Thinking outside the box and doing things differently is worth the risk because it can lead to success. Darshan Kothari, a graduate of NYIT’s M.B.A. program, explains how this strategy helped him become a Business Strategist for Insticator Inc.

As an NYIT student, Darshan focused on networking. Not only did he connect with faculty and students, he took the opportunity to attend as many conferences, seminars, and career fairs as possible within the school and throughout New York City. The ideology of getting out of one’s comfort zone, speaking up, and networking has always been Darshan’s driving force. While working as an analyst at Goldman Sachs, Darshan met the CEO Leading Goldman Sachs’s India Division in an elevator, and instead of going the traditional route of introducing himself, Darshan wanted to stand out and chose to ask the CEO a question to make him think. He asked, “We have an enormous Tech team, which builds in-house software and apps, and I believe our company is really innovative, but how do you evaluate and quantify the innovativeness of the company?” The CEO then connected Darshan to the Head of Technology who would be better able to assist him in answering the question. From one simple question, Darshan began making connections to a “whole lot of people across departments,” and eventually at a conference at the Morgan Museum he was able to discuss it with the Global Head of Mergers and Acquisitions.

In the same way, when Darshan attended a tech startup conference, he approached companies with the same mindset as he had when he met the CEO of Goldman Sachs, India. His approach is to get their attention and stand out from other candidates, which Darshan does by explaining what he can do for the company rather than what they can do for him. He used this method when speaking to the CEO and Founder of Insticator Inc., Zack Dugow. Darshan did not even show resume at first, but he was asked to come in for an interview the next day, and he was hired as an intern.

As an intern, Darshan reported to the sales team where he tracked performances, growth and commissions. Although Darshan had no experience in this field, he began using all the resources available to assist him, and as a result, he was able to minimize the number of hours of work for himself and others within the company. He then began working with the yield optimization team to maximize revenue for online auction with online ads. Three weeks into his internship, Zack Dugow took Darshan into a meeting with Chegg’s VP of Advertising, and then later, a meeting with AOL. Zack gave Darshan the opportunity to learn about companies and work he was not familiar with, and he was able to meet more people, which Darshan believes was a very important opportunity for him.

Darshan was offered a full time position with Insticator in December 2016 working as the Business Strategist, he started heading recruiting at the company, and helped the company grow its tech and business divisions. Again, having limited experience in this field, he used his network to learn from experienced professionals in the field and as well as Google as a resource and began to work on the task. Darshan handled interviews and credits this experience as “the best time” because he got to meet people who graduated from many prestigious universities and companies, and he was able to learn from all of them. Darshan then began handling the company’s finances, and he now works for Insticator in India.

Darshan worked hard to get where he is today, and his advice to current students is “Just ask.” Your network is more than willing to help and “be different” in order to achieve success.

By Konstance Teleisha