"The first secret of succes is to like what you do. This comes when you accept challenges and solve associated problems with the highest degree of competence."

Govina Shode
Batch 2007-08
1st Placement Ameriprise

How has BIFM changed you?
From being a fresher to a finance specialist, the path has been full of relevant learning. BIFM groomed me for a challenging career in finance. I was pleased to find that many companies looking to place students had a positive word about the immense talent and potential that was obvious all around. It's forced me to do things instead of talking about them. BIFM has this culture where it's impossible not to get your hands dirty. You end up doing different things from what you're used to and changing in very big ways. I've always been an ideas person, and now I'm doing things I talked about but never did – reaching out to people and expanding the type of people I know and learning more about industries that I'm interested in.

In what other ways does this play out?
It's all part of a culture where you don't just talk about things, you do them. It's putting action behind the idea of risk-taking. That comes out in class as well. One of my professors says that one of his goals as a teacher is to teach us how to take risks and what risks to take. People are always telling you about the need to take risks and leave your comfort level, and at BIFM there is a ton of institutional support for actually doing that. BIFM first teaches you that this is possible in the classroom, and then it gives you opportunities to do it in real life. Before BIFM, I thought, "Yeah, I'd like to start my own business in 20 years." Then after the first quarter, I thought, "Maybe 5 to 10 years." After my first year, it's more like three. I'm a lot more comfortable taking risks.

What are classes like at BIFM?
You talk about things in a very concrete and actionable way. I took a financial management class where we used models to learn why and how working capital is important. I'm doing a class now on customer relationship management, which is another class taken from direct case experiences. We have simulations in class, so we have actual qualitative data to draw on. The flexibility of the curriculum is a big reason I chose BIFM, because it's such a big institute and they have extremely high quality standards. That showed me how BIFM’s different, because I can go deep into a specific subject matter from the very beginning.

What about the BIFM community?
I was surprised at how open-minded everyone is, politically, socially, and open to national cultures as well. It has been a really supportive environment, and people want to learn about each other. I certainly had some preconceptions that educational institutes would be having a very conservative environment, and that BIFM, with its finance branding, would be an extreme version of that. I was wrong on both counts. BIFM is so much more than the finance reputation that it has developed. There are people from different religions & various backgrounds, who have very different perspectives, and you learn how to work with them. BIFM brings the world to you.