Unlikely Winner

“Are you going to present your half-page CV to corporates?” These words sent a chill down my spine and woke me up from a dreamy slumber of getting into an IIM. Though brutal, it was honest. My CV was half-page with a major part of it filled with some random certifications done through some websites, whose answers can be found easily on Google Baba.

Getting into an IIM was a dream of mine which came true with IIM Kashipur offering an admission offer. I thought life will get easier from here, after all, I had an IIM tag on my LinkedIn profile. How wrong I was!! The game was just getting started. Not only was the pressure of studies, projects, and quizzes on top of my head but also, I realized I had nothing to write on my CV except the marks and an internship, while few students were making their resumes two pages long.

Among several long, monotonous, and repetitive zoom meetings and preparation sessions, I got to know about case competitions held by corporates and other B-schools. Some companies used case studies to recruit students for their organizations. In the beginning, I wasn’t excited about them because why do anything extra when you already have so much mandatory to do. So, there went the first few case competitions, with making effort only because Placement Committee sent a mail. So, I along with my team members submitted a few presentations which didn’t get selected in any further rounds.

Gradually, I realized that since these competitions required minimum eligibilities to appear and everyone started from scratch to find the solution for the case, this might be the place for a person like me who does not want to be let down by my past and is ready to do anything in my present to achieve my dream.

A big change came when our submission got selected in the Welspun Disruptor Case competition. Our idea was among the top 100 selected among 10,000+ registered teams. Apathy changed to enthusiasm. Lethargy to action and indifference to interest. I along with my team members, worked hard to present our idea simply to make sure that evaluators can better understand the idea. Again, to our surprise, we cleared the semi-finals and reached Finals with 20 odd teams. During this time, my team cleared another Case competition named “Steel-a-thon”, among the top 40 teams from 5000 odd registered. This was a surprise. To be a fresher and still be able to present ideas along with Work-ex peeps, who already had an idea of how the industry works and its intricacies, was a boost to my confidence.

During all the case competitions, I realized that case competitions are less about frameworks or some jargon to be presented, but more about common sense. Thinking about it, people have been doing business for thousands of years. They didn’t have Porter’s five forces or Swot analysis. They used their common sense and did what made the most sense at that time. Common sense about how to research, interview, write and present. The same can be applied to MBA studies. Beneath all the frameworks, is common sense presented as a mumble jumble of corporate jargon. After this, I was better able to understand the curriculum cases, how to approach them, research about them, and present them. Case competitions are a wonderful opportunity to present your ideas and vision directly to the senior executives of a company. It is likely that they are facing the same problem themselves and have a certain inkling about how the organization is going to tackle that. What we must do is use our common sense and think about how we can do the same. There is no single correct answer, but every answer has assumptions, which must match those mentioned in the case.

To common sense.

 Thank you.

PS. – My CV got filled.

Nikhil Jain

Nikhil Jain is a second-year student at IIM Kashipur (Batch – 2021 -2023). He is a B.Com graduate from GGDSD college, Chandigarh. He is an active member of The Finance Club of the institute. He has keen interest in sports, reading and writing. He is a firm believer in hardwork and aims to achieve excellence through it. You can connect with him on LinkedIn.

How I kicked out FOMO using Live Projects

“Learn to see, Learn to Hear, Learn to feel, learn to smell, and know that by practice alone you become an expert “ – Willam Oslar

As soon as you enter an IIM you see yourself surrounded by 300+ with diverse experience in all imaginable disciplines. Your colleagues could be commerce graduates, CAs or CFAs, or industry veterans with extensive expertise in a particular domain. You may find yourself surrounded by folks who have settled on their specialty and career path. While taking on this new endeavor amid all this craziness, it’s easy to be confused and overwhelmed.

MBA life begins on the first day of the induction program, with a flurry of activity all around us and a persistent “Fear of Missing Out.” For someone new to a demanding schedule, it is natural to be stunned by the pace of life at IIM. But you need not worry, because no matter what you do, “Bunny life mai Kuch Na Kuch reh jaata hai”. So just take a deep breath and try to grab an activity that would help you hit the ground running in your MBA life. To help you with the FOMO we encourage the students to pursue a Live project.

