‘My college mentored me before every placement interview’

Shweta Patel, who is pursuing a post-graduate diploma at Apeejay School of Management (ASM), has secured a placement at Deloitte as a tax consultant. “It was my first job interview, and I am happy I cleared it,” she says. In an interview, she credits her teachers at ASM for preparing her well before she embarks on her professional journey.

Excerpts:

How did you decide to join ASM?

I was looking for a good management college and that’s when a friend recommended ASM to me. After the first year of PGDM, I selected Marketing and Finance as my specialisation.

In what ways did ASM make you industry-ready?

ASM has been a great support from the beginning. We had allotted mentors to prepare us for job placement. There was another teacher to assess your strengths and weaknesses and help you work on them. The placement cell helped us throughout with regular updates about campus hirings, and interview tips to name a few. I even got to interact with the alumni working at Deloitte who gave me good advice on how to prepare for the job interview.

Additionally, we had two-three guest lectures in each subject by industry professionals every semester or trimester. They gave us a practical understanding of the industry and how we could prepare for it.

In what ways did the college promote hands-on learning?

It is not just theoretical learning at ASM. The college focused on keeping us up to date with the current trends in the corporate world. In the first trimester itself, we worked on various live projects for four-five weeks. I also did a summer internship in equity research for three months. Students usually take up four-five projects, which help them immensely in getting the required industry exposure.

How did your mentor prepare you for the job interview?

We had dedicated mentoring sessions for each interview round, so we were all well-prepared beforehand. The faculty took special classes to prepare us for written tests. There is also a language lab in our college dedicated to improving students’ communication skills, which helped us a lot.

Would you recommend ASM to MBA aspirants?

Absolutely! The faculty and the placement cell are extremely dedicated. Their main goal is to get us placed in good companies.