MBA: Masters in Business Administration degree course is an all-round development opportunity for all its aspirants. There are various subjects and aspects a person goes through in the entire process of learning; that not only involves a lot of theory but also exercises practical exposure. Opportunity knocks everyone’s door but only the wise make the most out of it. Through this write-up, I would take you through a few aspects in which MBA helps you evolve as an individual.

Career enhancement:

First and foremost, an MBA course gives a lot of exposure in terms of conferences, guest lectures and events in which you can not only gain latest knowledge but also get industry insights, discuss and solve your doubts via interactions with industry experts and guest speakers. Apart from traditional campus placements; such events not only build contacts but also provide an indirect opportunity to be employed or gain referrals for job opportunities.

People with work experience have a wonderful opportunity to upgrade their knowledge; learn latest management lessons from updated faculty and books; understand through case studies which otherwise couldn’t be done without taking a worthy break from work. MBA further brings up better career opportunities by opening a new route in the corporate ladder by adding a fresh angle of management to your life and resume equally.

But, if you are a fresher for the industry, MBA goes a step ahead and prepares you by providing a mock set-up of an actual corporate world and its functioning. During the placement talks and interviews, you get an opportunity to understand how a particular company likes to present itself. You get a valuable chance to enhance and expand your professional network which provides a chance to collaborate and work together as well as help you switch your job in the future.

A lot of boredom sets in after changing a few jobs in a particular industry due to various reasons. By adding the opportunity to be a manager, MBA empowers you to switch to another industry during the placement season.

I, like you have a dream job, salary and a career mapped out for me. But to reach that pinnacle of success, we need to make efforts and MBA is one of those crucial efforts in the process of achieving our career goals.

Entrepreneurial skills:

When it comes to nurturing and imparting entrepreneurial skills, a lot of theories exist such as ‘Entrepreneurs cannot be created, they are simply born’ or say ‘Entrepreneurs are people who think differently’. However, this course helps a prospective entrepreneur understand all the principles and functions of management and other skill-sets that he/she needs to possess.

Nobody in this world warns and prepares you for failures but an MBA course not only invites mentors for your business plans but also sometimes help find and approach venture capitalists, so that the risk of your failure is minimized.

With real life case discussions, one can gain a variety of skills and dimensions such as product development, innovation, problems such as pricing, packaging, product launch and introduction etc. The stories of successful and failed entrepreneurs are discussed to provoke thought, ideas, creativity and to instil the courage to face failures and rise above them. In short, an MBA course provides an all-round view and introduction within the safe hands before you being in safe hands.

Financial Skills:

MBA acquaints you with accounts (financial, cost, management) and financial management concepts which enable you to read, interpret and respond to the financial condition of firms through their financial statements. With exposure to micro (managerial) and macro economics in hand with the present economic conditions of the nation; the course enables you to gather better economic insights and build your own opinions and solutions supported by absolute theories and logic.

This course introduces you to financial instruments such as shares, debentures; understanding and evaluating investments and capital budgeting problems of companies based on facts and figures. It gives you an option to understand the depth of options and derivatives; risk management; mergers and acquisitions as well as enable you to judge the market and have an opinion on everything related to the business world.

Marketing skills:

Most people look at marketing with a narrow view of door-to-door selling or just advertising but MBA makes you explore an array of dimensions right from product development and services marketing, promotion and its forms, pricing to sales and distribution methods. Moreover, marketing enables you to understand how to market and build brands alongside researching in the market as to what customers really want.

Technical skill enhancement:

If you have an active interest in understanding, imbibing and enhancing your technical skills in areas of management, MBA triggers your progress through its off-the-job training on Management Information System to polish your software utility skills like MS Office, Database Management Systems, SAS, SAP etc.

The deep and intricate details of presentation making, report writing, project etc is taught to prepare for the real scenario. Everyone knows how to hold a pen, but MBA not only makes your handwriting attractive but adds strength to your words.

Human Resource (HR) Skills:

MBA clarifies that Human Resource Management is all about adding value through people by selecting the right ones. Over this course, you get to understand human beliefs, views, attitudes, and personalities, ego systems along with the HR planning, HR operations, HR strategy systems and skills followed by companies. By helping you understand people and organizations, the course gives you an edge in the industry.

Personality Evolution:

An MBA course trains you to work under severe pressures and tight schedules as well as deadlines which strengthen your time management skills. Apart from curricular enhancement, you hold the opportunity to participate and make the most of your co-curricular interests. Most colleges not only indulge in sports but also club events such as marketing or finance based games or events that convert the lecture-hall theory into practice and help you learn.

A lot of MBA colleges include personality effectiveness courses that polish your body language and etiquettes. With a volley of projects and assignments coming from all subjects, MBA trains you to manage stress which is crucial in the real work-life. A lot of emphasis is laid on increasing your confidence, self-worth, competence, brain-storming and decision making skills which are important keeping in mind the competitive environment.

