Your MBA interviewers and college professors are not your family members.

How many times have you had to say, “I did not mean this”?Do you think what you say is also understood exactly the same way? If yes, you could be living in a myth.

It is possible that your message is interpreted differently by others. You may wonder how and why. We all come from different backgrounds, families, cultures and experiences, and therefore there is a probability that we interpret things differently.

You have to deal with several people in life. Currently, the most important ones could be the judges on your group discussion and interview panel, and the professors in college. Before we deep dive into the techniques of dealing with people (who have different personality and behavioural traits), let us understand some basics of verbal communication.

According to industry estimates, in any verbal communication, words (the literal meaning) account for 7% of the overall message, tone of voice 38% and body language 55%. So who wins? Of course body language, right? But I feel it is not only your body language that makes the communication impactful. What is more important in any communication is to judge the other person’s body language and behave accordingly.

Let us discuss some real life situations you could face and how you could emerge as a winner from those:

• Your group discussion has the following panel members:

• An aggressive manufacturing industry tycoon
• A theoretical academician in philosophy
• A lawyer

The first thing you would want to do is to enquire about the panel. The industry tycoon and the lawyer on this panel may appreciate valid, hard core facts in the discussion; the philosophical academician may expect some human aspect in your arguments. You have to build a discussion with a mix of facts and theory. Remember that you will never be able to please 100% of your audience. But try to make it at least 70-80%. However, it may happen that you are not aware of the panel members. My advice in that case is to reach out to the college and get this information. You should do this much in advance so that you have ample time to prepare. Read about the panel members’ achievements, their style of working, and their hobbies. This background check will help you behave in a manner that increases your chance of selection.

• You have a personal interview with someone who thinks he knows everything:

This is a tricky one. When a person feels he has all the knowledge in the world, he is never happy with your answers. This person will try to bully you, add more facts to what you say andconsider your arguments as ‘not so good’. He/she will try to make you very uncomfortable in the interview. How can you  tackle this situation? The best strategy to deal with such people is to ask logical questions. Even if it is your interview, ask questions. But these questions should sound like a discussion rather than actual questions. One question should lead to another. This way, you are putting this person at parwith you. It is possible that your interviewer gets upset with this strategy, so you need to careful, polite and humble. Your interviewer should feel that you are eager to learn from him and that is why you have these questions.

Not knowing everything is better than knowing all. You have more scope to learn.

• You are misunderstood and you know it:

When you know that people have misunderstood you in any conversation, you have already created a gap with who you are dealing with. How do you bridge this gap? If you are in a group discussion or an interview, there are chances to lose your opportunity, so you must immediately clarify what you meant and why you meant so. One of the ways you can do so is even after the discussion/interview is over, you clarify and leave. Your behaviour can sometimes play a greater role than your actual words. However, if you are misunderstood by a professor, or a fellow student, you have enough time to clear the misunderstanding. The most ideal way of dealing with such a situation is hold another separate conversation after a time gap. Remember to gather facts before you enter this separate conversation. Be polite, friendly and understanding to make better relations with this person.

Remember, you do want to prove your point, but not at the cost of your relationship.

• You are either with people who say “yes” to everything or “no” to everything:

When you are preparing a group presentation or a case study, there are chances of encountering ‘yes’and ‘no’ behaviours. These are people who generally lack point of view. They have a single agenda —‘join the gang’ (yes people) or ‘I do not belong here’ (no people). Both these categories are not team players. ‘Yes’ people are looking for shelter, while the ‘no’ category wants todisrupt your plans without a reason. The best way to tackle such people is making them feel important and creating accountability for their decisions and actions. Once they feel empowered and accountable, they are willing to participate for a common purpose.

Reading people’s mind is the most difficult task and to do that is an art.

• You are among the‘traditional minds’:

In your college life, you will meet people who work with traditional mindsets. They admire models that are already successful. They are most willing to replicate success, rather than trying new things or doing things differently. Sometimes, you want these people in your group for the experience they have. The best strategy to deal with such people is to have them in your group. While they continue to work with a traditional mindset, you do things differently and showcase your success to them. This gives them confidence in new ideas and new ways of doing things. And you have the best team that has both — experience and innovation.

Experience clubbed with innovation is your journey towards making a difference

What does it mean for you?

Different people, different situations, different contexts – dealing with all is tough but achievable.

You will be required to act, behave and react with different people in different situations in different contexts your entire life. Your behaviour with a family member will be different from your behaviour with a friend orcolleague in a similar situation. You need to strike the right balance between politeness, facts and logic to have a meaningful conversation. This will enable you to build better relationships for the future.

Relationships are the key to building robust teams. You can build expertise through a course, but you learn the art of dealing with relationships only through experience.

Contributed by Virag Jain ( Class of 2010, IBS MUMBAI )

Once upon a time, there was a home on a footpath of London. In that home, a couple sued to live with their children. Unfortunately, the father of this family was a drunkard. He used to drink a lot and due to this habit, he died one day, leaving his family in bankruptcy. Hence, responsibility of raising the young kids fell upon the poor mother. But she had no money and consequently, she had to sell their house and family was rendered homeless.

The poor mother had no money or job to feed her children. The mother used to mimic people passing by and entertain her kids thereby making them forget hunger. Laughing kids and a crying mother – what an irony? She was a brave lady.

Days passed. The lady could find a job in a pub where her job was to entertain the audience with mimicry and dance. One day, she was too hungry but continued to perform in the pub. After sometime, she collapsed on the stage and died instantly due to hunger. Cruel owner of that pub removed her body from the stage and threw it out of the pub. Her 11 years little boy was watching all this sitting in a corner. Watching her mother collapse, he tried to awaken her mother. But mother was in deep sleep.

The kid had eyes filled with tears. But he stood up, took the stage and started to perform. By watching her mother doing mimicry, he did learn a lot. His performance made the audience roll on the floor laughing their stomach out.

Later on, the world would know that 11 year old boy as the great comedian Charlie Chaplin. The performance on stage on the most tragic day was his first live stage performance. And the rest was history.

