From nowhere to everywhere- The compelling story of Seemant Pardhi..!!!

A year ago, when this lad from Balaghat took up the mettle to pour his hands in the ever-competitive banking sector, there was no surety as to where this path would take him. Wearing a simplified look on his face, carrying metallic resolve within his veins, he has achieved humongous success in past one year or so.

Seemant Pardhi- from nowhere to everyhwere

Seemant Pardhi, son of a farmer, is still humble about what he has achieved so far, feels great to make his family proud of him and takes a sigh of relief after conquering the failures and challenges he has faced in his journey so far. We sit on a casual chat over a cup of tea before he leaves for Lucknow to join SIDBI and talked about his en route to success.

Here are the excerpts:

IDBI PO> PNB Clerk> SIDBI Grade A Officer> SBI PO>UIIC AO. How does it feel after getting so much success and offers?

First of all, I am not seeing this as my success because there are many more dreams which are yet to be fulfilled and this is just a destination in the journey. More precisely, I can say that “Delhi abhi dur h mere dost”.

But yes, it always makes one happy when he/she is rewarded for the efforts and hard work that one puts in to achieve something. When you see your name in the final list, there is no other better feeling which can match the relief and happiness that one gets.  It makes me humble and reminds me of the struggles and challenges I have faced in last few years.

Talking about the challenges, what were those and how did you overcome them? How was the overall journey?

As I have said earlier, the journey doesn’t end here. But, the journey till now has been very good though it began with some failures. Today, the positive results have overshadowed all those failures. Everyone face certain challenges, the difference is the degree of the challenge. The biggest challenge for me was to come up from a village background and adjust to the competitive environment. It takes some extra mile to compete with someone who is already ready for this type of exams. Frankly speaking, English has always been a tough challenge for me and it still is, but I never ran away from it. I chose to face it and conquered it after few setbacks. 

What do you think worked in your favor as you continuously achieved success?

Over the years, banking sector is becoming extremely competitive which leaves no room for complacency. You will have to constantly elevate your standards to match with the competition and it takes a lot of dedication to make it happen. So, for me, it was my determination and positive approach towards study, the belief and support of my friends and teachers and more importantly, the divine blessings of my parents which kept me going.

What was your strategy during preparation?

When I started my preparation my focus was purely on basics like calculation, speed, accuracy etc. which gives you an upper hand in the battlefield. Then I focused on mastering some short tricks which is a useful weapon when it comes to this sort of packed exams where in time management is crucial. Another thing was to determine the strengths that I had and focus mainly on them to utilize them to my advantage.

How crucial is creating positive thoughts and environment around you when a lot of competition exists?

I think it is very important because sometimes fear of failure sows negativity into your mind which needs to be removed as early as possible. There exists certain degree of negativity when you see someone preparing from so many years but then if you have self-confidence and positive mindset, the target can be achieved.

The adventurer in him who is very close to his friends.

When you finally had the thought of targeting banking sector?

During my school days, whenever I used to visit a bank, I had this thought of becoming a banker but there was no “kick” to give me a push. When I appeared for DAVV-CET and secured a good rank, that is when the seeds of belief got implanted and I started focusing more on banking sector from 3^rd semester of my MBA days.

How did you overcome the results jinx?

Obviously, it makes me nervous but at the same time it makes me excited too. Very often, I don’t check my results because somebody else always chipped in to give me the good news for me. So, you can say that I have never faced the adrenaline rush that actually happens when you check the results.

Throw some light on interview preparation?

Initially, I brushed up my academic knowledge and then focused on some basics of banking and finance followed by quintessential HR questions. The most important thing was that I was thoroughly aware about the happenings around me which played an important role during the interviews. 

What Seemant Pardhi would like to tell to fellow aspirants?

Everybody tells to focus on weakness and overcome that. Yes, I do agree with that but much more important than that is to determine your strengths. This type of exams doesn’t ask you to solve all 200 questions, one may get into it by solving 100 questions too but those 100 questions should be from your areas of perfection.

Another suggestion is don’t focus on cutoffs and all the talks around for the same. Just focus on giving your best and follow this 3P Mantra- Practice, perfection and positivity.

-Ankit Vani

(If you think that you have also achieved success and wish to spread the story, do reach out to me at Ankitvani520@gmail.com. Happy Writing !!)