Testimonials

IGTC Mumbai marked the successful completion of the Trainee Selection Process for Batch 2013-2015. The process was conducted over two days on 11th and 12th June, 2013 over a varied range of technical and commercial students, who were eagerly awaiting opportunities to come their way.

An Information Session was held for prospective students and their parents at the training centre on 5th June 2013 to give them detailed insight into the 18-month, full time programme based on the German Dual System of Training. A Q&A session followed to give clarity on the training companies, internships, placements, general management theory etc. Overall the session dispelled all doubts and apprehensions among aspiring candidates, and filled them with enthusiasm to meet and interview with the participating training companies that required trainees for their future organizational requirements.

On one hand, IGTC strengthened its relationship with its collaborating companies of the previous year and on the other hand, it forged new associations with other companies as well. It had got extensive support from more than 20 partnering training companies such as Bajaj Allianz, BASF Group, Bayer Group, Bosch Automotive Electronics India, Bosch Limited, Clariant Chemicals, Dr. Oetker, Epcos India, Evonik Industries, Extentia Information Technology, Faberinfinite Creative Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Fuchs Lubricants (India) Pvt. Ltd., Häfele India, Hella Group, KSB Pumps Ltd, Lanxess India, Liebherr India Pvt. Ltd., Mercedes-Benz, NRB Bearings Limited, Siemens Limited, Steinbach & Partner, Sunjewels India, Transasia, TUV India and Volkswagen.

It was an absolutely distinctive experience for all the fresh and experienced candidates to undergo multiple rounds of interview with their dream companies before gaining admission to the IGTC business administration programme. As a result of this methodical and painstaking selection process, ultimately a cumulative strength of 56 trainees was inducted as Batch 2013 – 2015 at Indo-German Training Centre, Mumbai.

H.E. Michael Steiner, German Ambassador to India, handed out the awards to Mr. Ashwin Jayaraman (Topper, IGTC Batch 2011-2013) and Ms. Sushmita Datta, Business Unit Head of High Performance Materials, Lanxess (I) Pvt. Ltd. (IGTC Alumni Batch 2000-2002) on behalf at the BMBF at the 20th Convocation Ceremony of the Indo-German Training Centre (IGTC) on 18th March 2013.

Ambassador Steiner’s Keynote Address on the Convocation Ceremony:

“Dear Ms. Mehta, Dear Graduates, Ladies and Gentlemen, Friends,Around 20 years ago, three important events happened:

1. 1. The Berlin wall came down, a world divided into East and West became one globalised world!
2. 2. At the same time in India, the Finance Minister Manmohan Singh started a        groundbreaking reform process to modernise the economic setup of India.
3. 3. And thirdly, the most important event: You, today’s graduates, were born around that time. In fact, you grew up in a new world which no generation before you has experienced.

Dear Graduates, today is your day! You have successfully concluded 18 months of Vocational Training: 12 months of it in the Indo-German Training Centre, and 6 months of practical training in the real world, in a company.  I am sure, this was at times quite tough, no piece of cake, kein Zuckerschlecken, as we say in German, and quite a challenge to pass the final exams.

But you made it! Your efforts are paying off now. Many of you already have a job-perspective, and the others are now well equipped to get one soon.  The training you enjoyed is quite special: the famous German Dual System of Vocational Education & Training: The right combination of theoretical learning and practical training.  You know that even the American President praised this system in his most recent State of the Union address. It is indeed one of the key ingredients to Germany’s economic success.

And IGTC did even more: It taught you how to learn! This is so important because in your professional life learning will not end but accompany you throughout your career.  It will open you the doors, also to Germany, Europe and the world as a whole.

The ties between India and Germany are deeply rooted in history.  While you were going through your 18 months of vocational training, we celebrated 60 years of diplomatic relations with a Year of Germany in India and an India Year in Germany.  With the Year of Germany in India, we reached more than one million Indians proving that Germany is indeed attractive to Indians, especially the young, and that we are ideal partners.

India needs good education and training for 500 million young men and women by 2022 (PM Singh).
German companies need well qualified, skilled young Indians. The shortfall in the skilled workforce in Germany increases year by year. By 2025, it will have reached 6.3 million i.e. a huge number of vacancies to fill!

