“…….The driving factor for my success had been my passion, simplicity, high degree of self-confidence, believing in my own self and ability, working smart, persistence, good attitude, having an incredibly positive mindset, and above all having faith in God. I also proudly flaunt my femininity with my trademark hair bun, so whether I am among a sea of men or holding the floor at women’s meetings, I cut a distinguished figure…….”

Hi, I am Rajneesh Charan.

My life has been like a tennis ball, the harder I had hit the ground, the higher I rose.

I hail from a small village in Tavua called Qalela. I attained my primary education at Tagi Tagi Public school, Secondary education at Tavua College, and Tertiary education at the University of the South Pacific.

I have come a long way from a very humble beginning. Coming from an average family of cane farming background and reaching the highest level of success in my profession at the Fiji Sugar Corporation Ltd was a dream come true. As a child I always admired the Field Officers moving in and out of the field in FSC vehicles and I only wished that one day I would be there.

I joined Fiji Sugar Corporation in 1989 as Computing Trainee after completing my Diploma in Applied Computing from the University of the South Pacific. I was one of the first lots of graduates in the field of computing in Fiji and a Diploma was the highest level of qualification in IT available then. I completed my Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Science and Information Systems a few years later when it became available. In the year 2000, I graduated with a Master’s in Business Administration Degree, and again in 2018, I graduated with a Post Graduate Diploma in Information Systems. Apart from my academic qualifications, I am also a professional member of the Australian Computer Society and hold the status of Certified Professional.

I have achieved the highest level of success in my profession as a woman in a highly male-dominated industry and in a very dynamic technological field. In 2005, I became the first woman in the history of FSC to have been appointed on an Executive Position to Head FSC’s ICT Department. I was appointed as General Manager Information Systems and I directly reported to the Chief Executive Officer.

The associated responsibilities with my role included managing the overall company-wide ICT operations with over 600 end users. The position involved hiring, training, developing over 20 technical staff, and managing an operations budget of over $1M. The scope of the position was extensive and included setting departmental direction and full design, installation, engineering, implementation, support, training, administration, and managerial authority for LAN/Wan Network services, ICT Support Desk Operations, Applications Systems, Database Administration, Web/ Intranet Design Operations, PC Desktop Systems/Notebooks, Windows Server & Storage Management, Security Systems, and Exchange Server administration.

The driving factor for my success had been my passion, simplicity, high degree of self-confidence, believing in my own self and ability, working smart, persistence, good attitude, having an incredibly positive mindset, and above all having faith in God. I also proudly flaunt my femininity with my trademark hair bun, so whether I am among a sea of men or holding the floor at women’s meetings, I cut a distinguished figure.

I have a career span of over 30 years and the path to success is never easy. I faced many challenges along the way.

The major challenge, in the beginning, was adapting to the men’s world back in 1989. Those days not too many professional women were around. I began my career at Rarawai mill. It was quite challenging for me in the beginning; it was a culture shock not only for me but also for the men around me. I realized that I was in the men’s world, they had their own jargons, and some could not talk without swearing and the list goes on. Initially, I would be very intimidated when I would pass through the mill, the men would stop working and whistle at me, or make comments such as “Uro”, “BaRewa”. I chose to ignore such things. I maintained my professionalism and integrity. In conversations when if the men used swear words, I did not join them, I would reply professionally. As time went by, I gained more and more respect and kept on building an exceptionally good professional relationship with everyone. With time, I did not only succeed but paved the way for other professional women to join the organization.

The second challenge for me has been keeping up with technology. My field of work required continuous learning since the technology changed at a very rapid speed. I took no time to adopt a culture of learning. Early in my career, I learned that technological changes are inevitable in my field. I learned to embrace change and learned how to communicate and manage these changes.

A bigger challenge for me as a woman was juggling between family life, work, career, and studies. I had a supportive husband, I am incredibly grateful to my late husband, Raj. He helped me in the everyday household chores, supported me to further my studies, and allowed me to advance in my career. He was a great mentor and coach who always guided me with great business values and principles. His sudden departure in 2007 left me even more determined and strong.

During my leadership, I successfully completed several great projects. To name a few, implementation of fully automated & integrated PayGlobal bio-metric Time and Attendance Payroll and HR Management System in 2013, Implementation of Sugar Industry SugarGIS (Geographical Information System) system and Development of Computerized Quality Cane Payment System and setting up of systems and networking infrastructure to support Near-infrared (NIR) based Quality Cane Payment System in 2014.

In 2018, I concluded a successful implementation of state of art Technology One Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution for the company to replace legacy applications. The project also involved hardware and network systems upgrade. The same year, I initiated another great Project funded by European Union on developing Field Information Systems. Unfortunately, that year we had a major change in the management. A new Chief Executive Officer, a new Chief Operating Officer, and a new Chief Financial Officer were appointed. Under new leadership, my position as General Manager of Information Systems was made redundant. I exited FSC at age of 50. Having given a redundancy package after giving 30 years of my life to an organization, by the management who just joined the organization, was a painful experience.

My other achievements have been that I was a finalist for the Executive Woman of the year Award in 2013 and again in 2015. I also led my department in FSC to adopt the Fiji Business Excellence Framework and thus becoming the only department within FSC to be recognized with the Fiji Business Excellence Commitment awards for 2 years in a row in 2015 and again in 2016.

Today, I am thankful for all my lifelong challenges and learnings, as these challenges taught me great lessons in life and have molded me into becoming a better and more grounded person. Despite this major setback in life, I was able to recollect myself and started all over again. The journey was not easy but with the support of my daughter Denise, son Darrell, daughter-in-law Kirtika and a few great friends in likes of Sashi Kiran of FRIENDs and Dr. Pramila Devi of USP, Lautoka campus who gave me much needed moral support, I quickly was able to bounce back and started all over again.

Now, I am a Chief Executive Officer and Director at ESDN Pte Limited, a consulting company, and a licensed Insurance and Financial Advisor with BSP Life.

I am also an approved advisor with Business Link Pacific in the following areas:

👉 Organizational Management

👉 Recruitment and HR

👉 Business Continuity Planning

👉 Strategy and Business Planning

👉 Information Technology Systems

Apart from my consultancy business, I am running several side hustles such as making homemade soap using natural ingredients, making activated charcoal, and cultivating mushrooms, etc. I also manage a cane farm.

As an active philanthropist, I serve as an Ambassador for global social enterprise, Island Innovation. Domestically, I have held numerous board positions, including current Vice chairmanship and Trustee of the Golden Age Home Board of Visitors in Lautoka, Fiji.

I also feature in many seminars as a speaker or a panelist.

My advice to young women in ICT is to learn as much as you can about your chosen field from every perspective. The better-rounded you are in your field, the more effective you will be at work and the more attractive you will be to prospective employers. Be passionate about what want to do. It is extremely important to be focused. Of course, there will be many bumps along the way, but do not get distracted.

Apart from my professional life, I am very passionate about creative cooking, photography, and gardening. I live a very self-sustaining lifestyle.

I am also a grandmother of 3 beautiful granddaughters Rayna, Misha, and Mira.

By That Tech Gurl

source: thattechgurl.com