Know all about KIIT School of Management Bhubaneswar from Parag Parmar: (Alumnus)

Established in 1993, KIIT School of Management (KSOM) is located in the city of Bhubaneswar. It is affiliated to KIIT University. KSOM Bhubaneswar offers UG, PG and Doctoral level courses like BBA, Super MBA, MBA, Ph.D Management (Part-time) and Ph.D Management. Careers360 brings you an interview with Parag Parmar. He did his MBA from KIIT School of Management Bhubaneswar. In his interview, Parag shares his experience at KSOM. What was his life like as a student inside the institute? How did he choose the MBA programme at KIIT School of Management? And other important things from a potential students perspective about KSOM. To know more about KIIT School of Management Bhubaneswar read the full interview of Parag Parmar: with Careers360.

Careers360: Tell us about your domain and your work profile. At the professional level, did you pursue the same field you were interested in or you switched?

Parag Parmar: I work in Management Consulting as a Manager, Business Consulting & Transformation. My role is typically to lead projects for clients Business Transformation with a focus on Automobile and Mobility. | also work on Future of Mobility engagements, Vision creation for 10/30 years and sometimes Support organisations in Performance Improvement as well. on the downstream side which is focused on Sales, Customer and Channel/Distribution. The switch has only been towards the strategy side from operational roles.

Careers360: Can you briefly tell us about your career path so far?

Parag Parmar: I started off as a Area Sales Manager, handling dealerships on behalf of Mahindra & Mahindra. It was a role typical of any channel management professional and I was handling sales and marketing to drive numbers through the channel partners. I moved into a similar role in Honda cars after that for a brief stint. 2018 was a watershed moment in my career when | joined the consulting firm EY as a Consultant. I was doing Business Transformation and consulting projects for OEMs, Industry bodies, suppliers and govt agencies. This truly opened my horizon of work where the lines were blurred. It was no longer Marketing or Accounts/Finance or HR as a stream. I was looking at Businesses in entirety and learning everything as I dived deeper into engagements. The learning curve was so

steep that I even had to become an Engineer overnight to learn about some parts for a client engagement. Truly, I can say that I've had a career path engulfing multiple careers despite just 9+ years into the profesional world now.

Careers360: Is the Industry work different from what you learnt at___ College?

Parag Parmar: To some extent yes, and no.
Yes, because the basics remain the same. There is a problem statement which you need to deep dive and articulate well. You need to draw comparisons of how it can be solved and how others are solving it. You need to come out with solutions. Each assignment teaches us this in some form or the other. All the co-curriculars teach us this in every form. Handling of the pressure, creating win -win situations and being presentable - these are all learnt in college, yet you may not find it as a part of any subject or curriculum as such. These are personality and life skills that you need to pick up in college while building your own path to excellence. No syllabus will call all of this out, yet you have the best chance to learn this in college.

Careers360: How do you think your time in college has added value to your life, both professional and personal?

Parag Parmar: Professionally, it's made to be corporate and industry ready. Through the maze of corporate lectures, interactions, placements and conclaves it made an indelible mark of corporate life on us early in college itself. It's taught us to be patient and learn from small things in life, to make small improvements on the go and then look at the bigger difference you can create in the long run.

Personally, it has been enriching and full of love and appreciation - towards friends, colleagues, family, love and best of all, the never ending bond between teacher and student. Even today, | get to learn so much from my professors who are just a call away to guide me when | feel stuck in life. Similarly, with my friends who have been a backbone of my success, always Supporting me throughout and covering for me when they could.

Careers360: What was your initial thought process when you joined ___ College?

Parag Parmar: Initially, I thought studies were the only thing that could seal my way to a great career ahead. This Myth was broken, when I realized that there was equal amount of learning (or more) outside the class, than in it. I joined clubs and volunteered in conclaves. Managed to crack the core team interviews of the college fest and the Rotaract club. I learnt to serve the needy and derive funds without getting any support from college as well. All of this made me more resourceful, more presentable and gave me a story at the end. A story that | could tell someone and network instantly.

Careers360: You must have spent a memorable time at your ___ College. Do you miss being a part of it? Share a few good memories.

Parag Parmar: The Fest is one of the best memories I have. So are the times spent in the I placement cell either preparing students or getting them placed till 3 am at night. The evening walks in the beautiful KSOM campus are truly irreplaceable.

Careers360: Briefly take us through your life at the campus, the activities you used to do and your routine life.

Parag Parma: Daily life was hectic with 5-6 classes at the least and on top of that assignments, food breaks and late night hostel gaming sessions. We did manage some time off in the evening before dinner to congregate near the poolside, which was the best time of the day for us. Managing crazy schedules of the conclaves and to add to it the placements, were what made most of our 2nd year in college super hectic. We managed to get more than 95% of our friends placed and that was a feather for our caps. Very frequently, we would be sent on 15-30 day live project where we were selling something for a brand or startup and those gave us some real life sales experience.

Careers360: Apart from academics, what were the other activities you were involved in and how did it enrich your life?

Parag Parmar: As I said earlier, conclaves, placement cell activities and clubs made ourselves professionally ready. We were already managers, managing budgets and tight timelines and targets. Rotaract stood out as it grounded us and gave us a lot of peace and calm to be helping the needy through old age home visits, Children's day celebrations with slum children or post diwali campus cleanup drive under swachh bharat. One thing I and super proud of is that | have always been active in something or the other, which never let me stagnate.

Careers360: How did you keep updated with the industrial requirements and what was the role of the institute in it?

Parag Parmar: We had a session called BRU (Business Round up) where we were supposed to do Group discussion on the latest topics. These would be from a couple of days old newspapers so we had to be super updated on a regular basis. I was always app savvy so my daily dose of news would come early in the morning from TOI, ET and Business Standard. I wish we had Inshorts then, it would have added further value.

Careers360: You are a proud alumnus of this top College. What is the best part of the Institute from a student's perspective?

Parag Parmar: The hospitable teachers and staff, the lovely campus which feels always welcoming and the students who don't make us feel old. (Sigh, it's been a while since we've left).

Careers360: What is your suggestion/guidance for the __ (Course) aspirants?

Parag Parmar: Own your journey from day 1. Be ready to embrace a new challenge each day and invest in your career, not just by paying the fee or going to class, but by doing things beyond all of this. Enjoy as much in co-curriculars as you would in the hostels. Live a life your parents and friends would be proud of, and your college professors and staff remember forever.

Disclaimer: This content was distributed by KIIT School of Management, Bhubaneswar and has been published as part of Careers360’s marketing initiative.

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