Career Spotlight | 5 questions to Nishant David

Nishant David | National Consumer Affairs Specialist, Nissan Canada Inc.

1.???How did you find your way to where you are today? Share a little about your professional journey.

Being born and brought up in New Delhi India, It would not be inaccurate to say that the direction for my professional journey was decided in my academic years. I am a born critic, being able to identify flaws in everything which appeared perfect. This helped me win many inter school debate competitions where I would naturally speak against the motion. Finally I used my oratory skills to my advantage during my stint at the University of Delhi and got elected as the Commerce Society President in the second year and as the College President in the final year. This gave me an opportunity to fine tune my leadership and team management abilities. After I graduated with a honors degree in commerce?I started preparing for my chartered accountant exams ( CPA) but soon realized that accounts and bookkeeping?was not my cup of tea as it lacked a sense of creative satisfaction.

This led me to pursue my Masters in journalism and Mass Communications and Diploma in Multimedia. I thoroughly enjoyed the creative satisfaction that creating multimedia products and audio-visual communication brought. I had a few short stints as a graphic designer and visualizer and?then joined New Delhi YMCA in November 1998, Asia’s largest NGO as a trainer, teaching graphic design, advertising, 2D 3D Animation, VFX, Interactive Content Development and commercial photography to graduate and postgraduate students. In fact I was privileged to be part of the team which launched the first Professional Diploma in Photography in New Delhi, India. I still enjoy Photography and my work can be viewed at “www.nishantdavid.ca”. New Delhi YMCA gave me a lot of exposure as I moved up the ranks. I learnt to manage diverse teams and handle marketing& advertising, ?guest / customer relations in various capacities.

Finally after devoting 18 years to the New Delhi YMCA and earning an MBA degree on the side I finally quit and migrated to Canada in May 2017 landing in Regina, Saskatchewan. I left Regina for Toronto within one month as coming from Delhi I was used to the hustle and bustle of a metropolitan. In Toronto after realized that my entire 20 years’ experience wasn’t worth anything initially and I would have to start from scratch. I worked at a few warehouses before finally getting a break to work for Nissan Canada as a vendor employee in February 2008. I cherished the opportunity and tried to make each customer interaction better than the last one. Soon I worked my way up to become one of the better agents and even earned the distinction of getting 17 straight 5/5 customer satisfaction surveys in a row. I had the opportunity to join Nissan directly in November 2021 and I gladly accepted it.

2.??What was the best advice you have received? What would you tell someone starting out in their career?

I am sure you must have heard of the cliché “Do what you love, and you’ll never have to work a day in your life” but I believe this is in fact the best advice that can be given to anyone. Do not choose a career based on what others expect from you, choose a career which gives you satisfaction and is something that you thoroughly enjoy doing. This one advice will ensure that you excel in whatever profession you choose. I left a career in accounts to have a career in public interaction and communication and I am so thankful that I did. Secondly do not ever try to compete with anyone or compare yourself to anyone. Corporate rat races and comparisons only lead to heartache and dissatisfaction. Your only competition is you yourself. Try and become better than what you were the same time last year.

3. What are you absolutely passionate about that you bring to work with you every day? Are you passionate about people, is there a software you love to use, what is your secret tool and drive at work?

I love communicating no matter what the shape and form of the communique. Effective communication is the key to resolve so many challenges that we and for that matter the world faces today. Miscommunication, ineffective communication or a total lack of communication can be found to be the root cause of most of the pressing issues at hand. My passion for communication ensures that every time I interact with a customer, colleague or superior I try to learn from the interaction and try to utilize that learning to make future communication more effective. In fact I have learned from experience that one’s outward appearance is also a vital tool of visual communication which can be used to one's advantage. The effective communication includes not just the way you use the words but also covers several other skills such as, non-verbal communication, ability to understand your own emotions as well as of the other person with whom you are communicating, engaged listening, ability to speak assertively, etc.

4.??What would your advice be to someone who is afraid of failure, starting over in their careers or perhaps bouncing back from as setback? (project not going as well as they wanted, not getting next career move)

"Failure isn't fatal, but failure to change might be" - John Wooden Learn to embrace failures as they are the prerequisites to lasting ultimate success. Observe the following patterns in nature: night precedes daytime, winter leads to spring, a valley always leads up to a peak. It is absolutely acceptable to try and fail but what is not acceptable is to not learn from the failures and adjust your future course. Be ever willing to embrace change.

5. Which tools or resources would you suggest to someone interested in the same career as yours (books, professional groups, work process, mentoring, courses…)?

Look around you. Every person that you meet has a message to communicate whether implicitly or explicitly. Wherever you are there's always someone who has been there, done that. You will be amazed as to how much you can gain from others if you just LISTEN INTENTLY and not just hear but understand. Every meeting, every orator no matter how boring it might seem, has a valuable lesson for you only if you are willing to learn.