Ask & Answer: India's Largest Education Community

The GIBS Business School has a structured ecosystem in place to support students interested in entrepreneurship (i.e. innovation, mentoring, and practical experience with a startup). The programme is called the Innovation, Research and Entrepreneurship Program (IRE) and involves studentsʼ working with faculty and industry mentors on their entrepreneurial business ideas/research projects/startup ideas.

Students in IRE have the ability to attend workshops on entrepreneurship, attend mentorship sessions for startups, participate in business plan competitions, and network with successful entrepreneurs & investors (i.e. GIBS creates an environment to help students connect with other entrepreneurs and learn from them).

In addition, GIBS encourages students to participate in live projects, internships at startups, and incubation-style activities so they can test their ideas.

By supporting aspiring entrepreneurs in this manner, GIBS helps students develop problem-solving skills, leadership skills, and gain experience launching and managing a business before they even graduate.

The GIBS Business School employs an organized approach to secure jobs for students. The school has placement activities that start early throughout the programme and continue until graduates are placed by connecting students with companies through an established and well-defined placement cell.

The placement staff provides ongoing assistance through finishing school training modules, resume writing sessions, aptitude testing, interview preparation and mock interviewing programs, which give students the tools necessary to secure employment.

The placement office also has strong relationships with employers from many industries and hosts numerous recruiting/placement related events on campus, including pre-placement discussions, campus interviews and job fairs, as well as internships and industry interaction.

The placement office has a placement coordinator and a support team of faculty and student representatives, who serve as the bridge between employers and students, facilitating the transfer of information and scheduling interviews.

Students typically go through two major placement phases. During the first phase, when a student receives an offer, the student leaves the placement process, thereby giving other students an opportunity to secure.

The second major phase of placement allows students to apply for higher-paying or "dream" company positions. By allowing students to apply to other positions, they ultimately have many opportunities to accept more than one offer.

The GIBS Business School placement cell has a focus on continuous skill development through well-defined processes, partnerships with employers, and organized staffing events to ensure students have the necessary skills to successfully secure positions through the placement office.

The internship and live project experience are important components of the GIBS Curriculum because they allow students to connect academic study with practical application in the workplace. Internships provide students with an opportunity to gain hands-on experience working at a company, learn more about the culture of the organisation and apply theories learned in class to solve challenges faced by businesses.

Live projects provide students with an opportunity to work on real-time issues that the industry is dealing with; students will be required to analyze data, create strategies and make presentations to industry professionals on how they would approach these problems. These hands-on experiences help develop students' problem-solving skills, improve their decision-making abilities, build teamwork skills and confidence.

Additionally, the internship and live project experience gives students an advantage in creating a strong resume and enhances their employability by providing them with experience working in the industry prior to graduation.

In order to prepare students for success in their chosen industries, GIBS blends theory with practical experience and functional skill-training through its unique approach of combining education with hands-on training. GIBS has created a curriculum that combines theory with practice so that students receive relevant academic experience as well as experiential learning through live projects, internships, case studies, and other industry-facing assignments. Additionally, students benefit from numerous guest lecturer presentations and interactions with various industry professionals, all of whom provide students with invaluable experience and perspective regarding current business practices and future employment opportunities. GIBS also emphasizes developing students' professional skills through experiential learning in such areas as communication, soft-skill enhancement, aptitude training and leadership development through presentations, workshops, and group projects. Through this method of educating students, GIBS develops the confidence, practical skills, and professional experiences necessary to enable all graduates to hit the ground running when they begin their professional careers.