Every year more than 30% of our students are placed internationally, says FIMS Director

A good placements record, focus on skill development and collaboration with international universities is what Farook Institute of Management Studies Director Dr Saji Kuriakose shares make their institute one of the leading in their league, in an interview with Shiksha.com.

Read the excerpts of the interview below to know why you must pick FIMS to study Management:

Q: What are the three things that FIMS is doing that will enable it to differentiate itself from competition? 

A: There are several factors that differentiate FIMS from other B-Schools. Having asked for three factors we would like to mention the following:

• FIMS has signed an international MOU with the foreign university for faculty/student exchange programs and collaborated research. Faculty from the foreign university has already started engaging in classes for our students.
• We give tremendous importance to skill development along with academics. In order to improve the language proficiency of our students, we have started a programme called TOEIC Certification for students in English by ETS, which will better equip them for international career and placements.
• We also have a good track record for placements. In recent years, we have been able to provide international placements for students especially through our board of governors who have business operations abroad and their business associates. Every year more than 30% of our students get placed abroad.

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

A: Three most important initiative that we have taken to upgrade students’ skills include:

• Corporate interface sessions: We bring practising managers, businessmen and professors from renowned B-Schools. The proximity of IIMK is another advantage we have. We have a popular programme called FIMS WAVES every month which is a ‘TED Talk’ model talk show. We also have a programme called ‘Alumni Speaks’ every week where our alumni holding top positions in the industry share their experiences
• We have a strong association with corporate houses for part-time jobs and internships. We have also signed an MOU with some of the leading business organisations for mutual benefits
• We have a certification program called Super Specialization Program (SSP) that enlightens our students on the latest concept or a trend in three functional areas of management namely Marketing, Finance & HR. For example, Digital Marketing was the SSP we offered for the last passed out batch. Also, we insist our students to go for promoting online certifications through MOOC Platforms like Edx and Coursera which are recognised by the industry.

Q: What are the key attributes that a student should have in order to qualify for your institution and get good grades?

A: For academic proficiency, every year we offer Rs 50 lakh as scholarship for the candidates who score good percentage of marks in their qualifying examination to MBA.

Also, through Group Discussion and Personal Interview (GDPI) we evaluate MBA aspirants’ level of general awareness, communication skills, attitude to work in teams, personality traits, etc. Candidates, who score well in these areas, will get an advantage in the selection process. Apart from these factors, one has to get qualified as per guidelines of admission supervisory committee appointed by the Government of Kerala.

Q: Which programmes would you say are your best? What is it that helps your institution differentiate itself for this programme?

A: Not many B- Schools in India are able to provide international exposure to their students and give  opportunity to get sessions of International faculty members. Our MOU with Foreign Universities enable our students to avail this opportunity. We also conduct an International Study tour every year for our students whose cost is totally borne by the institution. As soon as the MBA aspirants join our institution we put them on a programme called ‘Bridge’ which is a two weeks program wherein we bring the best trainers of the country to transform them from a mere graduate to a ‘management’ student. This two-week programme is followed by a pan-India outbound training program which enables our students to be more confident in tough times with improved surviving skills.

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 have initiatives like a tie-up with corporate houses for internships and part-time jobs which improves employability. We conduct customised placement training programs for specific industry called as Super specialization programs. We have built a community of alumni for placement leads both in India and abroad. Alumni forums keep posting job openings for experienced and fresh graduates. We get lot of placement inquiries from various sectors like FMCG, Sports Industry, Banking & Finance, IT & ITES, Retail Industry, Consulting, Footwear Industry, Construction & Real Estate, Education Industry Etc.  In the last few years, the key trend in our campus is the entry of International recruiters especially from UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Malaysia, etc. Banking has taken a back seat in the past two years.