Report on “Mock Interview Sessions by Industry Experts”

Life Science Association and Placement cell, Department of Life Sciences arranged ‘Mock Interview sessions’ by Industry Experts for the outgoing post graduate students of the Department of Life Sciences from 27th October to 5th November, 2020 over telephonic mode.

The activity was co-ordinated by Dr. Anish Nag. Industry experts from various companies such as Curateq Biologics, Biocon Biologics, Gaiagen Technologies and BIBCOL took part in this initiative. 16 final year Post-Graduate students from all three disciplines namely Botany, Zoology and Biotechnology participated in the interview process.

Report on Covid-19 Social Awareness Digital Campaign

Life Science Association, Department of Life Sciences initiated a social awareness digital campaign on 20th October, 2020 to curb the spread of COVID 19 infection for a month. We observed overwhelming responses from students by their active participation in preparing e-posters on COVID awareness.

Dr. Anish Nag led the programme as a Faculty Coordinator and Life Association lead student volunteers Mr. Rohan, Ms. Bhadra and Mr. Suhas coordinated the overall campaign.

Recruitment in the Development Sector

Job opportunities in the development sector have evolved from ‘just grass root NGOs’ to a variety of categories ranging from international NGOs, social foundations, Corporate Social Responsibility/Corporate foundations, social enterprises, social consulting organisations, funders, ecosystem creators and research organizations etc. Christ (Deemed to be University) offers various undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in Sociology, Social Work, Economics and Psychology for students to pursue a career in the Social Sector. More than the academic qualification, it is a passion to work and contribute to meaningful changes in the society that recruiters look for while hiring in the development sector. Unlike the Corporate space, an emotional connect with the stake holders is a driving force for a successful career while working amongst the community.

Over the last decade, the social sector has witnessed a paradigm shift. The sector is now much more diverse in terms of career opportunities, and thereby, more open to accepting and providing these opportunities to people from different backgrounds, with different hopes, aspirations, skill sets and visions of change. The rise of a Professional Social Sector in India has opened a plethora of opportunities, especially for the millennial generation. All the young minds, bright students, and even experienced professionals can now build a meaningful, satisfying and financially sustainable career in this field. One is no longer required to ‘sacrifice’ by working only as volunteers or contractual staff.

Social sector has seen a significant growth in the past decade and is witnessing the emergence of numerous job profiles, and a wide array of viable career options to fulfill the huge shortage of professional talent. The sector has job opportunities for a varied range of professionals which include strategy building, communications & engagement, fund raising, being part of the CEO’s office (strategy, data based decision making, planning), Managing Monitoring & Evaluation, Programme leadership, Corporate Social Responsibility, Partnerships & Alliances, Social Entrepreneurship, Operational Leadership  etc.

Some of the major recruiters at Christ (Deemed to be University) in the development sector include Azim Premji Foundation, TATA Trusts, Vedanta Ltd, ITC Foods, Bosch, Nudge Foundation, Justice and Care, NuWare Systems, Saojini Damodaran Foundation, Teach for India, Gandhi Fellowship to name a few. The recruited students are from multiple undergraduate and postgraduate Programmes like MSW, MSc Clinical Psychology, MA Applied Sociology & BA Sociology / Psychology etc. Salary ranges between Rs 3.00 lacs to Rs 5.00 lacs per annum, Cost to Company (CTC). Job profiles offered include working as Preraks in Swachh Bharat Mission, Coordinators in Corporate Social Responsibility activities, Programme Coordinators, Trainers, Management Information System (MIS) Coordinators, Fund Raising Executives etc.

Students at Christ (Deemed to be University) develop the necessary skill sets for a career in the development sector through various social sensitization programmes initiated by Centre for Social Action (CSA), Christ (Deemed to be University). Centre for Social Action primarily focuses on student communities and their sensitization on various issues affecting the poor and marginalized sections of the society. This is undertaken so as to facilitate sustainable changes in the lives of the poor and the oppressed through active participation of the student community, and equip the students with ideals and values for effective contributions to the society. Centre for Social Action was initiated with the intention of enabling the student community to imbibe the values of social responsibility, as envisaged in the Core Values, Vision and the Mission of Christ (Deemed to be University).

