From Service Delivery to Technical Leadership: A 20-Year Veteran's

Can you tell us a little bit about your background?

I have close to two decades of experience in the technology sector, starting with legacy technology management in the early 2000s- working extensively with Java, .NET, and other foundational technologies of that era. For the first ten years of my career, I was heavily focused on the legacy stack and primarily worked on the service delivery side. After that, I moved into project management, taking on roles as a service delivery manager and project manager, which opened up opportunities in DevOps and Cloud. I served as a practice manager for ALM and DevOps teams, working across different cloud platforms such as AWS, Cloud Foundry, and GCP, while moving between technology verticals and horizontals based on business needs, always with a strong focus on delivery and team management. More recently, I transitioned into Agile roles - Agile project manager and Scrum Master - where the emphasis has been on delivery and people management. For the past three years, I have been working directly from a customer location for one of our clients, which has given me unique insights into the differences between product companies and service delivery providers.

What were your goals coming into Interview Kickstart?

The motivation to join Interview Kickstart came from a very real gap I experienced while working at a customer location for a product company. I realized that product organizations operated very differently from traditional service delivery setups, and I needed to better understand and relate to that environment. What attracted me most was the systematic framework of the TPM course, especially around system design and clearly articulated role responsibilities. Even though I had held a system analyst designation for quite some time, I had never really gone through system design in a structured way, and the program offered that structure. I have a track record of funding my own learning – SAFe, PMP, ITIL, and other certifications in the 10,000 to 30,000 rupee range – so I saw Interview Kickstart as another investment in my own capability, with a practical focus on preparing for product company interviews rather than just theoretical knowledge.

What obstacles did you face on the way to achieving your goal, and how did you overcome those obstacles?

The biggest obstacle for me was not the quality of the program but my ability to fully leverage it alongside a demanding full-time role. Personal priorities, health issues, and office work meant that there were always multiple things competing for attention, and I could not attend or complete all the coaching and mock interview sessions that were available.

Managing this kind of intensive program while working is challenging and very subjective. In my case, I focused on the sessions I could attend, including a couple of coaching sessions and a mock session while I was actively interviewing with MasterCard, using those to identify gaps in my approach and improve how I articulated my experience and leadership principles in interviews.

What were the outcomes of your journey?

Even though I did not utilize the program to its full potential, the structure and consolidation of content were extremely valuable for me. The first three weeks on system design and the following three weeks on the TPM roadmap- covering process, program planning, and program KPIs- helped take the concepts that are part of our day jobs and “stitch” them together into a systematic framework that is easy to recall and apply in interviews and client situations.

I had already completed PMP and Agile certifications, but Interview Kickstart’s way of organizing information made it much more practical for real-world use. Instead of trying to extract value from an exhaustive reference like the PMBOK, which can be overwhelming, I now have concise materials I can quickly refer to before interviews, client meetings, proposals, or quarterly business reports to identify which metrics to track and how to present them. The behavioral coaching and mock interviews also helped me refine how I mapped my real project experiences to leadership principles and company values so that my answers resonated better with interviewers.

What advice would you have for others who want to follow in your footsteps?

The first and most important piece of advice is prioritization. Life will always present personal and professional challenges, but to truly benefit from a program like this, you have to make learning a top priority and be clear about the phase of life you are in and what your current role demands.

Attending the program alone is not enough; consistent follow-through is critical—joining sessions regularly, revising content, and making full use of the support period, including coaches and interview opportunities. It is far better to identify your gaps during mock interviews and coaching than to discover them in actual interviews, where recovery can be difficult.

Self-discipline is essential because managing this alongside a job is genuinely hard. For those who can prioritize the program properly and maintain discipline throughout the duration, the framework, content, and coaching at Interview Kickstart can be extremely beneficial, and the recordings remaining available for future reference are an added advantage. Ultimately, the program provides the roadmap and tools, but the outcome depends on how seriously you commit to walking that path in your own learning journey.

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Can you tell us a little bit about your background?

What were your goals coming into Interview Kickstart?

What obstacles did you face on the way to achieving your goal, and how did you overcome those obstacles?

What were the outcomes of your journey?

What advice would you have for others who want to follow in your footsteps?

Ready to Enroll?

Next webinar starts in

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