Aditya Birla Group HeadstaRt 2025

Aditya Birla Group’s HeadstaRt is an opportunity for budding HR leaders of the country to take the first step and make a mark in the ever-evolving and complex domain of Human Resources.

First-Year students from premium B-Schools are invited to form teams and compete in a gruelling battle to create the supreme HR league. With experiential learning as the foundation, the contest spans across three exciting stages testing the teams on their HR expertise in managing a multi-generational workforce and developing millennial leaders who are ready to create a far-reaching impact on organizational success.

The competition starts with the first round of an engaging business simulation game. For the 2nd round, the best of the best teams put their ‘HR hats’ on and work to create next-gen employee experience by tackling live business cases. The shortlisted teams then present their solutions in front of the seasoned HR leadership of Aditya Birla Group. 

The winners will get an opportunity to create a league of their own, bag internship opportunities at the Group Internship Program of Aditya Birla Group and win exciting prizes.

So come, get a HeadstaRt and explore the endless possibilities and rewards.

General Guidelines and Eligibility:

• The competition is open to all full-time first-year MBA/PGDM (HR specialization) students from the below-mentioned list of institutes with 0-36 months of experience.
• To participate in the competition, students need to form a team of 3 members (first-year only) from the same institute.
• Each team will be represented by one team leader.
• There is no restriction on the number of teams from an institute.
• A student cannot be a part of more than one team.
• Students who are on exchange programs are welcome to register, however, a team cannot have more than 1 member, who is part of an exchange program.
• Only the team leader, the person who registers the team, will be able to play the online simulation round; Other team members will not be allowed to play.
• Aditya Birla Group has final authority on all decisions.

Eligible Institutes:

• Management Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon
• Symbiosis Centre for Management and Human Resource Development (SCMHRD), Pune
• Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM), Pune
• Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai
• Xavier School of Management (XLRI), Jamshedpur (HRM only)
• XIM University, Bhubaneswar

Competition Structure:

Business Simulation Round:

• Timeline: 4th August 2025, 12:00 PM IST to 08:00 PM IST.
• The candidates will have to cross different levels to solve real-life problems in HR and showcase their understanding of concepts and business acumen.
• All registered teams will participate in this round.
• Only the team leader will be allowed to play this round.
• Only 1 login will be provided per team; Simultaneous logins are not permitted.
• The duration of the simulation game is 1 hour and the candidates have to attempt this round anytime within an eight-hour window.
• You will only be allowed to play the game from one laptop/desktop at any point in time.
• Selected teams will move on to the next round based on their performance.

Case Study - Showcase your HR prowess:

• Shortlisted teams from the previous round will work on live case studies to showcase their HR prowess.
• The case study will be released on 8th August 2025.
• The teams participating will have 2 case studies provided to them.
• The teams shall have the option to answer a single case study of their choice.
• Each team will need to submit a two-slider presentation (executive summary format) as per the submission template.
• The submission should be done in PDF format.
• The format shall be provided, small edits to the format shall be permitted however the overall length, colour scheme, font and font size shall not be changed.
• Naming Convention: InstituteName_TeamName_HeadstaRt25.
• Teams will have to submit/upload their submissions by 17th August 2025, 11:59 PM IST.
• Once uploaded, teams can change their submission any time before the deadline.

Grand Finale: 

• The top 6 teams from the previous round will be assigned mentors to prepare for the Finale.
• These top 6 teams will be presenting their ideas to the Aditya Birla Group’s HR Leadership team on 29th August 2025 at the Grand Finale in Mumbai. 
• There will be a pre-finale engagement activity which will be hosted a day before the finale.
• Details of the finale will be shared with the shortlisted teams closer to D-Day!

Rewards and Prizes:

• Winners: Pre-Placement Interviews (PPIs) for Internships along with a cash prize of INR 5,00,000, iPads and certificates.
• First Runners-Up: Pre-Placement Interviews (PPIs) for Internships along with a cash prize of INR 3,00,000, iPads and certificates.
• Second Runners-Up: Pre-Placement Interviews (PPIs) for Internships along with a cash prize of INR 1,00,000, iPads and certificates.
• Grand Finalists: All Grand Finalists will receive exciting goodies and certificates from the Aditya Birla Group.
• Participation Certificate: Participation Certificates to all the participants who register and attempt the first preliminary round.