Friends, moral of the story is that one should have the fire within him/herself. We have ample examples from within the country in front of us. Persons like Lal bahadur Shastri, Dr. Radhakrishnan, Dr.Kalam, Dr.Vikram sarabhai, Dr.Rajendra Prasad and so on. The list is long and goes on. They all confronted all the adversities in their life that we cannot even imagine. Some of them spent their entire childhood in abysmal poverty, some spent their youth in jails and some spent their valuable time serving the society and the country at large. But they did not bow down against the odds and instead, stood firm and fought bravely against them.

One great common thing among all of them was that they did not focus on any other thing except their motive. The only goal of their life was to get best education, serve the society and the country. They wanted to get alleviated from poverty, odds, and difficulties of the life. Further, they also wanted to bring their country and fellow countrymen out of difficulties. These individuals were not the ones who adopted any illegal or wrong way to achieve their goals. All these people raised the bar and became internationally recognized personalities and brought pride to the country.

They lived the famous lines from Allama Mohammad Iqbal:

‘Khudi ko kar buland itna ke har taqder se pehle

Khuda bande se khud pooche bata teri raza kya hai.’

The secret behind their success was that they tackled all the difficulties/problems in the best positive manner and started to solve them instead of cursing them. It is very clear that for doing such kind of work, there should be fire in the belly. And clearly, there was a big fire in the bellies of all these individuals. And the great thing was that that fire was not for them but it was for others.

At this point, I would like to further add that sometimes one should do some introspection. It is applicable to all of us. We should ask ourselves some questions:

1. What is the basic purpose of my life?

2. What am I doing to fulfill it?

3. How will I do this?

These are critical questions of self-evaluation. During one of the recent lectures that I attended where the speaker (Dr. Karan Singh) said a wonderful thing. He said – ‘life is not a journey from womb to tomb’ but there is purpose attached to it. Most of us spend life without achieving anything and spend a meaningless life. And hence, it is very important to know our selves and to know the purpose of coming here.

The second and third aspects are are what and how will I achieve my goal? The secret is that there is no great skill required to do great things. I believe what is required is some general awareness (not.General Knowledge), common sense and attitude towards life. There should be strong and positive attitude towards life.

If we develop such kind of attitude and start acting, no one can stop us from growing exponentially. No matter how tough is the situation, we will survive. When the going gets tough, the Tough get going!

Contributed by Janmang Mehta (Class of 2010, IBS AHEMDABAD )

In the chilly winters of January; I chose to appear for the interview of IBS in Hyderabad. Though the interview was scheduled in February, the preparation began a month back.

8 years ago I found myself standing at a cross road, whether to join an MBA institute or work straight out of engineering. The challenging aspect was to get into a MBA institute which lays the foundation of your career, and then building on the strong footing in future.

Friends, choose your battles wisely. Cracking into IBS Hyderabad is no joke, and for an average student like me, it was an uphill task. My goal was to perform best from rest; I went into interview thinking “I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become”.

The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.

I would like to tell some aspects on which you can work to get into a good MBA institute. My experience says by working on following 3 P’s (perseverance, public speaking and positive attitude) before going into a group discussions and personal interview of any top institute, you may want to appear, will help immensely. I am sure by working diligently on these 3 P’s; anyone can make it to. Remember one thing, It’s not the gun which matters but the person behind the gun which matters.

These 3 P’s made me an altogether different person and I hope my experience will help you all to achieve success in life.

Perseverance:
Study shows, great work are performed not by strength but by perseverance. There is no substitute to hard work, planning your goal and persistently trying to achieve within a set time frame make you a different personality. If you think to perform well in GD/PI, do the following consistently.

Reading- Read your heart out, reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body. Reading is important but to remember what you have read is imperative. I always use to pen down the whole article into points, which I can easily recollect while having a discussion on the floor. Try to form points which you “like” and “dislike” about the article and use either of them as per the situation. Say if you have to talk for the motion, talk about points you “like” and vice versa. Read which you dislike the most, it sounds funny but this will get you out of your comfort level. We are so accustomed to the comforts of “I cannot”, “I do not want to” and “it is too difficult” that we forget to realize when we stop doing things
for ourselves and expect others to dance around us, we are not achieving success.

Tips- Bring variation in you reading, read as well revise the article you have read, read at least 2 business and 1 normal newspapers, keep the cutting of the article which are important and insightful, in your folder.

Public speaking:
99% of the population is afraid of public speaking and of the remaining 1%, 99% of them have nothing original and interesting to say. By reading you will have enough exciting content to offer but how to put your message effectively to viewers is not easy. It’s not that practice makes your perfect, but “perfect” practice makes you perfect i.e. practice to speak to the point, never beat around the bush in a GD/PI. Through public speaking you will improve your English, communication and speaking etiquette. Don’t be shy in talking in English to parents, relative, friends or others. By speaking in front of unknowns you will overcome hesitation, and will improve MTI (mother lounge influence).

Other important factor which most of us overlook is emphasizes on “Listening” skill. Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply. We have two ears and one mouth, so should listen more than we say. Patrice to listen, you will get to the skin of your competition, if he/she is speaking crap, your elegance will get the better out of you. Candidates who are good in listening and speaking are hit everywhere they go.

Tips- Take up a topic which is in vogue with your friends and start conversing. Take effective pauses to push your points, listen carefully to others, act as a mediator and smartly drift the discussion in your favor.

Positive attitude:
Out of all 3, this one is my favorite. A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events and outcomes. It is a catalyst and it sparks extraordinary results. On “D day” never let any thought, any ill or others, affect your attitude. Remember all your hard work, preparation, prayers, and blessings boils down to this day. Be confident in what you have done and going to do. You can do everything to try to stop bad things from happening to you, but eventually things will happen so the best prevention is a “positive attitude”. Don’t let vague fears hold you back from doing what you want. Try to calm your jitters, in your mind shout “STOP”.

Stay with positive people, they bring an aura with themselves. To be able to stay positive it is essential to have influences in your life that support you and lift you up instead of dragging you down. In fact if you have negative, sloppy friends, you may want to stop talking with them for a couple of weeks. The idea is to build an aura of positivity around you.

