From 60 Percentile to 98.3: My CAT, IIM & Corporate Journey

https://youtu.be/5xZeiYsrww0

The IIM tag looks great on a LinkedIn profile. But what you don't see is everything that happened before and after it.

There was a time when I wasn't sure what I wanted to do.

There was a time when I was preparing for CAT while working a full-time job and barely managing to study.

There was a time when my first mock gave me around 60 percentile.

And there was a time when I quit my job, took a risk, and decided that I was going to give CAT everything I had.

Eventually, I scored 98.3 percentile in CAT 2016, got into IIM Rohtak, spent two years figuring out what an MBA actually means, and then spent the next several years moving through different roles across marketing, growth, product, strategy and management.

And today, I've come back to something I enjoyed even before I knew it could become a career — helping CAT aspirants.

This is that story.

Before CAT: I Didn't Really Know Where I Was Going

My journey didn't begin with a perfectly designed career plan.

I am from Jaipur and, like many students, my first big decision was Engineering.

I had prepared seriously for engineering entrances and eventually joined Punjab Engineering College in Chandigarh. After spending years preparing, I decided it was time to have some fun — and I definitely did.

Engineering was four years of learning, experimenting, making mistakes and, honestly, not always being the most serious engineer in the room.

But towards the end of college, I started thinking about what I wanted to do next.

I knew one thing pretty clearly:

I didn't want to pursue M. Tech.

I was much more interested in marketing, branding and business.

And that was when the idea of an MBA started making sense.

Then Came My First CAT Mock: ~60 Percentile

After engineering, I started working.

My job was to manage Cathodic Protection of Natural gas Pipeline which usually involved multiple construction site, working as an electrical engineer. It was a perfectly manageable job — but I wasn't enjoying it.

I kept coming back to the same thought:

I want to do an MBA.

So I started preparing for CAT alongside my job.

And then came my first mock.

Around 60 percentile.

My VARC and DILR preparation was almost non-existent, so the result wasn't exactly surprising.

But instead of treating that score as a verdict on my ability, I started treating every mock as a diagnosis.

Every Sunday, I'd give a mock.

Then, during the week, I'd analyse it.

Where did I lose marks?

Which concepts did I not understand?

Where was my accuracy poor?

What should I study next?

That process took me from roughly 60 to 80 percentile within a few weeks.

But then I got stuck.

Work kept getting in the way. Construction sites don't really care that you have CAT preparation planned for the evening.

I realised something important: You cannot be in two boats at the same time.

If I genuinely wanted to get into a good B-school, I had to make a choice.

The Decision: Quit the Job

I resigned.

Luckily, my parents supported me.

My girlfriend at the time — who later became my wife — supported me too.

And this time, I decided I wasn't going to prepare halfway.

I started giving two, sometimes three mocks a week.

And something interesting happened.

I went from around 80 to 95 percentile simply by consistently giving mocks, analyzing them and working on what they were telling me.

Eventually, I touched 99 percentile in a mock.

I remember thinking: "Okay. Maybe I can actually do this."

CAT 2016: The Exam Day

And then came the actual CAT.

VARC went well. Did all my RCs and left most of the Non RC questions but felt confident.

DILR?

Let's just say DILR humbled me.

I remember sitting there, looking at the sets and thinking that the section was much harder than what I had expected. I had managed to get 4 questions across 2 sets and half the tiem was gone. There were moments when I was genuinely panicking.

But I also learnt something that day that has stayed with me ever since:

When something goes wrong, you don't get extra marks for panicking about it.

You have to reset.

You have to make the best possible decision with whatever time is left. I managed to get 3 more and when quant came, I slayed attempting most of the questions.

I walked out of the exam feeling that I had probably messed up DILR.

Then came the wait.

And eventually, the result.

98.3 percentile.

My sectionals were roughly in the 94 in Verbal, 94 in DI LR and 99-ish in Quant, and the overall came to 98.3. That number changed the direction of my life.

Choosing IIM Rohtak

The next challenge was choosing where to go.

I got calls and eventually converted multiple institutes, including MICA, IIM Udaipur and IIM Rohtak.

There was a genuine dilemma.

My parents wanted me closer to Jaipur.

I wanted to stay closer to Chandigarh.

Eventually, I chose IIM Rohtak.

And looking back, I'm extremely happy I did.

Two Years at IIM: The MBA Nobody Can Explain Before You Join

Before joining an IIM, you imagine the obvious things:

Classes.

Case studies.

Placements.

A fancy campus.

A good job at the end.

But the experience is much more than that.

At IIM Rohtak, the initial days themselves were an experience.

There is a programme called Aramabh, where seniors put the incoming batch through a series of activities — presentations, pitches, Excel work and group tasks with people you had just met.

At first, you're trying to figure out:

"What is happening?"

Then slowly, you realize what an MBA is actually teaching you.

How to work with people who think differently.

How to communicate.