Over the interaction with peers and classmates, one learns how to understand, accept and appreciate others and their views without making any real life blunders. Over the journey of MBA you can upgrade your communication as well as listening skills. Moreover, MBA colleges have a direct touch with various companies and industries, hence, they have a continuous feedback on what is demanded from a person in the market and tries to inculcate the same in you.

Immense efforts are made to teach teamwork and group-work which otherwise isn’t taught anywhere and without which you feel incomplete and lonely in the corporate world. Most introverts turn into extroverts by understanding the rationale to socialize for cooperation, coordination and better performance. In short, this course guides you through application for different jobs, responding to the calls; planning your progress and exit.

Other skills:

This course also trains you in understanding the law through the understanding of various acts crucial for a management graduate. Furthermore, the rudiments of operations management are to improve the supply chain, production schedules etc. Quantitative techniques and research methodology are a part of curriculum to make you aware how different data is collected. To enhance one’s strategy making skills, the course takes over from strategy formulation to achievement through cases and theories. Summer internship projects are allocated to individuals to have a work experience and achieve a sense of fulfilment in the journey.

This comprehensive course takes you from subject to subject over the two years by fertilizing your knowledge roots and providing an immensely valuable opportunity to grow your branches into the management field. Thus, it is on the aspirants to make most of the knowledge that an MBA course has to offer.

To Summarise:

The benefits of this course in 8 dimensions, namely:

1. Career enhancement and how it happens
2. Entrepreneurial skills
3. Marketing skills
4. Financial skills
5. HR skills
6. Personal skills
7. Technical skills
8. Other skills

User: Beginner and Intermediate

Contributed by Chayan Jain (Class of 2011-2013, IBS HYDERABAD)

When I started writing this blog, the first thought came to my mind is; If I am the reader of the same blog, who is reading the same rhetoric benefits of MBA as career option with life transforming quotes and six digit salary placement promises done by almost every B-school; will this blog help me to get a conclusion or I will remain same with my open ended questions.

So, I thought of writing the “practical” benefits with skills I learnt during my MBA courses in a very precise manner. Now, let me remind you that this “practical” word sounds very subjective and it do not promises you placement with top companies at a very prestigious position. You might ended seeing some not placed batch mates in even top B-schools.

Many of us think MBA Degree just and employment surety bond, addition to the dream job or dream future they have dreamt of; and here is the time when the charm of doing MBA start losing and it started becoming a tolled time machine when everybody is just waiting for placement seasons.

I would like to highlight here one of the cruel reality, In worst case if they do not get placement; they start cursing the decision of and it is obvious when many of us have a huge amount to pay back in terms of education loan.

Unfortunately, I was one of those MBA passed outs who had no campus placement. I passed out with 7.5+ CGPA but not able to convert any Job Interviews into positive one.Believe me sitting with some not placed classmates who are now your friends when everyone has image of  him/herself a successful professional, is very tough experience.

So, for the time being let’s keep this “only placement” motive aside and let’s give a though of the topic. I have included one rarely discussed side in terms of benefits of being MBA. That is the effect of this education not only on your professional aspirations but on your personal life as well.

Just for sake of not confusing you in the start, I will put down the transformational effects of learnings as MBA graduate on you as a person, at the end.

Let’s start with the Short-term prospective of doing this course, you may find some benefits mentioned here as long-term or You may ended bifurcating some as short term or immediate benefits; The reason behind this confusion is because when the life moves ahead (may be 5-6 years after MBA); you will start noticing that You are behaving different as MBA Qualified people at personal and professional front. Suddenly you are dealing with your personal life with the same professional maturity and efficiency. Again you are being experienced with time and so is your behavior but you started applying those practical skills which you learned during MBA and now that’s the way you look at things..!!

Before starting writing down benefits point by point, I would like to highlight here that I am not considering you as a person who never have any one of the benefits which is mentioned here. Also I am avoiding any philosophical though or business jargons by putting my personal observation which you may find a little boring.

Here are some short-term benefits of doing MBA as a career option.

• Improving communication and inter-personal skills:

This effect is most time not so easy to measure as most of you have learned this in previous education, but this is the first time you start learning communication techniques and interpersonal skills as part of curriculum.

Doesn’t matter if you notice this or not but your daily presentations on unfamiliar topics, working with team to deliver your reports, Your involvement in debates and GDs start improving your communication skills.

I remember that I used to be very good at debates during my school days and I know that somewhere every one of you think yourself perfect in terms of presenting your though. But when after a long time you start facing the class for presentation of your thoughts in concise manners, you start stammering, you feel nervous, you lose eye contacts or do it inappropriate manner.

Most interesting part comes to it when you invite audience to ask question about the topic you were presenting as per your professor instruction but when audience throw questions; you seems to be in hurry enough to just answer those question with your limited knowledge.

This is one of the most exciting transformation you will see as the time passes. By the end of semester, you seems to be confident speaker with perfect eye contacts with your audience. You have required patience to answer the question and most important is you are ready to accept even negative feedbacks. This whole training which is being covered under “Business Communication” as subject during your MBA classes start changing the way you represent yourself.

