IMT Hyderabad has witnessed significant improvement in placements, says Dr. Sourabh Bhattacharya

Dr. Sourabh Bhattacharya - B.E, M.Tech, PhD is a Professor, Operations Management - Institute of Management Technology Hyderabad.

In this Take 5-Series with Shiksha, Dr. Sourabh Bhattacharya talks about what's unique about the unique aspects of studying at Institute of Management Technology; the kind of projects, internships and placement opportunities that students have, the best programs to study and how to take admission to these.

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

 The three things that differentiate our institute with the others are as follows:

• Industry-relevant curriculum with a wide range of elective choices in the contemporary and emerging areas of business
• Participant Centered Learning through case pedagogy, live projects, simulations, showcases, industrial visits, debate clubs to name a few
• International Exchange Programs with 45+ University Partners across the globe

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

 The top three initiatives that are undertaken by us that help our students become more industry-ready are:

• Practitioner Sessions: At IMT Hyderabad, at least 10-20% of every course is delivered by senior executives from the corporate world. This is to ensure that the courses being offered are relevant and updated to meet the current as well as future needs of the business world and also sensitize students to the real-world challenges and the best practices within that function.
• Long Duration Internship Program: During the intervening summer term between the first and second years, students undergo a 14 week faculty & industry mentor supervised internship in an organization to apply the knowledge they have acquired during the first year of their program and bridge the perceived gap between theory and practice. The IP enables students to experience the rigours of the professional environment, both in terms of form and substance. It provides them with opportunities to learn and practice business knowledge and professional behaviour.
• Leadership Series: CXOs from leading corporates are invited to share their business building experience with students and update them about the happenings in the corporate world.

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

 The top three attributes that a student should have in order to qualify for our institution are:

• Consistent Academic Background
• Matching with the expected entrance percentile/score cut off
• Communication/Interpersonal Skills
• Analytical/Problem Solving skills
• Business Affairs and General Awareness
• Domain Knowledge
• Should have the attitude of enjoying “Rigour”

 The top three attributes that a student should have in order to get top grades in your institution are:

• An open mindset to learn
• Having a global perspective of the issues in hand
• Rigorous preparation of the study material
• Ability to multi-task and manage time in a deadline-driven environment
• Highest levels of integrity and ethical standards
• Great Communication skills

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

At present, we do not have any differentiation in our program offerings. Nevertheless, usually, students prefer PGDM over other programs i.e., PGDM (Finance) and PGDM (Marketing) as PGDM offers flexibility to the students to select electives from a large basket of elective choices without any constraints.

Q. What are you doing to improve 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)?

The pedagogy at IMT Hyderabad is student-centric and is designed to suit the contemporary business needs. The teaching methodology enables a student to be industry ready right after the completion of the first year. This is ensured by the unique 15 credit Internship Program. We have a practice of engaging corporates via various industry interfaces, which gives a learning experience for the students and help recruiters identify their future business leaders. We stay connected with our alumni via various social media platforms, where we mentor them in terms of career opportunities and organize various programs such as Alumni Connect and Mentorship program by some of our prominent alumni, which have and will continue to benefit the student fraternity.

Each year, recruiters from industries such as BFSI, Consulting, Retail, E-Commerce, Pharma, FMCG etc. visit the campus in search of aspiring and ambitious leaders across various business verticals. The most common job roles offered are of entry-level and middle management. Some of the roles offered are Management Trainee, Business Analyst, Sales Manager, Wealth Manager, Recruitment Analyst, Tax Consultant etc.

The institute has witnessed significant improvement in placements in terms of an average package, maximum package and job roles offered in the past few years.