Praneeta Raina

My name is Praneeta Raina. I have served as a technical officer in the Indian Air Force for 14 years on a Linux based Air Defense System. Since 2023, I am working for Capgemini as a Project Manager in Insights & Data team.

Tell us about your background and how you joined Capgemini. 

I am a third-generation veteran and served as a technical officer in the Indian Air Force for 14 years from 2009-2023. After completion of a successful short service tenure in the forces I underwent a Pre-Release course at IIM Indore where I spent 6 months upskilling myself and prepared myself to pursue a career in business. I was hired by Capgemini through their veteran hiring program organized at the IIM campus itself for the armed forces. I joined Capgemini and stepped into the role of a Project Manager here.

What challenges did you face when transitioning from the military to a civilian career, and how did Capgemini support you? 

Transitioning from a disciplined military environment to the business world was a significant shift for me. Initially, I felt a sense of loss and found it challenging to adapt to the flexibility of the corporate world.

However, with time, I embraced the new environment and began to adapt by learning the business language. The supportive and collaborative culture at Capgemini played a crucial role in my smooth transition. The team was incredibly welcoming, offering guidance and training that allowed me to quickly settle in and grow within the organization.

What excites you about your job and your experience at Capgemini? 

Capgemini is overall an incredibly happy place to be and I love being here. As far as my job is concerned, I am part of an internal project and since I am fairly new it is certainly exciting to learn something new every day and grow. The leadership follows an open-door policy wherein everyone is very approachable and really guides you through your career path. 

How has your military experience helped you in your current role? 

The one thing that Armed Forces teach you is a tremendous amount of mental strength and perseverance to accept any challenge/adapt to any crisis with a smile on your face. It is this strength that gave me the confidence to have a 180 degree switch in industry and land up in an unfamiliar environment. 

In my current role I am more of an individual contributor and did not get much handholding. But I used my people management skills to pave my way through, built relationships with stakeholders and network with people. Every task that was assigned to me has been fairly new; but instead of getting jittery, I took the initiative of driving it to completion through self-learning and overcoming challenges one step at a time which ultimately fetched me appreciation from seniors and the team members. 

What advice would you give to someone joining Capgemini? 

Capgemini is a company with a great culture and ensures work life balance is met. People are very forthcoming towards helping a new employee settle down. The company offers an extremely flexible style of working and the senior leadership is very approachable. All the values of the company are followed in letter and spirit. My advice to any new employee who joins is to be patient and perseverant and give themselves time to settle down. Take up any new assignment as a challenge and with an open mindset and the joy of driving any assignment to completion is really fulfilling.