Tips- Stay positive, go through the selection process steps, revise your group discussion points and read through your CV carefully. On the day dress well, listen to music, take a deep breath, stay focus and relax. Everyone has a time of success and satisfaction; I wish everyone all the best and pray for everyone’s bright future.

Thanks!

Contributed by Vaibhav Chandra (Class of 2009, IBS HYDERABAD)

To get admission at IBS Hyderabad is quite tough. The student has to go through an All India Competitive Entrance Exam followed by an interview session at Hyderabad.

The student pays substantial amount towards fees and spends further money on hostel, transportation and other expenses. The student also foregoes his earning opportunity while he/she is studying at IBS.

The management and faculty also have an agenda to totally transform their students so that when the students pass out they are far superior in all respects compared to when they come in. The institution’s reputation has been built based on demand of its students by industry, salary packages offered to them and the height to which they are expected to soar in later years of their life. The foundation of such people building operation is laid at the institute and it cannot be taken lightly.

In view of above the student would like to make most of his stay at IBS and grow in all aspects of his life. This may include comprehensive knowledge and skills on various facets of business world, working in teams, leadership, stress management, emotional intelligence, networking, time management, effective business communication etc. The student would not like to become a book worm, but instead prefer to develop in terms of keen insight, attitude building, adversity quotient, patience, perseverance, resilience and sparkle in health. This is also the time to develop new friends, have fun, play games etc and make the stay at IBS really memorable. The whole process is complex and demands fine balancing each day.

Let’s look at a typical day for a student at IBS Hyderabad. I will take you through two different categories of students, one who is a late riser and other category which sleeps early and wakes up early. My description of those who sleep early and rise early are based on few experiences that I gained during my futile efforts to change my routine (I was a late to bed and late to rise types) and become an ‘Early to bed and Early to rise’ type. The more I tried (out of, sometimes peer pressure, sometimes internal guilt of gaining weight, sometimes family pressure, and many such reasons) the more I failed, finally realizing that this is not feasible. The realization came with lot of excuses supporting and convincing me that this is not my cup of tea.

Packed schedule, I must admit but still on a typical day you end doing many additional things (I do not know how and when);

• Share movies and especially MTV Roadies on intranet.
• Browse on internet and chat on intranet/ Orkut (at my time this was a hit).
• Crib about marks, not because you got less but others (especially your friends) got more.
• During placement time, prepare for interviews and GDs
• Chat with your girlfriend or loved ones on phone late night
• Participate actively in your favorite clubs
• Visit the city by boarding 5^o clock bus and have dinner at Angithi, or Barbeque Nation or Ohris (The list is endless).
• Visit nearby temple
• If do not like food in mess, go to the Dhaba or Paratha stall.
• Enjoy all festivals with tremendous zeal.
• Play Badminton, Table Tennis well past mid night.
• Most important, enjoy Cheese Sandwich, Maggi, Pasta and Coffee at night cafe run in hostels by students.

This would never end if I keep on writing. I might still have missed some very important part but I just re-lived the most fascinating part of my life at IBS. Thanks to IBS and all friends, faculty, staff and others who made it feel like a big family for me.

Contributed by Sumit Gulati (Class of 2009, IBS HYDERABAD)

Every positive step taken towards our goal derives success. One such important step is getting selected in the choice of our institution / organization etc. Every institution requires students who wish to progress profusely in their career. Selection is a process that involves various steps prior and ahead of it. Therefore it is important to set up a goal that is realistic and achievable based on our interests. Our goal is set from the time our learning begins. MBA is a step ahead that helps us make that goal realistic by providing us with detailed insights on how it is working in organizational environment.

Experience of my selection at IBS was a unique one as I had been preparing myself based on the requisites. I had my goal fixed to do MBA after my college and started my preparations accordingly. I made the decision to join IBS and after giving the entrance exams for the same started looking forward on the next process i.e. selection. Group discussion, talk on a topic and personal interview were the three phases that took place for selection.

Group discussion could be challenging as well as a platform to get our confidence and knowledge to get noticed. For beginners or those who are not comfortable to speak in front of a group may pose this session as difficult. I was one such person who found it difficult to speak in front of numerous people. I took this up as a challenge and started preparing for the same ahead of time. Some of the things to keep in mind are:

• Getting mentally prepared: The first step is to get yourself mentally prepared to become a part of the GD. One needs to gear up to become a part of the group and be as confident as others. Even if you have just one or two points to share, do it with enthusiasm and passion so that you get noticed and your points are validated.
• Conceptual Knowledge: Next step is to being aware of all the happenings in every sphere like political, business, international news etc. It is important to update with the current as well as the past news so that we have a basic knowledge on various major events that occurred during the course of time. One should understand the event and ascertain the consequences and analyze the issue based on an intellectual level.
• Ethics: Ethics are the basic values each one of us needs to follow in every scenario. In many cases, one or two people just rule over the group and do not let others speak. Each one gets a chance to speak. Therefore when you are given a minute or two to prepare before the discussion starts, pile up the points and if possible begin the discussion with them. The one who puts the first point has a higher advantage. Also make valid points and stick to what you say. Do not manipulate the original said points and also never start fighting. Being aggressive seems a negative attitude.

The second part of the selection process was talking on a topic for a couple of minutes. IBS had provided a list of topics and one is required to choose one among them and speak on it. I went through the topics given and chose the one which interested me and would interest the audience. Choosing a topic which one could be able to speak confidently will help in speaking flawlessly too.

While choosing the topic it is important to ponder on the ones which makes one know he/she has little knowledge on it. Shortlist the topics accordingly and make a list. Finally after choosing the final topic, list down the points I wrote down the points I knew on it. I researched it over the internet and other publications. Also I discussed it with my friends to get varied points on the topic.

The most important moment comes when one has to speak in front of the other speakers and the professor who would assess. I was sure of what I had to speak and made my points clear, so that it does not create any confusion in the minds of the listener. Also choosing such points which provide newer information is preferable over what has already been heard by and large. Addressing each listener, standing in the right posture and speaking confidently are key factors for a perfect speech delivery.