As soon as classes proceeds, you keep improving your inter-personal skills. The time taken to decide individual contribution in a team is much lesser by end of the semesters compare to initial semester.

And this is most important benefit of doing MBA which is not going to help you only in short term but also in future as well.

 

• Habit of Reading Books:

You start reading books which you never though you will read. This is the second most important benefits I think which not just allow you to teach unfamiliar books but it just give you a chance to go through others view on the same topic.Doesn’t matter if you go through Phillip Kotler’s marketing 4P’s or you read topic about how to deal Organization politics; you end up thinking the same topic at micro level. During MBA you go through lot of books and even if you haven’t read it till end, one change you feel that you are connected to other’s thought and their way of seeing the same world. You learn thorough their experiences, you get to know different wise techniques to handle the conflicts or any particular issues.

Most important is as MBA graduates you get to know different aspects of Business. If you are familiar with the Balance sheet of a Company, You are also able to judge the current marketing strategy of a particular brand, simultaneously you have a view to reduce the rate of attrition due to less job satisfaction at any particular company. So, you get developed as individual who can see and analyses both the sides of any coin.

• Time management: No matters how well organize you are but this course teach you how to be organized and how to divide your time for your assignments, your daily time-pass with your friends and lot more activities. Doesn’t matter if you are in IIMs/IITs or any B-school, you always find the fear of missing the deadlines of submitting your assignments/presentation/reports. But you always ended managing your time in such a way to finish things on time. And I understand this is the foundation of the learning of prioritization of your work. Our mind start getting trained to deliver even in limited time available and without affecting the quality of deliverables doing work in smartest possible ways.

This is going to require every time in your life doesn’t matter at professional front or even in personal life. You have to prioritize different aspects of your work, your life to get maximum out of the available time. And this will go on in a long run too.

 

• Stress management:

Most of the readers know when I mention this point here as it is a daily job of any MBA graduate.

This stress arena is not only limited to daily deliverables of your assignments or exams, this is covering here the tension or pressure to get maximum out of you is included. Obviously you push yourself to get best out of you in terms of placement readiness. This is something when you have some dreams and you know that this is the time to get them. So, I think this courses teaches you to handle the stress and pressure in both theoretical as well as practical ways.

It must remind you typical lectures of your professors who always try to teach you by sharing their experiences.

 

• SIPs and Placements/Job security: Nevertheless mentioned here, you find yourself placement ready by end of the courses. And even before facing the interviews you have been through SIPs which is 3-4 months Summer Internships Programs which just open your eyes by putting you next to real time professionals.

 

For most of you this is a real eye opening time when you find that the your mind loaded with so many theories written in MBA books; is not able to give you even a single idea which you can apply here.

This is the time we remember and praise the Case-studies we go through half-heartedly during semesters. But this does not mean the study you have done in last 1 year is going to waste. You start thinking that your decision which you as a Manager or Leader going to take must be based on your cognitive thinking. You start using different skills you learned doesn’t matter if it is just a communication skill or the confidence to present yourself.

 

At the end definitely during placement interviews, you get a chance to land to a perfect platform in terms of working with top companies.

Apart from a good figure in terms of CTC, they offer you to learn and grow. I have seen many peoplewho never though they can be one of the best marketers, but got opportunity during MBA placement, accepted it and now doing excellent job. Also many of you start exercising your entrepreneur aspirations after completing the course.

 

Also doing specialization or may be even option of dual-specialization give your career required competitive edge to make your job secure. But most of us mislead it as a Job guarantee followed by success, which need to be avoided.

 

Now, I will gradually move towards long-term benefits of being MBA Graduate and how it affects your professional and personal life:

 

• Entrepreneurship skills: This is one of the most important benefit of doing MBA is that it provides you very detailed experience in terms of how to run or manage a business. It teach you to handle real time work business issues with the hands-on training. Eventually, you can branch out as an independent entrepreneur: running your very own successful business. During MBAs you learn the basic structure and required skills for successfully running a business. Even most of the B-school organize Industry wise successful CEOs/VPs/Managers to share their real time experience and stories with MBA students, so that they can take advantage of their experience.

So, at the end of this course you get a very much holistic prospective of business world which helps you to take decision with comparatively less risks.

• Leadership Development: This is one of the subjective benefit of doing MBA but no one can ignore that you get so much development in terms of personal and professional front that it helps to nurture leadership qualities into you. I would like to highlight few points here:

 

• Reaction Vs Response: The communication skills that you learnt during MBAchange the way you communicate especially in professional life at work places. It not only teaches you, how to write business communication mails but also it help you to handle the conflicts in very professional manner. I would like to quote one very general scenario here in today’s professional life. For example as a team member of manager you are asked from your senior/lead to take additional work when in real you are already inundated with lot of work and you are not able to adjust this additional responsibility. Here is one situation when you have to balance both the front means your relationship with seniors as well as the workload.

 

Here comes the skill of replying that mail with either your reaction or your response. Reaction is mostly defensive and results in conflict where Responding is guided less by emotion and more by logic and it a kind of calculative step.

