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NEWS & FEATURES |
Interview of the Month - March 2002: Vishwas Bhatia (IMHI 1998) Q: What is your background? I am currently working in New York as Director of Revenue management at the world-renowned Plaza Hotel in New York. I completed my under-grad, majoring in Mathematics, from St. Stephens college in India and joined The Oberoi Hotels as a Management trainee in 1992. Having worked there for four years I felt restless to see what people in other countries do and how they live. In 1996 I was awarded a fully funded scholarship to IMHI and that, in short, is how I got to IMHI. My experience at ESSEC was invaluable and the knowledge that I gained, in terms of technical skills as well as multicultural skills, has made my current job easier. Q: Why did you decide to come and stay here? America is truly a land of opportunities – if you are good you can shine, people respect you for what you do. US is a great leveling field where everyone has to start from scratch. This has pros and cons to it. The flip side is that no one knows what you are capable of until you show results, and therefore it does not matter what your background is, if you are good you get the goods. That is the reason I moved to States from India and from France. I find certain similarities between the Indian and the French culture. A bourgeoisie is a bourgeoisie in France or in India, there is certain class distinction in both these countries. In US there are no bourgeoisies, there are people who are rich and there are people who want to get rich. It is a merit based society. On the other hand there are deficiencies in US which one has to live with, and that is whole another topic of discussion. Q: What advice would you give to ESSEC graduates who would like to come to work here? Working in US is quite an experience and it does open your horizons and gives you a global vision. It is not very difficult to get to States for work, however for a fresh graduate it is not that easy as well. There are a number of things to look at while applying for a job in US. Firstly you would need a company which is ready to sponsor you either on an H-1B visa or on a J-1 training visa. J-1 is probably an easier route and allows you to work here for up to 18 months and in majority of cases can be extended to an H-1B for a longer duration. It is best that you personally contact one of your peers or someone you know who is done this before to get the complete details of the process. It is also best to research extensively before sending out any applications. Time taken to prepare for this does pay off in the end. Q: How do you think your ESSEC background helped you to be where you are? The primary reason that I am here is because of my ESSEC affiliation. Not only did IMHI-ESSEC provided me with the educational and managerial tools to excel at my job, but also provided me with a wide support system that assisted me in getting to this position. There are number of US based alumni who are ready to help out willing and capable students out of ESSEC. However the catch is that you cannot expect to start running companies as soon as you graduate. There is time to be spent in the trenches. Q: What do you consider as your role in the ESSEC family? My role in the ESSEC community is to offer my services to assist and grow this community in whatever way possible. Currently I am involved in the first ever Newsmakers luxury panel in New York on April 24th. The idea was generated during a chance meeting with Christian Betheuil (ESSEC 95) at one of the ESSEC alumni meeting in New York. What I believe in is that it is a symbiotic relationship, the more I help ESSEC community to grow, the more they will help me grow. Wouldn’t world be an easier place if all the people in the right places were ESSEC alumni. Thank you...
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