The main activities of Centre for Social Action are rural projects in the sectors such as health, education, social/community development, empowering community-based organizations (CBOs), land development, agricultural development, empowering the community through women socially, politically and economically in the states of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala, Telangana and Chhattisgarh. 

Volunteering at Center for Social Action has had a lasting impact on the career choices of many students towards the development sector. These students are currently working in different organizations in the development sector and also in the field of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

Recruitment by Top Pharma Companies

India is the largest provider of generic drugs globally. Indian pharmaceutical sector industry supplies over 50 per cent of global demand for various vaccines, 40 per cent of generic demand in the United States and 25 per cent of all medicine in the United Kingdom. Indian pharmaceutical sector is expected to grow to US$ 100 billion, and the medical device market is expected to grow to US$ 25 billion by 2025. Pharmaceuticals exports from India stood at US$ 19.14 billion in the Fiscal Year 2019 and US$ 13.69 billion in Fiscal Year 2020. Pharmaceutical exports include bulk drugs, intermediates, drug formulations, biologicals, Ayush & herbal products and surgical. The Department of Chemistry, Christ (Deemed to be University) students have an excellent placement record over the years, and 2019-20 is no different. 

With a placement percentage of over ninety, Christ (Deemed to be University) offers one of the best placement opportunities for MSc Chemistry students. Some of the giants from the pharmaceutical sector like Dr Reddy’s Laboratory and Cipla are amongst our regular recruiters. In addition to these, we also had organizations like Syngene International, Jubliant Biosciences, GVK Biosciences for campus placements in the current academic year. The various positions recruited for include Junior Scientist, R&D Trainee to name a few.

The students are groomed for a corporate career through a mixture of intern-ships and various campus activities. While the mandatory 3-month internship in the pharmaceutical industry and research institutes like Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bangalore; Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore and National Chemical Laboratory (NCL), Pune, provide the students with the much-needed exposure to the working of the industry. The internships also provide hands-on training on the use of sophisticated instruments, opportunity to work in a group, execute projects, handle differ-ent roles and follow written protocols in carrying out projects.

The following guest lectures and talks were conducted by the Department of Chemistry – “Controlled Crystal Growth and Functional Coatings through Microfluidic Reactors” by Dr Abhiteja Konda, Nano Science and Technology Division, Argonne National Laboratory,  Illinois, USA. A lecture on Industrial Processes, “ Stages of Drug Discovery - Bench Side to Bed Side”, by Dr Govinda Raju, Deputy General Manager, Anthem Biosciences Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore, was conducted.

Career Guidance sessions through Skype were also conducted as following – Insight on Career Perspectives by Dr. Suman Chakrabarty, Post Doctoral Researcher, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Career Guidance and Opportunities Abroad by Dr Abhiteja Konda, Nano Science and Technology Division, Argonne National Laboratory,  Illinois, USA. The speaker gave guidance on Re-search and Post-doctoral Research abroad, highlighted on the different branches that a Chemistry postgraduate student can pursue, and also the eligibility criteria for different Universities around the world and how an effective application can be written were discussed. A workshop on “Advanced Materials, Biosustainability and Energy” was conducted by the Department of Chemistry in association with The National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI). The convenor was Prof. Chandrabhas Narayana from Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research.

The Journal Club, Department of Chemistry, Christ (Deemed to be University), helps ‘students study research articles’ under the guidance of a faculty and present it at a common forum. It helps inculcate a passion for research and also helps the students to read and interpret research articles. Campus activities like guest lectures, career guidance sessions, fests, cultural events and workshops help the students in honing skills in leadership, teamwork, decision making, communicating etc which mould them into better working professionals.

Report - Guest Lecture on Career Opportunities in Aquaculture & Fisheries

Department of Life Sciences, CHRIST (Deemed to be University) organized a virtual guest lecture on “Career opportunities in Aquaculture & Fisheries” on 21st of October 2020 (Wednesday). Students from the various Institution participated in this event. Dr. Karthick Ramachandran, Founder & CEO, Vetbiotics Animal Healthcare Pvt Ltd, Mumbai has delivered his talk on “Career opportunities in Aquaculture & Fisheries”. The welcome address was given by Dr. A. Paari (Assistant Professor, Department of Life Sciences) followed by introducing of the speaker by Dr. Ganesh (Professor, , Department of Life Sciences).

