Bhupinder S Kunwar
Age: 37
Education: BE Electronics (Bangalore University)
Tenure In IT industry: 16 Years
First Tech Job: IM & S PVT Ltd
Current Role: PMO – Head, Tavant Technologies

What’s been your best job and why?
* At Tavant Technologies, managing a large team of over 250 people with the revenue running into millions of dollars.
* Challenges galore, ranging from different technologies and their integration to human resources issues to communication over the geographical spread.
* Conventional Project Management practices, barring few of their basic aspects, had to be thrown out of the window and creative solutions and processes had to be designed to make the project successful.
* And when you see the pieces falling in place and everything start working like a well-oiled machine, it’s a high that no dope can give, and that’s the best kick and high in life that I have had.

What do you credit your career success to?
* Flexibility, creativity, compassion, and curiosity.

What are the top three skills a high level IT manager needs today?
* Communication
* Effective Communication
* Effective and Empathetic Communication

What’s your favorite IT resource site and why?
* PMI.ORG. Given my current role it provides a wealth of knowledge on Project Management.

What is the best career advice you’ve ever received?
* Speak and operate like you have another job in your pocket.

What’s the top advice you’d give to a new IT staffer?
* Have flexibility and the right attitude, and add value to anything that is given to you. Even if it’s a trivial or lowest thing to do in your job, add value and leave your mark on anything that you do.

What is the one career decision you would change if you could?
* None.

If you had the choice to jump into any other job, tech or non-tech, what would it be?
* To work at Toblerone factory (Kraft Foods) in Switzerland as a Product Taster.

What systems, technology do you work with?
* MS EPM, Sharepoint, Peoplesoft, Java & .Net, and applications developed inhouse.

What do you like the most about this job? What do you find interesting about your job?
* The ability and freedom to put in use my experience and creativity that I have, and at the same time the opportunity to learn new technologies and trends.

What do you like least about this job? What’s the least interesting aspect of your job?
* Traveling to reach the office.

What do you consider the most challenging part of your job?
* Human resource management. We are dealing with people, intellectual people, who have emotions, aspirations, and ambitions.