Focus India: Could you tell us shortly about your educational and professional background?
Abhijit Chokshi: I have completed my under graduation in Management and Entrepreneurship from Lancaster University, UK. During my studies, I undertook an exchange program at Rotterdam School of Management for a year. After that, I co-founded JOSH Talks, India’s emerging storytelling platform, and served as an Associate Consultant with Matrix Finance. Currently, I am running a venture in Stock Market called Share Bazaar. Luckily, finding previous jobs worked quite well for me due to my education abroad.

What is your company doing to keep young professionals?
We recently hired some interns from a B school. To keep them motivated we have devised a mixture of roles which have less monotonous tasks and delegate based on core competences. As a challenge for us, I see the cost of training but also the attrition rate.

Due to your studies in the UK and the Netherlands, you have got insights into Western culture. Regarding career challenges, what do you think is the difference between young professionals in the Western world compared to those in India?
Due to more focus on theory aspect in education system, young professionals in India usually find the corporate working culture way different from what they have studied in the books. On top of that, lack of proactive career cells in colleges, unlike western countries, puts Indian youth at a disadvantage. What is similar in both countries is the challenge to find the right career path and guidance.

India has become one of the largest bases for startups in the world. Is there a trend among young Indians to disregard corporate firms and family holdings and build a start-up instead?
The number of these risk-taking young Indians is pretty low compared with the overall population, however due to the advancement in technology it can be observed an influx of startups coming up in diverse fields. Most youth still believes in having a secure job than taking a plunge in the world of entrepreneurship. In addition, there are subsets of communities where one may find youth taking initiative in a proactive manner.

What opportunities do you see for Swiss companies to profit from the great wealth of talent in India?
India’s young population is massive! Swiss companies could tie up with several reputed schools to recruit the talent or have career fairs in metro cities to attract the fresh pass outs.

Thanks a lot for your precious time, Abhijit!