“It is not enough to achieve high grades in academics; today, a student needs to be multifaceted and multitalented. He/she must participate in extra-curricular activities and have a well-rounded personality”. These are ideas that student Vikalp Sahay, MBA, Class of 2015 has always believed on.  Vikalp recently landed on a position as a Tax Analyst with Deloitte through KSOM, Bhubaneswar campus recruitment. He offers this advice based upon his own experiences at the institute, as well as other activities during his formative years.

Vikalp is passionate about finance and commerce. He has invested seven years of studying the ropes in this field, and this, he believes, prepared him for the interview and the responsibilities for his new position with Deloitte: “I always had the target of finding placement in one of the four big finance companies. My background in finance and my internship helped me bag the job with Deloitte”. Vikalp did his internship in taxation with NALCO (National Aluminum Company), where he had the opportunity to work as a Tax Assistant. Through this internship, he gained insights into indirect taxation – this included a focus on a wide range of topics, including excise, customs, central sales tax, VAT, and entry tax.

KSOM offers dual specialization, which is an opportunity that, according to Vikalp, gives an edge to aspiring managers:  “There is an equal weightage of two specializations and I feel it’s important to choose the specialization carefully. Special domain knowledge helps secure a job, and it also can aid an individual’s job performance”. Apart from specializations, Vikalp believes the rigorous curriculum at KSOM, the splendid faculty, the industry orientation, and the focus on the overall development of students leads to a life-changing impact on young minds. Giving an example, he says, “In the first year I took up a paper in Behavioral Economics, under Prof Snigdha Tripathi, which was a very intense course. I learned many things, such as how to experiment with people to learn how they make decisions, rationally or irrationally, depending upon their situation. The course helped me better understand human decision making process”.

Vikalp believes KSOM has also given him the opportunity to showcase his talents of singing and playing the guitar. He also anchored six conclaves organized by the institute, as well as the KIIT’s alumni meeting Bangalore. He also got the opportunity to coordinate the National Management Convention held recently. All of these experiences, Vikalp believes, are a vital part of his education and development as a person. Excited with his new assignment, Vikalp is looking forward to a fulfilling career and aspires to grow in his management role.

-By Vikalp Sahay, KSOM Alumnus