An Interview with Dr. VVK Mohan, Academic Head of IIRM Hyderabad

In this conversation with Careers360, Dr. VVK Mohan talks about IIRM Hyderabad. He tells about the IIRM Hyderabad admission process, collaborations, placements, internships and other details. To know more details about the IIRM Hyderabad, read the article below:

Careers360: Tell us something about the institute; when it was set up, vision and mission

Dr. VVK Mohan: IIRM is a joint initiative of Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India (IRDAI) and Govt. of Telangana and the PGDM offered by the institute is approved by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), New Delhi.

Vision:

To be a Centre of excellence in insurance, risk and management education, empowering professional aspirants with cutting-edge knowledge, skills and high ethical standards so as to drive innovation, resilience and sustainable performances in the BFSI sector.

Mission:

Our mission is to deliver world-class education, training and research in the domains of risk, insurance and business management for the BFSI sector that fosters professional excellence, innovation, and ethical leadership. We are committed to advancing industry knowledge, integrating environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles into our content delivery and equipping individuals with the skills to manage emerging challenges. Through collaborative partnerships and sustainable practices, we aim to build a resilient, inclusive, and responsible human resources community that drives positive global impact.

Read More: IIRM Hyderabad Admissions

Careers360: Tell us something about the admission process?

Dr. VVK Mohan: The admission process of our PGDM programme is as per the guidelines issued by AICTE.

The Institute considers the score of CAT/XAT/MAT/CMAT/GMAT/ATMA/IIRMCET exam for shortlisting candidates. The shortlisting is followed by a personal interview. The aggregate of the above procedure will be considered for the final selection process.

Careers360: What kind of infrastructure can students expect at the institute? Please elaborate?

Dr. VVK Mohan: The Institute has well-furnished conference halls, classrooms, and a fully air-conditioned auditorium. The institute also has modern audio-visual equipment, which caters to the needs of the students and the participants for their classroom work, conferences, training programs, and seminars.

The IIRM Library is an excellent Learning Resource Center for students and faculty. Users can access Books/journals/Case study material and also find out the real-time availability of library materials. It offers a range of information services to support the learning process set to the highest professional standards. The library is stocked with a huge array of national and international journals.

The Computer Center is well equipped with a state-of-the-art Local Area Network (LAN), providing a multi-user environment and terminals on a Windows platform. The facilities include contemporary packages like Microsoft Office Productivity Tools (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, integrated Accounting Package (TALLY)), etc. Students of Analytics have imparted skills in Statistical and Analytics software packages, enabling them to know HADOOP & R. They are also given Hands-on experience in TABLEAU software.

Careers360: There is a lot of stress that is being made with regard to interaction with the industry as well as companies that recruit. What are the steps being taken by the institute in this direction?

Dr. VVK Mohan: Up-skilling and Re-skilling are the key business continuity, sustainable and success factors for the organisations. On the same lines, if we look at the educational institutions, then, scaling of the curriculum, resource development and modern age knowledge enrichment are the key success factors for any Academia. This is where Institutes play a major role by proactively understanding the requirements of the Industry tend to incorporate and impart the requisite skills and knowledge to the graduating students enabling them to be industry-ready.

Also, we have initiated a rigorous Pre-Recruitment Training for establishing the Placeability Index Grades of the students by making them undergo this process through a set of Assessments and Training Sessions with moderately higher difficulty level so that they will be able to meet any format of the Potential Recruiter’s Assessments. These are followed by a series of feedback sessions, improvisation sessions and grade-wise improvements in the students to the desired level which is ultimately securing a placement by him/her. Apart from these, we have industry-based training sessions (spanning 3 days with assessments and certification) for our students. This directly forms the industry. Further, to concrete their learning process, we host a set of Leadership, Industry, Human Resource and Tech Talks for keeping them abreast with the Industry dynamics building capability by latest know-how of the Industry.

Careers360: Internships are now mandatory as per AICTE guidelines. Does the institute help students with this? If yes, how?

Dr. VVK Mohan: IIRM strives to provide an internship to all the students of the batch. The approach is to understand the students' chosen areas/specialisations. Understand the Industry specifics and the establishment of fitments. However, as the flow of activities seems very simple, but, the key factor is with the Industry approach wherein we look for a scope of PPO / PPI for our students who successfully complete the Internship. By virtue of this, we will come to know the potentiality of the individual/s and if any positive outcome, then, we will be looking at enhancing the individual’s knowledge and skills which are a mandatory requisition for the outcome roles. On the other hand, we equip others who are without the PPO / PPI with the training and development sessions necessary for all as part of their Campus Recruitment Training (CRT). They are based on the feedback from the Industry Mentors and Academic Mentors.

Also, IIRM is having a practice of understanding from its Industry Mentors on the possibility of a Joint Research Programme as an extension of the current Internship to the extent of Research and Development not overlapping their regular Academic Hours. These have additionally helped our students in securing successful careers with the help of Internships.

Also See: IIRM Hyderabad Placements

Careers360: Can you please share details if there is any collaboration with universities abroad?

Dr. VVK Mohan: Our institute has accreditation with Insurance Institute of India (III), Mumbai, The Institute of Actuaries of India (IAI), Mumbai, Chartered Insurance Institute (CII), London and Institute of Risk Management (IRM), London.

All successful candidates passing out of Insurance & Risk Management courses are eligible for credits enabling them to take additional examinations from the above chartered institutions.

Careers360: Please share placement statistics with information on the average package, highest and lowest package, number of students placed and details of companies that have recruited.

Dr. VVK Mohan: Inspite of the Industry upward and downward swinging trends, once again, it has been a year of satisfaction for us this campus season too. The highest CTC we sourced on campus this season was Rs 14.75 LPA with the lowest offer was Rs. 6.00 LPA. The Average for the stood at Rs. 8.53 LPA. As compared to the previous year, the current year, we had the continued support of our existing recruiters and also gained added support from the new recruiters. Reply to the students placed, we have achieved a placement success of 92% till date. Companies recruited are a mix of representation from the Industries of Banking, Consulting, Research (Market and Financial), IT & ITES, Global Capability Centres (GCCs), Global Delivery Centres (GDCs), Global Facility Centres (GFC), Insurance and Allied, FinTech, InsurTech, Financial Services and many more. We are quite sure that, given the niche that we serve, we will be performing to the satisfaction of our stakeholders.

Disclaimer: This article was distributed by IIRM Hyderabad and has been published as a part of Careers360 marketing initiative.