Binay Soreng (PFM 2010-12) is currently working with KPMG India as Assistant Manager in Government & Public Services practice. He aspires to be an expert in Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector and is extensively involved in Business Development, projects related to Incubation of startups, Enterprise/Cluster Development & Promotion, revolving around MSME space.
He has over 9+ years of experience working on projects of Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MoMSME), Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MoSDE), and with International Financial Institutions (IFIs) such as World Bank, Department for International Development (DFID), United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and UN Women. Binay is an e-sports enthusiast and in his free time enjoys watching streams of top e-sports players.
Social Media:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/binay_bwin/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/binaysoreng526/
Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/binay-soreng/
Q. How has been your journey from IIFM to this role?
A. I started my career as a Young Professional in a World Bank funded project (JEEViKA) and worked on rural livelihoods, enterprise development and promotion of clean energy in the hinterlands of Bihar. I could proudly brag that I along with S.Deepak (PFM 2010-12), ensured accessibility of clean cooking and home lighting solutions to over 10,000+ rural households across Madhubani and Purnea district of Bihar. I will always cherish my experience of leading a block as Block Project Manager across various thematic areas and understanding of project management. Post my stint in Bihar for almost 04 years, I joined a USAID project in which I worked with Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore to promote clean cooking across Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. For a short project, I also worked with UN Women under their Women’s Entrepreneurship for Sustainable Energy (WESE) project to promote clean lighting among schools and Anganwadi’s in Madhya Pradesh. There was a shift from project implementation to consulting during this time of my career. I joined a small consulting firm in which I honed my skills of business development, post which I got the opportunity to work with KPMG India under the Ministry of MSME projects. Currently, I am leading a MoMSME project for the promotion of innovation, rural industries, and entrepreneurship.
Q. What is the most satisfying part of your current role?
A. Interacting with senior government bureaucrats, learning from their experiences, and networking with various government and non-government agencies.
Q. Has your learning at IIFM helped in shaping how you approach your professional roles?
A. Undoubtedly, IIFM played a crucial role in shaping my outlook toward clean energy and enterprise promotion. My internship with Fragrance and Flavour Development Centre (Agency under MoMSME) helped me to closely work with micro-enterprises and understand their challenges. I would also like to share one of my placement interview question i.e. “What is Tragedy of the Commons ?”. The topic was discussed by Madhu Verma Ma’am in one of her classes earlier and I could respond to the interviewer with confidence and with a smile.
Q. Who (or what) are the biggest influences or drivers in your careers. What would be your advice to freshers and IIFM graduates who are looking to choose similar sectors/roles?
A. My advice to freshers and IIFM graduates will be to make use of the library at IIFM, and to attend the classes regularly. Select a sector you are excited to be working on, read about the various schemes, reports, and thought leadership in the concerned sector. One should be clear about the challenges in the sector and should have own view points in sorting out those challenges. Finally, networking is very important!
Q. What are your favorite memories during your IIFM days?
A. My favorite memories will be going on numerous road trips on a bike to various forts, playing football with seniors and juniors, and obviously playing games on LAN such as Counter Strike 1.6 & Age of Empires II.
Q. The best friends / seniors /faculty at IIFM? Some memorable tidbits that you like to share.
A. Honestly, it will be difficult to pick a specific set of people. All of my batch mates, seniors, juniors, and IIFM faculty played crucial roles in shaping where I am now. There are many memorable tidbits but one which I could clearly remember is when in a field trip, some of my batch mates were doing pole dance and I was behind the camera recording the act ;).
Q. As an alumnus, what is your advice to freshers or those are joining IIFM to get best out of the 2 years there?
A. Following are my advice to freshers or those who are joining IIFM-
- To Freshers looking for a B-School: Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) is a booming sector. IIFM is one of the pioneer B-School with advanced learning & development content in this sector. I would strongly suggest freshers to explore IIFM.
- To freshers joining IIFM: Trust me you are at the right place, just work hard, set your goals and strive to achieve them.
Q. What is your typical day at the office? (We want to know what your day job looks like)?
A. A typical day will start with checking emails in the morning, acting on those mails (if required), reaching the office by 9:00-9:30 AM, interacting with the client and various stakeholders in the concerned project, and virtual meetings on project deliverables and working on the assigned deliverables. After returning from the office, sometimes have to work on proposals as part of business development.
Q. And how about weekends, Hobbies, Family and anything else you want to add?
A. I have a 3-year-old son christened Jason, I spend most of my available time with him and my wife during weekends.
Q. Favorite Books, movies, authors.
A. I will admit here that I am not much of a reader (though I often purchase books which I might read in future) or someone who watches movies.
Q. IIFM is driven by alumni’s passion and commitments towards its goal. How would you like to contribute to IIFM or IIFM alumni, students?
A. I am open to mentoring anyone who is willing to make their career in the MSME sector. In fact, I always look forward to hiring resources from IIFM. Here for my juniors from IIFM, I would like to highlight that always improvise your resume as per the opening requirement.
Q. What do you think is different at IIFM now vs when you studied there? What do you think is a positive change and what is not?
A. I think the new course on Post Graduate Diploma in Sustainable Management (PGDSM) is a welcoming and positive change along with a dedicated Placement Co-Ordinator position at IIFM.
Q. Any suggestions on who you want to get profiled/interviewed here?
A. Pradip Das (World Bank), Archit Sahare ( Asst. Director at O/c DC Handcraft, Ministry of Textiles), Paramita Saha (Deloitte), Akshat Nagar (Ernst & Young), Ashish Bhambani (UPL).