A live project is similar to a mini-internship that you can complete in addition to your studies. It provides you with hands-on experience with real-world management issues and challenges. Depending on the deliverables, projects can last anywhere from 15 days to two months or even longer and you need to devote only 2-3 hrs a day to the project depending on the work.

Aside from enhancing your overall profile, live projects allow you to apply what you’ve learned in class to real-life issues, such as time management.

Eligibility for Live Project:–

• If you are a fresher and want to explore different domains like Marketing, IT & Analytics, Strategy & Consulting, Finance, Human Resources, Operations & Supply Chain

• If you are a student having worked in one of the domain but want to explore opportunities in different domains available

• If you are a student having work experience in one domain and want to gain further expertise in the same domain by working with different firms on diverse projects

So basically Live Projects are for all!

Speaking from personal experience, I have always been motivated to apply in Live projects related to the Supply Chain & Analytics domain because it piques my interest.

What I learned from the live project:-

1. Recommending without first putting it into practice is futile: Live projects not only broaden your knowledge base in your field of study, but they also teach you how to practically approach any topic and overcome diverse hurdles.

2. Given that you learn and improvise, few organizations allow you to celebrate failure.

3. Listen to and learn from others (everyone in the team) – Consider different perspectives.

4. Last but not least, competitions will benefit from experience gained via live projects

Benefits I received through Live Project:-

• Networking:- Working with different organizations for a short period will help you earn one of the most important skills of an MBA i.e Networking

• Domain knowledge:- A student throughout an MBA can take multiple Live projects in different domains to get an idea about the job opportunities in that domain thus to get an idea is that sector for him/her considering the career perspectives

• Internship Opportunities: If you perform exceedingly well in your live project, you will be given a Summer Internship opportunity from the organization itself. That’s cool, right!

• Stipend:- Last but not least, most Live Projects are paid opportunities, so the stipend earned can be used for parties, Late night Nescafe coffee & Maggie’s cravings, and so on.

Thus Doing LPs is a good way to enhance your knowledge and support your Pocket !!!

Once you join IIM Kashipur, from the first month itself you will be provided ample opportunities to participate in Live projects across various domains which will in turn help you alleviate your stress level and counter FOMO. I hope this information will help you to understand the importance of Live projects and encourage you to take multiple live projects throughout your course

Hoping some of you guys to see soon at our Lush Green Campus of IIM Kashipur !

Ciao !!!

Kaustubh Deshmukh

Kaustubh Deshmukh is currently pursuing his MBA from IIM Kashipur. Prior to this he worked as a lead process engineer in an Agrochemical MNC for 34 Months. He’s an avid trekker and loves listing to podcasts in his free time. You can connect with him on LinkedIn.

Action-packed year at IIM Kashipur

All the images I had formed in my mind as an MBA candidate were about to become a reality. And then came an exciting moment in which formal e-introductions with seniors and peers began to circulate on the official WhatsApp and Facebook groups. My eagerness to share the learning experience with my friends increased as I became more acquainted with the outstanding profiles of many of my colleagues.

The journey here started with a 10-day long induction program. Being a fresher, this was my first experience of the world of case studies, presentations, and hours-long virtual meetings. Now when I am into my third term, and I look back to those hectic induction days I realize that the reason behind those long days was to prepare us for the actual challenge that we were going to encounter throughout our MBA journey.

The first term of business school is usually the hardest, as we become accustomed to lengthy and intense lecture sessions and deadline-bound projects. Students are also exposed to a critical component of B-school pedagogy, the case study, in which we learn not only about firm evolution strategies but also about managerial issues. When we looked at the world through the lens of management metrics, subjects like economics, marketing, and accounting began to fill our heads, and our vision of the world began to alter. The surprise quizzes necessitate prior preparation for each lesson. A manager is supposed to talk a lot, and the system of class participation marks reflects this. Group projects aid in the crystallization of specific concepts, such as Porter’s “five forces analysis” or the BCG matrix in the real world. The addition of lectures by famous people and domain experts is the icing on the cake.

Student-run bodies in various fields such as marketing, consulting, operations, and investments provide numerous possibilities to conduct and participate in various events that encourage us to apply what we study. Then there are cultural bodies, such as those for singing, dancing, and theatre, which play an important role in adding a parallel track to the academic work.

