Ever wonder how Sirf Coffee manages the personal lives of hundreds of urban Indian professionals? Or what a day at work is like? Associate Relationship Manager RICHA RUNGTA spills the beans
Any full-time job is usually followed by a curious atmosphere of hesitation and concern. “What’s it going to be like?” or “Who am I going to work with?” Throw in the word ‘matchmaking’, and you’ve only induced some chortles. My job however, is far from that. If you took the time to read this, you’d even say it’s pretty damn cool.
I am a part of a start-up that allows me to work at office or remotely, with the perks of meeting some of the country’s most dynamic entrepreneurs and professionals. Hold your horses – I’m just getting started with the description. I can’t hold a specific title belonging to a certain department of the company per se, mostly because my role is not so limited. Managing relationships, managing client’s expectations, finding an intern when we need one, keeping our database updated, brainstorming for a campaign, creating a company presentation to measure performance, pitching to new clients… I do just about anything and everything the brand requires. Boredom and monotony are not words I relate with.
Sirf Coffee fulfils a very basic, jarring need in any modern, single, 27 year-old-or-above’s life. It serves as a platform to meet successful, dynamic and independent professionals in the most personal, discreet and pressure-free setup you can imagine. All I do is facilitate that.
The actual job (as exciting though it may be), isn’t exactly a bed of roses. Applicants, and let’s talk about specifically the ones we offer membership to, pin a multitude of their hopes, expectations and very often, desires, upon us. But they’re cool people. I’m not talking about a “fair, slim girl who can cook”; it’s more like “educated, funny, smart girl who travels”. Sometimes, expectations may be more traditional. If you’re a “pretty, successful (but not too ambitious) girl with good family values”, that works for someone high on testosterone.
The catch is — no one is wrong in their expectations. That description right there – that is the kind of person that works for them – and they should hold out for that. It can just take a while. Scouting for your perfect match without a monumental amount of patience is like looking for a needle in a haystack — with a matchstick.
That’s when you realise that being a manager of such a personal, large and important part of people’s lives puts a lot of pressure on you. But it also teaches you a lot. Especially when to hold on to your expectations, and when to let go.
Matchmaking is a tricky business with an uncertain outcome. It is difficult to be the one who sets up a date that didn’t go particularly well, just as it is rewarding to be responsible for ones that did. Some of the best days involve getting an email from a 37 year-old private banker that congratulates us for scouting for the kind of women that he hopes to settle down with. While some clients renew their tenure, because they’ve met great people, but not their perfect match yet, others — like a senior consultant in London, believes she found the love of her life on her second date. And to think it all started over a cup of coffee.
