At CollPoll, we work together as a team to create a positive work environment that not only builds a beautiful culture in the organization but also motivates everyone to strive to reach greater heights, together! We recently sat with one of our amazing peers Kartik Jain who joined CollPoll as a Product Specialist and has gone on to recently become a Product Manager. The conversation reflects on his incredible journey, ups & downs, great learnings, some failures, and the road to success.
Let’s dig in to know more about him!
About Kartik!
Kartik joined CollPoll back in 2019 as a Product Specialist and has worked for 3 years now. From playing roles in different verticals – as a product specialist, data analyst, and associate product manager, to now being a successful product manager, Kartik has come a long way. His firm determination, dedication, and work ethic have always led the teams to success and inspired others.
On a personal front, Kartik loves cycling, swimming, running, skateboarding, listening to product podcasts (well, learning never stops!), and is a huge Marvel fan. From surfing on Netflix to learning new things every day at work, he definitely holds an interesting story!
“I believe if the strength of the pack is the wolf, then the strength of the wolf is the pack” – says Kartik Jain
Describe Your First Role at CollPoll?
I joined CollPoll in July 2019 as a Product Specialist. However, since CollPoll was a startup, our work wasn’t limited to a particular role. We always had (and still have) the freedom to contribute to every process irrespective of what designation we held. This helped me learn new things about the products and processes and grow significantly in the right direction.
Initially, I started by creating Power BI Dashboards and delivering the required support across data to the teams. Eventually, I started writing automation scripts to support the product and even got the opportunity to work on the Attendance Analytics Dashboard, Fee Management, Campus Help Center, Log in, Venue Booking, and several other modules. It was a great learning experience!
A Brief Overview of Your Journey Towards Becoming a Product Manager?
Scoring myself out of ten, I’ll say I started out as a 4, learned the designing process better, got more involved in making decisions based on impact, created workflows to meet partner requirements and have reached 6-7. I look forward to becoming 9-10 by working more efficiently with time. Besides this, I always want to make sure that my entire CollPoll team is satisfied with my work and that all the deliverables happen on time.
In this entire journey and even for the adventure ahead, I have to make sure that I am constantly learning and evolving while doing the best I can.
What Were the Challenges That You Faced During This Journey?
Working in a startup is always an uphill battle. The reason is – our organization is growing exponentially and one cannot just have linear growth. One challenge I faced during my work was meeting the requirements of partner institutions. We had to deal with several requests together, deliver the features on time, and simultaneously check if no process is delayed or ignored during this.
I believe, that the higher you climb the ladder, the more important it becomes to organize your tasks. Prioritizing tasks and requests based on impact was a much-needed lesson, and I learned this later after months of work.
Kartik took a 50km ride listening to The Product Podcast nonstop and was featured in the Product School post!
What Is the Most Important Lesson You’ve Learned on This Journey?
Well, one of the most important lessons I’ve learned is – you are never too important to be not nice to someone. While communicating with our team members and the management of our partner institutions, I’ve realized that it is very important to stay patient and have a warm tone, even while sending emails. Being cautious with what you are putting in words is an essential part of communication.
The Best Thing You’ve Experienced While Working at CollPoll
The freedom to participate in different processes and learn new things every day, the responsibility to manage the team and deliver work on time, and the growth that comes with it to evolve in the right direction – are some of my best experiences at CollPoll.
I’ve seen my previous teammates switch their work, jump to better life decisions, and create their own startups. This is possible because at CollPoll we get that culture and environment that helps us learn new things and evolve in our work.
Who Has Been Your Role Model?
Three people have always been my role models in life – my father, who has never given up on life and has worked really hard to be where he is; Christiano Ronaldo has always inspired me with his work ethic and simplicity; and my mentor, Hemant Sahal, who encourages me every day to do my best.
Your Go-to Productivity Trick
My go-to productivity trick starts before I go to sleep. To make sure my tasks are on track and work is aligned with my schedule, every day before I go to sleep, I plan out the things for the next day. I believe it’s better to know what you are supposed to do to maintain a perfect balance of work and personal life.
What Are Your Career Goals for the Future?
I really want to learn better design skills and build a great team around me. Additionally, I want to work in the direction of creating more leaders. No matter what I do, I’ll always make sure that I create leaders who are led by my work as an example.
“If you want to lead in your career and learn new things every day, CollPoll is the best place!”, says Kartik.
We believe, that for organizations to stay competitive, they must continuously innovate and evolve. In order for this to happen, team members need to contribute to the company’s success with a positive mindset. With Kartik’s constant hard work and analytical thinking, CollPoll has always attained remarkable results. We appreciate his efforts and wish him more growth and success!
Want to join the CollPoll team? Explore our open positions or write to us at hr@collpoll.com. Stay tuned for more stories in the coming weeks!