So, your reply of the same mail as “I am sorry I can’t take additional work as I have already have lot of deliverable pending” will not be apt compare to “I think I may not be able to adjust this activity due to packed timelines of my deliveries but we can discuss how I can support to complete this task on time”.

This is just one example but believe me, doesn’t matter at what hierarchy level you are, today’s professional world demands second reply and it help you to grow.

And even in personal life as well, you can use this way to deal with demanding relationships and can manage a very successful personal life.

• Team player: The day one you join MBA classes, you are asked to work in a team. You work together, share knowledge, help each other’s and complete the task in a win-win situation. Initial experience might be tough while working in a team but by end of semesters, you find yourself a team-player. You gained the required skill to work in a team and to lead a team as well.

 

These days, HR team of Different companies look that team skills in you for hiring. They might find your individual capabilities very strong but if you do not work in a team, you might not be the right candidates for them. And this team skills is used in both personal and professional life.

 

• Self Confidence: Do you agree that doesn’t matter how tough the situation is either in professional or personal life, the one thing you can always believe is you and your capabilities. I find this course adding much more Self-confidence to MBA Graduates. This confidence along with the energy of go-going attitude is one of the perfect strength. Even you do not get the dreamt placement after completing this course, you do not underestimate your learnings and capabilities. Do not compromise on the ideas/plans which you have for future. Give them a shape, plan it and go ahead. Not everyone who do not get placed, has wasted 2 years in MBA. You dare to take initiative, start with whatever option you have and then keep taking efforts to make your dreams true.
• Global Professional: This is the last benefit I would like to mention here. After completing this course, you find you ready as a professional on global front. You and a global citizen now who can manage any global company at any part of this world in same efficient manner. Obviously it require some leaning and some studies to understand that particular market but it is possible.

 

At the end, I will say doing MBA is not just a course but it is an investment you do for your career in long time prospective as well which helps you to move between different hierarchies in professional life.

So, push yourself to come out of the comfort zone, may be you are being paid enough at end of the month or May be you are being redundant in your professional life with no direction; Start preparing for MBA courses.

Try landing in a good B-school, do not waste time much in going the debate of B-schools rankings (which is fabricated enough most of the times). Because B-school is not going to reduce the amount of effort and personal development needed, but it’s just giving you high probability of safe landing in terms of employment.So, don’t always count on this. But if possible do some R&D in terms of their placement history, faculty credentials, Industry orientation and relationship (For God sake do not count Laptop/IPad given). Also check at personal level if you can take one more chance for better school considering the same level of enthusiasm. At end even if you get an average B-school, Go with itand then start transforming yourself.

Contributed by Mukesh Kumar ( Class of 2008-10,IBS KOLKATA )

As an Engineering Student I always thought that pursuing a technical course like MTech or GRE would be the right step for me post graduation. But when I analysed the job market and the skill set that I would need, to climb up the corporate ladder, I realized that just having the technical knowledge alone would not help and the while the knowledge that I gained during B.E. was good enough for me to get employed, it was not enough if I want to be in the senior management positions in future. Or for that matter, even if I want to be a successful entrepreneur! That is when I knew I wanted to pursue MBA.

The decision to opt for MBA was not all that difficult when I saw the larger picture and its long term benefits. However, it wasn’t as simple as just deciding to pursue MBA. I had to follow it up with another round of decision making – “Which branch to specialize in?”, ”why finance?” and similar questions that plague those who are about to step into the MBA field. There were various reasons to keep myself away from Finance as a subject, one reason being that it would be tough for an engineer to compete with Commerce Graduates in subjects such as accounts, law and economics. Another reason was that there are very few openings in the finance field and yet another reason that Finance would be a tough subject and my scores will not be that great. Now, for those who think the same, it’s time to open up your mind, extend your thoughts beyond the obvious and challenge yourself – why not finance? You will be surprised to see that the answer to this is simple, straight forward and very promising.

An engineer develops good mathematical and analytical skills during graduation which helps greatly in understanding subjects like Accounts and Economics because you can co-relate the problems with practical scenarios. Now, to answer the point regarding the employability of an Engineer cum MBA Finance, well believe me, it’s a combination to die for. He or she can work as a Marketing Manager, Finance Manager, Accounts Manager in a Manufacturing company or an IT company, Bank Manager, Banking Technology Manager and various other techno functional areas where knowledge of finance goes hand in hand with the knowledge of technology.  I know you must have started feeling positive already but hold on, there is more to come.

Everything mentioned above depends a lot on where you want to be in the time span of the next 10-20 years. No one can tell you the thumb rule to be successful and a lot is directly linked to your individual aptitude as well. You may have a flair for Marketing and would want to stay away from mathematics and accounts, fair enough. Those who are experienced may guide you on what you may consider while selecting the way forward, but at the end of the day it’s your decision that matters, it is what makes you feel proud, it is what you want to be in future. A lot of MBA aspirants choose a subject just because the subject is very popular and only the top rankers choose that subject. If you are one of them, think again, is that what you really want to do or are you just doing it because it’s popular. Institutes like ICFAI are most reputed Finance institutes in the country but at the same time, the other subjects that are taught in such institutes hold equal value in the corporate world. Analyze yourself, analyze your strengths and build upon it.

