What skills can you learn in MBA? Here’s what an Apeejay alumnus has to say

Jaffy Gill, an alumnus of Apeejay School of Management (ASM), has countless memories of his time at the college. It is not just about reminiscing; he continues to leverage all his valuable learnings at ASM in his professional career to date. Currently working as a Project Manager in Kantar, a data analytics and brand consulting company, Jaffy shares in an interview how ASM professors guided him, the benefits of an MBA degree, and more. Read on:

You completed your MBA degree from ASM in 2016. What memories do you have of the institute?

I have plenty of memories! Right at the beginning of our course, we were given the opportunity to interact with ASM alumni from different industrial backgrounds, which turned out to be a great learning experience. Apart from that, the continuous support and guidance we received from our professors and mentors was something that added a lot of value. I remember the mentors assigned to our batch were invested in the overall development of the students. They ensured every student was given individual attention to help them work on their strengths and weaknesses. This mentorship programme proved to be of great importance for the students of ASM. Not to mention the various cultural fests that we got to be a part of at the college—they helped us grow beyond our academic performance.

You pursued an MBA in HR and Operations. Was that always your plan?

Well, I had certain reservations about opting for this stream. But when I started learning more about HR and Operations in the first year of the MBA course, including other subjects, I became sure of what exactly I wanted to pursue. Later, I did a two-month internship with Maruti which reinforced my decision of going ahead with the course.

According to you, what are the key learnings that an MBA degree offers?

One of the things you learn is critical thinking which is of foremost importance. At ASM, what facilitated this was case studies which provided hands-on experience on how to implement our theoretical knowledge. Besides, MBA inculcates managerial skills which begin with how you organise yourself and your work, leadership skills in terms of developing into a reliable and responsible individual who people can bank on, negotiation skills which come in handy when you face clients and stakeholders, and prioritisation.

You are in a project management role at present. Why did you choose it instead of an HR role?

HR comprises operational work too, like designing a learning and development programme or setting up a hiring plan, and so on. So, in a way, it involves a project managerial aspect as well. In my current role as a project manager, my work involves operations as well as handling teams and stakeholders, where I can leverage my knowledge in HR management.

Word of advice for MBA aspirants.

Always choose your stream based on your interest and goals, without succumbing to any external pressure. Do a lot of research on that. Recognise your capabilities and work on building them.