SOIL Institute of Management- Interview with Anil Sachdev, Founder on Admission, Cutoff, Placement

Established in 2008, SOIL Institute of Management is a popular B-School which offers both 1 year PGPM and 2 year PGDM programmes. It accepts CAT/ XAT/ GMAT scores and also uses its own test STAT, to assess students for admissions. To get further insights about the institute, Careers360 interacted with Anil Sachdev, Founder, SOIL Institute of Management. Aspirants can read the article to know more details like admission process, cutoff, programmes offered at SOIL Institute of Management.
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Careers360: Please brief us about SOIL Institute of Management.
Anil Sachdev: The reason SOIL was established was that we were concerned that management education was not focussing on aspects other than shareholder value creation and most students were seeking education that could grab them good jobs with high salaries. We felt the business has more power to build and change the world for better. We wanted to provide that kind of education where people would come to workplaces and contribute to their highest dreams. We wanted education to focus on that. Character of people is most important to us followed by the competence to think with a whole mind an the enthusiasm as well as resilience to achieve those dreams to make a difference; not just to have a functional knowledge of management.

11 years later, we have 1100 alumni who have been contributing to this dream. It’s a blessed feeling.

Careers360: Please share details about the programmes and courses offered.
Anil Sachdev: PGPM programmes are meant for people with a certain number of years of experience or who want to invest in themselves because they dream of doing something new in their lives. In a one-year innovative program you cannot incorporate the curriculum mandated by the government regulator and add extracurricular unique programmes. We haveyoga and meditation as well unique programmes like one day a week work with NGO programme, theatre-based simulation workshops with top theatre artists to name a few. These are useful to become leaders with being, with knowing and finallywith doing. We wanted autonomy in the way we wanted to do this.

At the same time, we understood the concerns of some parents about recognition based on the feedback received from them and thus, a separate campus for 2 years programme was started. In this, we honour the government curriculum while having the flexibility to do other things too.

1-year programmes have three tracks in addition tobuilding the strong values, character and systems thinking leadership dimensions. The first track is the Digital Marketing Analytics called as Business Leadership, one on Marketing and the third one on Human Resources called as HR leadership. From 2021 we are offering a brand new 1-year intensivePGPM programmein Analytics and Digital at our Gurgaon campus with 800 hours of content specially for Digital Analytics.

In our Manesar campus, we have the 2-year PGDM Business Design programmes with liberal arts, design thinking and finally the regular management aspects. This is a fascinating interdisciplinary programme.

Watch the interview with Anil Sachdev, founder, SOIL institute of Management

Careers360: What about SOIL admissions and cutoffs?
Anil Sachdev: For selection, you should have a minimum 60% marks in your major examinations like 10th, 12th and graduation. Then you must appear for the SOIL Talent Appreciation Test (STAT) which looks at all dimensions; not just your analytical ability and reasoning but your creativity, empathy and emotional intelligence. So, we look at a combination of both the analytical test and psychometric tests while selecting students. We also have an interview which is unique and aims to get to know the students, their aspirations and their capabilities.

Careers360: What about the internships?
Anil Sachdev: The industry partnership is all about evolving and designing the curriculum, mentoring students, giving them case studies, projects and finally hiring them. In the 1-year programme, we experimented with a lot of internship models. We now are more for live projects on digital platforms and deliver them. If there are local companies, there may be some interaction to some extent.

Careers360: Please throw some light on the placements at SOIL Institute of Management.
Anil Sachdev: The placements have been extremely good over the last 11 years. The average package for PGPM is 10.79 lakhs. What we promise our students is that by the time the program is over, 70 to 80% of them will find the job that match their experience, interests and locational choices. The 20 to 30% of students who are unique in their background and have certain preferences may get placed within three months of graduating. In our experience, in a good year more than 80 to 90 percent get placed before they pass out. In a difficult year, 70% get placed by the time they pass out. However, within three months of passing out almost everybody gets good placement.

Careers360: Is there any locational advantage?
Anil Sachdev: If we talk about people wanting that actual experience of brick-and-mortar by visiting a campus and getting a feel of the culture, I think then the location makes a big difference. Post COVID, the entire paradigm has changed dramatically. Now people are able to relate and understand through digital immersion the kind of institute to join.Fortunately for us, we have a fantastic global reach. During COVID, we were able to provide interaction with some of the best minds in the world. This has been possible through digital media.

Careers360: How does your curriculum help students and learning outcomes?
Anil Sachdev: Organisations look for a lot- they want people who are adaptable, who have greater self-awareness, who can use their minds to deal with people from diverse backgrounds. Organisations also value people who take failure as an opportunity to face things quickly, learn and get up to be resilient to take responsibility. Our work with NGOs allows our students to get out of their comfort zone and become aspirational.

Careers360: What kind of students should be looking at SOIL Institute of Management?
Anil Sachdev: We look for students who value the sacrifices made by their parents, who understand and act responsibly;students with a dream to improve the lives of their families while wishing to make a difference in the society. Somebody who has strong values and dreams not just for the country but for the planet, willing to work hard as this is a very high-pressure programme.Students have to face pressure while working and in their lives; the programme is designed to equip them in this aspect.If I were to give an example, a role model would be someone like Mahendra Singh Dhoni, talented and from a small town who really worked hard, focused on the process and dedicated everything. That is the kind of personality we look for.