To attain senior positions in an organization or to be a successful entrepreneur you need to have a balanced understanding of important components of business.  Just like a tasty dish needs the right mix of ingredients, to be a successful professional you need to have the right mix of knowledge of technology, finance, supply chain, legal, marketing etc. Finance as a subject adds a lot of value since it covers the most important components of any business, like accounting, economics, business law, Portfolio Management to name a few. When you choose to pursue MBA, understand one thing, it is not just a degree; it is about changing your future and career. Before joining MBA you are just a graduate, but after completing MBA you become a professional. An MBA prepares you with good presentation skills, good communication skills, good understanding of how businesses operate, profitability, credit analysis, risk management, legal implications and a lot more.

Let us go back to our original question, “why should an engineering graduate choose MBA Finance?” If you are an engineer and you choose finance as an elective for MBA, you are making the right move, not only because it is one of the most popular subject but also because as an engineer, you already have it in you to excel in this field. Additionally, in the current job scenario, opting for Finance as a subject in MBA makes you eligible to apply for jobs in other fields as well and in no way does it restrict you to apply only for positions in Finance. You may still be selected for jobs in the field of Marketing, Manufacturing, Human resource manager for a manufacturing or IT company, Supply Chain Management.

Numerous companies in the technology sector prefer MBA graduates for senior management positions. In fact, it would not be an exaggeration to say that “most” technology companies have this as an eligibility criteria because what can be better than a person who not only understands technology but is also fully aware of Balance sheets, risk management, business law. Talking about Banks, most of them would prefer to hire a B.E/B.Tech with knowledge of Finance for obvious reasons. Even if you plan to run an enterprise of your own or to start a new business venture, you need to understand all the aspects of business so as to manage it efficiently and effectively. You may even be planning to become the CFO or the CEO of a company in future. All these point out to MBA Finance as one of the most promising electives to opt for.

I am sure by now you must have started thinking about your dream job or your dream company, so get ready to put your foot on the throttle and accelerate towards it. And yes, don’t forget to choose the right path for yourself.

All the best!

Contributed by DIVIK HANDA ( Class of 2004, IBS HYDERABAD )

Masters in Business Administration (MBA) degree from credited business schools or universities aim to prepare students for senior management roles in business in various fields of accounting, finance, marketing, and human resources. But it can no longer be considered as just a degree that gets you a high salaried job, there’s more to it. Let’s find out.

It widens your boundary – work in a country or geographical region of your choice.

The moment you opt for a different city, country, a different geographical region, your experiences in terms of professional or personal widens. An MBA degree helps you improve social, environmental and economic standards in private and non-profit businesses throughout the world.

It helps you get a widely-recognized top credential

An MBA is a degree that provides training in both the theory and practice of business management. It certifies that you have a general competency in all the major functional management roles in the modern corporation. Thus the moment you enroll yourself to an MBA, you buy yourself a ticket to a promising career and not just a job. The career can be of your choice – a job, a freelance consultant or an entrepreneur.

It gets you an entry to many and any organization

Most top notched organizations keep MBA as the minimum qualification as the entry point to work there. A Master of Business Administration prepares you for a managerial role in your current field, whether or not you’re already in the business world. Medical professionals, publishing professionals, real estate agents and tech support specialists are among the many that benefits from an MBA degree and attain a more rewarding position in any carrier they take up.

It helps you grow your networking resources

An MBA opens avenues for you to work in industries that you prefer to take in after the completion of the course through internship programs. These programs help you build professional relationships that serve you well throughout your career, providing essential mentoring and contacts.

It introduces you to the hardcore corporate world

As mentioned, through studying an MBA you become part of a great network of professionals and companies and you constantly challenge yourself with the newest problem-solving. These things together give you a great overview of the corporate world. This type of overview is very hard to achieve without spending a lot of time on it. The Program is designed in such a way, follows a pedagogy which launches the corporate exposure of a fresher.

It helps you polish knowledge acquisition

Now, an MBA education is usually pursued in a very specific situation by a young professional with a few years of experience and sometimes even by senior employees that feel up for the challenge. After some time in the professional life (even as little as 2 years) it is in the human nature to stagnate in a comfort zone. Studying a Master of Business Administration forces you to get out of your comfort zone, deal with the latest issues, apply the newest management techniques and just constantly challenge yourself, your practices and your approaches. Even if you are opting for it after graduation, an MBA will provide you with the channels to keep up with challenges and push you to continuously improve.

It helps to improve your Soft-skills

Soft skills are as important as any other business analysis skills – it is the key to personal of business success. An MBA helps you improve communication skills, embarks the journey of a personality transformation through the teaching pedagogy which makes a candidate go through group dynamics, negotiation, assertiveness and presentation tactics and therefore inculcating the ability to manage change, in workplaces which now require the above as most crucial skills to succeed in today’s business.

