CAT is out of the bag. What next?

HIGHER EDUCATION

If you have completed, or are on the verge of completing your degree in any stream by April 2011 with a minimum aggregate of 50%, and have applied for the famous Common Aptitude Test (CAT) before September 30, you can appear not once but twice for this prestigious online test. Unlike last year, the test is going smoothly this year since it started on October 27, and will be open till November 24. After that you will be waiting in suspense till the results are declared on January 12, 2011.

There are about 2,000 seats in the 7 IIMs (Indian Institutes of Management located at Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kolkata, Lucknow, Indore, Kozhikode and Shillong) and about 2,76,000 others are competing with you for those seats. I hope you are aware of the fact that it is not just how well you have answered the CAT which will secure your seat for you in an IIM — it is a combination of your marks in 10th and 12th Board exams, your aggregate in the degree you have completed, and also on the way you perform in the interview, group discussion, etc. Hence, if you have been a consistent high-scorer with good all-round personality development, general know-ledge, communication skills, etc., you will be one of the lucky ones to pack your bags in mid-2011 and head for an IIM.

What happens to the other 2,74,000 candidates who do not get a call from an IIM? It is not the end of the world for them. While IIMs have been around for more than half a century, and have hence established a global brand name, they are not the last word in management education any more.

Fortunately, the industry itself has woken up to the fact that good B-schools mean more efficient managers, and lesser burden on them to train - hence there has been a proliferation of innumerable private B-schools all over the country, who are giving IIMs a run for their money, and some of them have been very successful in providing practical skills that are needed in the working world.

If you have made up your mind that you would like to go in for higher studies in management, are convinced that you have the right aptitude for it, and have the necessary personality, overall deve-lopment and academic prowess, then you should not sit back and wait for the results of CAT. After all the studies and struggle to appear for CAT, it is time to start appearing for various other entrance exams, hence ensuring that you get admission in some good institution. A list of various other entrance exams is given below in Table 1, and more are being added every year. Appearing for different exams also sharpens your skills and will make you perform better. I know of candidates who are so obsessed with IIMs that they do not even try in other colleges, and again spend a whole year preparing for CAT. If they do not make it in the second year also, they may get very depressed, and their career can get affected.

Experience

Of course, if you have taken up a fairly good entry-level job and are gaining experience, then there is no harm if you wish to aim for CAT in the next year. You must ensure two factors: (1) The job you are doing is actually adding to your capabilities and getting you industry experience. Routine BPO-type jobs do not give much advantage; (2) You should balance your work and studies such that you get sufficient time to prepare for next year's exam. In fact, job experience is given weightage not only in IIMs but also in many other prestigious B-schools — provided it has enhanced your skills. Also, those who work for a year or two and then go in for an MBA find the course much more meaningful and their involv-ement is much higher.

Specialisation

Keep in mind that we live in an era of specialisation. An MBA from a mediocre B-school, with specialisation in a field that you really do not have an aptitude for, will hardly open doors for you to a good career. There are tens of thousands of MBAs languishing in very ordinary jobs, which probably they could have got even without this degree. Hence it is imperative that you not only select a good college, but are also sure where your strengths lie in terms of specialisation, and that you have selected a course that has a good reputation in that particular field. Given below in Table 2 is a list of some of the specialisations you can consider.

A word of caution

Management education is very expensive in India, and much more expensive if you go abroad to study. Yet it is the most sought-after, because of the presumption that a management degree takes the candidate onto the fast-track world of top positions, CEOs, etc. While this is true to a great extent, not everyone who has a management degree or diploma is assured of a high-flying career.

Due to public demand, innumerable B-schools have proliferated in every nook and corner of the country. Some have affiliation with the local university, some have taken “affiliation” from remote universities in another end of the country, some claim to provide “foreign” degrees, and many more are “autonomous”, i.e., they give their own diplomas which are not affiliated to any university. While there is nothing wrong in going in for autonomous diplomas (in fact, even IIMs offer an autonomous diploma, and not exactly an MBA), particularly if you wish to get industry-ready, you should be very careful about the reputation and the standard of the college you are taking admission in.

During the admission period there is a mad rush and I come across students getting desp-erate because some ordinary colleges threaten candidates with last dates, and they get scared they may miss the bus - thus paying large sums of money for admission, and regretting later.

This is the time of the year when you can explore potential colleges in terms of infra-structure, library, computers, qualification of faculty mem-bers, attrition rate, quality of guest faculty, contacts with the industry, and the type of campus recruitment that takes place. It is also helpful to ascer-tain what type of students study there — a stroll in the compound of the college and an open chat with students lounging around can tell you much more than fancy brochures or websites can.

Select wisely and carefully. Your MBA may be the final qualification with which you will pursue your career, and how well you qualify will determine how smooth your career path will be.

Specialisations available

Finance, marketing, HRM, information systems, rural management and agriculture and agriculture marketing management, entrepreneurship, family business, retailing, international business, event management, tourism, public relations, corporate communication, advertising, e-business, telecom management, communications management, design management, aviation management, biotech, pharmacy, plantation, hospital or education management, investments, banking, projects, social sector, women’s development, and many more.