Nearly 15 significant failures, several professional experiments and a growing involvement in student career development have shaped the journey of Sarthak Arora, known as the Career Man of India. After contributing to the training and placement journeys of more than 10,000 students, Arora has now set a five-year target of helping 1 lakh students access career and placement opportunities. His journey offers a different perspective on professional progress, one in which unsuccessful ventures are treated as lessons rather than reasons to abandon ambition. Based in Haldwani, Uttarakhand, Sarthak Arora is directing his next phase towards career guidance and employability, with a particular focus on students from rural communities, smaller cities and hill regions.
Before his work in education and student development took shape, Arora explored several professional directions. His experiences included insurance, financial services, loan-related work, involvement in his family’s footwear business and multi-level marketing. Not every venture produced the results he expected, and he describes nearly 15 significant failures along the way. Those experiences forced him to reconsider his choices, evaluate his approach and keep searching for a direction that offered greater purpose. Instead of presenting his setbacks as a polished success story, Arora draws attention to the uncertainty that accompanied his early professional years. He believes the ability to review mistakes and attempt something different is an important part of long-term development.
A phrase that captures this outlook has become central to Arora’s philosophy: “The next level will be the best level.” For him, the statement represents a willingness to keep improving without allowing previous disappointments to dictate future decisions. He also places importance on *umeed*, or hope, as a motivating force during difficult periods. Arora encourages students to adopt a similar approach when their plans do not work out as expected. An unsuccessful interview, a rejected application or a difficult learning experience can provide useful information about what needs to change. By examining what went wrong and adjusting their preparation, students can approach subsequent opportunities with greater clarity and confidence.
As the owner of IMT Institute of Hotel Management in Haldwani, Sarthak Arora is associated with the education sector and is involved in career guidance, student development and content creation. His focus on career development includes preparing students for professional opportunities through practical skills, communication, confidence and career awareness. He believes that employability depends on a combination of knowledge, readiness and the ability to understand workplace expectations. His involvement in the training and placement journeys of more than 10,000 students provides the foundation for his next stated ambition. Rather than limiting his attention to individual setbacks, Arora seeks to help students understand how learning, preparation and persistence can influence their professional direction.
His next target is to help 1 lakh students access career and placement opportunities within five years. The mission places particular emphasis on students from smaller towns, rural areas and India’s hill communities, where limited exposure to employers and professional networks can create additional hurdles. Arora believes that a student’s starting location should not determine the range of careers they can pursue. His approach also draws on continuous improvement, self-learning, self-audit, meditation and visualization, which he believes can support personal discipline and clearer decision-making. These practices sit alongside practical career preparation, rather than replacing the skills and experience employers expect from candidates.
For Sarthak Arora, the movement from repeated professional setbacks to work involving more than 10,000 students has reinforced one central lesson: progress does not require a flawless beginning. His one-lakh-student target signals an effort to extend that message through career guidance and placement-related support over the coming five years. The scale of the ambition will depend on how effectively opportunities and preparation can reach students across different communities. Yet the principle driving Arora’s work remains rooted in his own experiences. Failure, in his view, can prompt reassessment, while each new attempt creates another chance to move forward. “The next level will be the best level” continues to define the mindset behind his next chapter.
