Our pre-internship training has fetched many students PPO right out of internships, says AIMS Director

In a conversation with Shiksha, Director AIMS Institute of Management Studies Manish Sinha talks about the Institute’s successful placement record for over a decade. He also shares unique methodology and pedagogy that they follow to make students competitive for the corporate world. Sinha is a visionary leader, Educationist and an Entrepreneur with vast experience in Developing youth and helping them grow as professionals through core values of Accountability, Integrity, Meritocracy and Steadfastness  

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

A: We have a unique pedagogy. From the first day of the curriculum, we start taking initiatives to prepare students for industry. The aim is to make students competitive and make them secure good placements at the end of the curriculum. We aim at

• Placement assurance: We have been giving our students written placement guarantee since last 10 years and it is backed by our constant two-year effort in the placement process. This has resulted in domestics placements as high as Rs 5 lakh per annum and international placements to be as high as Rs 31.3 lakh per annum.
• Authenticated Industry Certifications: As opposed to private training programme, at AIMS we actually provide authenticate certifications and training programme from industry partners such as SAP, Tally.
• Highest ROI: At AIMS, we do not look at ROI in terms of only fees compared to placement numbers. We also consider value additions that come with your course, skills acquired along the way and placement vis-a-vis the fees you pay for the same.

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

A: We, at AIMS, believe in practical exposure more than theoretical knowledge. We feel that education can make a difference only if it's effective and practised continuously.

• Applied Subjects and 18 live projects that follow with each concept taught. This prepares our students to be in touch with the latest industry trends and also helps them to choose the specialisation as per their skills.
• SAP authorised training programme. Getting trained from SAP professionals give clarity to our students with concepts and career opportunities ahead directly with SAP.
• Mentorship course with industry titans where students can be one on one with giants from the industry and get trained under them.

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

A: Qualify for your institute a student would require to have:

• “Ready to change” attitude: This sets the tone for your learning. We have a disciplined culture at the institute and we need our students to gel in this culture.
• Curiosity: AIMS has weekly interventions by Industry guests for multiple application based concepts and guest lectures. Curiosity is vital when learning something new.
• Zest for Learning: We have day-long lectures, activities, group sessions, reading hours and much more. A student cannot fall back on zest for learning and be consistent with it. Long days at the institute are a basic preparation for corporate life that lies ahead

Get top grades in your institute:

• Earnest: At AIMS we follow a well-disciplined culture right from uniform, punctuality to attendance. A student should be ready to fit into this grind.
• Enthusiastic: Mere presence and attendance won’t yield results unless it is backed by enthusiastic and meaningful participation.
• Empowered: As MBA is a four-semester course, consistency is the key. Every semester brings about new changes. New set of learning requires consistent mindset towards learning.

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

A: MBA PGP course of the institute provides benefits of MBA and PGDM both. MBA degree is known for its authenticity and weight of a Master’s degree from state university. PGDM is known for its industry exposure and higher employability.

AIMS is one of the very few institutes across India to have a dual advantage degree programme.

In this programme a student gets SAP, Tally, Digital Marketing, NISM, Applied Subjects, 18 Industry Live Projects along with MBA degree. It also includes two-weeks’ educational tour which revolves around more than 15 industry visits and study. This gives students corporate interaction, mentorship and exposure based benefits.

MBA PGP course also has six unique specialisations such as Logistics, Retail, BA, HR, BFS and Media. These being sunrise industries of the country are hosting many job opportunities at the moment.

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 institute (observed over the past five years)?

A: AIMS Institute of Management Studies has a glorious record of placements for more than a decade now and we also give written job guarantee of placements to the students.

We follow the same process with every student to ensure the effective end result of placements which includes Pre-Course Assessment, Induction Assessment, Communication Skills training, Regular Counselling Sessions, Summer Internships, Personality Development, Value Added Certifications and Training and preparing them for Group Discussions and Mock Interview Sessions.

Key Recruitment trends:

Internship to PPO conversion: With our pre-internship training, many of our students get Pre Placement Offers right out of internships. The number is rising year on year with more than 20 students directly getting placed right after internships in 2019. This speaks volumes about the quality of our students and companies wanting to retain them.

Alumni referral recruitment: As we enter our 11^th year, our strong network of close to 1,500 alumni helps us in referral recruitment. Alumni keep coming back to the institute for knowledge sharing sessions and placement drives as they are assured about the quality of students institute provides.

Industry tie-up: We have industry tie-ups not just for placements but continual training programmes too. In this experts from companies come to the campus to talk to students about their expectations and groom them according to industry-standard in the first year. At the end of the second year, they also place students based on their evaluations.