opportunity to browse the internet, YouTube and make IP calls. It was a luxury for us, and our friends used to envy us for this. Once VSNL became part of the Tata Group as Tata Communications, we got our first sales team. Some of us were selected to join the sales team as solutions architects. Going into customer meetings, talking about our service capabilities, and then the joy of closing new business was something totally new for me.

As I evolved in this role, I also started travelling for business meetings. Solo travel was something I was never accustomed to, but slowly I started liking the experience of meeting new people and visiting new places and it helped me grow as an individual. Once I travelled to Hong Kong for a new product launch workshop. On the last day of the trip, I decided to make a short trip to Macau as a tourist. To my surprise, on the way back, I was detained by the immigration authorities as this was a common way of people trying to extend their visas. I was shocked. Finally, my office administration helped clear the confusion so that I could fly back to India the next day.

I don’t know if we can call them roadblocks, but compared to my male colleagues, I felt it was more difficult to cultivate customer relationships primarily because the decision makers were mostly male, and they were more comfortable working with the same gender. Later, when I moved into product management, I found that customers were more appreciative of knowledge and market awareness irrespective of gender. Nevertheless, each role has taught me something, and that’s how I have learnt to navigate through the ups and downs of my career.

Nandini Chatterjee is head operations integrator, cloud and cybersecurity business unit at Tata Communications

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