Dr. Karthick explained about the increasing careers opportunities for science students and jobs available with a various companies and employers, including state and federal government agencies, academic institutions, and fish farms. He enlightened the audience with the available career opportunities in aquaculture that merely require a high school diploma and some hands on-the-job training. Moreover, in his talk, he described how an increasing number of employers in this industry prefer job candidates with undergraduate education, and certain aquaculture careers, including high-level management and government positions, require graduate-level education.

Dr. P. Manikantan (Assistant Professor, Department of Life Sciences) moderated this event. The session concluded with the vote thanks delivered by Mr. John Britto (MSc Zoology).

Report - Academic Lecture on Immunity in The Human Neonate

A formal informative academic lecture on "Immunity in the Human Neonate" was organized by the Department of Life Sciences, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bangalore, in association with King's College London (KCL) for the students of UG and PG courses of Life-Sciences on 20^th of October, 2020. The event was jointly convened by Dr. Biljo V Joseph and Ms. Dolan Mitra, Country Adviser-India, KCL, and was hosted online on Microsoft Teams. The virtual programme began with an introductory welcome address by Ms. Dolan Mitra, followed by the Keynote Speaker's academic lecture delivery.

The orator of the academic lecture was Dr. Deena Gibbons, Lecturer in Immunology & MSc Immunology Programme lead, School of Immunology and Microbial Sciences, KCL. The lecture covered various aspects of infection and infection-related complications as significant causes of death and morbidity following preterm birth in human neonates. The speaker addressed what is known about the immune system of babies born prematurely over their first few weeks of life and adult humans. It was demonstrated that preterm babies, including those born extremely prematurely, can rapidly acquire some adult immune functionality levels. The session concluded with a question-answer session and a vote of thanks delivered by Ms. Dolan Mitra.

The event provided in-depth knowledge to the students of the Department of Life Sciences about the identifiable differences in immune profiles of neonates and adult humans, which may allow us to predict the mechanism of immunity of neonates with impaired immune function. Furthermore, various applications of this study, such as the effect of the SARS-CoV-2 maternal infection on the neonatal immune system's status, were discussed.

Placements in IT sector

 

The Department of Computer Science at Christ (Deemed to be University) and the Placement Office has facilitated some of the best placement opportunities for students in the Information Technology (IT) sector. This year has been no different as we had some of the top Information Technology firms visiting the campus to recruit some of the exceptional talents from the existing pool of students. Fortune 500 firms like Walmart, Exxon Mobil, Shell, Amazon and top Information Technology firms like Wipro, Accenture, Dell, Cognizant, Infosys, DE Shaw are a part of the distinguished list. The top packages offered were in the range of Rs 5.00 lakhs to Rs 9.50 lakhs, Cost To Company (CTC).

 The Department of Computer Science, by incorporating a mix of industry internships and a course curriculum with latest technical skills like Java, C, C++, Python, R and subjects like Data Structures and Design, Analysis of Algorithms ensure that the students are a notch above the others when it comes to employability skills. The mandatory five-month internship for the final year postgraduate students, also help the students with industry working experience. Most of these internships are converted to full-time job opportunities on completion of the academic calendar.

 The Department has come up with various innovative initiatives to bridge the academia-industry gap and enhance the employability skills of the students. Labyrinth, a club for the UG students, organises coding competitions and encourages students to participate in hackathons.

Corporate Connect is another event where business leaders and professionals from the industry address the students regarding latest tools and technology in the IT sector. The following guest lectures were conducted by the Department of Computer Science, Christ (Deemed to be University), by Industry Experts. “Step into Artifical Intelligence (AI) Era” by Mr Vaira Selvam, Capgemini; “Cloud on Scale” by Mr Tripun Goel, Samsung Research Institute and “Machine Learning using TensorFlow” by Dr Siddarth Nair, Founder, XFINITO Biodesigns

 Apart from technical skills, soft-skills training programme for the final year UG and PG students were conducted by the Placement Office, which also covers key areas like resume writing, personal interview skills, mock group discussions and digital literacy. Few digital skills that students are required to learn are Word, PowerPoint, Excel, how to save data on cloud platforms, how to use google forms and respond to emails etc. The Soft-Skills training programme helped to instil confidence in the students to face different rounds of the campus recruitment process.

