We use psychometric tests on our students to help them understand their own strengths, says Managing Director

In a conversation with Shiksha.com, Managing Director-Thadomal Shahani Centre For Management - TSCFM, Dr Akhil Shahani talks about initiatives institute is taking to prepare students through a curriculum on par with the global standards. He emphasises on Ask. Careers and Ask.Benchmark as platforms for students to manage their course material and also do self-evaluation. Dr Shahani is an alumnus of Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Chicago and has done PhD from the University of Liverpool. His focus is on incorporating global industry-oriented education systems in his institute that make graduates truly employable.

Read the excerpts of the interview below:

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

A: TSCFM has been ranked third among all Indian business schools offering global courses for a number of reasons. These include:

• BBA and MBA from a top UK university: Our graduates’ professional careers will probably span at least 45 years. During that time, they should be able to work in any country of their choice. Indian PGDBM’s are unfortunately not recognised outside India. TSCFM is the only institute in India that enables its students to get an MBA or BBA from a top-ranked British University, at one-third the fees they would usually pay in the UK and without them having to leave India. Having a degree from a respected global university enables our students to qualify for jobs anywhere in such as the world. In fact, many of our graduates are currently working in countries such as Canada, the UAE, the UK, Singapore and others.
• Personalised career planning: We are the only college in India to use psychometric tests on our students to help them understand their own strengths and weaknesses and what is the best career pathway they should follow based on results. We give each student personalised coaching to help them define their career goals and give them constant support to achieve them.
• App-based courseware: Each of our students downloads a personalised course app called Ask.Careers on their mobile phones which helps them manage all aspects of their course during their tenure with us. The app gives them online course material, helps them schedule their classes and gives them regular quizzes to check their knowledge. Students can also give feedback to their teachers via this app so we can ensure teaching quality.  The app also has a comprehensive job application and interview scheduling system which is used by students to manage their own job placement process.

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

A: I have done my PhD in Student Employability from the University of Liverpool. This has enabled me to understand the best global practices on ways to make college students employable. We have incorporated much of this research into the pedagogy of our institute. Three initiatives undertaken by us in this context are:

• Benchmarks: All employers require graduates with five main attributes-
• • Great communication skills
  • Strong teamworking ability
  • Effective problem-solving ability
  • Pro-activeness
  • Professional worth ethic

We have created the Ask.Benchmarks (Attitude, Skills, Knowledge) assessment model which evaluate students on these five parameters and helps them develop over the course of curriculum. This enables us to mold students who possess these five attributes which are needed by employers and ensures that our graduates are much more employable than the graduates of other Indian institutes.

• Live projects: Along with giving our students structured industry internships, we also get live projects from companies in our network. These live projects enable our students to solve an actual problem faced by these companies and submit a professional report with their recommendations to the client. This helps them apply the theories they have learned in the classroom and also to be more industry-ready by the time they graduate.
• CSR work: Our students work with NGOs that we have partnered with to help implement some of their projects. Working to help society enables our students develop their awareness, empathy and leadership capabilities, which will make them contribute more to the companies they will join in future.

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

A: We believe the right attitude and willingness to work is what enables anyone to succeed in life. We are one of the only institutions that don’t use theory-based exams to assess our students. We develop and measure our students’ performance through their work in assignments and live projects. Hence, any student who has the attitude to learn and willingness to work hard, will succeed in our institute. To qualify for our programs, students need to have graduated from a bonafide Indian school or college, pass our internal entrance exam, pass our interview and group discussion process.

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

A: I would consider our flagship programmes to be the best. We offer MBA and BBA from top British Universities. No Indian university ranks anywhere among the top 200 universities in the world. Our BBA/MBA is awarded from top UK institutions such as Anglia Ruskin University, University of West Scotland or Buckinghamshire New University, which are globally ranked among the top 200 universities. Our students will get a degree that is internationally recognised and respected, which will make them globally competitive. No other Indian B-School can offer this.

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: Our group has its own executive search firm, Ask Talent Services (ATS), which specialises in entry level placements for companies around India. This firm is constantly in touch with corporates and places students from our institute and other colleges in India. Other college’s placement cell mainly contact companies during placement season and try to place students through a mixture of luck and effort. ATS uses a strong assessment and filtration model that ensures the right student is sent for the right job. Due to our constant interaction with companies and filtering students based on their requirements, we have a very strong job placement record, with our students being able to pick prime jobs.

We tend to mostly get companies from the BFSI, FMCG, Automotive and Real Estate sector. We have also got many funded startups hiring from our campus. Over the last five years, companies have preferred students with the right soft skills instead of just looking at their academic scores. As our college’s employability model develops our students’ soft skills, we are well placed to serve these employers needs.