Shweta Jalan, the recently appointed director of Advent India PE Advisors Private Limited can go on extolling the virtues of the joint family system followed in India. For it helps working professionals like her maintain a perfect work-life balance.
"We have such a good support system where we know our child will be well taken care of," says Shweta about her in-laws and parents are always at hand for her young daughter.
Being a woman and that too working for as niche an area as private equity and to emerge as one of the leading luminaries in the field sure requires a dollop of family support.
While working with ICICI Venture -- and she worked diligently for almost a decade there -- she along with her colleagues played an important role in sewing up deals with Tata Infomedia (now Infomedia18), ACE Refractories and VA Tech India Private Limited thereby establishing herself in the realm of private equity.
Shweta, who began her career at Ernst & Young after completing her MBA from the National Institute of Management, Calcutta, joined ICICI Bank in their e-commerce team and was later shifted to ICICI Venture in 2000. After being a "part of a great environment and thrilling experience for nine and a half years," she decided to call it a day at ICICI Venture and joined Advent as part of a "career move".
In her mid-30s, Shweta who is married and has a daughter, talks to rediff.com about, her career, life at ICICI Venture, challenges that she will be facing in her latest assignment, tips for young grads wanting to make a career in private equity firms, her success mantras and managing work-life balance.
How did ICICI Venture happen to you? Why did you leave E&Y?
I had heard about the e-commerce initiative started by ICICI Bank and, like everybody else at that time, in that age, was excited to be a part of e-commerce, Internet, investment banking and early stage technology companies. I also thought I want to do that.
Somebody put me in touch with Renuka (Renuka Ramnathan headed ICICI Venture till recently but has now quit to reportedly start her own private equity fund). Later I met with her and other senior guys at ICICI and it was done.