It helps you sharpen your Entrepreneurial skills – allows you to, be your own boss

If you admire to boss yourself, an MBA course can help you reach your goals. The leadership skills and management training gained can be turned into something profitable which includes starting up your business. A good business man would need that creativity to drive the dream in the right direction, people skills to manage a startup and an MBA degree will train you in critical areas like business planning, venture financing and small business management.

It helps you learn business management – Especially for Startups

Starting a business may not be that difficult as compared to running it thereafter. And that’s where your MBA qualification comes as a savior. MBA provides the tools, techniques and resources needed to run a business, namely risk management plans, performance plans, and project management as well as marketing plans.

It helps you gain an in-depth understanding of the business

The world of business (be it small or big) is ever changing. It is composed of many fields and principles that all interact with each other at the same time. An MBA program is a well-rounded degree that covers a variety of business areas for an in-depth picture of the business world.

It comes with a salary boost

Not to forget a successful career even equates to the monthly salary you draw. Well an MBA widens that boundary as well. An MBA graduate get to see an increment (depends on the company or the person) in salary within a year or half. The pay cheque is quite a valid reason to strive for an MBA.

At the end of the day, don’t think it as just another course. It’s a program that involves investing in yourself to make educated decisions in future based on logic and knowledge. It is not just for getting a better job or making more money anymore. If you are passionate and want to learn and grow, MBA is a something right to consider. You may make a ton of money or be happy with a decent amount, you may open your company or show your skills to grow someone else’s business, you may fail as an entrepreneur or experience a huge success, whatever you do, you know how to manage your finances and other things at hand with more knowledge and logic.

Not very long ago I was this timid and confused 20 year old who dreamt of taking the world in my stride. I knew I had it in me what I was confused about was the how part. Every time my dad would tell me as to how I was taking a lot of things for granted I would sneer back,” Just wait and watch!” and then he would ask the inevitable “How?” and I would draw a blank.

Fifteen years of doing something and now being at a phase where it all seems questionable is not a situation one wants to be. And surprisingly enough most of my friends were pretty clear about the way forward. One of them wanted to go ahead with a MS degree in s fancy abroad university, other was joining father’s business and the third one was preparing for competitive exams. And then there was me, who was sitting in one corner confused about everything around her at that moment.

Our education system is such I believe, it lacks somewhere in preparing a student for the future that awaits him/ her. Moreover somewhere I believe that the bookish knowledge imparted to us felt so wrong at that moment, for it never prepared me for the real world. It just told me the ideal situation and the way to face it. It never showed me how to face situations which are far from being ideal and yet have to be dealt with.

I was frustrated to an extent where now it was leading to being depressed about things. That is when a very kind teacher of mine came to my rescue. She taught me the rule of SWOT and showed me how applying this Golden Rule to all problems of my life would lead to optimum results.

SWOT analysis stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. She asked me to divide the page into four segments titled like these and write whatever came to my mind when I thought of my current scenario. So began my exercise.

Strengths

• Equip myself with a masters degree
• Improve my job prospectus
• Gear me up to face the competitive world

Weaknesses

• Loss of time in pursuing education further.
• Lack of proper options available within the reach
• Improper facilities of getting admission

Opportunities

• MBA
• MBA
• MBA

Threats

• Entrance exams
• 2 years of rigorous on the job training along with your education preparing you for the reckless world awaiting you outside the warm corridors of your house.

The moment I made this list I was more than clear what I wanted to do next – MBA. I was so thankful to that teacher for having brought me to this conclusion. I felt as if half the battle was won but it wasn’t. I was wrong. The battle had actually just started and there were many such stages before I could finally scream my lungs out “I won!”

I deterred from celebrating my victory and began my work back to the thing where I had started. Having concluded that I need to do an MBA wasn’t enough for me to start working on it. I am sure each one of us faces this crisis situation sometime of the other in life leading to all chaos and the only thing being clear remains confusion. At that moment a lot of things came to my rescue, sharing 5 top most things that helped me not only sort out my mind but also become stronger in my determination of doing an MBA in Finance.

Amidst all the views and opinions given by many people adding onto my confusion the most prominent things that I could jot down were to understand why I wanted to do it and how well do I think would it help me all the way till my goal. The moment these questions came to my mind I realized how wrongly analyzed is this whole issue otherwise as people end up pursuing further education for some very illogical reasons leading to a sense of dissatisfaction in their minds despite completing it successfully.

It is very imperative to pursue education with a preconceived mindset about your expectations. It helps you have a better sense of understanding in terms of the future prospects and leads to the answer the most important question of life – what do you want from life ultimately! I, who at that time was all confused managed to find some really relevant answers after a long inner battle and today after all these years when I look back I see it with a sense of pride in all that I did to reach here for I can easily say I achieved all that I wanted to at this stage of life, and it wouldn’t have been possible without my masters degree.

It helped me shape my thoughts and actions in a manner that was the need of the hour. It was one of the most crucial decisions of my life, something on which my whole future depended at least for the time being and which was going to be a very decisive factor into how and what my future was going to be. Having faced such a huge dilemma then, now I feel it was all worth the analysis for it led to where I was supposed to be.

