What are some of the trends that you need to keep in mind if you have Finance in mind for your career going forward? Where should you invest your time to get the best results and prepare yourself for the finance roles of the future? We asked the same questions to Prof. DN Panigrahi who teaches Finance and Bank Management at Goa Institute of Management. Prior to joining GIM, Dr. Panigrahi has been teaching and doing research for the last 17 years and has worked with two major PSU Banks namely SBI and Indian Overseas Bank. Here are the excerpts of the interview:
Professor, you have an impeccable experience of over 12 years in developing future leaders for the BFSI sector. Over the years the hiring trends have changed tremendously year on year, how have you seen the academic curriculum adapt to such a constantly evolving need?
The academic curriculum should be dynamic, contemporary, and industry-relevant. The curriculum should constantly be reviewed and revised to meet the current and future needs of the industry, be it BFSI or any other sector for that matter. The focus of the curriculum has been new technology, digital banking, risk management, data analysis, quantitative, analytical, and computational skills, etc at GIM. There has been thrust on delivery of contemporary industry-relevant knowledge and skills so as to create job-ready talent.
What are some of the trending careers in finance which your students have shown a high degree of interest in recent times and how do you advise them to approach it?
Some of the trending careers in finance are commercial banking, credit analysis, equity and fixed income research, investment banking, private equity and venture capital, alternative investments analysis, and investment, risk management, private banking & wealth management and quantitative finance, etc. My advice will be to hone the quantitative, analytical, and computational skills and take on challenging career opportunities.
MBA Aspirants looking to specialize in Finance mostly end up contemplating if they should opt for Internationally recognized certifications like CFA & FRM. What would you suggest to these students?
As a matter of fact, I always advise my students who are serious and want to pursue high finance careers to enroll, along with PGDM/MBA, for internationally acclaimed certifications like CFA, FRM/PRM, or CFP, etc. So, it always helps to first get yourself acquainted with the basics and at the same time get certifications to enhance your knowledge. Getting the best of both worlds is the key.
According to you, does the future career opportunities for MBA graduates lie in the BFSI domain and how can the required skillsets be developed during a postgraduate program?
In my opinion, future career opportunities for MBA graduates aiming to make a career in the BFSI sector lie in big data analytics, AI & ML, risk management, private banking & wealth management. So the students need to acquire skills in the areas of AI & ML, risk management, predictive modelling, and quantitative finance while pursuing their PGDM/MBA programme from any institute. The BIFS program at GIM Goa is equipped with course material that can help students prepare for the future of finance roles.
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