Germany has in recent years developed a welcoming environment for young professionals and their families through:

• a new website “Make-it-in-Germany.com” easy access, easy work permit called the Blue Card.
• in science and higher education:
• countless scholarships in both directions, hardly any tuition fees at German universities,
• 800 English diploma courses – the number of Indian students in Germany is increasing by 20% annually.

In terms of joint scientific output with Indian researchers, Germany leads the way and is second only to the US.  The German language training in Indian schools is expanding greatly: Through our partnership with 1000 KV schools, we aspire to reach the magical number of one million German learners in India by 2017.

During his third official trip to Mumbai, German Ambassador to India Michael Steiner held the keynote speech at the Convocation Ceremony (Batch 2011 – 2013) of the Indo-German Training Centre (IGTC) of the Mumbai based Indo-German Chamber of Commerce.

The Ambassador also awarded the “Certificate of Recognition” of the German Government to two outstanding Indian students of the IGTC. This is the first time ever that these certificates have been awarded to Indian students. The IGTC in Mumbai stands for high quality Vocational Education & Training.

The Ambassador’s Speech on the Convocation Ceremony:

“Dear Ms. Mehta,
Dear Graduates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Friends,

Around 20 years ago, three important events happened:

• The Berlin wall came down, a world divided into East and West became one globalised world!
• At the same time in India Finance Minister Manmohan Singh started a groundbreaking reform process to modernise the economic setup of India.
• And thirdly, the most important event: You, todays graduates, were born around that time. In fact, you grew up in a new world which no generation before you has experienced.

Dear Graduates,

Today is your day! You have successfully concluded:

• 18 months of Vocational Training,
• 12 months of it in the Indo-German Training Center,
• and 6 months of practical training in the real world, in a company.

I am sure, this was at times quite tough, no piece of cake, kein Zuckerschlecken, as we say in German, and quite a challenge to pass the final exams.
But you made it! Your efforts are paying off now. Many of you already have a job-perspective, and the others are now well equipped to get one soon.
The class of 2013 at the IGTC Mumbai (German Consulate Mumbai) The training you enjoyed is quite special: the famous German Dual System of Vocational Education & Training: The right combination of theoretical learning and practical training.
You know that even the American President praised this system in his most recent State of the Union address. It is indeed one of the key ingredients to Germany’s economic success.
And IGTC did even more: It taught you how to learn! This is so important because in your professional life learning will not end but accompany you throughout your career.
It will open you the doors, also to Germany, Europe and the world as a whole.
Dear Graduates,

The ties between India and Germany are deeply rooted in history.

While you were going through your 18 months of vocational training, we celebrated 60 years of diplomatic relations with a Year of Germany in India and an India Year in Germany.

With the Year of Germany in India, we reached more than one million Indians proving that Germany is indeed attractive to Indians, especially the young, and that we are ideal partners:

India needs good education and training for 500 million young men and women by 2022 (PM Singh).
German companies need well qualified, skilled young Indians. The shortfall in the skilled workforce in Germany increases year by year. By 2025, it will have reached 6.3 million i.e. a huge number of vacancies to fill!

Germany has in recent years developed a welcoming environment for young professionals and their families

• a new website “Make-it-in-Germany.com” easy access, easy work permit called the Blue Card.
• In science and higher education:
• Countless scholarships in both directions, hardly any tuition fees at German universities,
• 800 English diploma courses – the number of Indian students in Germany is increasing by 20% annually.

In terms of joint scientific output with Indian researchers, Germany leads the way and is second only to the US.

The German language training in Indian schools is expanding greatly: Through our partnership with 1000 KV schools, we aspire to reach the magical number of one million German learners in India by 2017.
Sure, you can get away with English almost everywhere, also in Germany. But you get so much more out of your experience if you know the language. That is why you started learning German with the help of Max Mueller Bhavan.

Notwithstanding the difficult economic environment, IGTC Mumbai had a successful final placement process for the Batch 2011 – 2013. Recruiters included Audi, BASF, Bayer, Bosch, Bosch Auto Electronics, Clariant Chemicals, DBOI, Dr. Oetkers, HDFC Limited, Infiniti Retail, Lanxess, Merck Sereno, Siemens Financial Services, Schaeffler Group, Schmersal India, TUV India, Wacker Chemie among many more. The average compensation offered was Rs. 4.50 lakh p.a., while the maximum was Rs. 7.50 lakh per annum.