The last step of the selection process is personal interview. This step would seem to be the most difficult part and one tends to get nervous. The main reason for getting nervous is because we do not know what we would be asked and secondly who would be interviewing us. Having experienced this situation I have known that is a calm and poised process. There are a few things that need to be done before attending the interview.

• Building confidence: Even before we start answering verbally to a question, our body language speaks a lot. Therefore even before we start building our knowledge we should build our confidence. In order to do this, stand in front of the mirror and assess the posture and body language. Secondly, analyze the language and fluency of English with which you speak. Speaking with fluency provides a boost with the knowledge you have.
• General Knowledge: Along with the current affairs knowledge, one has have knowledge about a broader perspective. Past events, political figures, business mergers and acquisitions etc are some of the key areas to focus on. Referring to G.K books and searching over Internet are some of the options to build G.K

Facing the interviewer and greeting him is the first step. Handle each question calmly and with confidence. In case one does not know an answer just say u do not know it, never say anything unrelated. Let the interviewer see the confidence in the things that you are sure about. Also he will know that you will not make things up just to impress. As it is rightly said, talk to express and not impress. Therefore focus on what your goal is and answer why you want to MBA. Choose the specialization in which you want to build a career and not blindly follow others. Lastly, leave a thought in the interviewer’s mind as to why he should not choose you. This thought will make you get through the selection process and become a part of the institution.

Contributed by Anju Bafna, (Class of 2010, IBS BANGLORE)

‘It’s a bit like wild fire.’ Halpern Cowan Ltd. says about Marketing. ‘If there is one fire the chances of creating a blaze are minimal. If you start 1000 fires, you have a much better chance of creating an inferno!’

Starting so many fires can get tiresome and tardy, don’t you think?

Imagine a marketing scenario where a single spark manages to ignite another 1000 fires. Such a phenomenon is called Viral Marketing.

Ten years ago, in the ever-diverse Advertising industry, the marketing strategy for this study stemmed from the premise that a satisfied customer will categorically spread the word.

A viral marketing technique performs as a self-replicating process and urges users to voluntarily pass on the communication to other users. Infecting the Internet with an idea, the aftermath of the technique is thus compared to the spread of a pathological virus.

The concept of Viral Marketing can be better described as the rapid sharing of interesting ideas on pre-existing social networks to propagate brand awareness and prompt action resulting in purchase of a product or service offered.

The social networks can be organic (word-of-mouth) or online. The aim is same – To create an exponential growth in the communication’s visibility and influence.

The life span of a standalone word-of-mouth marketing campaign usually is rather short.

The Internet, on the other hand, gives Viral Marketing more personality and a broader presence.

Nowadays anything worthy of interest or entertainment is speedily shared electronically between Internet users; war-stories to music videos, celebrity break-ups to grumpy cats, outrageous memes to sleepy children. The simplicity of sharing information has grown and become more perceptive because of smartphones and other devices that are facilitated with Internet. All one has to do is scroll down and click on the ‘Share this to…’ button to practice referral marketing first hand.

If we look at certain online products that went viral such as Facebook, YouTube, Gmail, and Craigslist, we realize the huge potential customer base that is available to us through these networks. Since these products improve as more people use them, they motion ideal viral marketing opportunities.

Marketing agencies work towards creativity that can grab most eyeballs. MTS Telecom ‘Internet baby’ ad is considered India’s most Viral ad today. A representative of the company explains how it was launched in an innovative way, “by seeding the spot as a BitTorent file and letting the country’s digital natives find it on their own.” Released in 2013, Dove’s ‘real beauty sketches’ and Evian’s ‘baby&me’ viral videos have garnered over 64 and 96 million views on the US YouTube channel.

*Google Trends

Agencies have realized that the chances of producing a successful buzz are greater if viral marketing strategies have covered the basics like

• Extraordinarily designed content,
• Effortless transfer of communication,
• Capitalizing on basic motivations,
• Building on existing communication networks,
• Being resourceful, and
• Offering value.

Advertising Strategists take special care on the following aspects of a Viral communication-

1. Headline

The reader usually looks for an indication of value in the Headline before proceeding over to rest of the content. If the headline manages to spark their interest, the message is more likely to be delivered. Experts recommend adding symbols or numbers to make the headline more striking.

2. Topic

For the communication to spread like a wildfire the topic must be buzzworthy. Current news and trends are liable to ripple the most.

3. Links

It is important to put in links to prompt the reader to take projected action and to provide supplementary information.

Several Marketers in the Entertainment business turn to ‘Prankvertising’ to inject humour into the message endorsed and footage captured.

If you look at the highest-rated videos on YouTube, they’re not sad dramas, they’re men getting hit with inflatable balls or animals falling off things. Younger generations love humor, which is why advertising is using increasing quantities of it to sell things. People like it. It works. – Craig Allen & Jason Kreher (Wieden & Kennedy)

A coffee shop in New York was transformed for a ‘telekinesis’ camera stunt in order to promote the movie ‘Carrie’. The resultant video has also crossed 60 million views to date.

More recently, the ‘ALS Ice Bucket Challenge’ created ripples, raised special awareness of ALS and acquired considerable donations by triggering interest and involvement of every Celebrity-worth-his-social-media-salt along with the global-public.

For palpable reasons, Viral Marketing has been decreed as the leading medium for future campaigns. For one, the cost for commercial advertising space is a great deal lower than that of other media like Television or Print. The costefficiency of this type of marketing is a huge plus for the Advertiser. Such lowcost advertising in a worldwide market allows the marketer to target the masses. Moreover, repetitive views and clicks on social media platform ensure greater frequency of advertising.

Another pronounced benefit of Viral Marketing is how accessible Consumer feedback is made through it. Viral Marketing campaigns often provide an interactive platform for their target audience, which allows for a stronger brand involvement. For instance, The Dark Knight campaigns unlocked exclusive sneak-peek trailers through interactive participation, and invited fans to join related rallies / events.

Viral Marketing despite its wide reach, like any other of its field is not without its limitations. The well-established companies frequently use it as reminder advertising but the start-ups who begin with such advertising are viewed as lacking in credibility. The average Internet user does not appreciate pop-up advertising and resorts to spam filters and blockers.

