We have heard about many business graduates who got high pay packages but 27 years old Justin Fernandez is a little different.
A student of Indian Institute of Management – Nagpur (IIM-N), Justin basically hails from Kollam, Kerala, and he has made history by getting the highest pay package ever offered to any other student of IIM-N till date.
Justin has been offered the position of associate director by Value Labs, a Hyderabad-based firm, and the pay package that has been offered to him is Rs. 19 lakh.
What makes Justin’s achievement more special is the fact that being a tailor’s son, he was not so privileged as his classmates. He lived a difficult life from the very beginning but he never lost his focus and kept on working hard.
Justin told TOI how his family suffered due to industrialization, he told,
“My grandfather was a tailor and naturally my father was drawn into the same business. But, readymade garments spelt doom for our family and several like us. There wasn’t enough work and my father started finding it difficult to earn enough for our basic needs.”
He told that his family was much dependent on the subsidies given by the government and the source of their food was ration through public distribution system. His aunt took care of his and his sister’s education till 12th and he completed his B. Tech from Government College of Engineering, Trivandrum, thanks to the scholarships that he got otherwise it would have been difficult for him to take care of his expenses.
Prior to MBA, he also did a job in a software company for two years and his target was to take admission in IIM-Kozhikode but couldn’t clear in the first chance. He told,
“I was getting older, so finally enrolled for Nagpur after the second attempt.”
We congratulate Justin and wish him all the best for his future endeavours!