Management Must-knows

Updated on: Thursday, February 09, 2012

Q-In spite of forecasts that the Indian economy will grow at 7% this fiscal year, why do MBA students still want to pursue jobs overseas?

The view from ISB is slightly different. Probably, it is tinged by the fact that students here come with prior experience. Our average experience is of five years and biased by the fact that about 35 to 40 per cent have been working abroad, so that foreign fixation is not too strong. The focus is on the role. When it comes to careers, what students and we look at, is in terms of a globalised world, hence the role becomes important. Take any of the premium Indian companies, they can have a role, the role could be in India or abroad and as the student actually joins that particular role, he/ she thinks about joining a premium company in that sector. Then he/ she is not fussed about working in India or abroad. That is the trend most common out here. I dont think youll find too many students who are very keen or desperate to go abroad. Even if that category does exist, it will be a very small percentage. But the indifferent category will be very high. Indifferent means that it does not matter whether the role is abroad or in India so long as it is the right role. The focus is on the career because these guys are not at a mid-career stage but a quarter career one. They have done five years of work and want to work on something new. So, they do not mind going abroad or working in India depending on the role they get.

Q- What is the approximate ratio of ISB graduates wanting to go abroad and staying back in India?

Last year, we had about 80 global offers with another 20 Indian offers with jobs abroad. Out of that, about 60 percent accepted these jobs and 40 percent rejected them in favour of the Indian companies.

Q- In a scenario where most economies are reeling under the financial crisis, how wise would are the aspirations of MBA students wanting to go abroad?

Its a counter-intuitive phenomena; the pull for premium graduates from ISB in the global markets is going to increase significantly. That trend is very clear in terms of the number of companies that are coming in. The confusion arises when you try to merge the macro-phenomena with the micro-activity that some country maybe doing good or bad, but the requirement for premium graduates from a few companies in the country could be high. That is the category which is recruiting. If you look at aggregation of demand from a school like ISB, you would see rapid growth in the segment. Also, in a downtrend, the demand for talent goes up because companies want to nurture the best talent. So, the category of right talent is not impacted by the global scenario as it is too large a thing to superimpose on such a thing. And when you talk of countries influencing another country, there are different norms when it comes to procedural activities such as visa norms, work permits, etc which are the limiting factors.

Q- Where does India lack in retaining its talent pool? What can be done about the same?

From my limited experience at ISB, I do not think this is true. As I mentioned earlier, about 40 percent of the students are doing reverse bending. These students, who were working in the global markets, are coming into India via ISB. So, ISB is not seeing the reverse phenomena in a big way. It is a neutral phenomenon. In a premium institution, it is completely dependent on the kind of job the students get.

Q- What are the things graduates need to keep in mind while deciding on their country of employment post graduation?

First thing to consider is the role that is on offer. Second, whether you fit the role. Third is the procedure of the company and fourth are the macro policies of the country - work permits, visas, regulations, government policies etc.

Q- How about job security?

If all the above criteria are met, you dont have to worry about job security. In fact, you will outshine a lot of others and progress rapidly. It is about how you fit in the structure rather than the structure fitting you.

Courtesy: Myeducationtimes.com

Times of India

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