A journey often becomes meaningful when it leads to real capability: the ability to learn quickly, communicate clearly, and deliver results in changing business environments. Sakshi Pandey’s story is a useful example of how a management student can move from classroom learning to international sales and business development, and then grow into a leadership role at LS Next Gen.
Starting Point: Learning And Exposure
In her alumni interactions, Sakshi describes JIMS as a platform that supports student growth through faculty guidance and an active alumni network. This matters because early career progress is rarely built only through textbooks; it is shaped by exposure to competitions, projects, peer learning, and the confidence to participate.
When students evaluate the best PGDM college for themselves, one practical check is whether the institute consistently creates such exposure - events, competitive platforms, and structured feedback - because those experiences build workplace-ready habits.
A Defining Moment: The Marketing Strategy Competition
One incident Sakshi highlights as career-shaping is a national-level marketing strategy competition, where participants had to develop a complete strategy across stages such as product life cycle and market entry. Her point is not that a single competition decides a career, but that serious, structured activities train students to think end-to-end: the market context, the customer, the product, and execution choices.
For many students, competitions provide an early test of professional skills that later become essential in corporate roles:
- Structuring a problem and building a logical plan.
- Presenting clearly under pressure and defending a recommendation.
- Learning to accept feedback and improve the next iteration.
These are also the same skills that help in interviews, internships, and early job performance.
From Campus to Global Sales: Building the Career
Sakshi speaks about having extensive experience (around 11 years) in international sales and business development. She is also introduced in JIMS Rohini’s public alumni communications as an Associate Director (Sales & Business Development) at LS Next Gen. In the same alumni references, she is described as an alumnus of the PGDM International Business batch.
While her role title shows seniority, the learning from her journey is more practical: international business careers demand both market knowledge and personal discipline. She advises students to give international business-focused attention by understanding core strategies and building relevant knowledge, rather than treating it as an optional topic. She also emphasises three career levers that students can actively control:
- Learning the fundamentals of international business with consistency, not only before exams.
- Prioritising internships that match international business or global-facing work, because early experience improves role-fit later.
- Using alumni networks thoughtfully, since many alumni continue in global roles and can provide insight into how hiring and work expectations actually look.
What Managers Learn From Market Differences
A strong theme in her discussions is that globalisation is not just a corporate slogan; it changes how teams sell, communicate, and build relationships across countries. She stresses the need to understand the specific market a business is dealing with, because every market has its own challenges and expectations.
She also notes that her experience with the US and Canadian markets shaped her perspective and that the approach in those markets can differ from the Indian market in meaningful ways. For students, this is a practical reminder: international business is not only about English communication or time zones; it is about customer expectations, business etiquette, and the ability to adapt messaging and solutions to local demand.
How Students Can Apply These Lessons Now
A career journey becomes easier to build when students treat the next two years like professional preparation, not only academic completion. Based on the guidance Sakshi shares, a simple action plan for current students could look like this:
- Choose one core direction like international business, sales, or marketing strategy. Build depth through repeated practice.
- Treat internships as a selection strategy. Align them with the type of work you want to continue after graduation.
- Engage with alumni to understand role realities. This way, your preparation will become more realistic.
Sakshi has always expressed gratitude for alumni connections and for the opportunity to share industry insights with current students.
Conclusion
Sakshi Pandey’s journey from student life at JIMS Rohini to her work at LS Next Gen stands out because it is built on deliberate choices: structured learning, competitive exposure, and consistent focus on international business. For any B-school student planning a similar path, the message is clear - use internships, alumni learning, and disciplined skill-building to become ready for global work, not only to complete a degree.