People think that doing MBA is all about getting a masters degree and receiving a handsome salary, which is true for most part. However, there is more to an MBA degree than just a promise of a great job. MBA creates a new dimension in life and makes you fit for every course of life. It is not about just learning Finance or Marketing or Human Resource. Once you take a plunge into the MBA world, you might start doing something which you have never thought of. There are people who have left their well paying Wall Street jobs to start their own ventures like selling tea, but in a redefined style while creating turnover in Crores. So, MBA is more about adopting a new and marketable personality.

There are few hidden jewels which a person can achieve after undertaking MBA from a good college.

• A new perspective – It helps in understanding any problem with a 360 degree approach i.e. what are the pros and cons of taking any strategic decision. It helps in analysing the issue and finding the alternatives based on the experience gained during the MBA course
• Leadership – It helps in developing one’s leadership abilities. While pursuing MBA you have to finish tasks within strict deadlines, you have to surpass others as everything is percentile based, you have to manage your group in most of the activities and involve yourself with others. You also get a chance to head certain clubs but you have to deliver the very best that you can offer.
• Awareness – It helps in creating awareness about the business world and how any business problem can be tackled as the students get a lot of exposure through case laws.
• Entrepreneurship – It helps in inculcating a sense of entrepreneurship as it evaluates your skill-sets on various parameters during the two years. It helps one get in touch with the right people and developing confidence.
• Better consolidated business network– As an MBA student, you have great networking opportunities. Through this course, you get to know and interact in a relevant manner (in a context that accentuates your business management capabilities) with colleagues (future high level managers), professors and the teaching staff (usually former or current potent business people, with great on-field experience). Furthermore, you have good chances of meeting potential employers through various internships that are a part of most MBA programmes. Last but not the least, you gain access to the extensive alumni network and professionals with key positions. This extensive, well consolidated business network is bound to pay off throughout your whole career, making you the first-hand recipient of all relevant information in the field.
• A good placement offer- Once you graduate from a good institute, various companies willingly make you a part of their team, directly at their middle management level. This is because they feel confident of your knowledge and skill-sets gained during the MBA course. The average salary for an MBA graduate is considerably higher than that of an employee with a regular Masters qualification. That is almost twice as much of what you can expect to earn with a regular University degree. In this case, you can get the return of your investments within 2 – 3 years.
• Self respect – It helps in developing self respect as you know that you come from an elite college and will always have a sense of pride about the same. Moreover, people around you would also appreciate the same and treat you respectably.
• Risk taker- After MBA, people are in a position to take some risks like starting their own venture or following one’s passion. MBA graduates develop risk-taking ability because, at the back of the head, they always have the comfort of knowing that their degree will help them get a job, in case their venture fails.
• Skill-set development –You may think that this point sounds quite trivial. You may wonder isn’t that what every study programme is supposed to do? The answer is yes, but an MBA education is usually pursued in a very specific situation by a young professional with a few years of work experience and sometimes even by senior employees. After a few years into one’s professional life, even as little as 2 years, it is in human nature to conform to a certain repetitiveness which leads to stagnation in a comfort zone. This limits your disposition for learning and the ability to acquire new skills due to by sticking to the comfort zone instead of trying to learn something new that may, in fact, help in elevating the professional growth. Pursuing a Master of Business Administration degree 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. And that will continue after graduation as well, as an MBA also provides you with the channels that will keep this challenge alive and push you to improve continuously. Knowledge imparted in an MBA program extends out in developing managerial skills for candidates. These skills provide the essentials for dealing with real-time situations pertaining to management and resolution of problems. You are not only equipped for being a better manager, but also facilitated to handle core responsibilities of an organization.
•  Practical Exposure – The MBA curriculum has a summer internship program and the students get a practical insight of the real time work experience in a corporate house.
• Career change – An MBA in general and a Dual MBA in particular, provides you with the cushion of switching your career. An MBA with particular specialization makes it easier for you to move across industries.
• Starting your own business – Once you get the right exposure in MBA with all the theories and practical approaches, people can think of starting a venture of their own. These days people are starting with little capital and are growing fast. This is how companies like Red Bus, Flipkart, and Snapdeal have started their journey.

As you have seen, MBA offers a lot more than one can expect from it. Earning a reputed degree along with the above mentioned qualities and advantages should certainly appeal to aspiring candidates. Step into the world of MBA and come out richer than you ever anticipated. 

Contributed byManeesh srivastava (Class of 2008, IBS GURGAON )

It’s been ages we had seen a courier being delivered at home. Not that we didn’t have many well wishers, but my father always insisted on giving his office address for receiving any mail. The joy of someone sending a package for me was enormous because it happened for the first time. It had something I have been waiting for since months. It was the reason I have been going to temples two times a day. It was the key to my future.  The brown post had my scores to one of the best B-schools in the country.

The scores seemed good. Along with the scorecard, came an invitation to the city of Nawabs as they say but, for me it was the city of V.V.S Laxman and Sania Mirza .The details of the further selection processes were mentioned with a topic that had to be prepared from the list which was to be presented to a panel along with a personal interview.