Seth Godin mentions a common blunder that marketers make when dealing with a poor product, small budget and/or little time.

“They slap some goofy viral thing on top of it and wait for it to spread. And if it doesn’t spread, they create a faux controversy or engage a PR firm or some bloggers and then it still doesn’t work.”

Things like static advertising, making promises that cannot be kept or posing as a consumer, all depreciate the image and goodwill of any brand.

Effort needs to be made by Viral Marketers to keep the brand relevant for the consumers.

Companies can’t just keep talking and saying the same old things. They need to listen, interact, and be somewhat interesting, just like any person who wants to be taken seriously. – Linus Karlsson & Paul Malmstrom (Mother New York)

After weighing all its traits, we advocate Viral Marketing as a viable option for the future, given that the advertisers execute their campaigns with integrity.

With technological advancements that continue to change our world of Viral Marketing, new boundaries will be charted and old ones will keep on getting crossed, as marketers strive to infect the World Wide Web with their creative ideas.

Contributed by Ankita Verma (Class of 2009, IBS Hyderabad)

It’s said that in the journey of life, each day is to be lived to the fullest, so that on looking back you have a grand story to share. In this story, there are phases that define the entirety of the narration. Keeping in mind the vast expanse of Indian diaspora, I am sure many of you will be undergoing a phase that I am going to touch upon today.

The exam fever has subsided, leading to the result declaration mode that brings another upsurge of emotions. Some results have been announced whereas some are yet undeclared. Nevertheless, everyone plans for the big win at the best institutions. Just a few years back, I too was a part of this roller-coaster.

Though I graduated in engineering, I knew it was not my calling. But hey! One can find small bursts of freedom even in the times of chaos. So the “extra” in our curriculum had always been where I found my solace in and it is from those times I found my pathway to a career of my choice. Managing and organizing events, handling people and resources was my forte. Voila! MBA became my stepping stone to attain professional nirvana.

It’s easy to fall into the generic trap of the run-of –the-mill institutes or the traditional pathways to get my desired degree. I already had that share of stumble so was careful in making choices which balanced my caliber, aspirations and resources at hand. Being from a small town with limited availability of brick and mortar aids to pave my way towards my dream course, I resorted to the internet and made it my mentor. Considering the stiff competition at pan India level and rigorous preparations done by the well endowed candidates, I made up my mind to strive as hard as I could. And play my chances in a way that whatsoever be the outcome, it would not deter my faith in myself.

Like many other aspirants, I tried my hand at a decent share of competitive exams to get an entry at the various prominent B-Schools. Each exam was escorted with its share of highs and lows in my overall preparative process. After the tides of testing our intellectual caliber dropped, strong waves of how we fared in those tests washed the shores of our young minds and hearts. Many hopes drowned and many got a chance to float too. This was the time when I came face to face with my first encounter with what can be called “A life changing gesture”.

IBSAT, as we all know is a doorway to enter the prestigious ICFAI/ IBS institutes. For me, its result bought with it a grand invite to its swanky ICFAI, Hyderabad Campus. I remember how I trembled at seeing my call-letter and the immense planning of how I, along with other friends who cleared, would attend the 3-Day event of Seminar, GD and PI.

After taking care of the travel and stay arrangements, came the realization of how to approach the process as the competition would be immense and this time it was about the battle of wits and knowledge. So in came the “Google-Baba” as we fondly called the mighty search engine. Lapping up all the tips on the how’s and what’s, I worked on the inside-out approach. Rather than adjusting myself to the external stimuli, I somehow went on an insight method where I began with a SWOT and progressed to find how a degree with ICFAI would be a mutually beneficial accord.

I had read somewhere, ‘If you have reached the group discussion and interview level of testing, there is hardly ever one bad quality in you that will result in a rejection. There might have been many others who could have been at your place. But they are not. You are selected because you are better than thousands of people who appeared for the exam. So, it can never be only your academics or only lack of confidence due to stammering or any other reason.’ Now after covering my basics, I had to strengthen the bond between my vocal chords and mental synapses.

This is of course not to say that a person’s history as a student doesn’t matter. I too did not have a very glorified resume to share. But when you are in a GD-PI round in a top B-School, you are competing with equals. Everyone will have grades to show-off and certificates in extracurricular would be dime a dozen. It will eventually come down to areas like your mannerisms, focus, analytical & listening skills, and many such aspects that will distinguish you from others.

So armed with my passion to do my best I set path on the journey to IBS, Hyderabad. The whole episode of reaching at Nagarjuna office from the airport and then being hosted well by the management at the university felt like an onset of a life-altering phase. Interactions with students and parents from all across the country under one roof were uplifting and helped me gain first-hand knowledge on the current state of minds of our care-givers and us. It felt like a beautiful potpourri of wisdom, ideas, aspirations, ethnicity, and beliefs.

I have never had much to fear the group discussions as I had a decent exposure to public speaking and the support towards reading from my family aided me in my communication build-up. Yet, the competition was driving my confidence to the edge. Keeping my head in place was posing to be difficult as information overload at the venue and the effervescence of selection kept my brain abuzz.

Selection Process Day 1- The excitement of this day gave me a restless night before so I began my day early by savoring the delicious offerings at the mess and calming my nerves through the warmth of food. The seminar began at the stipulated hall and gave an excellent view about the development of ICFAI institutes and various courses offered in the management domain along with how each one had a niche growth prospect for national and international markets.

Then followed our GD session, where we all were supposed to reach at the lecture halls in the main block as per the shared time slots. On reaching at the setting, I remember being unable to move my feet into the lobby I felt as though they had turned to lead! And suddenly I had a sweet lady by my side confirming the details of where she had to reach. We had a brief chat about the GD groups we were allotted and wished each other well. Somehow this acted as a prep talk and I finally entered my GD venue.