Ms. Ankita Moghe was privileged to be selected as a part of the nine-month International Trainee Programme (2013-2014) initiated by the TÜV Nord Group. This comprehensive programme gives the trainees an insight into the business units of the group, a perspective to learn and implement the learning on an international landscape. It is intended to facilitate an exchange of experience and empower trainees with specific management and operational skills and a focused area of specialization. Trainees are constantly guided and led by mentors, training heads and their performance is closely monitored, evaluated and directed as per predetermined goals. It is an opportunity to interact with other trainees and colleagues from Germany and augment the Indo-German connects by exchange of knowledge, work pattern, structuring of ideas and presenting those into a well defined frame of requirements.

Mr. Vivek Komath, another student of IGTC Mumbai Batch 2011-2013, created history by being selected as one of the first ever CAReer Trainees from India by Mercedes-Benz India Pvt. Ltd (MBIL), Pune. The organization launched “The CAReer Program” in 2013 to recruit and train the next generation of managers and company leaders. The 15-18 month program comprises of three training modules – ‘Getting Started’ (Germany), ‘Crossing Borders’ (International Daimler location) and ‘Keep Moving’ (Germany) as part of the program. The first training module was organized from June 10th – 20th, at Stuttgart, Germany to induct and orient 32 trainees from 10 different nationalities to the world of Daimler.

For several years, the Indo-German Training Centre (IGTC) has fostered a strong synergy with the Berufsakademies in Germany, which have now consolidated to be known as the Duale Hochschule Baden Wuerttemberg (DHBW) or the Baden -Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University, Germany.

The DHBW is also based on the Dual System of Education encompassing theoretical learning with practical training and wherein every student is sponsored by a partner company. Across 8 campuses in Baden-Wuerttemberg, they train approximately 30,000 students across Bachelors and Masters programmes in Business, Engineering and Social Work Studies and collaborate with 10,000 partner companies in Germany.

On 20th November, 2012, IGTC welcomed a high level delegation from DHBW headed by President Reinhold R. Geilsdörfer and including senior representatives of various DHBW campuses. The purpose of the delegation was to explore a deeper collaboration between DHBW and IGTC including student exchange, short term study and internship modules, and ultimately the DHBW Masters degree in Business Administration for the existing IGTC Post Graduate Programme in Business Administration.

As the German organizations are deeply involved in the IGTC programme, the meeting was also attended by the following senior professionals:

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• Mr. Prasad Chandran, Chairman and Managing Director, BASF Group
• Mr. P P Srees, Vice President HR, BASF Group
• Mr. Vaibhav Rane, Country HR Expert – Talent Attraction, Bayer Group
• Ms. Izabela Megerle, Vice President HR and Admin, Lanxess India
• Mr. Devesh Srivastava, Vice President HR and Admin, Merck Limited
• Mr. S. Ramesh Shankar, Executive Vice President HR, Siemens Limited
• Mr. Rupesh Basu, Chief Manager HR, Siemens Limited

We look forward to a fruitful outcome to the meeting in the near future.

A famous saying of “You will never win if you never begin” holds true for our new batch of Executive participants who began their one year journey with such conviction and optimism. Designed for mid-career professionals, this programme inaugurated in 2009 is ideal to equip high performing managers with a holistic and cross-functional exposure to all aspects of management.

The 3rd batch of the EBMP comprises 29 participants from Indo-German member companies like BASF India, Batliboi, Beckman Coulter, Bosch, HDFC Ergo, Kuebler Automation, Larsen & Toubro Infotech, MAN Turbo, Norddeutsche Landesbank, New Multifab Engineers, Rittal, Siemens, Sauer Danfoss and Seepex India with an average of 10 years of work experience. They have come from diverse functional areas and departments of their organizations like Accounts & Finance, Administration, Corporate Communications, Design & Development, Information Technology, International Relations, Operations, Packaging, Quality Assurance, Sales & Marketing and Technical Services.

The inaugural ceremony of the EBMP on 14th July, 2012 commenced at 10 am with the welcome address by Ms. Radhieka Mehta, Director IGTC. She welcomed the participants and expressed that given the rich and diverse work experience of the participants, experience-sharing is one of the highlights of the programme with each batch offering unique learning contexts. The lamp of knowledge was lit to mark the auspicious beginning. Thereafter each participant briefly introduced themselves and expressed their enthusiasm to share and learn as much as they could. Participants were handed over a welcome kit at the training centre which incorporated some valuable reading material for the candidates on HBR’s 10 Must Reads – The Essentials and a book named Finance sense which would be extremely useful to them in their course.

