The Hindu : Work experience makes them unique

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Apr 03, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka-Bangalore

Work experience makes them unique

By Our Special Correspondent

Bangalore April 2. Most business school students will spend the coming weeks in recreational activities. Many will travel to hometowns or tourist spots. For the management students of ICFAI Business School in Bangalore, it will be the start of a four-month internship in industries and a management research project with first-hand inputs.

Founded by the Indian Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India, this B-school has alumni beginning to make a name in top corporates. Besides the solid infrastructure, a knowledgeable faculty, and high-grade syllabus, what adds to the calibre of students is a programme which allows them to spend a large part of their time in real-life work environment. There is a difference between the summer internships other business schools have and what ICFAI expects, according to the Dean, T.R. Venkatesh. "Our students spend more time in leading organisations. The summer internship is for four months; so is the management research programme,'' he says.

The students have to do their internship after their third term for 16 weeks from April to July. This is considered a full-time course and the student works for six days a week like any other employee.

The programme is faculty-supervised, and the faculty will also bridge the gap between the classroom and the corporate world along with the students. The faculty, along with the employer-guide, appraise the students' performance regularly.

After the internship, the student comes back to college for the fourth and fifth term. After the fifth term, he or she returns to the industry for the Management Research Programme (MRP). Mostly, they go back to the same company where they did the summer internship, but they can opt for another company if they want to have a feel of other fields.

During the MRP, students work for five days a week throughout their last semester for four months.

The student comes to college only on weekends to study the remaining subjects. MRP is also faculty supervised; like the internship, it is also considered equivalent to five full courses academically.

Industries are happy to have the students because they work for a lesser cost compared to the salaries paid to the staff. It also helps them know the students over a long period and the association often leads to placements.

This year, about 115 students are doing their management research project with corporates such as Birla Sunlife, BNP, ING, ICICI Bank, Tata Life, Titan, Ashok Leyland, MICO, Wipro GE Medicals, Sonata, Oracle, IBM Consulting, PepsiCo, ITC, Wipro, Standard Chartered, and Himalaya Drugs.

"The companies are so pleased with the performance of our students that they are offered jobs while on the research programme,'' according to Ranji Singh, Chairperson (Placements) of the college.

What makes these students more competitive is that they pass of the college not just with a degree, but with a good amount of work experience.

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