Professor Joydeep Biswas, the Head of Placements at the KIIT School of Management, is an alumnus of XLRI Jamshedpur and IIT BHU. With 16 years of experience, he has worked in the IT, FMCG, Durables, and education sectors at several organisations like ITC, Nokia, and IBM. He teaches Marketing at the KIIT School of Management. Professor Biswas has consulted for FMCG, durables, Banking, and Financial services, tourism, retail, e-commerce, sound equipment, and poultry organisations on market research, sales and distribution, branding, and analytics, among other things. He has published two papers in his research interest areas, which are tourism, consumer behaviour, brand management, and distribution channel management.

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What is your philosophy of leadership? How would you describe your leadership style?

As a faculty member, my leadership style depends on the kind of student I am dealing with. If the student is highly motivated and high on intelligence, then my role is restricted to letting him or her bloom and simply mentoring as and when required. The students, who are willing to learn but not very intellectually strong, need more domain-related input and guidance from me. I try to motivate the students who lack the willingness to learn but have a great ability to comprehend. Finally, I am a strict authoritarian if the student is neither keen to learn nor a fast learner. My leadership style is dependent on the individual’s learning capability and learning attitude.

How do you strategize about the placements and plans for the companies to visit the campus for placements?

The placement is an outcome of the 2-year MBA program. Like any other system output, placement output is also a function of three things: the inputs, or the students, the processes, or the learning and training interventions, and the external environment, which comprises of economic, industry, and socio-cultural changes happening nationally and globally. Out of these three factors, the KSOM placement team focuses on process delivery since that is the factor we can influence and impact the most. The placement plans for each batch begin on the day the students are admitted. The strategy is two pronged with a focus on developing the students and collaborating with corporate organizations. The Kareer School at KIIT University assesses students at the start of the MBA program and develops an Individual Development Plan customized for each student. The students are then provided personal training inputs based on their profiles, capabilities, attitudes, skills, knowledge, and preferences. Subsequently, there are periodic evaluations of the students. On the industry side, our collaboration includes, but is not restricted to, placement invites. The companies also offer an eight-week summer internship to KSOM students during the months of May and June that KSOM faculty rigorously mentor, guide, and evaluate. All these interventions under the placement strategy have resulted in more than 140 companies visiting KSOM and a greater than 95% placement rate every year, with the current year’s average salary being INR 9.5 lacs per annum.

You have worked in the corporate and educational sectors, so what is the major difference you see between these two sectors?

I feel that the educational sector has changed drastically over the last few years and is as professional as the corporate sector. There are daily new challenges and opportunities to improve and make a difference, just like in any other sector. The education sector is evolving today at a frantic pace, be it the student attitude, technological innovations, or industry requirements, and hence it is critical to adapt regularly as an educator. However, the positive difference that I feel as an academician is the higher level of autonomy that I have and the greater impact that I can have on an individual’s life. The satisfaction of having a positive influence on a student’s life is something that cannot be described in words.

What were the challenges you faced during the placement/internship period?

The major challenges faced during the placement and internship period are related to ensuring smooth information flow, maintaining complete fairness, and providing moral and psychological support to the students. Placement season is a high-pressure, high-intensity process for all the stakeholders, especially the students. Hence, the challenge is to offer them full backing and assure them that the placement process is fair, unbiased, and designed to maximise their chances of being placed.

Any insights into how to prepare for placements/internships?

The placement and internship process are about being consistent and focused from the first day. The placement/internship preparation has four elements, the first is focusing on developing a solid fundamental base of domain knowledge, which shall happen by attending classes regularly and attentively. Second is the identification of targeted companies and researching their background, available roles, and required skills. Third is regularly practising for the placement process activities like GD, PI, and case analysis. Additionally, one must work on one’s soft skills, like communication and presentation, and be professionally groomed during the process. Finally, preparation involves being aware of the global and national events happening in the present context.

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What do you think your roles and responsibilities to the college and the students are?

My roles and responsibilities to the college include ensuring that the placement process for the companies is conducted smoothly. This involves the timely flow of information from the companies to the students, the registration of interested students for the given profiles, getting the students prepared for the companies where they are shortlisted, motivating the students to give their best during the process, and handling exceptions, if any. I am also responsible for the companies so that they can identify candidates who match their requirements and easily fit into their corporate culture.

What are the top companies visiting the campus? Could you name a few?

We have several top companies from different sectors visiting KSOM every year. For example, TCS from the IT sector is a key recruiter. Major banks and finance organisations like ICICI Bank, ICICI Lombard, HDFC Bank, HDFC AMC, LnT Finance, Motilal Oswal, and Barclays recruit from KSOM. From the consulting space, all the big four – KPMG, PwC, EnY and Deloitte - visit KSOM for hiring. Large international FMCG firms like Hindustan Unilever, Nestle, Mondelez, and Perfetti regularly hire from KSOM. Some of the other well-known recruiters offering great roles are Amazon, Schneider, Afcons, and AC Nielsen.

What is the highest and the average package offered?

The placement at KSOM is not only about the pay package but also about the diversity of industries and the quality of the roles on offer. KSOM has consistently achieved more than 95% placements over the last decade, with students being placed in reputed organisations in high profile roles. The highest package offered last year was Rs 22.8 lac per annum, and this year’s average package is INR 9.5 lacs per annum.

Any message for the Aspiring students who want to join KSOM?

My message to the aspiring students who want to join KSOM is to join an MBA college for the right reasons. The most important reason for joining an MBA college should be to learn management concepts and build a strong foundation in this area. Apart from this, the chosen MBA college should also ensure that the students can apply these managerial concepts in real-life corporate contexts so that they are industry-ready even before they pass out. These objectives will be achieved when the MBA College has a rigorously updated curriculum, high-profile faculty with relevant industry experience to deliver this curriculum, excellent infrastructure to facilitate smooth delivery, and a very strong industry engagement so that students have sufficient practical application oriented learning through corporate exposure. KSOM ranks very high on all these critical parameters. Since KSOM focuses strongly on the required inputs and desired processes to develop an industry ready corporate professional, the final output is in the form of high quality, high-paying placements and immense entrepreneurial success. Hence, my suggestion to aspiring students is to select an MBA college for the right set of reasons and not for frivolous reasons like location or proximity to home.

How do you prepare the students for the placements? What are the different programs carried out for the same?

At KSOM, we take our industry engagements and placement preparations very seriously. The student preparation begins with placement training from the first semester itself. The regular placement classes prepare the students for GD, PI, aptitude, communication, and current affairs. From the third semester onwards, students are made to prepare for their domain knowledge. The students are also provided company-specific training for each company visiting the campus for placements. During the entire duration of the course, the students are continuously assessed through offline and online exams so that they can identify their respective improvement areas. To make the students industry ready and provide them with practical corporate exposure, they undergo a mandatory eight week summer internship program and are exposed to senior industry managers through various industry engagement events like conclaves, corporate mentorship programs, and weekly guest lectures by industry stalwarts.