IB at IIFT Kolkata

Student must be a graduate in any field with a minimum of 3 years of course with an average of 50% and must also appear for IIFT test which is specific for IIFT colleges across India and is held at a national level. The cuttoff was around 120 for the general category. Application is done using the form present on the college website link and it charges some 2000 rupees. All communication is made through the website hence students must visit it regularly. After shortlisting, there is a written test which is usually based on current affairs, a group interview and a personal interview round also which has to be cleared to get the final admission.

The exposure provided with respect to international markets is emphasized here and hence very few colleges in India provide this kind of course. The student-faculty ratio is approximately 1 teacher per 6 students which is a very good ratio and assists in proper communication and doubt solving as required. The faculty are highly qualified professionals with in-depth knowledge about their subject matter and also industry exposure which helps in providing lots of live examples. This is a 2-year course divided into trimesters and exams are conducted according to the annual schedule.

Students must complete a summer internship after the 1st year and the placement committee starts calling recruiters to the campus for interviews in the 3rd trimester itself. Around 90 companies came in for summer placement. These included Airtel, JP Morgan, Loreal, Microsoft, Goldman Sachs, Pidilite, etc. Average stipend was 1.5 lakhs and highest was 3 lakhs. They offered roles such as Program Manager, general management, O&T roles, strategies, consulting, etc. These internships were very useful and knowledgeable and helped to strengthen students' portfolios to levrage in the final placement interviews and also gain PPOs directly for deserving students.

There were around 110 companies that came in for the final placements such as IT, Microsoft, Google, IBM, Loreal, Philips, Amazon, Boston Scientific, L&T, etc. The highest domestic package was 46.5 lakhs and highest international package was 75 lakhs while average package was 20.5 lakhs. Majority students got PPOs from the companies they did their summer internship with. Fields offered were consulting, IT, telecom, FMCG and BFSI among others. The placement record is 100% placements.

The fees for the full course is approximately 17 lakhs. The government of India provides scholarship to the reserved candidates which are 8 per year and merit based. These include fee waiver, accomodation, and stationary charges but the complete details are available on the college website. They also have tieups with certain banks for the purpose of educational loans. The college does not provide any campus jobs as such as per my knowledge.

Tradewinds is the annual business summit at IIFT where business professionals are present and it gives students an opportunity to interact with them and learn about the current happenings in the corporate world. Ther are also field specific clubs which conduct field specific events around the year like the workshop for Data Analytics. The campus has a huge library where all books related to the course curriculum are available. Also, other resources such as papers, cases, journals and also internet resources are avaialble for student access. The campus is beautiful and classrooms are equipped with all necessary amenities for the conduction of interactive lectures.

After clearing the IIFT test, the result is released on the website. Then there is a written test which is usually based on current affairs and other local and global news which students need to be aware of to clear it easily. This is then followed by a group interview or discussion where a single topic is given for discussion to a group of 10-12 students and 2 panelists for about 15 minutes. Then the personal interview is conducted where most of the questions asked are based on past education, job experience, industry knowledge, achievements, etc. Overall it is a very smooth process that just needs knowledge of current affairs.