Aayush Aggarwal

Aayush is pursuing his MBA at IIM Kashipur, one of the most prestigious B-Schools in the country. He earned a bachelor of management studies with a major in finance from Ramanujan College, Delhi University. He is a motivated management student who is eager to work in a fast-paced, difficult workplace and continue to give impact to the organization he represents and serves. Aayush is a diligent, conscientious individual with excellent analytical skills who loves Finance. You can connect with him on LinkedIn.

Deadlines are sacrosanct

 ” Deadlines are Sacrosanct “The three magical words every Bschool graduate gets to hear very often. The phrase has been used many times by all, however, its importance, it seems, is yet to be known to many. The only sacrosanct rule at all IIMs is punctuality.

Good Management is only appreciated in its absence. So, while waiting for my food order in a queue made me realize how unaccustomed I have become to queues, waiting, and things not happening as they are supposed to. This further made me admire the beauty of time and how efficiently things happen in IIM Kashipur.

 I remember my first week of induction which was by far the busiest and most rewarding schedule as I was given a rehearsal for the life waiting ahead for me. I was reassured over and over that we will sail through it and no one has ever died of insomnia. For a moment 24 hours felt quite less seeing the ocean of things lined up -course work, assignments, enrolments, orientation sessions, alumni meet, student body meets, senior interactions, batch meets round the clock and then you have sacrosanct deadlines for them.

 If you want to know the value of one minute, ask the person who missed their deadline by a minute and has been awarded one grade lower than what they would have received if they had submitted the assignment on time.

 All this is done not to scare anyone nor does any faculty enjoy doing so, it is done to make us part of an erudite culture that values time above all commitments. As every management institute does, the IIM Kashipur framework serves as a paradigm of effective management. All tasks are done from a “better never than late” mentality, based on the central principle of punctuality. 

 The obligation of punctuality extends not only to students but also to both faculty and staff. No one is permitted to waste someone else’s time, resulting in a super-efficient system.When you have grown used to such a culture indoctrinated for the system to function smoothly, even a 15-minute line seems weird.

So my only tip is value and plan things ahead of time and keep an action plan ready for last moment hiccups. My go strategy for the same was to simply set all my clocks ahead by 15 minutes (and then forget about it).

About the Author:
Sakshi Poddar a Computer Science Engineer by qualification is now pursuing MBA (Analytics) from IIM Kashipur. She is a part of various student bodies like the Media and Public Relations Committee and Admission Support Body. She is an IT professional with 2 years of experience in Hewlett Packard Enterprise. She loves traveling and dancing. You can connect with her on LinkedIn

Why Women Are the X-Factor in the New Working Environment

New ways of working and leading are desired in today’s business environment.  In order to succeed in that system, organizations will need two fundamental sets of skills. The first being digital skills for which many organizations are actively hiring software developers, data scientists and analysts, experienced designers, and people with critical digital skills. The second skill set, however—is just as important: human-centred skills in areas such as communication, collaboration, motivation, emotional intelligence, creativity, and imagination.

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, its economic disruption and uncertainty, has only underscored the need for these skills. Over the next decade, these leadership skills will become must-haves as traditional, top-down approaches decline in the face of fast, highly collaborative, agile organizations. Nonetheless, today’s leaders will have to navigate uncertainty and comprehend the needs and challenges of various stakeholders in the ever-changing scenarios. Leaders must be empathetic and able to encourage others, inspire teams, develop relationships, and learn with humility, in a business world with increasingly differentiated, multi-functional teams that operate independently.

A NEW LEADERSHIP MODEL

While algorithms can perform standardised processes and make straightforward decisions much faster, cheaper, and more accurately than humans, other skills – which only humans can leverage, such as empathy, imagination, and judgment—are essential for complex problem-solving.

That’s why, in today’s agile organisations, leaders don’t just issue orders based on their own expertise or experience instead, they identify a problem and then support autonomous teams that do the actual work of solving that problem. Such leadership necessitates a level of vulnerability, such as someone who encourages and supports people who have better knowledge about a given subject than their superiors and are more likely to find a solution. 

