School of Banking, Financial Services & Insurance Management, Symbiosis University of Applied Sciences, Indore successfully organized Symbi Maestro “A Mentoring Session for Students of MBA BFSI” on 18th September 2021 from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm by Prof.(Dr.) I M Pandey, Financial Management Guru, Former Professor, IIM Ahmedabad. He has also served as Acting Director, Dean, Chairman of Doctoral Programme, and Chairman of Finance & Accounting Area at IIM Ahmedabad. He has also served on the Boards of Directors of HPCL (India), Cochin Shipyard (India), IFCI (India), IDBI-Principal, and Indorama (Thailand).

Prof. Pandey explained to the students the significance of soft skills. Soft skills refer to both character traits and interpersonal skills that will influence how well a person can work or interact with others. On the other hand, a lack of soft skills can limit one’s potential, or even can cause the downfall of the business. By developing strong leadership, delegation, teamwork, and communication abilities, one can run projects more smoothly, deliver results that please everyone, and even positively influence one’s life. One should always be clear in basics and the domain knowledge should be good.

In today’s Morden world the most important skill is to understand the ‘data’ and learn to leverage that data to one’s benefit. After that Prof. Pandey shared some real-life experiences with students.  Key learnings of the session were:

• One should share one’s learnings with friends and family.
• Always speak your mind, whether doubts, suggestions, or anything.
• Take help and offer help to others when required.
• Let there be competition with cooperation
• Remain positive during tough times.
• Keep an open mind and perspective
• Surround yourself with loved ones

He shared certain tips to students to be ready for ‘Wold of Finance’. He shared that the financial sector offers a huge range of careers requiring a diverse set of skills. He advised students to be strong in mathematics and statistics as they are the backbone of modern data financial management. He also emphasized they learn some important software like R, SPSS, and Python. The session was very much appreciated by the students.