Vivek Mittal reached the registration desk on the final day without the required documents. The man at the end of the queue gave him a narrow opening: fill the form, pay 800 rupees and send the paperwork later. Mittal had the money. That small administrative exception began his path towards becoming a company secretary and, eventually, a senior legal and corporate-affairs leader.
The path was not smooth. His final company-secretary stage took longer than expected, and at one point he gave up hope of qualifying. He eventually did, began at a small company associated with the Mount Shivalik brand and kept moving through roles that added a different view of business.
At Reliance Retail, Mittal saw work that resembled company-secretarial practice but was approached through a legal lens. Drafting received greater attention. Lawyers examined interpretation, commercial possibility and the space a rule had not expressly occupied. That experience changed his understanding of the difference between reporting a requirement and advising a business.
Later roles exposed him to transactions across countries including Brazil, Mexico and Japan. International work taught more than foreign law. Negotiations carry assumptions about time, hierarchy, language and acceptable risk. A clause that appears settled in one office may require a different explanation across cultures. Travel gave the words on the page a physical setting: airports, conference rooms and calls that began in one time zone and ended in another.
Mittal's subsequent work at pharmaceutical companies, including Lupin and Dr. Reddy's, added regulated-industry experience and a global perspective. He later moved to Hindustan Unilever. Looking back, he says each organisation gave him something he still uses. Experience became wisdom, and wisdom improved his understanding of law.
That sequence challenges the urge to dismiss work that does not match a perfect specialisation. A small first company can teach how decisions are actually made. Secretarial work can sharpen governance. Retail can teach scale. Pharmaceuticals can deepen the understanding of regulators, product risk and international operations. Consumer goods can reveal another order of size and speed.
Mittal's guiding principle is continuous learning, including subjects outside law. He mentions Excel almost playfully as a skill that can help a GC solve problems. Presentation, timing, technology and common sense may matter as much as recalling the latest case. The law remains essential; effectiveness depends on what the lawyer can do with it.
Career growth also requires noticing the openings that do not arrive in formal packaging. The registration clerk did not hand Mittal a grand plan. He gave him a procedural option. Mittal still had to pay, complete the forms, persist through the examinations and build the years that followed.
There is also a lesson in asking. Mittal could have looked at the queue, noticed his missing papers and gone home. Instead, he reached the desk and asked whether registration was still possible. Professionals often reject themselves before the institution does. A courteous question will not always change the rule, but it can reveal an extension, alternate process or requirement that was never visible from the back of the line.
His story also supports a generous reading of early uncertainty. Taking longer to clear an examination did not predict the level at which he would later work. A delayed qualification can expose gaps that need effort, but it does not set a ceiling on judgment, discipline or leadership. Employers and young professionals alike should be wary of treating one academic stage as a complete measurement of future contribution.
I am fond of career stories that begin at a queue rather than a podium. They remind us how much professional life turns on ordinary moments handled with curiosity. Keep the documents ready where possible, of course. When they are missing, ask whether another lawful route exists.