How to research.

How to defend an idea.

How to work under pressure.

How to make decisions when you don't have all the information.

And perhaps most importantly:

How to become comfortable being uncomfortable.

Then I Entered Corporate Life

After my MBA, I joined the corporate world.

My first role was with HDFC, as a Relationship Manager.

The excitement was real.

I had finished my MBA, got my first job, and for the first few months, life felt fantastic.

But eventually, I realized something:

The job wasn't what I wanted to build my career around.

And that was another important lesson.

Getting a good job is one thing.

Finding work that genuinely interests you is another.

I took another leap and moved into marketing and business development.

That role exposed me to an entirely different side of business — marketing channels, partnerships, business development and the mechanics behind growing an education business.

And something unexpected happened.

Students started coming to me.

Sometimes for interview guidance.

Sometimes with CAT doubts.

Sometimes simply to talk about their preparation.

And I realized:

I genuinely enjoyed this.

I Started Teaching on Weekends

I was surrounded by CAT aspirants.

And I loved helping them.

I still enjoyed the CAT syllabus. I enjoyed thinking about questions. I enjoyed discussing strategies. And I especially enjoyed helping someone take a confusing problem and make sense of it. So, I started taking classes on weekends.

At the time, I didn't know that this small side activity would eventually become one of the biggest clues about what I actually wanted to do.

Then the pandemic hit.

Everything changed.

Corporate Career: Learning, Switching & Starting Again

The pandemic disrupted the business I was working with, and I had to start looking for another opportunity.

I eventually joined another company as a Brand Manager.

I learnt influencer marketing.

Social media.

Content.

Team management.

And for the first time, I was heading a small team of content writers.

Then came another opportunity.

I moved into Product Management.

Suddenly, my work involved much more than marketing.

I was involved in product features, websites, apps, launches, communication, academic teams, content creators and multiple stakeholders.

I eventually found myself leading a team of around 15 people.

It was exciting.

I was learning every day.

And then, after about a year, the business shut down that category.

Once again, I had to look for a job.

Bangalore, Consulting & Another Change

I'd always been fascinated by Bangalore.

So when I got an opportunity in management consulting, I took another leap.

I moved cities.

I worked across multiple projects.

I learnt how to approach problems differently and how to think like a consultant — almost like a detective trying to solve a complicated case.

But there was a problem.

I wasn't happy.

And that was becoming a recurring theme.

I could keep changing companies.

I could keep chasing a better title.

I could keep moving to the next opportunity.

But perhaps the answer wasn't another job.

Perhaps I needed to figure out what kind of work actually made me feel fulfilled.

The Moment Everything Connected

Eventually, I moved back into the education space and took up another role.

The business was doing well.

The role was demanding.

On paper, everything looked fine.

But something still felt missing.

So one night, I started thinking about the different things that had made me genuinely happy over the years.

Helping my juniors with CAT interviews.

Discussing preparation strategies.

Speaking to students.

Doing interviews with professors and alumni.

Breaking down complex problems.

Teaching.

And suddenly, all the dots connected.

I had been doing the thing I loved all along.

2:30 AM: IIMwalaBanda Was Born

It was couple of hours past Midnight.

I was still in my office clothes.

I'd been sitting and thinking for hours.

And I finally decided:

I'm going to build my own online MBA entrance exam coaching platform.

I bought the domain.

And IIMwalaBanda began.

It wasn't some perfectly calculated entrepreneurial decision.

It was simply the result of years of experiences finally making sense together.

And that's probably the biggest lesson my journey has taught me.

Your Career Doesn't Have to Be Linear

If you're reading this because you're preparing for CAT, there's something I really want you to remember.

You don't need to have your entire life figured out at 21.

I certainly didn't.

My journey went from:

Engineering → Job → CAT → IIM → Banking → Marketing → Product → Consulting → Education → IIMwalaBanda

Some of those decisions worked.

Some didn't.

Some opportunities disappeared unexpectedly.

Some jobs taught me what I didn't want.

But every experience added something.

And that's why I don't believe success means reaching a point where everything becomes easy.

Success is becoming better at handling whatever comes next.

An IIM doesn't guarantee happiness.

A great job doesn't guarantee fulfilment.

And a career setback doesn't mean you've failed.

Sometimes you just need to stop, introspect, and figure out what actually excites you.

As I said at the end of my video:

Life is complicated. No good institute guarantees happiness. Do what excites you.

Watch My Complete Journey

I've recorded the entire story in the embeded video above.

If you're preparing for CAT, XAT, SNAP or other MBA entrance exams, I hope my journey gives you something more valuable than just motivation.

I hope it reminds you that your current situation is not your final destination.

You can change direction.

You can start again.

You can take a risk.

And sometimes, the thing you're looking for is something you've been enjoying all along.

Welcome to IIMwalaBanda.

Learn smarter. Prepare strategically. Become the manager you're proud to become.