REPORT ON INTERNATIONAL WEBINAR ON FLOWER POLLINATOR INTERACTIONS ORGANIZED BY GREEN ARMY, DEPARTMENT OF LIFESCIENCES ON 26 SEPTEMBER 2020

 The Department of Life Sciences, along with the Green Army organized an international webinar on flower pollinator interactions. The event was held on 26th September 2020 at 6 PM through Google Meet platform and streamed on YouTube. The speaker was Dr. Annemarie Heiduk a postdoctoral scientist from the School of Life sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. She is an expert on the chemistry and fly-pollination mechanism in the genus Ceropegia (Asclepiadoideae, Apocynaceae). She spoke about the specialization of floral scents that attract fly pollinators using unique chemical mimicry strategies. In one of the species of Ceropegia, Ceropegia sandersonii, which grows in Kwazulu-Natal area in South Africa, the pollinators are kleptoparasites, i.e., they steal the food from other arthropods like spiders. Therefore, Ceropegia sandersonii has evolved chemical compounds that mimic the compound emitted by the dead insects to attract its pollinators. This method of pollination is termed as kleptomyophily. This talk was fascinating and introduced the students to the world of pollination ecology. This virtual event was attended by about 150 participants and there was an intense discussion with the speaker.

REPORT ON INVITED TALK ON RECENT TRENDS IN WILDLIFE CRIME HELD ON 7 OCTOBER, 2020 ORGANIZED BY DEPT OF LIFE SCIENCES

 The Department of Life Sciences, CHRIST (Deemed to be University) organized an invited talk on “Recent trends in Wildlife crime” on 7 October, 2020. Students from various departments of CHRIST (Deemed to be University) participated in this event. Pragatheesh.A, Wildlife Inspector, Enforcement Officer, CITES, Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Govt. of India, New Delhi was the resource person. The welcome address was given by Dr.P. Manikantan, Assistant Professor, Dept of Life Sciences. Dr.Ganesh introduced the speaker. The resource person explained the role of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and shed insights on the increasing incidences of poaching in India in recent years. He also  told facts about pangolin  trade. Pangolin is in high demand in China for its aphrodisiac and medicinal value. It is a threatened species, with over 100,000 pangolins captured illegally every year. He also described the worrying trend on the internet fuelling the illegal trade of wildlife. He also pointed out that the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change has identified 106 websites  which are being used for illegal wildlife trade in India through various web portals like Amazon, Quikr, Snapdeal, Ebay, and even YouTube. The vote of thanks was given by MSc Zoology student, John Britto.

REPORT ON INVITED TALK ON VACCINE PRODUCTION – GENERAL PROCESS FLOW HELD ON 29 AUGUST 2020

A general informative talk on “Vaccine Production – General Process Flow” was organized by the Department of Life Sciences on 29^th August 2020. The event was was hosted on Microsoft Teams for I MSc Life sciences and Final year BSc Students. The webinar began with a welcome address by Rohan R Krishnan (1MSc. Botany). The guest speaker was Dr. Nellaiah, Head of Department – Training, and R&D of Biozeen, Bangalore. Dr. Nellaiah has attained his Ph.D. in Microbiology, and he has an experience of 26 years in the field of Quality Control of Blood Plasma, enzymes, and sterile dosages. He has previously worked with Reliance Life Sciences, and Wockhart. The talk provided insights into the biopharmaceutical industry on various levels of vaccine production, purification, and quality control. In-depth knowledge was conveyed especially on the industrial aspects of purification and quality control. Talk also briefed the opportunities available for students in the field of vaccine production. Synthesis and downstream recovery process was explained in detail.  The talk concluded with an interactive Q&A session and a vote of thanks delivered by Bhadrapriya Sivakumar (1MSc. Biotechnology).

