Getting calls from various IIMs was indeed a dream come true. Although I was elated with the selection interest shown by so many top-notch institutes, I had to make a decision to choose one out of them as the place where I would be for the next 2 years of my life which would be instrumental in shaping my career in the years to come.
To make the decision, I first laid down a few parameters for evaluating the institutes which were: academic excellence, peer learning, corporate relations and placements, infrastructure and co-curricular activities. These parameters I believe are imperative for a manager to be as they go a long way to ensure that the students passing out are considered as the best managers in the market. Since I have made the decision to join IIM Raipur, I shall go ahead and detail how the institute scored in the parameters I had selected.
IIM Raipur has an excellent in-house faculty along with various visiting faculties from other top colleges of the country. The marketing and finance departments especially have very reputed faculties which are the main areas of interest for me to specialize in during the course of my MBA. Along with an excellent faculty base, the institute also gives special attention to the quality of the incoming students. Students are carefully scrutinized in all aspects to ensure a diverse class with students being from backgrounds ranging all the way from engineering to medical disciplines. Such diversity in class helps bring in various different viewpoints from the students which help us in expanding our horizons of creativity and thinking.
The institute along with its associated committees have been diligently working very hard in ensuring the students get excellent placements while graduating from the institute which also shows in the continuous increase in placement offers and companies every year also, they ensure the students are continuously in sync with the corporate world by organizing regular workshops for interactions and skills development.
In spite of the positives mentioned above, the institute did have one minor drawback and that is the infrastructure constraints it faces because of being in a temporary campus but, this drawback was immediately negated by the fact the institute shall be shifting to its new state of the art permanent campus at Naya Raipur which is touted to be the future face of the city and the state. The shift has been tentatively decided around September 2018 but still, the temporary campus has been maintained according to the high standards of an IIM as set by its older counterparts. Clubs and committees here also form an integral part of the IIM Raipur life as the institute is student-driven right from taking care of the hostels to ensuring the academic competitiveness of the students.
Considering all these factors, I chose IIM Raipur over the rest as I believe that this is the institute which would help me smoothen out all my rough edges and make me an effective, competent and a responsible manager of the future.
Which ABG company you would like to join and Why?
Among the Aditya Birla Group of companies, the company I would want to work for is Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited which houses brands such as Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Forever 21 and many more, specifically in the area of sales and marketing. It is India’s top fashion lifestyle entity with revenues upwards of ₹6,000 crore and growing at a rate of 10% on year on year basis. Working for one of my favourite brands along with the immense exposure a career with the Aditya Birla Group offers, makes an opportunity with them a dream come true.
-SARTHAK MEDHI is a First-year student at IIM Raipur