It’s very safe to say that this Mechanical Engineer is by far the coolest one that you’d ever have read about. She plays online scrabble and tetris; all to optimise speed, space and time. She enjoys cooking, travelling, reading and biking; her Instagram feed is a perfect reflection of her personality.
Nisha Alavandi is a Mechanical Engineer from Dayananda Sagar College of Engineering, Bengaluru and has a Post Graduate Program in Business Administration. The chat I had with her was deeply insightful; here’s a sneak into it.
What are your main responsibilities?
I am part of the Supply chain team- I analyse the best way to model the logistics network for a young global clean energy startup and also manage some of the indirect purchases. I also help with implementation of tech products for supply chain and negotiate with suppliers for various supply chain and service requirements.
What is a typical day for you?
Gathering requirements from business users, finding means to structure them based on audience, identify suppliers and visually represent it to convey requirements and options alongside to make decision making easy.
How did you begin your career?
I started as a system Engineer at a multinational IT company. I consulted independently for a short time on projects- aiding in choice of TMS, designing the framework for OMS implementation and offering process expertise on supply chain. Prior to this, I led the Control Tower & PAN India Logistics Operations at Urban Ladder, a furniture and home decor omni channel scale up. I was responsible to ensure a seamless supply chain for our customers through setting up an agile logistics network for holding high NPS. I designed and built the PAN India Domestic Logistics Network from scratch for Urban Ladder.
What kind of problems do you most commonly deal with?
I believe that getting people on the same page for effective solutioning is the most challenging task in a job such as mine.
How does work affect your general lifestyle?
A job is a financial means to your living firstly. Personally for me, I draw a lot of my identity from the work I do. So it is a large part of my life, and of course steers what you can afford, how you live etc. In my case, it funds my travels, be able to have a nice house garden and rent a good bike for rides in the city, and of course buy exotic ingredients to experiment with cooking. In short, be able to afford new experiences.
What do you love the most about your job?
Structuring and help visualising complex business problems is what I love the most about my job. I find spotting patterns in chaos & playing with numbers highly stimulating and problem solving gives me an adrenaline rush.
What advice would you give to someone who wishes to follow this path?
Keep your eyes and ears open. Always be open for new experiences. Check out Jagriti Yatra. It is a non-profit organisation based in Mumbai that aims at educating the youth to be social and business entreprenuer through a train journey round the country (about 8000 kms) once a year for 18 days. It changed my life. I think it is crucial to have experiences in life; both work related and non work related. It teaches one a lot. Do a lot of internships, take up experiences, volunteering etc. See what you like and pursue it.
Find Nisha on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nisha-alavandi/
Nidhi is a 20 year old ambivert who completed her schooling from Nath Valley School, Aurangabad. In 2018, she joined the MIT School of Fine Arts and Applied Arts in Pune to pursue her BFA in Applied Arts and Visual Communication. She has a soft spot for reading, writing, and travel. Helping others find their true passion, is one of her interests. As a writer on Careerfox, she intends to interview professionals from diverse career backgrounds and blog about them. She believes that this would not only nurture her love for writing, but also would help youngsters make more informed career choices.