WIMTACH Student Profile: Toshiv Shrivastava

When Toshiv Shrivastava, a student of the Project Management program at Centennial College, first decided to pursue a career in Project Management, WIMTACH was his first introduction to tangible work experience. “I was so excited,” he said.

He found that the open working culture at WIMTACH which is geared towards helping students to attain hard skills for future employment, helped him to expand his skillset. As a certified Scrum Master, he was able to really hone in on his qualifications and gain a better frame of reference for his career path. “It was amazing,” he said. “This was a place where I could implement my skills … especially as a Scrum Master … and I could understand what the Scrum Master does.”

Additionally, his role as a Scrum Master enabled him to participate in project meetings and maintain client relations to facilitate an ease of organization and order when meeting requirements for projects. As well, among other tasks, he had the chance to conduct daily stand-up meetings. These responsibilities helped him to really embody his impression of an astute Project Manager, an image he acquired from his studies at Centennial College. “I had the bookish knowledge but I didn’t see it happening in practice. So only at WIMTACH, I could see and apply the things that I learned in that course,” he said.

During this learning period, Toshiv found the welcoming learning environment at WIMTACH especially helpful to his education and progression. “It was wonderful because everybody is so helpful here,” he said. “I really like the working environment here … I always feel like I am making some difference,” he said.

Toshiv challenged himself in his role as a Project Management intern and he regularly felt affirmed by his supervisor when he contributed to a project. As a result, near the end of his internship, he pursued an extension for his contract because he found the experience rewarding. “I want to mention the appreciation that I used to get from [my supervisor] and my colleagues that used to inspire me a lot to give my 100 percent,” he said.

Ultimately, his internship was invaluable in providing him with opportunities to gain a wider perspective of different industries through his involvement with companies from varying backgrounds. With his contribution to several projects in collaboration with companies like Petnerup Inc., McCray Optical Supply Inc. and Noxware Ltd., he was able to really sharpen his skills. “That’s one of the best things at WIMTACH because I got exposed to manufacturing projects … we had projects where we even customized android applications so the point is I dealt with various [companies] … so when you work with WIMTACH you get exposed to many industries and at the end of the internship you have the choice to decide which industry you want to go with and which industry you’re best comfortable with,” he said.

Among other essential features of his internship, Toshiv was able to observe the lifecycle of several projects. This helped him to gain an adept understanding of how to best contribute to the WIMTACH team. In the end, this knowledge enabled him to earn his initial professional role as a Project Manager for a major food processing company. “That’s what helped me gained the industry experience,” he said. “That was one of the major reasons why I could land a job within two weeks after the end of my internship.”

This experience was especially helpful during one of his job interviews. As a matter of fact, he found that many of the questions he was asked were directly related to situations that he faced at WIMTACH. Consequently, he felt assured about his ability to both impress prospective employers and to succeed in general Project Management roles because of some of the transferable skills he was able to develop in his internship. Some of these skills include, conflict resolution skills, a strong ability to manage client relations as well as an acute understanding of costs management. “That helped me a lot,” he said. “Definitely, if I could say one reason I could land this job is, because of my experience at WIMTACH.”

His advice to new Project Management students is to take an internship if given the opportunity to make mistakes and learn from them. “Only when you commit a mistake you learn so this is the place where you can learn a lot,” he said. “This is the place where you can make yourself marketable.”

Now a Salesforce Consultant at Diabsolut, he attributes much of his success to his internship at WIMTACH and he appreciates the time he was given to learn and enhance his skills. “WIMTACH has laid the foundation of my journey in Project Management,” he said. “WIMTACH has opened the door and it has laid the foundation for the rest of my career.”

Looking towards his future, he hopes to gain more experience in Project Management and then take the Project Management Professional (PMP) exam. “I want to be PMP certified and definitely I want to grow in the Project Management [field],” he said. “In five years, I see myself heading a program or God willing, if I do well, I can even handle a portfolio.”

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