Journey of the Best All Rounder – PGP 2018-20 batch

Keeping a balance of Academics, Committee work and fun activities is not just something that helps you learn and grow, but it also keeps your rhythm going. When I joined the Placement Committee, a lot of people asked me whether I’ll be able to find time for my academics or other activities. But one of the most important aspects of MBA is probably Time Management and once you do this well, you can do a lot more than just sail through. Enhancing my classroom learnings with active discussions with professors and peers, supplementing it with corporate competitions to utilize the classroom learnings in real world corporate case studies, and networking with corporates in order to foster institute relations with corporates – this is what I found myself doing for majority of my time at IIM Kashipur. But along with all this, spending time with a bunch of my peers – some of whom have turned into my extended family – was also something that got me through these two years and learning from each one of them made me a better person.
While I think each person has to carve their own journey, a suggestion would be to try and explore as much possible – sign up for a subject you think you find challenging but also interesting, take part in as many corporate competitions possible, do your committee work diligently and be a part of at least one to help a little in running the institute. You will always find the support from management and our beloved faculties!
All the best!

About the Author

Chirag Dixit is alumnus of IIM Kashipur. He is the best All-Rounder of PGP Batch 2018-20. He is currently working as Equity Specialist at Bloomberg LP. He specializes in Equity Analytics – client workflows and also has a focus on – BQL (Bloomberg Query Language), Launchpad, Bloomberg for Education (BMC) and MYBB transfers.

You can connect with him on LinkedIn

( We thank the Alumni Relations Committee of IIM Kashipur for serving as a bridge to beget  valuable insights about the journey of becoming a gold medalist from our erudite alumnus. )

Journey of Silver Medalist – PGP 2018-20 batch

After numerous interviews (alongside rejections), I was quite relieved to be selected at IIM Kashipur. It was a shock when the first words I heard from the professor was, ‘ Your journey and hard work has just started’ and it is indeed true. Induction and trimester 1 are very important to acclimatize oneself with the rigors of an MBA program. The beauty of MBA at IIM Kashipur is that there is not one way to be successful, people can target particular skill sets or competencies through academics or through various PORs of clubs/committees. I have seen friends get upset at not being selected at any clubs/committees initially, but without these extra responsibilities it gives one time to work more on Academics or relax a hectic day with leisure like sports, music, etc. (which IIM Kashipur has excellent facilities). The only important thing here is to identify why one was not selected in the first place , what improvements need to be done to overcome that drawback and hone skill sets accordingly.

Peer learning is one of the best ways to learn at an MBA. I was very lucky to have close friends with complementary skill sets and knowledge and thus enhanced my knowledge manifold. Whatever I achieved at IIM Kashipur a lot of credit goes to my friends for supporting me in dire situations. Building a good network and close friends made life at IIM Kashipur the most enjoyable two years of my life.

I strongly believe that getting too much pressurized by the rigors of MBA does one no good. It is important to enjoy your MBA life and relax yourself from time to time to re-energize yourself. Sometimes coping with all the academic pressure may not a one day process. One can try to cope with the pressure with time, set small targets (for example, if you cannot follow all the courses in a trimester properly at once, initially target two to three courses that you are interested in and faithfully follow everything related to course like case studies, assignments, etc.)

Managing time to accommodate academics, other roles and responsibilities and most importantly time for your leisure is essential. Setting realistic weekly goals and daily sub-goals and adjusting the next day to complete any unfinished task ensures one does not get too much work to complete in one day. Proper planning every day (if possible, planning for every four-five hours) and avoiding procrastination is a good habit to enjoy your MBA life. I will end with a famous Bo Bennett quote – ‘ When it comes to success, there are no shortcuts’.

About the Author

Jyotirmoy Ray is alumnus of IIM Kashipur. He is the silver medalist of PGP Batch 2018-20. He is currently working as Consultant (FS Risk) at EY. He is also a  June 2021 Level 2 candidate in the CFA program and looking for opportunities in Valuation, Risk and Equity Research in Finance. He is also a Member of Indian Youth Delegation Program to Kyrgyzstan in 2019 under the initiative of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India.

You can connect with him on LinkedIn

( We thank the Alumni Relations Committee of IIM Kashipur for serving as a bridge to beget  valuable insights about the journey of becoming a gold medalist from our erudite alumnus. )

Journey of Gold Medalist – PGP 2018-20 batch

My journey with IIM Kashipur started much earlier when I appeared for the CAP (Common Admission Process) Interview on Feb 14, 2018, and the panelists were Prof. Patra and Prof. Batra, it was a very interesting discussion ranging from Climate Change Policies to estimating the number of 4-Wheelers sold per year in Delhi NCR. Obviously, back then I did not know they were from IIM Kashipur, but in the first term itself, I got to learn subjects on Statistics & Entrepreneurship from them respectively, which was a delight!

I personally believe, before starting our MBA journey, we must jot down some pointers as our goals, which we want to achieve before the course ends. These goals can be different for different students, depending upon our needs and the bigger picture, which we are stitching for our professional careers. 

For instance, from Day-1 my goals (plans) were to enhance my presentation skills (by taking lead in Group Projects while Presenting), networking skills (by joining ARC), and learning consulting mindset (by going beyond the scope of group projects & participating in case study competitions). I was also very clear with my priorities, top being the academic, then ARC & Prep-Cell responsibilities, and then case study competitions. Again, these priorities can be different for different students.

In my engineering, we had the options to select our Majors, and mine were Mechanical Design & Operations. And, since I was familiar with Operations Concepts, I preferred to choose Strategy, Marketing as my Majors and HR as minor. As I believed, these involved more of case-studies and classroom-based discussions, which is difficult for me to learn on my own. Finance & IT-Analytics, I decided to learn by my own, which I am continuing even today (Currently focusing on M&A Synergies). Learning should never stop!

About the Author

Vishvendra Singh Tomar is alumnus of IIM Kashipur. He is the gold medalist of PGP Batch 2018-20. He is currently working at the COO’s Office, L&T Technology Services Limited in the field of Corporate Strategy & Business Operations (Program Management). He  is a seasoned professional with an excellent proven track record on both professional as well as academic fronts. He has around 4 years of work experience, ranging from Product Analyst to Consultant during his association with PepsiCo (GVIC), Samsung Engineering, Dictiondock and L&T Technology Services (in chronological order).

You can connect with him on LinkedIn

( We thank the Alumni Relations Committee of IIM Kashipur for serving as a bridge to beget  valuable insights about the journey of becoming a gold medalist from our erudite alumnus. )