Early Career in Supply Chain: Dimpal Padia on the International Student Job Search

Early career in supply chain? Start here. Dimpal Padia went from chasing down a late truck driver on day one at Larsen & Toubro to five years growing from analyst to consultant at General Mills — and now she's navigating the U.S. job market as an international grad student. Her advice: "always be curious before you are confident." In this episode of the She Supply Chains Podcast, Courtney and Katie sit down with Dimpal Padia for an honest, tactical conversation about building a supply chain career from the ground up. Dimpal shares the "aha moment" on her very first day in logistics that made her fall in love with supply chain, the simple way she explains her job to non-supply-chain friends, and the five W framework (why, what, where, who, when) she still leans on before walking into any meeting. She also opens up candidly about the extra hurdles international students face in the U.S. job search, what she wishes leaders knew about supporting early-career talent, and the advice she'd text her younger self back in 2017: "you did it." Chapters 0:00 Introduction & Welcome to Dimpal Padia 1:30 Meet Dimpal: From Mumbai to General Mills 5:22 The "Aha Moment" That Sparked Her Supply Chain Career 8:21 Explaining Supply Chain in Plain English 10:57 From Engineer to Supply Chain: Transferable Problem-Solving 14:17 From Analyst to Consultant: Five Years of Growth 17:12 Choosing a Career Path: Interest Over Industry 20:25 What Early-Career Talent Needs From Leadership 24:10 Job Searching as an International Student 27:19 What Companies Are Looking For: Skills & Certifications 29:48 The Five W Approach & Why Hard Work Is Underrated 31:32 Texting Her Younger Self: "You Did It" 32:35 Closing Thoughts & Where to Find Dimpal 🎧 New episodes every Monday — subscribe so you don't miss the next one, and visit www.shesupplychains.com to join our email list for bonus content and updates. 👉🏽Connect with Dimpal:   / dimpal-padia-58113415a   #SheSupplyChains #SupplyChainSquad #EarlyCareer #WomenInSupplyChain #SupplyChainCareers #InternationalStudent