'When McKinsey rejected me, I was heartbroken,' shares IIT-IIM graduate from Bengaluru

Sandipan Bala is a general manager at fintech unicorn Slice. (Image credit: Moneycontrol)

In the aftermath of a 25-year-old McKinsey employee dying by suicide following extreme pressure at work, an IIT Bombay and IIM Ahmedabad alumnus has opened up about how devastated he felt when he failed to get an opportunity to work with the global management consultant.

Speaking to Moneycontrol, Sandipan Bala -- who graduated from IIM in 2019 and is currently a general manager at fintech firm Slice in Bengaluru -- said that during his days at IIM, he was single-mindedly focused on getting an internship with McKinsey & Company during his second year in college. "It was the company that everybody in IIM wanted to work with. And an internship with the company would have given me the opportunity to convert it into a possible job offer.  It would also have meant that I could spend my final year in college without having to worry about landing a job after graduation," he said.

That's why Bala left no stone unturned to prepare for his interviews. He cracked the first level and was invited to a second round. "That's why when they rejected me... I was heartbroken. I thought I wasn’t good enough," he said.

Sandipan Bala (in front of the blackboard on the right) during his days at IIM Ahmedabad. (Image credit: Moneycontrol)

Being an academically bright student, Bala was used to achieving his goals and rejection was new to him. "I felt the only thing that mattered was to go through this set path: IIT, then IIM, then consult, then ace at corporate, etc. Anything that didn’t fit this narrative, made me feel like a loser," the 28-year-old said.

What helped him overcome this setback were his friends and family. They were confident of his abilities and encouraged him to make the best of the opportunities that came his way and not fret about the rejection. And soon enough, an opportunity presented itself in the form of an internship with a finance firm.

"McKinsey & Company was my first preference but I finally accepted an internship offer from a finance firm which was third on my list of preferences," Bala said. "Finance, obviously, isn't a bad option and my parents asked me to focus on this wholeheartedly. They knew of all the expectations I had and the pressure I put on myself to crack the interviews with McKinsey, but they helped me move on from that failure."

Bala eventually did manage to earn a job offer from the finance company and hasn't looked back ever since. "I have gotten over that episode, but it wasn’t a nice time," he said.

Read more: MNC employee and IIT-IIM graduate dies by suicide, police suspect 'work pressure'