Then, the question arises – How can women leaders contribute to this change? Something that many people already know – women tend to be highly empathetic, with strong emotional intelligence, active listeners who solicit ideas, collaborate, share credit, and change course when necessary. It has also been observed that when there are more women on a team, the collective intelligence of the groups tend to increase. Moreover, gender-balanced teams are how diverse leadership teams boost innovation than their competitors, and perform better. While empathy and relationship-building skills appear to be uncommon among leadership candidates, most organisations will find them in their own untapped pools of women employees and managers.

GROWING EVIDENCE OF WOMEN’S ABILITY TO LEAD IN THE NEW WAYS

Empirical evidence suggests that many of the essential leadership qualities are more likely to be displayed by women.  For example, a recent study published in Harvard Business Review found that women in leadership roles were ranked higher than men in a variety of key competencies, such as encouraging and motivating others, building partnerships, cooperation, and teamwork.

When looking at more granular skills, researchers from a German university discovered that women, in general, can accurately decipher emotions from people’s faces. Another research discovered that women are better at reading body language than men. According to a third study, men detect subtle signs of emotion like depression just around 40% of the time, while women can notice them 90% of the time. Furthermore, a study published in the journal Science found that having more women on a team improved the collective knowledge of the groups. Rather than attempting to dominate a conversation or a task, women are more likely to consider others, elicit feedback, listen actively, and take turns contributing. As a result, women-centric organizations have become more collaborative and better able to tap into the potential.

For organizations that understand the need to work and lead in new ways, and the imperative of diversity, the message is clear: workplaces need to identify people with these skills and put them in leadership roles. That was true even before COVID-19, but the pandemic has emphasised the relevance of empathetic, collaborative leadership. Companies that wish to reap the benefits of these leadership skills must increase their efforts to recruit, retain, and encourage women.

About the Author:

Payal Singh, a Production Engineer by qualification is currently pursuing MBA (Analytics) from IIM Kashipur.  She is a part of  Team Insite- Admission Support Body at the prestigious institution. You can connect with her on Linkedin.

Management from a Homemaker’s Lens

The word Management as defined in the dictionary means the process of dealing and coordinating with people. Management is a never-ending loop that begins when one gets up in the morning and ends when one sets the alarm for the next day and goes to sleep.

 Management is always conceptualized as a fancy degree from a Business school and jargons like Presentations, Entrepreneurship, SWOT, ROI, etc. Management is inevitably present and significant in all these fields, but what we often forget is that management is applicable in all walks of life. It covers all facets of our lives. We ignore this fact because we have been so used to doing these roles that we have forgotten about the management nature. Even a trip to Goa with friends or relatives requires proper planning so to effectively manage one’s schedule for an enriching experience.

 If we deep dive into our daily life schedule, I see my mother implementing all my MBA lessons in some way and the best part is though those decisions or acts of her do not bring any life-changing decisions but are pivotal for the smooth functioning of the house.

 The duties of a homemaker are frequently looked down upon, but as we look closely, we can see that becoming a homemaker demands immense management skills. One of the most difficult examples of management is managing an entire family, taking care of everyone’s special needs, settling petty conflicts among children, maintaining the bonds intact, ensuring food is prepared on time. All this might sound so simple when we compare it to the life of an MBA graduate but it is equally challenging and complex.

 If we draw an analogy between the life of a manager and a homemaker, it is quite indistinguishable. The only difference is the nature of the work they both execute. Just like in an organization, A manager is the one responsible for streamlining the tasks, planning things ahead of time so that the needs of the clients are fulfilled on time, and addressing the grievances of its employees. In the same fashion, Homemakers must plan for the whole family, predict future challenges, multitask and make the most use of their resources, and be armed with plans for any last-minute hiccups.

 Let us take a few examples where we see homemakers implementing various concepts of MBA.

 Before buying any vegetable, she does a SWOT analysis for it and checks for if it is the best available product in the market.

She keeps a close record of all house expenses and makes sure every expense is recorded and gets tallied with the money she has in hand. In some or the other way, she exhibits great accounting skills.

She doesn’t have a degree but yes she is a perfect manager and a successful leader.

About the Author
Sakshi Poddar a Computer Science Engineer by qualification is now pursuing MBA(Analytics from IIM Kashipur. She is a part of various student bodies like the Media and Public Relations Committee and Admission Support Body. She is an IT professional with 2 years of experience in Hewlett Packard Enterprise. She loves traveling and dancing. You can connect with her on LinkedIn

Case Study Competitions – How to make the best of opportunities!