Had it not been for that confusion I would have maybe just been one of the herds and followed the herd mentality did something because everyone else was doing it too without any logic or reasoning behind it. I am really glad I underwent this exercise to reach this conclusion for it helped me pave my way for my future in a manner that none could till then. In this article I will try and capture the essence of the whole exercise I underwent leading to my masters.

• Why MBA? – In an attempt to find an answer to this Why I must have spoken to more than a dozen people. In those days social networking wasn’t so active hence I had to make do with friends, acquaintances, kids of my parents’ colleagues, teachers, seniors… I spoke to everyone I could think of to understand what they felt. Each one of them shared their valuable inputs but at the end of the day it was only me who could answer this question the way it was supposed to be. All of them put together could not do it for me.

 I observed that many of them were stagnant in their careers after reaching a particular position and on investigating it was found that their HR felt that people holding masters degrees were capable of handling jobs of higher posts with much ease compared to the ones who were holding only graduate degrees. Further even when it came to promotions, salary hikes and other such employee benefits people with higher education beyond the graduation were considered more than the others. This had led to a lot of bitterness no doubt but then they had no avail as not having worked for almost 8-10 years they were scared of quitting it all and going back to studies to ensure masters degrees. Moreover they weren’t sure if that would really help them the way they envisaged it.

I concluded that this is something that I wouldn’t want to take a chance on. Career was very important and so was growth. Career building could wait for two more years as I slogged on my degree but my growth couldn’t wait for something that currently was of utmost importance.

 

• Where do you see yourself five years down the line (short term career plans)?

Every time someone asked me this I would draw a blank. But then I realized this question held the key to the most crucial decision of my life. After a lot of mind rattling thoughts I tried framing my thoughts: I see myself in a mid-level position where I am an important support system for the team, I grow with the organization and learn all that I can applying the knowledge I have gathered till now. Not many people can boast of being in this league unless they have some fancy degree to back them up. So here we come back to question no. 1 which makes it imperative for one to have studied beyond the graduation and gained a masters degree.

• Where do you see yourself 10 years down the line (long term career plans)?

Beyond 10 years I see myself heading a team in a large corporate, using my expertise in driving the organization towards its goals, guiding the new team members in acclimatizing with the organization’s working patterns and evolving myself as a dependable team leader in terms of outputs.

I clearly see that I would want to gain experience in one of those MNCs or any of the leading Indian corporate to ensure my basics of work are crystal clear in terms of challenges, obstacles and yet having developed the ability to find a work around for the same.

This conclusion once again emphasized the importance of an MBA as that would help me sharpen my managerial skills at the same time help me gain some of those leadership abilities which were required for such work profiles.

• How well equipped are you currently to achieve the same?

Maybe 25-10%. That’s how equipped I felt at this moment towards the fulfillment of my either goals with my current education and mental frame.

• How do you think this degree will equip you to achieve them?

100% that confident I was of achieving what I wanted to after having finished my MBA as I believed I would have gained all the necessary guidance through this course making me befitting enough to face the challenges that would come my way, turn them into opportunities and make the most of them.

Now I was thoroughly convinced that the answers to all my questions lay in only one thing MBA and how it would ensure everything else would get workable.

Today as I share these things with you, I understand how important this moment is as one decision can make or mar your careers. Hope my words help you see through the things which till now were looking opaque.

Coming October of the second year of college and every other person is talking about CAT preparatory classes. Spending 2-3 years of your life just preparing for an entrance exam in itself makes it so scary and mammoth. This is the reason why at times CAT is misunderstood as one of the toughest exams to crack. It is a misnomer.

It isn’t about being tough, it is about the competition one has in these exams that demand so much of hard work and effort behind it to ensure good score. After all this is the exam which will open the gates to the much coveted degree of MBA! The moment you think MBA the next thing that comes to your mind is CAT, also known as the Common Admission test this exam has been specially designed to gain admission into premier management institutes. Your scores in this exam determine the institutes you are eligible for admission.

Like any other masters course this one also needs the basic fulfillment of a bachelor’s degree in any discipline with minimum 50% or corresponding CGPA.

It is a simple computer based examination where various things like your quantitative ability, data interpretation, verbal ability and logical reasoning are tested in duration of 170 minutes. The examination is usually held in October – November for the next academic year and the enrollments for the same begin sometime in the first week of August. The scores are valid only for the next academic year and cannot be carried forward to be reconsidered again.

CAT has no predefined syllabus and there is no way one can comprehend the same looking at past question papers unlike the school days. However keeping in mind the past trends in the examinations the basic frame of possible questions can be categorized as below:

• Maths/Quant Ability: Number systems, geometry, trigonometry, probability, permutation combination, algebra, mensuration, time and work, averages, percentages, profit and loss, quadratic and linear equations, etc.
• Data Interpretation: Interpretation and analysis of data based on text, tables, graphs (line, area), charts (column, bar, pie), Venn diagram, etc.
• English/Verbal Ability: Reading comprehension, verbal reasoning, syllogisms, analogies, antonyms and synonyms, fill in the blanks, sentence correction, idioms, etc.
• Logical Reasoning: Clocks, calendars, binary logic, seating arrangement, blood relations, logical sequence, assumption, premise, conclusion, linear and matrix arrangement, etc.

