It’s been almost a decade since the time human beings have been feeding data into analytical algorithms and Machine Learning systems; however, most applications are still subject to fallacies. Even today, the most advanced algorithms of YouTube sometimes fail to suggest an appropriate ad to us. Then imagine how can a technology suggest the right course or college that matches a student’s personality and helpshim/her all throughout the process of studying abroad? Putting ourselves into their shoes, we cannot even imagine the gravity of making the wrong career choice. Taking a chance even for once is beyond imagination!

Ever since the boom of Education Technology, fondly called ‘Edtech’, personality tests and tool-based analysis have simplified many tasks, while saving on the valuable time. With that said, parents and students, today often fall prey to tech-based/online career counselling. They fail to fathom that the technology and pre-programed questionnaires cannot replace the wisdom of an experienced counsellor who can discuss, communicate and offer hand-held guidance.

A Delhi-based organization, UnTechEd digresses from the modern path by bringing back the trust & quality of thousands of students and their parents through 100percent human translation. To further complement the benefits of the complete human factor, UnTechEd for every student deploys an expert counsellor, who have explored the industry extensively and understands it to the core. Founded by Sultana Khan, a proficient marketer in the education industry who has contributed to the growth of many renowned names in the education industry, UnTechEd is a professional Marketing Services company that utilizes a unique model to provide Marketing, Research, and Administrative support to educational institutions.

The company also provides career guidance to students of those institutions. The company offers solutions customized to meet the needs of educational institutions through their UTE Hubs present within the campus of an institution. In an exclusive interview with Women Entrepreneur India, Sultana shared many interesting nuances about her journey and her brainchild, the brand UnTechEd. Hope her endeavour inspires women across the country to take a leap of faith and chase their entrepreneurial dreams just like her.

Give Us A Brief Overview Of Unteched. What’s The Brand’s Agenda?

The name UnTechEd is derived from three words: University, Technology, and Education. It also has an inverse meaning of detaching technology from education counselling. This might sound a little strange or unpopular in today’s era where everyone in every field is striving to embrace technology as much as possible. However, we believe that career counselling and guidance for international education cannot happen through technology. It is critical to understand where tech can work and where it cannot! Having said that, I’m notcompletelyagainst tech, it is feasible to conduct exams online or gather the opinion of students through online surveys. However, technology lacks human touch, which is possible through face-to-face interaction. Sending a child abroad for education and spending many lakhs every year to pay the fees, cannot be a cake walk; either for the parents or for the child.

You need someone to advise and guide you at the root level. Agreed that, anything and everything is available on Google in a digital age. However, you still need someone to hold your hand and make sure that you do not fall into the wrong trap during the journey. This is where UnTechEd comes into the picture to offer the much-needed human touch and experience. We do this all throughout the year, by means of UTE hubs present in domestic institutions and helping students with overseas studies, summer programs, or short-term courses while representing the institutions we operate from. We also position the institutions competitively in the education market to meet the customized demands of students.

What Are Some Important Features Of Your Expertise As A Marketer?

I have been into the marketing and international education for the past 14 years. My career so far has exclusivelybeen in the international education industry. I strongly believe that the reason for me being a successful individual or professional is, the personal communication I have with the students and their families. Communication and human interference are highly underestimated at present owing to the growing popularity of technology. We think that technology can achieve everything, but I absolutely believe that you still need human interaction and guidance from someone who understands your requirements and the way you want them to be fulfilled.I firmly believe that communication is the only way one can win a conversation. Sometimes, even an article or an e-mail doesnot justify what I am trying to explain. As a marketer, I believe that it is not just about going online and conducting fancy promotional campaignsbut givingour character to the communication and making the marketing work at the ground level for our target audience.

Take Us Through Your Early Educational Journey And The Prior Industry Experience That You Bring To The Table.

I feel that my career in the Education industry happened because it was destined to. It has been a decade-plus years in the domain, but ironically, I never thought I would choose this field as a career. Initially, I was very much inclined towards becoming a lawyer and also completed my Bachelorsin Political Science with Honours. However towards the end of the course, I realized that it was not my thing, and joined a post-graduation course in public relations; wanting to be a journalist. I ended up completing an internship with an education agent in Delhi, and that was the turning point of my life. During the internship, I was exposed to international education, which excited me the most. Since then, there has been no looking back. Even today, I am very much looking forward to each new day full of excitement to guide the students and shape their future.

What Are The Various Roles & Responsibilities That You Shoulder As The Founder & CEO Of Unteched?

As a concept, UnTechEd is not a different, but we are making a heartfelt effort to bring back the lost charm of the industry itself. The last company I worked with was into EdTech, where I realized that there is a huge gap in communication due to the ever-increasing penetration of technology. It has become extremely difficult to even initiate a direct conversation with a student. This is why the whole concept of UnTechEd came to life. Speaking of Career Counselling, it is not a one-day job. You cannot make a decision by attending a career fair or seminar and make a decision; because one bad choice can change the landscape forever. Now making this happen and reviving the industry is a herculean task.

"We are driven by the vision of ‘Transparent’ and ‘Unbiased’ international education counselling with complete human intervention"

My core responsibility is to ensurethat we are able to communicate this need for human intervention to the domestic institutions so that we can engage and make them understand the significance of having such departments and helping students for an effective period of time. This doesn’t mean that we want everyone to leave India to pursue their studies, but international exposure gives students the independence, self-reliance, and confidence to confront challenges, and more, which otherwise is difficult to attain in a well-pampered family system we follow within the country.

What Are Some Of The Key Marketing Strategies That You Leverage To Ensure Organizational Success?

Word of mouth indeed spreads like fire, and that is a major marketing strategy for us. As a service-based solution provider, we have to be transparent, unbiased and build trusted, long-term relationships with educational institutions. Ensuring human-to-human engagement is the only way we to build a strong partnership and also help each other grow through referrals.We started with just two people earlier this year, already have 15 on the team, and target to grow as big as a 60-membered team by the end of the year.

In Your Opinion What Are Some Of The Most Significant Milestones That You Have Achieved Throughout Your Professional Journey?

Every achievement whether small or big excites me equally. However, the two major milestones that I cherish the most are becoming the Business Development Director for a leading university in Australia and spearheading the marketing function as a CMO for an EdTech firm based out of the United Kingdom. Both these eventful achievements gave me the confidence in my capacity and that is how I gained the courage of to start my own venture.

What Has Been The Driving Force Behind Your Success As A Business Leader?

The social responsibility attached to the work we are doing right now is the force that drives me to work hard. I understand that I shoulder the responsibility of fulfilling the dreams of many students and parents who repose their faith in me. , The happiness that comes when you shape the careers of our future leaders, which in turn changes global economies; all of it motivates me to keep going. This is not about selling something but doing a lot of good work and I want to continue it for a lifetime.

Straight From The Heart: Any setback always pushes you ahead with greater force. The drive that comes later has the potential to elevate someone's personality to be a leader. Once such a setback happens, people can do two things: they can either grieve around feeling ashamed and defeated, or they can take the opportunity and time to emerge stronger and become a better person.I have always held a positive outlook towards setbacks and considered them a stepping stone that takes you ahead on the path to success.

I decided to start my own company after taking a learning from one such setback. However, we women do face several challenges, surprisingly you’ll not be acknowledged but be judged for everything you do. Always remember, do not give up and opportunities will come your way! We handle family responsibilities and much more but we should not let anything limit the growth of our career. Seek help and be vocal and do not fear to take up a challenge.