A lady and a gentleman sat as moderators facing a semi-circle seating arrangement for us. Few candidates had already settled in the room and I was directed to my spot in the group. In a little while, the room was filled with around 7-8 more students who took their seats. I remember feeling my hands and feet going stone cold as one of the moderators gave their introductions and asked us to follow. My attention was caught by the lady speaking on the development of the country and how we as future managers would aid in the same. She then proceeded to write our GD theme on the white board, “Should politicians be sent to B-School’s”. We were given 5 minutes to gather our thoughts and she would finally call in for the discussion to commence.

My mind was whizzing with ideas for pros and cons of this subject. I jotted down all the pointers on the given rough sheet till our time to discuss the same began. I took the plunge to initiate the conversation by citing a recent news article that favored promoting and practicing executive MBA at leading institutes for the political personnel and its consequent benefits. This brought in a flurry of responses both for and against such a proposal. I too tried my hand at covering all aspects of this issue like having a minimum level of education guideline for the politicians, to incorporation of educated youth in the political arena and upgradation of the level of education to generate better citizens and leaders. The GD ended with each of us getting a go at our conclusion to the discussion. The rest of that day passed in a blur and I found myself waking up to the PI day.

Selection Process Day 2- They say every interview is built from the answers of the person being interviewed. So I kept in mind what were the areas that I would like to highlight and how I would be able to justify my humane weaknesses. The PI’s too had been set for students at various lecture halls at different time-slots. I had mine somewhere close to noon so my tête-à-tête at home and with friends helped me build my case and got me pepped. I had made-up my mind that regardless of the result, I would make sure that I take back only the good memories of moments spent at IBS campus.

Arriving early at the place of PI gave me a view of the ambience at IBS, soon I heard my name call by the guard outside the lecture hall and I stepped in. I was met by a veteran who gestured to sit. We shared our pleasantries and he asked for my resume. Unlike the day before, I felt more confident and prepared. I felt no major hiccup in our chitchat. Questions were covered about what made me move from a technical field into managerial arena, what my aspirations were and how I aimed to achieve them.

I was quizzed about my hobbies and how I felt they help in defining me as a person. In our discourse, I realized that the interviewer had a technical background as he touched upon some aspects of my trainings and projects. A couple of vivid questions that I remember are: “What are you three major accomplishments as of now?”…which was followed by “What are the three mistakes of your life?”- to which I responded that I consider mistakes as learning curves and ‘Three mistakes of my Life’ is the title of a popular Chetan Bhagat novel. My last points of closure were on the highlights of living in a small town. The meeting ended with my feedback to him and best wishes to each other.

I left the room with a sense of accomplishment as I felt that a PI is basically meant to know you as a person. Because I had already attempted to gain insight on knowing myself before I began my journey towards my masters, now the IBS Selection Process did not feel like a stumbling block in my path. Little did I know that this was just the tip of the iceberg.

Few weeks later, I received an acceptance mail from the IBS fraternity citing my eligibility to apply for the IBS campuses and their courses. As the summer set in, I had closed my deal to get exposed to the world of management at IBS-Gurgaon. The choices and learnings that followed in the two years of my masters at IBS strengthened me as a person and helped me grow exponentially. My stint with each and everyone at IBS, be it the students, teachers or helpers; assisted in bringing me closer to know who I am and how can I be better each day.

Though its been quiet sometime since I have left my alma mater, but I still feel a part of me shall always live there. “As has often been said, the youth who loves his Alma Mater will always ask, not ‘What can she do for me?’ but ‘What can I do for her?”―Le Baron Russell Briggs.

Contributed by Deeba, (Class of 2013, IBS Gurgaon)

“A year from now, you’ll wish you had started today.”
– Karen Lamb

You probably know what LinkedIn is and already have a profile floating around. But for the uninitiated, LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking service launched almost 12 years ago on May 5, 2003. As of June 2013, LinkedIn reports more than 259 million acquired users in more than 200 countries and territories. (Source Wikipedia).

You know all this and yet the number of your weekly profile views is in single digits and endorsements are far and few. Is there something that you aren’t doing right? Something that you could do different? Well, there could be plenty. Below are some tips to spruce up your LinkedIn profile and make it a great marketing tool when you aren’t present in person to present your case.

1. Start From The Basics: A Profile Picture

Often, first impressions are the last. A decent looking profile picture establishes you as a serious candidate and goes a long way to get you noticed. But keep it professional. Selfies and arty profile pictures are a no-no for MBAs. So don a smart shirt, think of a happy moment that’ll make you smile and get a friend to click you. This might take some effort but then remember, that profiles with photos are 11 times more searchable.

2. Draw Them In With A Headline That Shows Intent

A headline is what goes below your name. It’s what pulls people in to go through your profile in more detail. Make it boring and they’ll move on to the next candidate. So what constitutes a good headline? It should be keyword rich, and in your case of a hot shot MBA, it should exhibit intent. Include your current position (e.g. Marketing Major at IBS Hyderabad) and keep it crisp, not more than 10-12 words.

3. Keep Your Page Bubbling With Activity

Now agreed that this isn’t Facebook where you like to update your status regularly and share interesting stuff with your contact list but articles related to your profession can be just as interesting. Or in the case of LinkedIn, just as relevant. So when you come across something meaningful and insightful, don’t keep it to yourself. Share it by all means. It is also an indication to your prospective employers that you’re active and are hence more likely to respond quickly if they were to contact you with an opportunity.

4. Get Recommendations To Do The Hardwork On Your Behalf

Remember orkut days when testimonials made your online persona a lot more desirable. Well, things haven’t changed much. Only got a little more professional. A good recommendation is a testimony of your skills and aptitude. And it doesn’t take too much time. However timing is of essence. The best time is after successful completion of a project. Your contributions are still fresh in mind and the person recommending you will do most of it on his/her accord. Also, try and get recommendations from different sources. A colleague is more likely to talk about you being a team player while a mentor might recommend you for leadership skills. So pick up the phone or drop them an email and request them while they’ll still oblige you.

5. Belong To A Group

“A man is known by the company he keeps.” Given the context, the proverb couldn’t be truer. LinkedIn groups are hotbeds of activity where like-minded people from all across the world convene, discuss and share ideas. The discussion topics are current and a vast pool of knowledge. And since you’re just starting out, should you find yourself in a bind, you could take guidance from more experienced group members.