The Quantitative Aptitude section consists of mathematics usually based on 10^th and 12^th standard mathematics. It covers various problems from topics like Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry and Business Mathematics. This section deals with your ability to solve real time problems applying your calculative skills. The Data Interpretation problems test the candidate’s understanding of the data and the ability to solve problems accurately while the Logical Reasoning questions check the candidate’s ability to ratiocinate and evaluate problems.
The Verbal Ability section consists of comprehension and the correct use of English grammar. Verbal Logic questions test the candidate’s knowledge of arranging paragraphs in a logical order, determining the type of statements, completing the paragraphs in an appropriate way.

The multiple options available for each question make it seem like a child’s play but make no mistake it is much more than what meets the eye. Based on the examination scores you qualify for the next rounds also known as the GDPI (Group Discussion and Personal Interview) which is your last chance to make it or break it. So in a way a lot of things depend on your scores in this examination.

Amidst the plethora of questions that surround you the first and the foremost one is of the scoring methodology adapted in the exams. Contrary to the popular belief every wrong answer by a candidate does attract negative marking up to almost 1 mark while every right answer can fetch you four marks each. Under such circumstances the best way to score is to leave the unsure answers un-attempted, that ways you will save yourself from the negative marking.

There are a lot of rumours surrounding this one as well like any other entrance exam. Rumours about the markings, the topics that can be asked, the paper setting style, checking… The list is endless. But the most important thing someone needs to remember is the knack of dealing with the question paper in a timely manner that can lead to proper marks.

Attempt all that you know and skip all that you don’t know at the first attempt itself that will help you save a lot of time. Post which try attempting the ones you don’t or are a bit unsure of incase you have time left with you on hand. This trick is useful in saving lot of time during the examination. For otherwise if you go sequentially trying to answer each and every question it is possible that you might not be able to attempt the whole paper within the stipulated timelines which also includes the questions you might know the answers too. This could lead to a lot of loss in marks especially for chapters you had prepared well for.

It is always better if you bifurcate the paper basis your strengths and begin answering depending on the same. This will help you aim at scoring better and ensuring less negative marking due to wrong answers. This strategy always helps in scoring higher marks as it not only saves your time it also gives you enough time in writing all that you know in a way paving way for better marks.

What otherwise students fail to understand is that attempting wrong answers is not advisable solely for the negative marking they carry. So for example if you know an answer right and two answers wrong you are actually still on zero with your marks for wrong answers nullifying the effect of the marks of the right answers. Such is the irony of this exam which at times goes unnoticed by the students resulting into poor scores.

The other aspect which goes unnoticed is the English Ability section where students get confused in between the English that is used in day to day language while conversing and one that is right as per the text book according to the rules of grammar. A trick that can help you in that is trying to form sentences out of those words and see if they fit in well enough for you to work according to the question around it. More often not it leads to right answers!

Candidates must secure a minimum mark in each section to qualify for that section and eventually for the CAT. The minimum marks required to qualify varies upon the relative difficulty level of that section compared to other sections of the test. Sectional cut-offs varies mostly on the basis of the performance who appear for the exam in that year. A candidate must also secure a minimum total cut off for the entire paper to earn GD/PI calls from institutes.

Having said all of the above, it is also mandatory to note that the CAT score is used separately by each institute along with other parameters i.e. academic performance, work experience, group discussion, written assessment and interview performance etc to select candidates. The weight age assigned to CAT score varies from institute to institute.

There is no easy short cut to cracking this exam except hard work and a disciplined regime; if you observe the habits and practices of the previous CAT rankers you will notice the same trend. Dedicate time to preparation and timely revision of each and every topic to ensure accuracy at the time of exam with quick reflexes to make the most of the available time.

It is very important for you to know your strength and weaknesses before commencing on the planning to understand what are the areas you need to work hard and the ones where you can make do with mere revisions without much time put in behind it. This strategy helps you a lot as it helps your strengthen your strong points and work more on your weaknesses so that if you face a question you are unsure of you can skip it and devote time where you feel confident to score better rather than mulling over it trying to get it right and lose important time in that process. In this exam time is the essence. As someone has rightly said, “He who fails to plan, plans to fail.”

The only key to success ever written in history is practice, for that is the only thing that can turn the tables for you when it comes to scoring. Practicing not only the chapters but also some previous papers by taking dummy CAT tests online will help you gauge your capabilities by a very large manner. Remember that what matters at the end of the day is the amount of hard work and not the number of hours put in. It is not important to study long as long as you study hard. One of the most important points, never compare your preparations with anyone else for that matter as you don’t know what you real capabilities are. As long as you know you are giving your best you should be bothered only about the output of the exams and nothing else.