REPORT ON INVITED TALK ON TECHNICAL ASPECTS OF GLASSWARES & GOOD LABORATORY PRACTICES HELD ON 17TH AUGUST 2020

 A general instructional talk on “Technical Aspects of Glasswares & Good Laboratory Practices” was organized by the Department of Life Sciences on 17^th August 2020. The event was virtually hosted on the Cisco WebEx platform. The guest speaker was Karthik Shetty, Senior Business Development Manager at Borosil Glass Works Ltd. Talk was organised for I MSc Life sciences and I year BSc students. Borosil Glass Works Ltd. (BGWL) is an Indian glassware company based in Mumbai. Mr. Shetty spoke about various good laboratory practices to be followed in academia and industries alike. He shed light on the various different errors in measurements caused due to ill-handling instruments. Various types of glasswares and their specific uses were discussed during the talk. A representative of the company provided insights into the different types of novel instruments Borosil has recently launched. The talk concluded with an interactive Q&A session and a vote of thanks delivered by Bhadrapriya Sivakumar (1MSc. Biotechnology).

Hiring for Sales and Marketing Profiles

 Sales and Marketing profession is growing faster than the average for all other occupations. Marketing and promotional campaigns are essential to every company, regardless of industry, as organizations seek to grow and maintain their market share. Marketing jobs are available at all kinds of organizations — large firms, startups, small businesses, and non-profits as well. Some of the major recruiters at Christ (Deemed to be University) for Marketing and Sales profiles include Godrej & Boyce, JLL, ICICI Bank, Zoho Corp, Byju’s, MyGate, Zomato, Impel-sys, Great Learning, Kristal AI, Intellipaat, The Media Ant, Address Advisors, MuSigma, Zolo Stays, Times Internet and Deltax. The Cost To Company (CTC) range is from Rs 3 Lakhs to 7 Lakhs per annum. The job profiles offered are in the areas of Digital / Content Marketing, Search Engine Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Email Marketer, Product / Event or Brand Marketing, Business Development & Marketing Analysis.

Any profession requires certain skill sets. Same holds true for a career for Sales and Marketing. Skills are broadly classified into three types namely Soft skills, Hard skills and role critical skills. Primarily, a sales/marketing professional requires all three types of skills. Soft skills are informal abilities that are generally learned over a person’s lifetime and usually relate to the person’s aptitude in performing common tasks and connecting with other people. Some of the soft skills required for Sales /Marketing are relationship building, time management, a gathering of information and problem-solving. Hard skills are often formal and technical abilities which could be earned from educational institutions, workplaces, seminars, mentorships, and training courses. Hard skills required for Sales & Marketing are product knowledge, active listening, sales presentations and demonstrations.  Role-critical skills are a subset of hard skills that are specialized for a specific function or role. The role-critical skills required for sales and marketing are Prospecting i.e., identifying potential customers; Referrals, using existing customers as a source to get more leads; and Closing of the Sale, which depicts the essence of selling efforts. The above are certain indicators which are common to many professions, but sales and marketing require that extra effort as these people are the face of the company and their actions reflect on the company.

Apart from the general skills mentioned above, the organisations that recruit from our campus also expect students to possess some of the following skills required for Sales or Marketing profiles i.e., editorial skills and creative ideas, good command over English language, negotiation skills, self-motivator and to motivate teams, part of an event management committee at college and co-curricular and extra-curricular activities, ability to multitask, good at primary and secondary research, proficient in Powerpoint, Excel and Word, ability to work under pressure, excellent written and verbal communication skills, openness to travel, creativity, passion for numbers & curiosity etc.

To facilitate the students to pursue a career in sales/marketing, Christ (Deemed to be University) offers certain general and discipline-specific subjects coupled with activities to give the students a better orientation about this field. The subjects such as marketing management and service management give them a general idea about the nuances in those respective areas. As they progress, the students who are specifically interested in sales and marketing are offered subjects such as Consumer behaviour, Sales and distribution management, Retail management, Brand management etc. These specialized subjects are dealt with in detail to give the students an overall perspective about the functions which contribute to the area of sales and marketing.