A group is also a great way to build your network and it often happens that group members by sheer association get a first shot at a job opportunity posted in the group. You may also get first invites to events such as a webinar, book signing, product launch etc. A feature called ‘Group Statistics’ creates statistics for every group about group size, comments, discussion etc. that is a useful tool for you to gain information about the professional background of other members and something that’ll help you evaluate whom to connect with one on one outside the group.

6. Harness The Multimedia Capabilities Of Linkedin

Did you know that you could include rich media content in your LinkedIn profile? Slideshare presentations, infographics, videos and more. All of this adds both weight and glamour to your otherwise text heavy profile. The key here is to be detailed in your descriptions and make the experience interactive. Surely, there’s a learning curve in getting to know the features. But the quantum leap it can give your profile will be worth the time and energy you spend on it.

7. Don’t Forget The Obvious

Now, we haven’t really touched upon sections like summary, education and work ex. Well, those are hygiene and LinkedIn has made it fairly easy to enter the information in a standardized format.

You needn’t get into details of your school life. The name and year of passing out should suffice. You should be a little more detailed about your graduation and post graduation as those were your formative years. Detail out your work-ex and put some weight behind it with recommendations.

There’s also a section for Achievements. As an MBA student, it gives you the scope to highlight what you’ve been up to during MBA and before. Arrange them in an order that’d most appeal to your prospective employer. For instance, you may have stood third in a New Product Launch competition but may have actually won a singing competition. Both are incredible achievements in their own right but to a marketing manager looking to hire a young gun, you being able to launch a product in a market, even if hypothetically, would probably make more sense.

So, this is it. Some very practical and doable tips to share your personal brand story in the form of a LinkedIn profile. I hope you’ll find merit in these to help you stand out from the clutter. Have a great beginning to a new year.

Contributed by Himanshu Saxena, (Class of 2009, IBS Gurgaon)

This article is addressed to the students who are preparing for IBS Group discussion/ Personal Interview (‘GD’ / PI’)

Honestly speaking, I wanted to pursue my MBA from IBS Hyderabad but it could not happen. So I had to settle with Ahmedabad campus. But when I go back in past and remember how it happened, I feel that even Ahmedabad campus was earned the hard way.

How I prepared for written exam?

As I was preparing for CAT examination like most of the MBA aspirants do, I did not do any special preparation for IBS written exam. I appeared for IBS written exam i.e. IBSAT on 16 December 2007. I attempted good number of questions and was hopping that I would get a call for interview from this college.

My preparation for the interview

As soon as I received call letter from IBS for my selection for interview at Hyderabad, I started working on cracking this interview and securing admission. As I mentioned, I was preparing for CAT examination, I had fairly good idea about the process.

(Tip for MBA Aspirant friends – Prepare for CAT exam so that you can appear in all other entrance exam and crack them too)

However not being over confidant, I started searching about IBS specific questions from internet. I used to dosearches randomly like ‘IBS campus interview questions’ and ‘questions asked in IBS interview’ on google. By this way, I gathered common questions from different search results and prepared for these questions.

At that time in 2008 (January), IBS was using different type of admission procedure.As you clear the written exam, you get a call letter. Further,along with this letter,IBS had given a list of topics to students and out of these topics, students had to choose any one topic and present it before the jury at Hyderabad campus during the selection process. The range of topicsprovided was very wide and thus was making it difficult for students to select one. Finally, I freeze upon one unique topic from the list, ‘Coalition Government in India’. I selected this topic considering my interest in current affairs and politics.

Then, I started preparing presentation for this topic. I searched about history of coalition government in India, gathered facts aboutit;made notes and finally prepared a nice presentation (I thought it was niceJ).

It was my first of its kind presentation and that too for MBA admission and hence it was a big thing for me. As you know that such thoughts can make any student nervous so I also felt nervous about it. But I believed that everything would turn good. With all these preparations, I sat in the train from Baroda and reached to Hyderabad for the first time in my life and that too alone.

The D-Day (Day of interview)

Presentation Part

As I mentioned, it was my first of its kind presentation, I was feeling nervous. As soon as my turn came for presentation, I was literally shivering. Anyhow, I started presenting my thoughts but my voice was breaking in between due to nervousness and I could felt it. I completed my presentation anyhow beforethe jury. The jury also did not trouble me much except for one or two questions form presentation for the sack of evaluation.

Interview part

After this, there waspersonal interview round. I almost gave up the hope for admission due to my experience of presentation but I had to appear for interview as I had travelled to Hyderabad all the way. With this thought, I entered into interview room and my fortune changed. The panel presented in the room made me comfortable and then started asking me questions.

Here, I have tried to put myinterview conversation in the actual question and answer format which is as below.

1. Interviewer – So Janmang, tell us something about yourself and about your background.

         Janmang – I gave my brief introductionand family background

Advice – Prepare your brief introduction perfectly as mostly all interviewer starts with this question only.

2. Interviewer – As mentioned that you are from bhavnagar, a city in the state of Gujarat, do you know anything about ‘Alang ship breaking yard’?

Janmang – I said yes and replied that Alang is a famous ship breaking yard near Bhavnagar.

Interviewer – He felt good. Another question, what do you know about recent controversy related to Alang?

Janmang – Alang is in news recently for a ship called Clemenceau. A ship from France was anchored in the Alang which was carrying Toxic Chemicals in it. The Indian environment ministry did not allow itto break at this Alang ship yard with the fear of toxic chemicals spreading out in the Sea. Hence,due to Clemenceau ship, Alang was in news.

Advice 2 – Gather information from where you belong and also about surrounding places. There are always high probability that you will get at least one question about it.

I was regaining my confidence as the interview progressed. And then came a final blow

3. Interviewer- What is the recent controversy going on about McMahan line?

Janmang – Mcmohan line is situated in the North East Frontier Region ( ‘ NEFA’) and China is not recognizing this line as border and hence there is a dispute between India and China for this reason.

(As I watched this news just a day before the interview, I literally rattled this information before the panel)

Interviewer – Good Janmang. Can you please tell me our current army chief?