This was followed by an inaugural address by Dr. Naik who emphasized the fact that this one year curriculum will facilitate greater depth in the learning process and accelerate their career graph in the corporate world.

The symposium on “Exploring Infinite Opportunities in German Organisations” at the Indo-German Urban Mela, on the 16th and 17th of April, 2012, was jointly hosted by Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co. Ltd., BASF India Ltd., Bayer Group of Companies, Bosch Limited, Indo-German Training Centre, Lanxess India Pvt. Ltd., Merck Ltd and Siemens Ltd as an initiative of the Indo-German HR Fraternity.

It successfully brought together young students and distinguished industry experts to discuss what it means to be a part of a German Organisation. The objective of this symposium was to showcase the unique proposition of the German companies in India and to position the German companies as the preferred place to work in the minds of today’s young talent.

The distinguished panellists on both days discussed in detail, elaborating with live examples, the aspects of sustainability, ethics, technology and innovation, freedom and respect at the work-place, global exposure and the overall development of an individual.

The Placement season at IGTC for Batch 2010-12 commenced with a big bang with close to 50% of the batch of 48 having been retained by their training companies. It was only a close- knit group of about 25 students which formed the core placement team. Despite the upheavals in the economy of the West, this year too, the students have been welcomed into the fold by many reputed German companies in India like BASF, Bayer, Bosch Limited, Bosch Auto Electronics, Deutsche Bank, Dr. Oetkar, Evonik Degussa, Hella, Lanxess, Nielsoft, Protos, Siemens, Schaeffler Group, Volkswagen and many more.

The whole process converted the serious management institute into a close resemblance to a Wedding Planner’s office. There were brides and grooms lined up to be wedded to their prospective companies. The atmosphere of utmost professionalism coupled with anticipation and excitement, filled the IGTC premises as the classrooms were converted to Group Discussion and gruelling Interview rooms.

We have a few students expressing their views on the placement season this year; Sayama Kazi of Evonik Degussa India Ltd expresses “If you believe that dreams come true, there’s One that’s waiting there for you…”  As per normal standards the placement time starts in December. But for me the celebration came well before Diwali in 2011. After two successful internships in Sales & Marketing division, I had a Pre-Placement Offer letter as Business Development Manager. The German Dual Education system works wonders for anyone who believes in it like it did for me and all my batchmates”.

Vaidehi Limaya of Lanxess feels “After completing a tedious one and a half year of Business Administration course, what one would ideally want is a job placement which compliments all the hard work put in this education. Placements at IGTC assured that our hard work was put to good use. With known companies approaching this institute with interesting profiles, everyone here had something or the other to interest us. We were also well versed to face the grilling company interviews as we had prepared to face them with our mock interview experience”.

Kanchan Sumant was delighted to be recruited by Bajaj Allianz. She says “The experience I gained during my 6 months practical training at Volkswagen India helped me immensely to crack the rigorous selection processes conducted by the companies at IGTC. The projects which I worked on in VW enhanced the knowledge we acquired during our academic terms and gave me confidence to appear for interviews.  Eery effort was taken by IGTC to provide for student’s preferences regarding the companies and job profiles. Thus each of us has got what we aimed at and desired for before coming to IGTC”.

For Tanaya Gupte placement at IGCC was a cherry-on-top. “Having worked in an organization with German culture, I always knew that after the 18 month PGPBA at IGTC I wanted to continue working in a German organization. Keeping this interest in mind, Ms. Radhieka Mehta entrusted IGCC with the responsibility to train me. My mentor at IGCC Pune was extremely supportive throughout the training period. After experiencing the work culture, it wasn’t too difficult for me to make this decision. I am glad that I trained and I am placed with IGCC”.

For Zenia Vajifdar the Deutsche Bank experience was quite enriching, “The Group Discussion round was interactive and fun, thanks to the freshness of the topic of debate. The final interview round which lasted for about 45 minutes, was extremely well-balanced, covering issues from personal to technical to social. The experience was an insight into the detailed and systematic method of processing of a German enterprise”.” She was glad to be in our dream company.