Apart from specialized subjects, the students are engaged in activities such as role-plays to simulate the sales experience. Activities such as ‘Retail Mela’ was conducted wherein students put up stalls in the University and sold products featured in their stalls. They were given tasks to promote their products and sell them to the visitors and the same was evaluated. This gave the students a rich experience pertaining to sales, promotion etc.

There is no better education than real-life experience, and internships allow one to learn on the go while still learning in the classroom. Marketing departments are made up of lots of moving parts, and internships help one determine exactly which projects and promotions they would like to join. With some real-life experience, one becomes a highly desirable candidate for employers. Some of the internships can lead to full-time jobs too. Summer internships and projects are a part of the curriculum at Christ (Deemed to be University). Students are encouraged to visit organizations and spend time under the guidance of a company executive to give them hands-on experience in working in the field. Students have been doing internships with Amazon, Oyo rooms, Cafe coffee day etc. where they spent time in field visits and activities. This gives them better learning about the benefits and problems faced by professionals in these fields.

Highest Packages and Top Recruiters

The placement record at Christ (Deemed to be University) is something to be covered, both in terms of highest packages offered and also top recruiters, mainly from the Big Four consisting of KPMG, Ernst Young, Deloitte and PriceWater Cooper (PwC) who make a big number of offers. The following statistics serve to authenticate the same.  There are over 60 companies which have offered a minimum CTC (Cost to Company) of Rs 5 Lakhs per annum, going up to Rs 13 Lakhs per annum. The best package offered was Rs 13.12 Lakhs by Sailax AI for students from the MBA and MA in Media and Communication Studies Programmes.

We have had 14 companies that have offered a minimum of Rs 10 Lakhs Cost To Company(CTC) per annum, and at least 23 companies which have offered packages in the bracket of Rs 6 Lakhs to Rs 9.5 Lakhs CTC per annum.

Some of the organizations that have paid high packages are as follows - Sailax AI, MoneyTap, ITC Foods, Practo, MTR, Chai point, Axxela Advisory Servies, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (hpe), Aspire Systems, Bain Capability Network, Citigroup, Odessa, Gajra Pai & Zhu, DE Shaw & Co, Radisys, ZS Associates, Infosys, Vedanta, Swiss Re, Accenture, Boston Consulting Group, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), SE2, Kristal AI, Tresvista, Dell, Verity, Arcesium, Cerner etc.

The companies which offer best packages have not only recruited from the MBA programmes, but also from BTech, BCom programmes, BBA programmes, BA Economics Honours, MSW, MSc Actuarial Science, BCA, BSc EMS (Economics, Mathematics & Statistics), MA Media & Communication Studies, MCA, MA English with Communication Studies. Students from across streams and programmes have proven their mettle when it comes to securing high packages and challenging job profiles as well.

Christ (Deemed to be University) offers one of the best placement opportunities for students in Bangalore. Most of the organizations prefer to recruit our students as our students display a good aptitude, attitude and possess good verbal and written communication skills along with other technical skills for various job profiles. The profiles offered by these companies can be broadly classified in the following areas: Marketing & Sales, Information Technology, Finance & Accounting, Human Resources, Research, Management Consulting, Advisory, Technical Writing, Business and Data Analytics etc.

Here are a few excerpts from students who have succeeded in breaking barriers and landing dream jobs on the role of Christ (Deemed to be University) in mould-ing and nurturing their skills and talents.

“It’s rightly said that a great kick start to one’s career is achieved by strong will and determination in yourself along with proper guidance from your mentors. Christ (Deemed to be University) has proven to be that guiding factor in my life. From giving me platforms for public speaking to grooming me as a self-confident personality, these three years in Christ have been amazing… that provided me with this huge opportunity to be a part of an organization like Bain”. Mansi Goyat, Bcom Honours, a student placed at Bain Capability Network, Gurgaon

“Education is the foundation upon which we build our future, and I profoundly owe it to Christ (Deemed to be University) for preparing me for my future endeavours. I not only acknowledge Christ (Deemed to be University) for my academic progression but also for the cultivation of my present character and humane qualities… I find myself at an advantaged spot to be able to sit for the world’s most prestigious companies during campus placements…” Stuti Sanghi, BCom Honours, a student placed at Bain Capability Network.

