How Shailesh Shinde Became the First in His Village to Land a Digital Marketing Job

This blog is a transcript of a video testimonial shared by Shailesh Shinde, an alumnus of Kraftshala’s Marketing Launchpad. You can watch the full conversation here: Watch the video on YouTube.

Quick facts

• Name: Shailesh Shinde
• From: A village near Nanded, Maharashtra
• Education / background: BCA; native Marathi speaker; agricultural, middle-class family
• Program: Marketing Launchpad (MLP) – Emerging Talent (bilingual) batch
• Current role: Placed in digital marketing, relocating to Mumbai
• Company: Publicis Groupe
• In his words: “I am the first person in my village to get a job in digital marketing.”

Shailesh Shinde grew up in a farming family in a village near Nanded, where no one had held a salaried job before him. He spoke Marathi, had a BCA degree he didn’t enjoy, and was drifting toward banking exams he wasn’t confident about. A year later he had learned English from scratch, cleared six or seven assessments, and cracked his very first job interview – at Publicis. This is his story, in his own words.

What made you choose digital marketing after a BCA?

My original goal was a government job – banking. I paid ₹15,000 for banking coaching and prepared for about a month, but I didn’t feel confident. My degree was BCA, but I didn’t enjoy coding or programming. Around then, my cousin landed an IT job, and my family started expecting the same from me. My confidence was dropping.

So I searched on Google and YouTube: “Which career option is good after BCA without coding?” Digital marketing came up. The scope was good, the field was growing and secure, and my Excel, PowerPoint and group-project skills from college matched. That’s why I chose it.

“My father had always dreamed that his son would get a job. I feel like I’ve fulfilled his dream.”

Why Kraftshala, and what other institutes did you consider?

Choosing Kraftshala is the main turning point of my career. When I researched digital marketing, I looked at a few institutes – Nikash Digital Marketing, IIM Skills Delhi and Digital Scholar. I spoke to the IIM Skills counsellor, but the timeline felt long and I couldn’t find much about their placement record, and I didn’t want a gap.

So I searched, “India’s number one digital marketing course,” and found Kraftshala. I read the website carefully and could see the placement support was very strong and the mentors were experienced. I saw Kraftshala’s videos on YouTube and Instagram, filled a form, and spoke to the counsellor. She was clear and honest – she said the platform is good but that I would have to study. I wanted a job, so I agreed.

You didn’t know Hindi or English. How did that go?

When I attended the first lecture, my confidence was low. I’m from Maharashtra, so my focus had always been on Marathi – I didn’t know Hindi or English, and I was scared. But my programme manager and the whole teaching staff supported me a lot.

Because I was in the bilingual batch, we had English classes. A teacher named Prerna taught us from the basics, so I never found it difficult. Without even realising it, I picked up Hindi from Marathi, and I got a good grasp of English – I can speak it well now.

“I’d tried to learn English before but never had a platform to actually speak it. At Kraftshala I finally found that platform.”

How did the Human Skills classes help?

The HR interview-prep classes helped me the most. My English was weak and I had a communication problem. These classes were taken by Ms. Ruma Dalal. She gave me a bank of 30 questions; I read them daily, put them into ChatGPT to practise, and practised with her too. It paid off in my first assessment – when I got HR-type questions, I cracked them, and I cleared the CFI. Even though my English wasn’t perfect, I got the confidence, and that carried into my main interview.

Your first assessment didn’t go well. What happened?

I understood Meta and e-commerce really well, but my first assessment was a problem – it was the first interview of my life. I knew 100% of the material, but I completely lost my confidence, got nervous, and forgot things I actually knew. My body language was low. The interview ended and I had almost no confidence left.

After that I kept giving assessments. Instead of only studying, I started putting questions into ChatGPT and practising out loud, and slowly my confidence came back.

How did your confidence build back up?

I studied daily and asked questions in every lecture. When I scored well, my confidence rose. I cleared six or seven assessments in all. In Search Ads I scored 79, which really boosted me – Komal Phogat ma’am taught Search brilliantly. SEO was harder at first, so I prepared for it separately until I understood it.

When I gave the CFI test, I was the only one in my class to pass on the first attempt. The mentors prepared me so well – basics through advanced – that when I interviewed at Publicis, I felt I’d already cleared tougher assessments. I didn’t struggle at all.

“When the interviewer asked me questions, I felt I’d already cleared tougher assessments than this.”

What was your family’s reaction?

Before my first interview, my mother would pray and promise God 10 kg of sweets if I got the job. My father would tell me to eat well and find good internet before the interview. When I told them the interview had gone well, they were so happy they couldn’t express it. They had faith in me, and I had faith in Kraftshala. I’m only 22, and no one expected me to get a job this soon.

What has this meant in your village?

People in small villages don’t really know what digital marketing is. My villagers didn’t even know how I got placed so quickly. When I told them I studied at Kraftshala, they asked if I’d gone to Delhi for it. I said no – I was in Nanded and attended online classes daily. Now they ask about the fees and the structure, and I’m sure one or two students from my village will join because of this.

What would you tell students like you?

Students who are confused about what to do should definitely join Kraftshala. It gives you a lot of confidence, the mentors are experienced and supportive, and everything starts from the basics. One practical note: it’s completely online, so you need good internet. My village internet wasn’t good, so for about six months I shifted to Nanded city, stayed in a small room, cooked my own food, and completed the program there. Classes ran 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; I studied 2-3 hours in the evening, and that was enough.

Thinking about a digital marketing career after graduation?

Shailesh learned English, marketing, and interview craft from scratch in one program. Explore the Marketing Launchpad program and our placement report.