KIIT School of Management (KSOM) virtually inaugurated the 5th edition of Konfidant Corporate mentoring program on 29th January 2021. Konfidant is a program aimed at providing MBA students mentoring from corporate leaders during their entire stay at KIIT Deemed to be University. Thirty-five corporate professionals have been invited to be part of this process as mentors. The corporate professionals include 14 alumni who have scaled the corporate ladder and distinguished themselves.
The inaugural address was delivered by Dr. Sanjay Muthal, CEO, Kontempore Leadership & Business Solutions. Dr. Saroj K. Mahapatra, Director, KSOM set the context and enunciated the program objectives. This was followed by Prof. Joydeep Biswas explaining the flow of the entire mentoring process. The inaugural session was anchored by Prof. Isa Mishra, KSOM who introduced the visionary founder Dr. Achyuta Samanta, KIIT & KISS, the corporate mentors and faculty mentors.
Through the program, students are connected with industry stalwarts who take over as mentors to a small group of 10 to 12 students. This mentor-mentee relationship is structured to be long-term and mentees continue to engage with their corporate mentors over email, chat messenger and telephone depending on their individual requirements. Mentors continuously monitor the progress of their mentees and provide them timely feedback.
This is one-of-a-kind initiatives amongst educational institutes of India. Konfidant program helps KIIT School of Management to be industry-ready when the students graduate from the School. The program has been conducted by Prof. Joydeep Biswas and Prof. Isa Mishra under the leadership of Dr. Saroj K. Mahapatra.