When I was asked to write a story about my experiences on CII-FM training, I had a series of memories flash in front of my eyes!
I was pursuing my final year of BE (I&C Engg.) and I applied for the CII-FM training in Control Instrumentation for the Summer Batch, May 2017. The basic criteria to enrol for this training was a degree in engineering, which I was yet to receive but I had an urge to enter into the corporate soon and get industrial exposure which would enable me to withstand the competitive world post completing my graduation.
My elder sister was also a part of this CII-FM training for the Mechanical stream and had recommended me to enrol myself for the training before starting my career. However, I was not eligible to enrol without my graduation certificate. One day, Dhamankar Sir called me after referring to my CV and training application and asked me to come down to Forbes Marshall’s Pimpri office. I went to the office and to my surprise, I had to appear for a test which Sir had planned to check my conviction to be a part of this training.

I successfully passed that test and Dhamankar Sir allowed me to enrol for this CII-FM training May 2017 batch-21 even before I got my graduation completed. I assured him that I will manage both FM training and college studies. On 5 May 2017, my training commenced. The classroom training provided in depth, application based knowledge that helped me understand Instrumentation concepts clearly. This also benefited me in my B.E final exams.

I wonder how I managed those days at FM where I used to have my training from 8:30 AM to 6:30 PM and post visiting the organisation at Shivajinagar where I was working on a final year project. Similarly I managed my final exams by travelling evenings to my college hostel located at Awasari to appear for my exam the next day and again travelling back late at night to Pune to attend the FM training next morning. The motivation provided by Dhamankar Sir and the encouraging environment at FM boosted me to manage everything. With this I stood second in my college in my final year and was awarded with the best project of the year. Also I stood first (Winner) at CII-FM training.
The beauty of this training is that it starts with a classroom technical and corporate behavioural learning sessions followed by hands-on training in all the departments of FM under Instrumentation. This helped me in gaining practical knowledge. The hands-on training covered every aspect in the project cycle right from the RFQ reading, proposal/marketing, manufacturing, testing to packing & dispatch and customer support as well. I had amazing experiences at the nature building Chakan factory with a lot of learnings. I could witness the FAT, meet the customers, work on cabinets and much more.

I also got an opportunity to be the Class Monitor which helped me explore the leader in me and evolve the leadership skills, self confidence and managerial skills.

CII-FM is a beautiful chapter of my life which helped me build as a person and as a professional. I am grateful to Forbes Marshall an Dhamankar Sir for conducting such trainings that bridges the gap between college and corporate world. I would also like to thank Bhalchandra Puranik, Anil Aras Sir and Bhooshan Kanani for their continuous support and encouragement to excel.
A lot of effort was put by all of them to ensure our overall development, as we had WhatsApp groups for general knowledge sharing, English learnings, vocabulary, quizzes, group discussions, debates and so on.

FM follows great values and has a very friendly work culture. I was lucky to be an employee at FM for a year after my CII-FM training; however for further career opportunities I later joined EEEC, Pune. This year, I have joined the Pune office of WIKA, Germany for higher growth.

I truly miss the journey I had with Forbes Marshall, be it the CII-FM training months or my engagement as an employee.

– Shalaka Mane,
CII-FM AA Batch-21