Alumni conduct mock interviews to make students industry-ready, says Dr Sachin Deshmukh of VESIMSR

 In this Take 5 Series, Dr Sachin Deshmukh, Dean PGDM Program, Professor and Chair – Business Analytics at VESIM - Vivekanand Education Society Institute of Management Studies and Research talks about how students at the college are made interview-ready. Also, he elaborates about the new innovation in programmes that the institute is making.

Q: What are the three things that your institute/college/university is doing that will enable it to differentiate itself from competition?

A: VESIM B-School has two programmes – Master of Management Studies (MMS) affiliated to University of Mumbai and PGDM approved by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). Both these programs have some unique positioning as mentioned below.

1. Our PGDM programme is unique as it offers specialisations like Business Analytics, and Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in collaboration with SAS (USA), a leading analytics software company in the world. We have a team of well-trained faculty members trained by SAS. The institute has a unique standing in these areas of analytics. Our institute has invested heavily in creating infrastructure of the Analytics program by way of establishing three laboratories and purchase of SAS software.
2. For the last five years, VESIM B-School has designed its curriculum as per the requirements of the industry. Our curriculum is designed by faculty members and industry experts.
3. Innovation and Design Thinking is a new feather in the institute’s cap. The institute has a Cell of Innovation that motivate students to bring out innovative ideas in business
4. Tie-ups with foreign universities for faculty exchange and students exchange programmes are working quite well for the institute.

Q: What are the top three initiatives undertaken by you that are helping your students become more industry ready?

1. In both the programs of MMS and PGDM, students are exposed to experiential learning like projects. Industry experts share their knowledge and experience with our students. We try to expose our students to live projects. Regular sessions are conducted by industry experts to give exposure on the practical side of business
2. Meetings with industry experts are conducted twice a year to discuss on the syllabus

1. Students are exposed to various technologies that are widely used by the industry.

Q: What are the key attributes that a student should have in order to

1. Qualify for your institution: A good score in CET can qualify the students for admission into MMS course. For PGDM selection is a bit stringent as they will have to go through rounds of group discussion and personal interviews.
2. Get top grades in your institution: To get top grades in our institution, a student will have to put in hard work as he/she is assessed by a continuous evaluation process throughout the semesters.
3. Which programme/s would you say is/are your best? What is it that helps your institution differentiate itself for this programme?

A: Our PGDM programme is at an advantage as the institute has the liberty to design its own curriculum. All the new specialisations of Business Analytics and Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are offered in the PGDM program.

Q: What are you doing to improve/drive better campus placements for your current students and alumni? What kind of jobs routinely come to campus? What would you say are the key recruitment trends for your college (observed over the past five years)?

A: We are sensitising our students to do better in communication skills and acquire knowledge in their areas of specialisation. Regular sessions are conducted by industry experts on topics like “How to Crack Interviews”. Mock interviews are conducted by our alumni to groom students to make them interview ready.

We have recruiters coming campus placement for all kinds of specialisations – Marketing, Finance, HR, Operations, Banking and Finance and Analytics. The jobs offered are at the junior executive level

The trends are that better and better companies are coming for the campus recruitments and also the packages for students is on the rise.

About Dr. Sachin Deshmukh

Dean PGDM Program Dr Sachin Deshmukh is currently working with Vivekanand Education Society Institute of Management Studies & Research, Mumbai. He has 20 years of industry and 13 years of teaching experience at the post-graduation and doctoral level in management.  He has guided more than 500 students in their dissertations. Dr Sachin has conducted a number of FDPs and international conferences on Data Analytics. He has delivered a number of guest lectures on varied topics of Analytics in seminars and conferences. He has published a number of national and international research papers consumer behaviour and data analytics. His publications also include articles on Big Data. He has worked on Data Analytics projects of organizations.