After working hard for months, I finally had my first expedition out of home. I cleared the selection process and results were usually given out in the evening in a brown envelope. It was exhilarating when I opened the envelope to see the invitation to one of the best B schools in the country, IBS- Hyderabad.

So how do you imagine your B School to be?  In my dreams it always appeared as a cold place, lined with old buildings with bell at the clock tower, a boring library and classrooms filled with half-asleep students.

But here I was, and I felt like Alice in Wonderland, a place unimagined. It had a grandiose resort like feeling, lush green campus with gardens at the centre giving a feel of a new-age-management temple.  Indeed, it was a place to heal and nurture the skills of value to a person who can be considered as having half baked skills. For the first two days I explored the campus, observed the place and wrote down all the available facilities on a paper

Lush Green Resort-look-alike placeBreakfast, Lunch, High Tea, DinnerPrivate Rooms Basketball Court Cricket Ground Squash Court Badminton Court Table Tennis Court Gymnasium Swimming Pool Library

This list gave a taste of a weekend holiday place but this was going to be my home for next two years. I had a feeling that this was going to be one of the most exciting phases of my life and indeed it happened too.

The session began with foundation classes which ensured some basics of general aptitude, quant and logic being developed in students as everybody came from different educational backgrounds. This was how the university brought the entire student pool on the same page before the session began. When I caught up with my friends at other B schools, I came to know that there weren’t any prep classes and this made me love my college even more.

The campus was like ‘mini-India’. Students from all over the country hailed and what a diversity they brought with them. I had never seen a Punjabi mingle with a Malayali guy, Assamese students having dinner with Gujarati students, Bihari students and Marathi students playing sports and Coffee lovers drinking tea. The place looked like a man-made attempt to create a perfect India where everybody stayed in harmony with equal opportunities. There was no discrimination on the basis of sex, cast, creed or religion. Everyone respected each other while maintaining a competitive spirit.

Initially, I was told that it would be a challenge to study along with 900 students and that this would be one of the disadvantages of studying in IBS Hyderabad. But let me tell you, this very thing turned out to be a lesser-understood-boon rather than a curse. I realised this once I joined a corporate.  The larger the crowd, the more exposure you will get, more competitive you become, more you learn and you become a better manager.

The first two semesters were of exploration, mostly of self. The students were divided into different batches and each batch had different schedules at all times. The class rooms have wooden desks which will make you feel like being back in school. It was combined with a perfect theatrical sitting arrangement towards a podium and board where the professors were our coaches as well as umpires.

The year we joined the college was when they had changed the curriculum and made it mandatory to have case study lectures where scoring was based on the participation in the classroom. Indeed, this became a successful method as it helped even those students who had weak communications skills. They were able to focus on it and improve as they were presented with an opportunity to voice their opinions, which otherwise died due to their lack of confidence and communication.

In this semester, students had learnt various fundamental subjects of management and it helped them develop an affinity toward the subject which would shape their career. Initially, everyone was absorbed in their textbooks but MBA was not just about bookish knowledge but it was about how to use this knowledge practically. Books developed the thought process but we live in a world of humans and not books. Any scenario with people comes along with its share of differences and problems which in turn require smart solutions and methods that need to be dealt in an effective manner.  These skills were developed in workshops called ‘clubs’.

There were over 20 clubs running on the campus, each being run by senior students with proper hierarchy of order, a set up which simulates the corporate world. Juniors were taken into these clubs based their interest and knowledge of the subject which was judged through an interview empanelled by the seniors. I opted for a club- Stu-Z, a student online portal that connected the entire campus at one place, giving a dose of weekly entertainment and values as I was highly creative and had some experience in the online domain before I got in the college.

The clubs taught me how to improve my interpersonal skills, work teams, how to dilute one’s ego for a greater cause, handle people, be a good listener and other traits which helped me adjust to the corporate environment later in my career.

Before the third semester began, we had a compulsory internship which gave us a superficial yet effective experience of working in a corporate. I worked with O & M advertising agency, which is one of the best creative ad agencies in the world. At the time, the Zoo-Zoo campaign of Vodafone was a huge success and we were extrapolating it. Working with stalwarts of the industry was fun and a great learning experience.  Every student could see a change in their personalities and attitude from when they first joined the college.

The third and fourth semesters are more of an independent semester as they revolve around specializing in the management area with simulations and research reports. These semesters are very important in preparing the students for the campus placements which starts at the beginning of 4^th semester and mostly ends with it. Our batch had one of the best placements IBS has ever seen with more than 110 corporate visiting the campuses. I was lucky enough to get a job in my hometown.

The institute’s extreme focus on soft skills was now realised by the students when they had handsome offers in their hand. Soon after the semester ended all of us said bid adieu with moist eyes promising to stay in touch with each other. At this time we realised that this university has not only created future managers but the people who will care and grow.

Contributed by Apurva Singhi (Class of 2011-13, IBS HYDERABAD)

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 )