Success Stories of Skilled Women from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, TISS – SVE

Monika, Counsellor, Prenits Infosys Pvt Ltd

My name is Monika. I am 24 years old and have been working with Prenits Infosys Pvt Ltd, a Training Hub of TISS for Media and Entertainment courses at Gurgaon, Haryana.

I belong to a village called Aryanagar, Distt Bhiwani, Haryana. Most girls of my age from my native place are married off by their parents right after their schooling gets over. But I had other plans. I was keen on pursuing higher studies and I convinced my parents to get me enrolled in B. Tech (Computer Science) in a nearby Engineering College at Mahendragarh, Haryana. They had to face tremendous societal pressure with relatives and neighbours questioning their decision but they supported my decision.

Four years of professional education developed the confidence in me to pursue a career afterwards. My family thought a ‘Government’ job would be more suitable for me but I was not too sure about that. I wanted to stand on my own feet and was ready to test waters in the private sector too. Since that was not possible in my village, I decided to move to Gurgaon, the biggest hub of opportunities in Northern India. Initially my family resisted sending their girl to an unknown big city but my determination and persistence won them over.

I worked with an IT company for a short while but the erratic schedules and deadlines made me and my family uncomfortable. I found my calling in an academic institution. I started as a Placement Executive, coordinating with employers and helping students find the right openings in nearby industries. The near 100% Placement record of my vocational institute’s students provided me the confidence to also start counseling and guiding students who were fresh out of school.

I find my work extremely satisfying because

• Hailing from a village, I have managed to come this far on the basis of my education. My personal experience makes my vocational counseling more effective.
• Helping my students find rewarding internships and full-time jobs has earned me more respect than anything else in my short career.
• To my villagers and relatives, I am somewhat of a role-model. It is not uncommon for me to get calls from residents of my native place asking for career advice for their daughters.

I have a long way to go in my career and my journey so far has been extremely rewarding. It was my hard work, determination and persistence that guided a farmer’s daughter out of her village and made her carve out a place for herself in the IT hub of Gurgaon.