09
FEATURE INTERVIEW
Meet Dhruv Chandiram
As Director and Head of India TA Business Change, Dhruv Chandiram, works out of the Mumbai office,
overseeing Training, Internal Communications, Business Improvement initiatives, Digital & Data services and
the Planning & Budgeting for the India TA AMC.
In this Interview, Dhruv shares his perspectives on the professional and personal aspects of his career as well
as on his life beyond work.
What was your first job and how did that help prepare you for your
current role?
My first real job was at American express. Prior to that, to ensure I
had some spending money, I would usher at events like music
concerts etc.
Amex really helped get me a good foothold into what corporate
life is all about. They were launching credit cards in India for the
first time (they only had charge card’s till then). As would be
expected, with a big launch, there were some crazy fun times
ahead.
Key things I learnt:
• Time management: We worked in shifts, either 6 AM to 2 PM
Dhruv Chandiram
Director & Head - India TA
or from 2 PM to 11 PM; and all would work like clock work till
the winter season begins. Delhi winters, from an Indian
perspective, are extremely cold and its even colder if you had to
get to work on a motorbike.
It took 20 minutes to thaw once you got into the office building. I could never
I think it was three of us
who set the Amex world
record, 72 hours
straight at work...
manage to make it in time for the 6 AM winter mornings, so I had to work double
hard to ensure I met and beat the daily target numbers in the available time (we
had to give up our seats at 2 PM for the next shift!).
• Delivering on targets: there were some crazy numbers we committed to deliver
by the year end. With giving up not an option, we got in sleeping bags to work. I
think it was three of us who set the Amex world record, 72 hours straight at work
and we delivered on the numbers.
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