ISBF presents iASPIRE 2021 Summer School Workshop for School Students

New Delhi : Indian School of Business & Finance (ISBF), New Delhi, one of the top five Global Teaching Institutions of the London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE) and an affiliate institution to the University of London (UOL), launched its immersive Career Counseling summer school workshop iASPIRE 2021 for school students, on 3 & 4 July. Apart from the esteemed faculty of ISBF, eminent industry personalities including Mr. Nishant Rao, Founding Partner, Avataar Ventures; Mr. Suneet Kumar, Founder, Dignify Labs, and Mr. Amogh Agarwal, Manager – Fx and Derivative Sales, ICICI Bank, were among those who addressed students on various career and skills related topics.

The iASPIRE summer school workshop series, now in its second edition, has been modeled into a 16-hour contact programme spread over the first two weekends of July (3rd & 4th July 2021 and 10th & 11th July 2021). The first week of the workshop initiated enlightening discussions on why students should study economics, management and finance (EMF), and the various career avenues and skills associated with those streams.

There were a total of nine sessions of one hour each conducted on the first weekend. Over the two weekends, besides EMF, students will also be introduced into the worlds of policymaking, data science, marketing and strategy, investment banking, consulting, venture capital and entrepreneurship domains by leading industry lights as well as by senior ISBF faculty.

“iASPIRE was born last year. This summer school workshop will address why one should study Economics, Management and Finance from a career perspective. It will also help students understand not only the pros, but also the cons of various career streams, which I believe will allow students and their guardians to make a much more informed career choice,” remarked Mr. Chiraag Mehta, Associate Director, ISBF, during the inaugural address.

Dr G.L. Tayal, Dean, Academics, at ISBF welcomed students to iASPIRE 2021 saying, “A warm welcome to all on behalf of the ISBF team. This is an effort to initiate a conversation between you and the faculty members. This summer workshop is the result of extensive research and efforts by the faculty of ISBF. The workshop will focus on detailed discussions over various career opportunities and further discussions on Economics, Management and Finance studies. It will not only help you grow as an individual but also help to develop skills which will help you in your careers ahead.”

Each session focused on a different discipline, starting off with “Orientation for iASPIRE Assessment”, led by Mr. Aryapriya Ganguly, Associate Professor of Management, ISBF & Ms. Megha Chauhan, Lecturer, Fashion Business Management, Indian Institute of Art & Design.

A session on “Why Study Management?” was led again by Mr. Ganguly as well as Mr. Soumitra Mookherjee, Associate Professor of Management and Course Leader. The “Why Study Finance?” session was conducted by Dr. Uma Nagarajan, Visiting Professor at ISBF whereas Resham Nagpal, Assistant Professor, Economics, ISBF, led a session on “Why Study Economics?”

Mr Nishant Rao, Founding Partner, Avataar Ventures and former Managing Director for LinkedIn India took a session on “Careers in Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital” and said, “Being an entrepreneur is like jumping off a cliff, assembling an aeroplane mid-air and taking off before hitting the ground. To become an entrepreneur, you have to be very confident of taking risks on the ideas you have. Also you are taking risks on people. Being an entrepreneur you have to be very comfortable to taking risks for the future.”

Mr Suneet Kumar, Founder, Dignify Labs while taking a workshop on Design Thinking said, “Change is the only constant, we should not stop or fear the changes in life. We should always keep in mind that combating the problems, the consumer’s priority is most necessary element of Design Thinking. Changes implemented in life can lead you towards success.”

Mr Amogh Agarwal, Manager, Fx and Derivative Sales, ICICI Bank in his session on ‘Careers in Finance’, said, “ISBF has established such a wonderful platform where students can have such an interactive discussion. Finance is such a broad spectrum with so many different avenues where you can make a career going forward. It’s definitely an exciting time to be in Finance.”

In the final session of the 1st Weekend of the programme, Chiraag Mehta guided students on how to select subjects based on their likes and dislikes and offered personalized career guidance according to their aspirations. The session included a game wherein students had to classify careers into disciplines of EMF.