Vishal Mittal had just passed out of Jaipuria Institute of Management, Lucknow with a specialisation in HR. With a placement with SBI Life Insurance as Assistant Manager-Talent Acquisition, life looked pretty much on track for him. It was not long before he moved into a much larger role in the Banking sector, as the Regional Resource Manager with Centurion Bank. Vishal looked well set for steady growth… till destiny took over. 

Barely three years into his career, an opportunity for Vishal popped up in the entertainment industry. The year was 2008, and 98.3 FM Radio Mirchi, was in growth mode. They were on the lookout for a dynamic Group Manager – HR, to pool in the right kind of creative and administrative talent that could take them to the next level. It was a big switch and a big decision. Vishal Mittal dug deep into his experiences and learning from Jaipuria Lucknow. 

“There are five extremely important skills that Jaipuria Lucknow taught me – Analytical Skills, Decision-making Skills (after evaluating all the pros and cons), Presentation Skills, Team Skills, and having a Leadership Quotient. Without these skills, it would’ve been impossible to take that major decision in my life.” 

Vishal Mittal made the big switch into the Entertainment Industry, and has not looked back since. 

Today, four years from that fateful day, Vishal Mittal is as high on the corporate ladder as it gets. His visiting card simply reads ‘National Head – Human Resources, 94.3 MyFM’. In 2010, He moved from ‘Radio Mirchi’ to ‘MyFM’ as the Head of Talent Acquisition, and very soon got the top job at 94.3 ‘MyFM’. 

“Learning is a constant, on–the-job process. I have learnt various facets of HR in my career of 7 years through practical application of the theory, group projects and case studies that we learnt at Jaipuria Lucknow. To an extent, my success is attributable to my days at Jaipuria Lucknow. The practical approach to management learnt at Jaipuria Lucknow is something one always remembers and uses in professional life.” 

Outside his job, Vishal has two main hobbies – long drives and sharing knowledge with management students of a few B-Schools. Since he is based out of Noida, these select B-schools – where he mentors students and presents guest lectures – are in the NCR. 

“I mainly focus on innovation and value creation. I speak to the future managers about doing new things, executing new ideas, re-engineering the way we do current things. I often refer to examples from innovation-centric organisations like P&G and Apple, and how their leaders built these fantastic organisations completely around innovations. My methods could be as simple as re-molding and presenting a ‘10 Step Guide to Innovation’ as was followed by Apple, or referring to the Clay Street Project by P&G. The Clay Street Project takes a set of people out of their day-to-day operations at P&G for a session of 3 months, to help a particular department solve their most difficult business problems, often after other attempts have failed.” 

Vishal strongly believes that value creation is something that comes automatically when we are constantly improving on the way we do things. He never fails to stress on the importance of ‘presentation skills’ and ‘openness to learning’ while addressing management students. These connections with B-schools keep alive his memory of his own days at Jaipuria Lucknow. 

“I used to stay at Jaipuria Institute of Management, Lucknow’s boys’ hostel. The endless gossip sessions in between breaks from study are something I remember and miss the most.” 

Vishal feels that the regional chapter meets organised by the Alumni Committee are a fantastic initiative of Jaipuria Lucknow to bring them all together. He also enjoys keeping in touch with fellow alumni of Jaipuria Lucknow through social networks.