Shilpa Sood of Bosch Limited was overwhelmed to get a dream profile in her dream company. She expresses “I guess God was happy; I might have done some good deed somewhere that Bosch had an opening for a Business Analyst Role. My past work experience in procurement made me realize that I liked working with data, I had even enjoyed stats sessions in class and so my affinity towards the role. The interview was grilling, no doubt, I spoke about the statistical models, the research methodology as well as my learnings from my previous company but the VP was so supportive and friendly that it made me feel at ease which helped me give the interview to the best of my ability. This is one of the many things that I appreciate about Bosch, all the employees irrespective of their profile and post are so warm, that it speaks volumes about the values and the integrity of the company. All in all I feel very contented to be placed in the company I always wanted to get in.

Jatinkumar Ashara was overwhelmed to get an opportunity to face senior panels from organizations such as Bosch, Deutsche Bank AG, Bajaj Allianz and many more. He feels “The experience of facing the panel and sharing the rich experience gained from theory as well as practical training is beyond description.” Similarly Saumya Poojari of Siemens also feels that getting the right exposure was essential and IGTC was successful in moulding her in a manner to give the best in whatever she does.

For Manzoor Ahmed of Bosch Limited getting placed in this top German MNC was a dream come true. He believes “The constant guidance of the Faculty, application oriented approach towards studies right from the beginning and being groomed towards corporate etiquettes helped me extensively to transform my personality from an engineer to a responsible management professional”.

For the Director, Ms. Radhieka Mehta, the most satisfying part of the whole placement process was the fact that the students have been able to secure dream profiles in excellent German companies and are all set to begin a new journey.

While the encouraging response of the recruiters has already spread warmth during this chilly season, the present trend of recruitment is an ample testimony of the fact that IGTC stands for excellence in business education and the kind of faith recruiters have in the brand and the student quality.

“As a Bosch employee, my first week was planned for visits to the various Bosch plants in Germany. I started with a small picturesque town in southern Germany, Blaischach which mesmerized me by its natural scenic beauty. People were friendly and always ready to help. It was nice to interact with people with whom I had conversed only through mails and over the phone. This helped me to become friends with them in no time. This visit was followed by a couple of other visits to towns like Waiblingen and Rutesheim. The hospitality of Germans was evident in a lot of instances and all this certainly increased my admiration for the high degree of professionalism with which they treat their people.

After the completion of my visits to the Bosch plants, I had moved to Schwäbisch Hall, Goethe Institut for my German Language Course at A 2.1 level. Besides the core curriculum, the 4 week Course was designed in such a way that I got a chance to not only learn the language but at the same time comprehend the German culture and their way of living. A visit to the local brewery and tasting the famous German beer was a unique experience by itself. Also the ‘Kaffee und Kuchen’ party was something I can never forget.

Weekends were a lot of fun. The institute had organized excursion to places like Heilbroon, Wuerzberg and Ulm. I managed to get myself on the top of the world’s tallest church at Ulm and also observe the magnificence and majesty of the royal palaces at wuerzburg, a typically historical town famous for its royal palaces.

The one month in Germany has been the most enriching experience of my life because there was a lot of learning, both professionally and at a personal level.”

For an inventor company like Bayer, young talent is fundamental to long-term success. To provide deserving students with an opportunity to enhance their skills and get their careers off to a good start, Bayer launched a Scholarship Program called “Championing Success” for the IGTC students. The Memorandum of Understanding was signed on 28th July, 2011 by Mr. Steinruecke, Radhieka R Mehta, and Mr. KS Harish (Vice-President HR, Bayer Group).

Subsequently, in September 2011, Bayer conducted a rigorous selection process consisting of a Written Test, Group Discussion and Personal Interviews to select four meritorious students from the Batch 2010 – 2012 – Karthik Shivshankar, Nithin E.V., Ekta Dusija and Vaishali Baid.

On 4th November 2011, the Bayer Scholarships event was hosted at Bayer House, Powai. Mr. Stephan Gerlich, Country Group Head, Bayer Group of Companies in India awarded the students with the Bayer Scholarship Scroll and the Bayer Scholarship amount of Rs. 50,000/- each. Other top management professionals present at the event included Dr. Horst-Uwe Groh, Head of Corporate Human Resources Organisation, Bayer AG, Dr. Tim Bielfeldt, Head of HR International, Bayer AG and Mr. K S Harish, Vice President HR, Bayer Group in India.