We offer multi-campus study model & employment opportunities in our UG programmes, says Deputy Director

In an exclusive interaction with Shiksha.com, Deputy Director GMBA & MGB and Director - Student Recruitment (UG Programs), SP Jain School of Global Management Dr Arindam Banerjee talks at length about the benefits of being a multi-campus and Engaged Learning Online-equipped (ELO) institute. Being based out of multiple locations, the institute is able to offer global exposure to students that they aspire for in form of industry visits, tourism and cultural tour. In addition to this, ELO technology provides a students one-of-a-kind virtual learning platform that brings the dynamism and engagement of a virtual classroom online and in real-time. SP Jain is one of the finest management institutions across the country with world-class infrastructure and experienced faculty members. Dr Banerjee graduated in Management with Finance specialisation and holds are Doctoral Degree in Educational Leadership. He has authored more than a dozen books in Finance. He has been recognised as the top 100 leaders in education by the Global Forum for Education and Leadership, the US, for his continuous research contributions in higher education.

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: SP Jain has always been at the forefront of disruptive innovation and the current challenges brought about by the Covid pandemic have further strengthened our resolve to continue to offer our students memorable and seamless learning experience. With our strategic partnerships with global universities and our courses taught by global thought leaders, our students enjoy an outstanding and experiential experience, collaborating with students from different universities and being taught by a team of outstanding faculty members. Our unique value propositions include our multi-campus study approach that enables culture building, global rankings, world-class professors, breakthrough online platforms such as Engaged Learning Online (ELO) coupled with our century curriculum enables our students to be future career ready.

A: SP Jain is looking for students who are well rounded, aiming to be a future business leader and can represent the institute as true brand ambassadors. Some of the attributes that we look from students include consistent good academic background, dynamic and smart personality, creative mindset, zeal to discover and learn new things, willingness to venture outside their comfort zone and above all a risk-taking ability.

As far as grades are concerned, academic focus is a key pillar at SP Jain and students are encouraged to excel in their respective disciplines. Few things that we suggest students to inculcate a sense of discipline, focus, a drive to learn, be flexible and adapt good study habits.

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

A: SP Jain has always strived to be the best at every sphere of their deliverables. As an outcome, each of our programs is unique (both Undergraduate and Postgraduate programs). Our curriculum, placements, internships global ranking, global learning experience, global internships say it all. Our UG programs are unique in terms of its multi-campus study model and unique employment opportunities in Australia post-program completion. Our Bachelor of Data Science (BDS) is unique in catering to the much-needed data science sector. Our PG program stands out in its unique global rankings and high return on investments (ROI).

Our latest ELO technology provides a one-of-a-kind virtual learning platform that brings the dynamism and engagement of a virtual classroom online and in real-time. Currently, only a handful of top business schools in the world offer such immersive online experiences to their students, and SP Jain is the only business school within the Asia Pacific to do so.

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: SP Jain is uniquely positioned to tackle even the uncertainty of placements during these Covid times. With a multi-campus model and having career services teams in Dubai, India and Singapore, our students get multiple job opportunities across these regions from different sectors. 

• During these unprecedented difficult and challenging phase, unlike other business schools where organisations have rescinded their offers, SP Jain did not have a single offer being taken back. While the joining could have been delayed for a few recruiters owing to the current prevailing business conditions, luckily for us all the students who have been made offers, they have been onboarded successfully
• Each geography where SP Jain has a campus has its own advantages for our students
• In Singapore, we have so many internships that have been given to students who are already bearing fruit even though the internships were virtual for the first time due to Covid. We have also managed to get full-time employment for our more experienced Global MBA batch in companies like Dell, Emerson and for our Master of Global Business batch in companies like Reckitt Benckiser, Frost and Sullivan. 
• In Dubai, where our MGB internship conversion is the maximum, we have companies like Dabur, Grant Thornton, Aramex, Al Seer Group (A top FMCG distributor in UAE & Oman who manage leading brands like Dettol, Colgate, Kleenex, Dabur, Ferrero, McVities, Anchor, Heinz and Americana) giving internships to our students and they converting those internships into full-time employment. We also saw a lot of interest from companies like Johnson and Johnson, Agility, Accenture and Baskin Robins to hire our postgraduates 
• In India, students have had multiple interview opportunities during these times for roles ranging from Business Development, Sales, Strategic Alliances, Product Manager, etc. Organisations from different sectors have already onboarded our students during these times. 

We continue to engage with leading companies across these regions in order to provide our graduates with ample opportunity to start their career and move ahead in their life journey. Students are being continuously coached and trained to ace interviews so that all openings shared by corporate partners are grasped in such challenging times.

Some of the initiatives that we regularly take to strengthen relations with existing and prospective industry partners include arranging conclaves for industry partners, added focus on industry interface projects and involving our alumni of the schools to drive better placements for the school.

We provide intensive pre-interview training and personality development classes, broaden the pool of companies, strong campus placement dept with amazing networking and connect skills and encourage Internships before final placements for getting real-time job experience.

Overall, we take great pride in ensuring that each student gets a good job at the end of their programs and is well placed for a successful career. Professional Readiness Program (PRP) prepares students with leadership and communication training, professional presentation, voice and body language, and how students present themselves in a job interview. For students who wish to change their careers, PRP offers special assistance by training and educating them on their new primary industry of interest. This ‘soft knowledge’ helps students have successful job interviews and adapt better to a new work environment.