Interview by Bhawna Rawat

FIIB

 

Prof. Kirti Sharma is currently working as a Professor at FIIB, New Delhi. She is an associate member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (2001 batch), a Post Graduate Diploma in Management specializing in Finance and Strategic Management from Management Development Institute, Gurgaon and an alumnus of the Sri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University. She has fifteen years of Industry-Academia experience.

Dr. Sharma’s industry experience included working with organizations like Deloitte, Price Waterhouse Coopers, Escorts Ltd., Vatika Ltd. and IBM Global Process Services.
During her teaching assignment, she was associated with IIMT-Oxford Brookes University for five years. She has completed the Certificate for Teaching in Higher Education from Oxford Brookes University, UK and has been associated with B-Schools across NCR (MDI-Gurgaon, IMI-Delhi, and IMT-Ghaziabad) for embarking guest lectures in the area of Finance. She has addressed Finance conferences in various national B-Schools and conducted training with industry personnel. Currently, she is the Chair for the B-involved program at FIIB. B-involved is a program which covers extra-curricular activities to develop leadership skills for the students.

Experience in the education industry after having worked as a Chartered Accountant

Having studied at one of the best colleges in India (SRCC) made the path to success a lot more easier. I learnt a lot from my teachers and professors (during school and college). I always admired them but aspired of joining the industry as a professional, hence completed C.A.. After working in the industry for 3-4 years, I wanted a better role for myself. The thirst for learning new things did not get accomplished there. Then at an AIMA conference, I got an invitation to teach in B-school, I was happy because I wanted to take up this challenge. I thoroughly enjoyed it and decided to move to academics for a while. After all industry-academia made a good mix. During this period I also experienced that academics gave unmatched job happiness. Teaching young minds helps you become innovative and think out of the box. I started working on innovative ways of teaching and really enjoyed my job.

Leadership philosophy to guide students

A is someone whould empower people. Someone with whom you can you can grow. place in you as the decision maker for them. We have a of mentoring here, where we are mentoring 10-11 students during their tenure at the institute. It has shown positive results in the past.

A true leader is somebody who motivates and empowers. If I am a good leader, I will ensure that students are empowered to achieve their goal. We only need to encourage them to apply themselves and we should not stifle initiative.

The significant challenges faced as the professor of FIIB

At FIIB, we have a academic bend and regime. Being a system, are very tight. Students don’t get as much time and we need to operate in schedules accommodating everything.

The curriculum ensures to include the best activities, projects and internships for honing students’ skills

We have “S sessions” in which students are trained to become better managers. These are taken by industry people. There are clubs for each domain like marketing, HR and finance. They conduct their activities regularly. There are industry visits and speakers from whom students get to learn a lot. Industry visit is a very good way of learning operations.

Our students go for a two week social internship program in December. It’s an internship with an NGO, where the students are asked to find the problems and find solutions like managers. an for the students prior to their summer internships. It helps the NGO as they get solutions to some of their problem and for our students, it is a wonderful exposure. Thereafter in March, we have the Corporate Internship for 2-3 months.

In addition, we have live projects offered to students from time to time.

The good thing these projects is that it helps students to take better decisions for their careers with regard to specializations at early stages.

For B-schools it is essential to provide placement opportunities to the students

The first step for a professional career is a good placement. If students are placed well, it motivates them. How they grow up the corporate ladder is dependent upon them. In the first there is nothing at stake. just what you have. If you are able to growth and success will be there.

Appreciating students’ efforts is the key to establish a teacher-student relationship

A student should not feel intimidated but must confide in. In class if somebody tries to answer, I appreciate it even if that answer is not correct. The courage to stand up and speak up is encouraged. I am concerned about basic discipline issues. A student studying a professional course cannot have a casual approach.

Making an ideal school environment at FIIB campus

FIIB offers ideal school environment to the students. I love to come here every morning, with students. Ideal college life means working hard and FIIB offers that completely.

At FIIB, we have all the . We have got fresher parties, cultural events, industry monthly gong ceremonies. The hard work is balanced by the fun part. We keep students on their toes. My suggestion to the students coming to FIIB is –“if you are for the action then FIIB is you”.

Important skills which students must possess in today’s environment

Skills are important but we are looking for a smarter professionals. One must be ready to analyse a situation and know how to react. The extracurricular wing at FIIB focusses on making students placements-ready.

Engaging in extracurricular activities helps you face challenges, respond to tough situations and manage people better. A good student should be flexible, aware of the global scenario as glocalization is the need of the hour.

Suggestions for the current youth and the aspiring students

Be proactive, be aware identify your strengths and weaknesses, know ways to overcome your weaknesses. Abstain From any kind of negative addictions which could make you a slave and not let you fly high.