Mirror Magazine

Achievers come in all forms. But the most impressive perhaps are the all-rounders. Those smart people, who don’t fall into the ‘geek’ category…

Last week, we met three young people who have achieved probably one of the highest targets in their chosen field of study. Winning World Prizes for certain subjects at their Charted Institute of Marketing (CIM) examinations, they have proven their capabilities as individuals ready to take on the modern business world.

With their graduation scheduled for the end of July, their performance is exceptional, considering the enormous numbers of candidates, who sit the examinations from around the world. While students can sign up for the examinations via online stations, many countries also offer it through various accredited institutes, with the total number of candidates sitting for each examination, reaching the thousands.

For Ishani Rajapakshe (26), her area of studies is as varied as it gets. Having completed a BSc at the Faculty of Agriculture, from the University of Peradeniya, she started on CIM in September 2001. Originally from Galle, having to attend university in Peradeniya, and travel to Colombo to follow CIM lectures, she had quite a task juggling all of it. Working at an international research organisation for a while, she currently works at the Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation as a Product Executive.

“I completed Stage two and took four subjects together. The World Prize that I won is for a subject in Stage Three, and it was for a case study that we were assigned,” she said. The subject being Strategic Marketing in Practice, the case study assigned to them was the branding of Mauritius. “The topic was given to us two weeks prior to the examination, and we had to attach the case study that we prepared to our examination paper,” she explained.

Sharing the World Prize for Strategic Marketing in Practice with her was Shemani Jayasinghe (25). The fact that two Sri Lankan candidates shared the prize is an exception itself. “Basically we had to build up a plan, and market Mauritius to the rest of the world. The case study we did was then added to our answer script, and made up quite a percentage of the final grade.”

Shemani too finds herself balancing out quite a load. “I’m a person who can’t stay at home idling, so I thought I’d try this,” she said, explaining how she got started on CIM. “I’m very interested in advertising, so I started working at Minds, and was there for about four-and-a-half years. But I have now joined ETV, and work in event management and I’m totally enjoying myself. It’s an area called Experiential Marketing, and it’s all about creating experiences for the customer.” She too, like Ishani, did not have the time to do that bit of extra reading and so on, and it was basically what they learned at class that helped them get through.

Dilhara Seimon (23) is the third CIM candidate, who did Sri Lanka proud. Winning the World Prize for Strategic Marketing Decision Making, a Stage Three subject, her varying interests are mainly academic. “I’m specialising in Finance at the University of Sri Jayawardenapura, and also am a Chartered Financial Analyst level two candidate.” She has also completed her CIMA examination in 2004. When asked which area she would like to settle in professionally, we get a spontaneous response. “I like to deal with money!” she says, adding that she’s aiming at a dynamic job, dealing with investment, perhaps at a strategic level.

So how will CIM help them get where they want? “I realise that I can use this knowledge in Marketing gained practically, so it makes a lot more sense now,” says Ishani. For Shemani, the knowledge gained and the practicality of it is correlated. “We get to use the theories and the principles that we’ve studied at class, at work. Also we can eventually co-relate real life experiences at examinations as well, giving everything a more holistic meaning. Dilhara feels that a good understanding of Marketing is essential to succeed in the business world. “At the end of the day, it’s all about marketing your brand, and even yourself, and CIM helps you gain that knowledge. The overall knowledge to give your customer a synergistic service is very important.”

Not falling into the typical studious category of students, Ishani enjoys reading, and also takes piano lessons, and is currently studying for her Grade Six, Royal Schools of Music examination. Shemani, also an avid reader, is quite the movie buff as well. Among Dilhara’s interests, public speaking tops the list. A member of the Colombo Toastmaster’s Club, she has represented Sri Lanka a few times. She also enjoys travelling and interacting with people.

Success for them is defined in various ways. “Hard work is the key. Of course you need to enjoy what you’re doing. I generally focus on whatever I need to get done, and then take the best avenue to get there.” With these examinations, the time factor was her biggest issue. “I’m a last minute crammer. I didn’t really have time to do any extra reading as such, and just took leave in the last week leading upto the examination, and gave it my best shot.”

Ishani feels that success is half luck and half hard work. “Since I didn’t have much time on my hands, I used to make cards with short notes on them, and read them while travelling. I also paid attention while at lecturers and absorbed everything I could, so that it was easier to understand the subject material.” Since she had quite a lot of travelling to do, having to commute between Galle, Peradeniya and Colombo, the support she received from her cousins and her batch mates was highly appreciated. “I feel that success is a continuous effort in achieving what you believe in,” says Dilhara, adding that she had to study on her own most of the time, since she couldn’t make it regularly to lectures. “I generally work according to a time table, so that makes life a lot easier.”

Accomplishing one goal after the other, these young achievers will probably one day be the movers and shakers of the business world. Until then, its success in whatever they’re doing.