Sahil Chopra

Procurement Head – Ultraconfidentiel (Interview PART-1)

Sahil, an expert in the field of architecture, has been a part of the industry for over 15 years. He has extensive experience in all aspects of the industry, from interior design to project coordination, project management, billing managers, and ring attendance. He is now in charge of procurement in a French-owned company. His experiences and lessons taught him how to achieve the goal.

Top philosophy

When asked about his life’s top philosophy, he responded enthusiastically that hardworking people are no longer in demand in any industry.

They want smart workers. If you are given a task, there is a way to complete it. You must figure out how to do the task more gently and more quickly. If you are doing a task in 15 minutes, try to figure out how you can do it in 10 minutes. And in order to do so, you must first identify the appropriate methods and tools. And, once you’ve discovered the tools, inform your manager and leaders that this work is taking up this much time. If we obtain this tool, the output will be improved, and the company will undoubtedly profit. As a result, a solution to the problem is required. You’ll be an industry leader the day you start looking for ways and solutions to everything. Your managers or seniors will begin to look at you differently, which will aid in your development. There is a need to be a smart worker who is constantly learning and improving themselves. Being relevant is very important in today’s world. Technology is advancing at such a rapid pace that the way we work will completely change in the next 5 to 7 years.

To improve the efficiency of the organization

According to Sahil, he always tries to follow his philosophy. There is a need to find a way to do the work faster while avoiding repetitive tasks. Approximately 50-60% of the tasks in every organization are the same. First and foremost, remove them from your daily procurement. When you have time, read contracts because they are very efficient.

Secondly, is CCRM data. The way you work, you need the data. It is the thing. Companies nowadays pay millions and billions of dollars to obtain data. Data is important in our industry as well, because your growth strategies are based solely on data. Always try to obtain data in an efficient and relevant manner. There are numerous CRMs available right now to obtain data. At first, we all thought it would be more work, but at the end of the year, when you want to see the results of your efforts over the years, it is very effective. Once you have the data, planning and strategizing become much easier.

Challenges faced during procurement of project

There are so many people involved in a project, be it a designer. The designers are very sentimental people. They design a project with full heart and soul. From here the problem arises because whatever the designer and architect designed is good but there is a problem with the implementation. There is a need to explain the designers that whatever they are designing has be functional and sustainable and how you make it, that is the biggest challenge. You don’t just have to look at the design but you also have to look whether its practical or not because anyone who makes the office or home, they want it for at least 10 years. To explain those things to the designers and the architects is the biggest challenge. A project involves many people, including the designer. The designers are extremely sentimental. They create a project from the bottom of their hearts. The issue arises from this point because whatever the designer and architect designed is good, but the implementation is flawed. There is a need to explain to designers that whatever they design must be functional and sustainable, and how to make it is the most difficult challenge. You must not only consider the design, but also whether it is practical, because anyone who builds an office or a home expects it to last at least ten years

To overcome challenges

Sahil said that he was very fortunate to work into all the aspects. If he will look at just from his perspective on procurement, things are totally different. He has to go into the shoes of a project managers, clients and contractors to make it sustainable for long term. Once you explain them with all those viewpoints then we jointly go with the solutions. It might be not that perfect solution, but that can be the starting of a perfect solution.

Most defining moment of carrier

In the year 2012, while working as a billing manager on a project. Everything was going smoothly, and he was also praised for his efforts. Those people then recommended him to EMC. He was quite confident, and he went through one round of HR, which went well. He then proceeded to the final round, in which he was asked 5-6 questions. Unfortunately, he did not respond to any of those questions because they were slightly out of scope. The majority of the procurement was focused on commercials. The billing role was more concerned with understanding site execution.

During the interview, he went from a very confident position to zero in 5 minutes and was rejected. He was aware of his shortfall, but he did not take it personally.

Then, between 2016 and 2017, he received a call from another company. He had worked out by that point. Fortunately, in 2016, he went in for an interview for the same position, and the same guy was sitting in front of him. He wanted to make a good impression on that guy. The guy began asking questions, and Sahil began enthusiastically answering all of them. He was too good at pricing for the guy to hire him for procurement. And the same guy who had rejected him was so impressed that it became the defining moment of his career. It’s all too easy to feel rejected and left out. One should always learn from their mistakes and turn them into strengths. To be continued.>>