“The price of victory is high but so are the rewards.”

Corporate competitions have been an integral and consistent part of my MBA journey. Especially in the 2nd year, when the entire classroom program was shifted to online mode, there was hardly any day when I wasn’t involved in brainstorming ideas for any competition. Hearing about being the Top D2C Champion from IIM Kashipur and my Institute being ranked 4^th, particularly when I was finishing my MBA journey, was the best way I could have summed up the significance of all my efforts.

Participating and investing time in multiple corporate competitions is indeed a difficult decision, especially amidst the conventions of a B-School, where a student has various academic commitments, projects, case studies with sacrosanct deadlines. There have been times when we had overlapping deadlines-prioritizing became the key factor there. There have been times where my team had to discuss and devise strategies working remotely, or work on competitions during the end term examinations as well. However, the extent to which these competitions enhanced my managerial learning by providing a parallel exposure to real-time industry-wide business problems, and a platform to evaluate my approach to these problems, made me keep the spirit alive and kept me going at every point.

During this time, I explored various domains, ranging from proposing a new product line in Market research for Thoucentric Bottoms-Up to preparing a Business Development Plan for CarEasy Spark. While proposing Supply Chain strategy for Tier-2 cities in the Flipkart Wired helped me gain perspective of the logistics industry, building a healthcare ecosystem in Infosys Ingenious and Optum Stratethon provided the insights of the technological advancements of this sector. Participating in 3M-CII helped us build a tech enabled product with a social impact. AGS Horizon navigated us through the emerging domain of hyperlocal fintech. In addition to this, I also participated in multiple B-School level competitions and managed to win a few. With this, I ended up with 2 National Winners, 1 Runners Up, 3 National Finalist, and 5 National Semi-Finalists in my tally.

Some key aspects that MBA aspirants should keep in mind, though these are not exhaustive:

1. In the initial year, experiment with building your team for the first few competitions until you get the right dynamics. Try to build a core team that will have zilch or constructive friction and no free-riders. Find members who have expertise, say it be market research, designing or technical domain knowledge. Motivate them. Teach them. Learn from them. And improve each other.
2. Making the most of your network, connecting with industry professionals to gain relevant key insights is of paramount importance.
3. The execution should be kept in mind so the idea should be minimalistic. Be thorough with your ground research and workflow. Try incorporating frameworks/models learnt in class.
4. During the presentations you need to ensure that you cover all the important content in the stipulated time frame. Try to make it as crisp and concise as possible. Ideally you can follow the approach – Problem Statement, Research, Insights, Ideas, Feasibility, Financials and Timeline.

Consistency and meaningful participation in competitions can increase your MBA learning to a great extent. Instead of taking it as only participating, take these as learning curves. If you want to make the most of your MBA journey, competitions undoubtedly provide a platform for you to learn and unlearn. My suggestion to juniors will be to participate in maximum number of competitions, keep yourself updated about recent developments and innovations, and always keep the hunger alive.

About the Author:
Shubham is an Industrial Engineer by qualification. He has completed his MBA from IIM Kashipur (Batch 2019-21) and has been recognized as the Top Competitive Leader from the Institute featuring him in Forbes India. He is an IT professional with 2 years of experience in ZS Associates. In his past time, he likes sketching & playing video games. You can connect with him on LinkedIn.

MBA: From a fresher’s viewpoint

Much bigger than merely a two-year course: MBA is an amalgamation of a plethora of domains, integrated so astutely that each one of them finds a core point of strength that others can gain from. This is exactly what it means when It is said that MBA caters for an overall holistic development of the students. However, the popular opinion states that the journey is slightly more rugged for the freshers. They are the lot without any prior exposure to a corporate world. Unaware of the adversities and the pre-requisites for the same, they step into this course in reticence. Self- consciousness, shyness and insecurity are some of the feelings that gush through their veins at the beginning, but not for long.

The first step in their holistic growth comes from the diverse pool of peers. During the first few weeks of their MBA journey, they meet a lot of people; some sharing the common apprehension while others who have already paced their journey beyond that. Through healthy and continuous interactions, this is where they learn the know-hows of a corporate life and how it changes and molds one’s personality. 

