Gauge the standing of B - School

Updated on: Monday, December 21, 2009

I am in final year B.Tech (EEE). I want to do MBA. I have applied for entrance exams of following institutes – IBS, IIPM and Symbiosis. Please tell me which institute is good and the difference between such elite institutes and the other institutes offering regular MBA? How should I choose an institute to pursue my MBA? According to my branch which specialisation I should opt for?

Rahul Singh

In India there are several top grade B-Schools that offer MBA in different parts of the country. Each of them has a specialty and uniqueness. While many organisations and media houses conduct surveys and rank these schools taking in to consideration different parameters, these rankings are only suggestive and are not absolute. Also these rankings differ from organisation to organisation and year to year. What you need to consider is- does the B-School you prefer have reputed faculty, has consistently been able to attract best of the industry enterprises to recruit students from its campus, provides an interactive study environment, best of library and research facilities and how many organisations welcome its students for internship and project work in their offices?

Apart from this you will have to consider the fee structure of every institute that you may want to approach for admission. Some B-Schools make it mandatory to visit a foreign country for internship or project work. This involves additional cost. If you are not aware of it when you join a particular B-School you may have to face a peculiar situation mid way through your course.You should gauge the standing of the B-School in the present conditions by looking at the placements list. Look at the IIMs – they always are ahead of others. Their students make it to the top organisations be it banking, financial, manufacturing, software or consulting. Another factor you should consider is what categories of jobs are students offered and ultimately what is the kind of pay and perks they are offered. Analyse these factors and make your choice. Choosing a specialisation will depend entirely on your likes and dislike, your attitude for a particular kind of career you want to embark on.

Also you have o see what the future prospects for a specialisation are. The best way would be to consult your professors and seniors after you get admission to the MBA course.

After completing B.Com this year, I plan to work before I opt for MBA. I am interested in HR and I would like to know what kind of a job would give an ideal foundation so as to give me the necessary experience. In the long term I am looking for a career in the banking sector HR domain. Would experience in a BPO improve my chances? What value would it have if I enrol in a college?

Raghav

You have drawn out a career map for yourself.

But you should also understand that jobs after graduation that you may land, would not be of a specialised type to help you get the desired experience in HR. Most companies either big or small will usually ask for some experience or relevant qualification in HR.

If your financial condition permits you should try to enrol in a full time HR related PG degree or diploma course. This will give you the edge to send your resume for jobs in the HR departments. But if you desire to get in to a job immediately, then get in to whatever job you find – say administration, front office, accounts or PR in any industry, but avoid sales and marketing.

A job in the administration department in a small organisation will comprise of HR functions like maintaining personnel records – like issuing call & offer letters, conducting interviews, time office management, leave, calculating overtime and other benefits. Accounts department maintains the pay roll.

Working in any of these departments will give you the advantage of learning the fundamentals of the HR functions, though the HR role is much wider, you will be able to answer some of the questions in an interview if you get a call for a HR job.

If you do MBA with specialisation in finance and HR you will be able to get in to the job you have in mind and plan your career from there on.

BPO jobs fall in to a totally different category. You may have to work only in the night shifts.

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