“The most distinguishing factor that sets us apart from others is the spirit of values, the dignity we uphold as students of Christ (Deemed to be University). The university has provided us with countless opportunities to develop and showcase our skills….whether it be management fests, creative CIAs or other cultural activities, which has ensured that we put to test every part of our brain” Anmol Kaur, BCom Honours, placed at Bain Capability Network.

Top Recruiters are those organizations that have made the most number of offers. Every year, it is usually the companies from the Big Four, who are the top recruiters, especially, Ernst & Young (EY), Deloitte and KPMG. The Big Four refers to the four largest auditing firms i.e., EY, Deloitte, PwC & KPMG. The Big Four firms are way ahead in comparison to other auditing firms, both in terms of revenue and workforce and the ability to provide a wide scope of quality professional services to their clients. The Big Four have recruited thousands of students from the UG and PG programs over the years.

However, apart from the Big Fours, other companies have also recruited a large number of students over the years. The following organizations have made the most number of offers across undergraduate and postgraduate courses - Deloitte (185 offers); Ernst & Young (EY) (121 offers); KPMG (83 offers);  Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) (67 offers); Goldman Sachs (48 offers); Cerner (43 offers); Deutsche Bank (41 offers) and Amazon (38 offers).

The top recruiters offered the following job profiles to the undergraduate and postgraduate students. Deloitte, Ernst & Young (EY) and KPMG offer job roles related to Audit/Assurance, Tax, Information Technology Advisory and Risk Advisory roles. TCS, Cerner and Amazon offered management trainee, content writing and Information Technology job roles. Goldman Sachs & Deutsche Bank offered job profiles related to Finance, Investments and Operations.

The following are the excerpts from some of our students who were placed in some of the top recruiters.

“I would like to thank the placement office that provided us this wonderful opportunity to kick start our career. The soft skills training they provided, really helped us in preparing for the campus recruitment process. The Department of Commerce, Christ (Deemed to be University) facilitated us by providing relevant knowledge and motivated us.” Nanditha AS, BCom, placed in Deloitte USI

“Thank you so much to Placement Office, Christ (Deemed to be University) and Deloitte USI for providing such an excellent opportunity for the students (fresh-ers) to kick start their career in the best possible way. The placement experience was seamless; everything was very organized which helped us, candidates, to keep ourselves composed throughout the process.” Prashanth S., BCom, placed in Deloitte USI

"Auditing has always been my passion and to be an auditor for one of the Big 4s has always been my dream. Thanks to the placement office at Christ (Deemed to be University), I got the opportunity to work for KPMG KGS. I am excited for the path before me!” Muneer Omer, BBA F&A, KPMG KGS

Employability Enhancement Skills and Digital Literacy

One of the major concerns of most of the organizations conducting campus recruitments in India is that the students lack necessary skill sets and knowledge level essentially required for good placement. The knowledge of changing environment and emerging economy as well as a fairer picture of the requirements of the companies for various job profiles is the key. This is major because of the lack of skill development training. Therefore, employability training plays a major role in shaping up the career goals of students as it enhances their employability skills and helps in the transition from academics to industry. The Center for Placements and Career Guidance, Christ (Deemed to be University) conducted soft skills placement training session for the final year PG and UG students who had registered for placements.

The objective of this session was to help students get an insight into various processes that happen during a campus placement drive and to equip them with the necessary skill sets to successfully clear each stage of the process. Different train-ing organizations were utilized for the soft skills training programmes which were conducted at the beginning of the academic year (odd semester) as well as during the even semester as below.

Ms Jyothi P S and Ms Sapna Pius from ‘Bianhua’ team conducted a"Campus to Corporate" module which broadly covered topics like Business Etiquette, Email Etiquette, Body Language, Professional dressing, Power Dressing, Grooming & Hygiene and Business Communication. 

Soft Skills training sessions were also conducted by Mr Abhishek Aiyappan & Ms Megha, Soft Skills trainers from the ‘Para’ team. Topics covered were Resume Writing, Video Resume, Personal Interview Skills, Mock GD sessions, Basics of Digital Literacy, Grooming, dressing & basic behavioural etiquettes & Communication Skills.