After a brief glimpse into the kind of life awaiting them, the next step of development comes in the classroom itself. Through experiential learning and case-based approaches that follow, students, irrespective of their academic backgrounds and experiences are invited to speak and encouraged to bring forth their ideas on to the table. None of the opinions are refuted in the classroom. The freshers are said to bring in much more creative ideas as compared to others, reason being their ability to not restrict their thinking in a particular domain. They allow themselves to fly freely. They are the optimistic lot and play the role of risk takers in group tasks and convince their team regarding the feasibility of the strategies undertaken.

The final step, which brings everybody on board and at par with each other on this journey, regardless of their prior corporate exposure, is their commitment to various student bodies. Student bodies are an integral part of an MBA curriculum. They give a glimpse into various aspects of work life that lies ahead. Adhering to the timelines, working in a team, taking leads frequently, dealing with conflicts etc. are the lessons drawn from it. It knows not to see someone from prejudiced eyes. This is the point where all the inhibitions of a fresher shatter and he/she finally starts to believe in being worthy of the course and standing tall with their peers, if not above then at least at par. 

So, it does not matter if you have years of work experience, or you are fresh out of college. An MBA curriculum needs you as much as you need it.

About the Author:
Nancy Raj, a BA honors in Statistics by qualification, is currently pursuing an MBA from IIM Kashipur. She is a part of various student bodies like the cultural committee and Admissions support body. She is fond of reading, writing and travelling. You can connect with her on LinkedIn

Explore the inevitable

Do you think MBA in an IIM is all about securing good grades and a 6 figure placement offer? Obviously, but not exhaustively. 

There are a plethora of opportunities and the exposure that a student gets here is quite enormous. What if I say, you are the ones pulling up sleeves and drafting up opportunities in terms of Bschool Competitions, Webinars with Corporate giants, Tedx Workshops, Start-up Fests, not a normal scenario in your high school and undergraduate education, but in a student-run campus like IIM Kashipur, you are the frontline strategist planning and executing the initiatives from alpha to omega. 

Name your interest, and we have a club for it. Well, most of us have this one thing that seems to be sweaty and daunting, the art of Public Speaking. You wouldn’t be surprised if I tell you that we have a very active and alive Toastmasters Club that helps you to break the shell that you have been building since childhood. Six months into the club, you will see the difference for yourself. Have you noticed a trend in recent years? I mean, it’s so evident in all the social media sites that the students of IIM Kashipur outperformed and bagged prizes in most of the corporate case study and other major competitions to quite an extent that it called for an organized club, The Corpus. The team of active participants majorly focuses on helping the students to compete and to provide an insight into the competition because the winners know the best!

Hola Amigo ! Bienvenue à la Maison 

Don’t be confused, it’s just a pinch of Spanish and a dollop of French that I have learned in a workshop and I probably want to show off a bit. During your stay at IIM Kashipur, you will come across a unique club and committee that promotes foreign languages and culture on the campus. From celebrating Halloween, language workshops to exchange programs, they inculcate the best practices to bridge the cultural gap and they train us to survive in any corner of the world. 

Take a small peek into the past, growing up, some of us wanted to design our own clothes, some of us even played with the camera toys and posed as serious photographers, some of us even posed a media person. To keep the child in you alive, we have Kaptured to capture the best moments at the campus, the design cell that makes us take pride in an IIM Tag with hoodies and T-Shirts and the MPRC, the media front that glorifies our college to the external world. All these are student-run clubs and committees, and they get exposed to the real corporate world even before stepping out of the campus. 

Every student in their lifetime at least once must have had this entrepreneurial instinct in them, whether the idea is good or bad, you would have dreamt to begin your own startup. To add fuel to your entrepreneurial instinct, we have Ecell with collaboration with FIED conducts workshops and I must mention their flagship event “Uttishtha”, which instills and brings out the hidden entrepreneurs to light. All these activities are done by the cell members, one can only imagine such huge and overwhelming responsibility and the impact that they can induce. 

