MET Institute of Mass Media: Interview with Mr Sanjay Sakharkar (Director)

MET Institute of Mass Media was established in 2005 in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is a private institution which comes under the umbrella of MET League of Colleges established by the Mumbai Educational Trust (MET). MET IMM offers four postgraduate (PG) level degree programmes like Advanced Diploma in Mass Media (ADMM) with specialization in Entertainment, Advertising, Journalism - PR and Digital Marketing and one undergraduate (UG) in Diploma in Film Making.

Careers360 brings you an exclusive interview with Mr Sanjay Sakharkar, Director - MET Institute of Mass Media, Creative Strategic Consultant, Design thinking expert. In his interview to Careers360, Sanjay Sakharkar shares various details about the institute like MET IMM admission process and other important details. Go through the complete article to know more about MET Institute of Mass Media Mumbai.

Careers360: Tell us something about the institute; when it was set up, vision and mission

Mr Sanjay Sakharkar: MET Institute of Mass Media (IMM) was established in 2005 and follows a holistic approach based on the 3 A’s of Media Education – ‘Acquire, Assemble and Apply'.

MET IMM's Post Graduation Programme, Advanced Diploma in Mass Media is a skill based 18 month programme having specialization options in Digital Marketing, Entertainment, Journalism - PR and Advertising.

We at MET Institute of Mass Media believe that training methodology, its impact and transfer of learning is very much dependent on the curriculum and its relevance to the profession. The ADMM curriculum is designed and updated on a timely basis in consultation with media industry experts following a business and function driven instructional strategy with an implementation value and in line with the media convergence trends. MET training is a balanced combination of cognitive and experiential formats where students get a 360 degree perspective from concepts to its appropriate application. This helps develop students into well rounded & versatile candidates which is and has always been the need of the hour for any entry level media aspirant. This is a unique feature of MET Institute of Mass Media.

The ADMM training processes are a blend of andragogy and pedagogy, media work life necessities and adult learning principles. Media as a career is the business of communication and hence ADMM programme keeps an equal focus on soft and hard skills. These are the major elements that make the MET Institute of Mass Media unique & effective.

Also Read: MET IMM Courses and Fees

Careers360: Tell us something about the admission process?

Mr Sanjay Sakharkar: An aspirant for the admission at MET IMM has to go through MET CET, Group Discussion and Personal Interview. Any graduate with a conviction to make a lucrative profession in media may apply. If applicants are going to appear or have appeared for their graduate exam and awaiting the results can also apply.

Careers360: What kind of infrastructure can students expect at the institute? Please elaborate?

Mr Sanjay Sakharkar: While infrastructure plays an important role in education sector MET Institute of Mass Media has a fully-functional, well-equipped class rooms, library and other facilities like:

• Wi-Fi campus

• More than 2,657 Media Books in the library

• Wide archive of Movies, TV Shows, Web series across content genres, National and International.

• Fully loaded information and technology centre with wi-fi connectivity.

• Conference rooms equipped with the latest audio-visual facilities and learning aids.

• Hi-tech convention centre.

• Recreation areas.

• MET World of Music (MWM)

• Highly Equipped Studio with Shooting Croma floor

• Multi light Setup

• High resolution Camera

• Audio Room

• Editing Suit

• Creativity Room

• State of the art in-house studio complex.

Quick Link: MET IMM Admissions

Careers360: There is a lot of stress that is being made with regards to interaction with the industry as well as companies that recruit. What are the steps being taken by the institute in this direction?

Mr Sanjay Sakharkar: MET IMM ADMM works on the principle, "From the industry, By the industry, For the industry".

Industry Interaction is the constant and consistent element of the MET IMM programme. Senior Media Professionals from the fraternity come in as subject mentors. That becomes the first cut through to eliminate the stress of interaction with industry. Besides this, the institute arranges for a series of student interactions with renowned media stalwarts throughout the year. This becomes a strong platform not only for knowledge sharing but to generate internship/ recruitment openings. Apart from this, students get ample first hand opportunities to build their industry network while they are in the institution itself. Other than this, the institute conducts HR Meets every year with 35 to 50 Senior HR professionals from leading media companies participating, sharing hiring insights & recruitment trends. This gives a learning and networking opportunity to every batch.

Careers360: Internships are now mandatory as per AICTE guidelines. Does the institute help students with this? If yes, how?

Mr Sanjay Sakharkar: MET Advanced Diploma in Mass Media is an autonomous media PG programme. It has a compulsory internship imbibed as part of the training. MET Institute of Mass Media has always subscribed to experiential training formats and understands the essence of internships as a learning experience for media aspirants. While the MET ADMM programme trains students on critical media skills. ADMM Campus to Corporate programme caters to students being trained on crucial media soft skills, resumes and portfolio development.

A dedicated career services cell generates internship opportunities for ADMM students with a 100 % strike rate.

Other Important Link: MET IMM Facilities

Careers360: Can you please share details if there is any collaboration with universities abroad?

Mr Sanjay Sakharkar: As of now we do not have any collaborations with universities abroad. However, we are exploring that space more now. Mumbai being the largest media hub, our entire focus has always been on training quality and aligning higher education with work life needs.

Careers360: Please share placement statistics with information on the average package, highest and lowest package, number of students placed and details of companies that have recruited.

Mr Sanjay Sakharkar: Average MET Institute of Mass Media placement strike rate has been 90+ plus for over more than a decade with an average batch size of 60 students each year. Starting salaries range between Rs. 2 LPA to Rs. 5 LPA depending on business environment and the candidate.

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