The placement training objectives were as follows. The students would be more confident while attending interviews, build a good resume that they could use for interviews and the ability to crack group discussion and personal interview rounds. Feedback from Students on Soft Skills Training sessions was very positive. Some of the comments that were made about the placement training sessions were as follows. Interactive and engaging; doubts were clarified effectively; content was relevant; mock GD and interview sessions were good; LinkedIn walkthrough was helpful; sessions included informative activities which pushed students out of their comfort zones etc.

A few companies that recruit from campus also briefed students on how to prepare for the placement process, e.g. Deloitte and KPMG, specifically in the following three areas. Resume Writing Skills: how to build a resume, do’s and dont’s, keeping things concise etc Group Discussion: Basic etiquettes to practice during the group discussion and how to create an impression; and Personal Interview: details like dress code, the importance of body language, how to tackle tricky questions during interviews, and tips on how to interact with the interviewer were discussed. Students were also briefed on what qualities organizations look forward to during campus placements.

Another skill set that organizations look forward to in the current age of technology is Digital Literacy. It is the ability to navigate various digital platforms and understand, assess and communicate through them. Digital literacy is important, especially for campus placements, because we live in a technology-savvy world. En-cyclopedias are replaced by google search engines, air ticket bookings through mobile applications, doctor appointments are now online etc. Digital literacy is not about posts on Facebook or posting pictures on Instagram. It is about seeking answers or information on the internet and to authenticate the reliability of the source of information before presenting in the online platform with the help of images and texts. Students, especially those participating in campus recruitment, should know basic differences between domain names. They should also understand the difference between posting a status on Facebook or Instagram from writing a research blog or article. The need to learn the basics of formatting the text and different writing styles available. Few soft skills students are required to learn in the Digital era are Microsoft Word, Powerpoint & Excel (Advanced excel for finance students); using data on cloud platforms; using google spreadsheets to collate da-ta; basics of Email communication, creating a LinkedIn profile, a social platform for professionals; knowledge of cybersecurity laws; learn how to use video conferencing platforms to collaborate and work in the digital world etc. Andrew Keen, a British-American entrepreneur and author had remarked :

"Being Human in the digital world is about building a digital world for humans."

The placement training programmes conducted by the Placement Office has immensely helped a lot of students get campus placements in many of the top recruiters with high packages such as Bain Capability Network, DE Shaw, Goldman Sachs, Boston Consulting Group, Arcesium, ZS Associates, Axxela Advisory, Ernst & Young, KPMG, PwC, Deloitte, Aon, Oracle, ICICI Bank, Deutsche Bank, Exxon Mobil, Shell, JP Morgan etc.

REPORT ON ONE DAY NATIONAL LEVEL SEMINAR (WEBINAR) ON “CARE FOR YOUR MENTAL HEALTH” HELD ON 15TH OF AUGUST, 2020

 Department of Life Sciences, CHRIST (Deemed to be University) organized A One-day National level seminar (Webinar) on “Care for your Mental Health” on 15^th of August, 2020 (Saturday). This event was jointly organized by Dr.Anish Nag, Dr.Siddharthan and Dr.P.Manikantan. A Totally 230 registered participants participated this program.

Dr.Jenifer Roovel John, Professor and Founder Hope Homoeo Healing, Chennai Chief medical officer/Consultant, Sri Sairam Homeopathy Medical College & Research Centre, Chennai, Tamilnadu has given a talk on “Care for your Mental Health”. In her talk, she explained on how your feelings can help you stay in good mental health and deal with times when you feel troubled and how regular exercise can boost your self-esteem and can help you concentrate, sleep, and feel better. Exercise keeps the brain and your other vital organs healthy, and is also a significant benefit towards improving your mental health. Also, she described how healthier is it  to accept that everyone is unique than to wish you were more like someone else. Feeling good about yourself boosts your confidence to learn new skills, visit new places and make new friends. Good self-esteem helps you cope when life takes a difficult turn. The students were benifited by the enlighning session that gave insights on how to stay posistive during the most difficult times.