The students experience a 360 approach to learning which is necessary for the youth to have, says Director MGLuxM

In an exclusive interaction with Shiksha.com, Director MGLuxM Smita Jain at SP Jain School of Global Management talks at length about the Master in Global Luxury Goods & Services Management programme. She elaborates on the programme curriculum, the pedagogy which is a perfect blend of classroom and industry integrated learning. There were also discussions about various initiatives that the institute has taken such as PowerTalks, Live projects, an Industry study tour that helps students’ understand the practical aspect of the classroom learnings and become industry-ready. Jain also talks about the placements in detail.

Read the complete interview below:

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

A: The MGLuxM Programme at the SP Jain School of Global Management provides a unique learning experience to its Luxury Management students that is a blend of classroom and industry integrated learning. The students experience a 360 approach to learning which is necessary for the youth to have, in order to achieve the right balance of competencies, skills and professional readiness that is required to work in the luxury sector, today.

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

A: At SP Jain, three initiatives taken by us are Power talks, LIVE Projects and Industrial Visits or Study Tours.

PowerTalks are fireside chats given to our students to encourage industry readiness for any field of luxury, be it marketing, retail, sales, business development and many more.  These Talks help diminish the bridge between the industry and young talent, by providing them with an in-depth knowledge of the sector through interactions with seasoned industry experts

LIVE Projects is another initiative wherein we invite companies to offload their real assignments or projects for our students to work on, with the mentorship provided by our pool of faculty experts along with guidance from an industry representative. We believe in having as much as industry rich experience as possible, even in our exams and assignments!

Industry Study Tour is an experience that is exclusive to this programme, where students get an opportunity to travel to the most iconic luxury hubs of the world to experience first hand, the best of the best in the world of luxury craftsmanship. These tours are fully organised by the school and are a part of our blended learning experience. These educational tours are organised for students at various locations such as Paris, Champagne, Geneva, Neuchatel, La Chaux de Fonds and Florence.

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

a. Qualify for your institution

b. Get top grades in your institution

A: To qualify for the institution, it is important for any applicant to fulfil the basic eligibility criteria, i.e. a Bachelor’s degree from a recognised university and a passion to work in the luxury sector. Further to this, the applicant undergoes a comprehensive and detailed selection process where the management tries to evaluate the students’ area of interest.

And, more than chasing the grades, what's more important is students’ attentiveness, proactiveness & enthusiasm to learn. We aim at delivering quality education and preparing students for a life long career and not for the first job.

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

A: MGLuxM – Master’s in Luxury Goods & Services Management in partnership with Politecnico di Milano (one of the top-ranked in Europe), offers the dual experience of both old age heritage luxury in Milan combined with the modern new-age luxury experience in India. The students spend six months at the SP Jain Mumbai Campus for their Term-One, and then four months at the MIP Campus in Milan, and then work on their final defence project while working on an internship at any location in Europe or India, best suited to them.

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 conduct internal mock interview sessions with all our active students before they complete their graduation at the school, in order to prepare them for professional interviews. We provide them with up-to-date industry insights and also give them the much-required personal mentoring/ coaching that is a necessity for young minds, based on their individual career aspirations. Apart from this, we also invite luxury industry experts from top companies such as BMW, Estee Lauder, Reliance Brands Limited, Sotheby’s, Gucci to name a few, to interview and select students for both internships and placements.

The most common profile for which students of the MGLuxM course are recruited is Marketing and Sales. Some other most common job opportunities for the students include Public Relations, Research Analyst, Content Writing, Business Development among others. In the past recruitment cycles, we have observed that the luxury beauty, jewellery and fashion and lifestyle sector combined have a weightage of 60 per cent, followed by luxury consultancy at 25 per cent.