Janmang – With in split of second, I replied – Major General Deepak Kapoor

Interviewer – Excellent Janmang

Janmang – Thank you sir

I think that 5 to 7 minutes decided my journey to the IBS. I walked out from the interview room confidently with the thought that I would get admission in any of the IBS campuses.

Advice 3 –(Before appearing for any interview, get information on what are the current trends, what is there in news in recent past. And there are always high probabilities that you will be dragged in to detail discussion via questions from current affair segment)

Eagerly waiting outside for more than 3 hours, we were called inside the hall from where we would come to know about future. There were envelopes with our fate sealed in.

As soon as my name was announced, I rushed to receive that envelop and opened it. And bingo! I was given admission in the Chennai campus. I called at home to parents and then to my best friend to give them good news.

Lesson learned in life

One thing I learned from this incident that the situation can change any time. Be it good or bad. So our responsibility is to be readyto face both good and bad situations whichever comes to us. You never know when your time changes.

Good Luck and all the best for very bright future to all my friends!

Contributed by Janmang Mehta (Class of 2010, IBS AHEMDABAD )

A chat with a close friend and as usual we had a hearty laugh about how we have always been evaluated on the marks we got and the ranks we secured during our school and college days. What immediately followed was a moment of silence as we checked with each other, have you met your Q3 targets? With all other thoughts flying out of the window we thought isn’t it still about numbers? Indeed it is! We are in a competitive world where a lot of the details are getting organized, monitored and recorded and we get judged according to the numbers or data recorded. Interesting market trends suggest, slowly all the sectors are building a data bank and are trying to dig deep and find some correlation in it.

So what is the hue and cry about DATA Analytic and the need to decipher DATA!

As we know the economies across the globe are opening up, with rapid globalization there are number of multiple brands in each category of products. Take the case of India and our consumer is receptive to multiple brands within sectors, whether it is Banking, Telecom, FMCG, E-Commerce etc. The numbers of consumers are also increasing in the market but the growth is still limited in comparison to the brands being introduced, with large supply and lesser demand there is an ongoing battle where only the fittest will survive. Today we also have multiple platforms especially after the advent of social media where we can evaluate effectiveness of products and its campaigns. As a result the massive data collected are no longer sitting in the archive lab of a brand, instead there are specialists who are being hired to study the data and derive a coherent pattern to understand the consumer behavior from it. For Example: In layman’s language, Kerala has a huge expat population which is working in the gulf, there is country specific data with the telecom operators to back it up, so a simple study would reveal that a drop in tariff from one mobile operator in its rental plan shifts a lot of consumers to use the economic services in comparison to their telecom operator rivals, thus with the kind of data being produced today brands are in dire need of people who can analyze the data and help in informed decision making.

How can the reading through numbers help few Organizations (Feel free to think and add more to the list!)

Few clear-cut trends which I can think are hugely benefited from analyzing data are as below:

Understanding Consumer Behavior:

The most important aspect in any business success and continuity is its ability to understand the existing and prospective consumer’s behavior. There is no rocket science to the aforementioned but with developing tracking tools and plethora of analyzing techniques, there are companies which have dedicated units which are working on Consumer Insights. Such organizations usually work with a Research Agency on ground to collect data across the market and then sit and predict the future patterns.

Understanding & Evaluating your Employees:

Today all the large organizations have prudent methods of evaluating their employee’s feedback and output. All the assigned activities are quantifiable and data is effectively collected by the concerned departments. If these organizations do start digging deep into the data available they could very well devise what are the key concerns of the employees and implement methods to devise corrective plan of action. On the other hand for an employee who is struggling at work could possibly be helped by the department head reading his performance data and assigning him work which he excels at while working on his developmental areas.

Improving Governance and Security:

The earlier too were largely targeted at an organizational level, where we focused on the internal and external customers. Collection of Data and analyzing it could also be helpful in implementing effective governance and reduction in crime rate across our country. For example, if the data suggests that a certain community in an area has been the highest contributor in children trafficking along with the probable reasons behind it, the government in collaboration with an NGO could build and implement a program in such community by which the people can be educated and counseled for overcoming such malpractices.

Key Skills required in making a career out of analyzing data!

As the market is shaping up, the road ahead for brands getting tougher with every passing day. There will be new entrants in the market and that will be coupled with some of the bigger players exiting and the churn will be higher than ever before. With the markets getting more organized there will be massive available data and with it will be a high demand for people who can analyze the data and draw insights on the basis of it. There is / will be a specialist field for it but for now, one who can adapt and form a command over these roles will definitely be a winner in the next few years, as by then the trend will be their friend, with these jobs becoming coveted in the market. Following are few basics skills required for one to get into a Data Analytics role:

Comfort in handling Data

Are you the one who always looks out for reading the graphs and analyzing the market condition rather than go through the full page of written text? If yes then you can find solace with a highly rewarding career in Data Analytics.

Good with numbers

No one wants you to be the next Archimedes but you shouldn’t start sweating with the idea of number crunching. Someone who enjoys a healthy challenge with numbers can certainly try his hand in this field.

Reading through the lines

Yes having a streak of detective will do wonders for your prospect in this field. Not only you need to crunch data and numbers but this field also demands you to draw a behavioral pattern or immediately propose to shoot down a product launch idea as you can infer more from the data than someone would normally do.

Communication at its best

This is definitely one job where you cannot be politically correct, on the basis of your knowledge, gut and experience you will have to call a spade a spade. Moreover whatever one deciphers has to be communicated in its simplest form to all the stakeholders involved hence clear and effective communication is a prerequisite in such a role.

Pervasive across all industries

One of the leading users of Data Analytics is the sport industry, with players being bought or sponsorship money spent is being finalized on the inputs of Data Analytics so those who are wondering that this field might be limited to conventional industries may be prepared for a surprise.

So for all those who are looking to build a career in Data Analytics / Consumer Insights can look at the aforementioned with lot of excitement and interest but with one piece of advice that please be patient with the job role as it is still evolving, however it is likely to be one of the most coveted jobs in the times to come.

Contributed by Gaurav Sharga, (Class of 2010, IBS Gurgaon)