The color green is associated with prosperity and the lush greenery scenes around the campus are the fruits to the effort of our ecology club, at one point you sip your coffee enjoying the scenic beauty, and indulge in few cheat moments while being still in the hustle and bustle environment. The students of the IIM Kashipur are compassionate and kind to the community surrounding them, through the Parivartan club, they give back to the community in multi-folds. 

A student studying at IIM Kashipur gets a chance to witness his managerial instincts in every possible way, from maintaining accounts, promoting events, and managing people, he puts the theoretical knowledge into practice. Managing clubs and committees is not a piece of cake, the outside exuberance is the result of every student’s contribution to the betterment of the fraternity. Every year the students pass the baton of their responsibility to the juniors to carry forward the legacy left behind, two years of journey embarks a special place in the hearts of every student at IIM Kashipur, it’s not just an IIM, it’s THE ONE TRUE IIM IN THE NORTH. 

About the Author:
Angelin is currently pursuing MBA from IIM Kashipur, with majors in Finance and Marketing. She is a part of the College’s Wellness Team. She is fond of playing Keyboard, going for long drives, cycling and listening to podcasts in her spare time. You can connect with her on LinkedIn

An Internship Experience at Agri-Tech Startup and how it converted to a PPO

PPOs are a major aspect for B-School students in securing a qualified and exclusive offer from companies that they wish to work for in the future. The idea to convert your Summer Internship into a full-fledged Placement Offer is not easy but not impossible too. This article provides a better glimpse of what one needs to keep in mind while looking to secure a PPO.

Agrigator, which is a seed-funded Agri-Tech Startup, is involved in Supply Chain and Logistics stream for providing a B2B Marketplace between the Producers and the Buyers. It was duly catering to HORECA outlets (Hotels, Restaurants, etc.) and FPIs by transporting food grains directly from Farmers and related sources, leading to a reduction in transaction costs, time, efforts, and simplifying the operations of such an unorganized system.

Keeping yourself in such a position, there are a few things that you can follow to slowly chart yourself and the learnings you receive in due course. Firstly, it is important to completely familiarize yourself with the ins and outs of the concerned organization and the sector that it functions in. Usual ways include following Annual Reports, Sector-Specific News from verified sources, Online Government Resources and Databases, and interaction with Industry Experts and the employees of the organization themselves. This will build up a robust base for you to understand your line of work for your project

Next, you must continue to interact with your assigned mentor or individuals who work in the same fields/organization to also understand the core competency, relative competition, domain-specific business strategies, and business models. This will ensure you are now settled enough to understand the assigned problem statement for the project and the outcomes/metrics that will measure your performance for the same.

Post this, it is time to directly jump into your project and use your acquired knowledge and resources to design a flowchart of your activities to arrive at a solution. This will involve a preliminary plan to proceed, important parameters to focus upon, following up on previously devised industrial practices, framework analysis, and carefully constructed notes on emerging trends and developments in the industrial market.

To make things easier, communicate with various stakeholders and experts that provide a concise view on the strategic feasibility, implementation, and impacts that a step of approach creates to resolve different issues. Gradually, clarity evolves to choose the optimal way to proceed that provides or maximizes the utility of the defined outcome. Typical meetings or regular brainstorming of ideas can greatly reduce doubts and little hiccups that you encounter on the way. Therefore, don’t rush to obtaining a solution without confirmation and thorough research of facts to avoid last-minute crisis. These little things go a long way to ensure that your final presentation is well received by the majority of stakeholders that reflects the ways and values the company aligns itself to.

Last but not the least, be prepared with anticipated questions and doubts that you are likely to face regarding the work you have done, outcomes achieved and the notes on the Final Presentation you will present to the concerned officials. It is no wonder that your Presentation skills should be excellent with the concise textual matter but supporting visual reports and facts that enforce your views and looks to the proposed solutions concerning various scenarios.
Keep a cool mind and be confident. The rest is on your meticulous way to manage your time and efforts to the fullest.

Getting a PPO depends not only on how well you did, but how well you reflect your skills and knowledge to be part of the company!

About the Author:
Som Samantray, a Chemical Engineer by qualification has pursued MBA (Marketing and Data Analytics) from IIM Kashipur. He has been part of various student bodies like the Econs-Economics Club and TEDxIIMKashipur. He is a fresher and is an ardent reader of books and novels and a blogger. You can connect with him on LinkedIn.