Setting right expectations !!

Lets face it :-

No MBA school is a hogwarts ( unless you are amongst the likes of wharton stanford etc)...
Have received calls/mails from some of new admits asking for information regarding placements etc... One thing which is common is that everyone has high expectations... I had them too.. Its natural.. But unfortunately they are not fulfilled in majority of cases ... Off course there are exceptions but i have said this earlier too "They are exceptions"....
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On a different note :- In past few days I feel like gaining popularity ( thanks to my weekly chronicle) ..
I am happy I could help ...

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Career switch story  .. Switches happen
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1)
Most of it happens in consulting .. Consulting involves everything so it is a career switch because you never work on similar stuff continuously ... ISB is one of the best consulting B-Schools in India ( or Asia?) .... But consulting is not everyone's cup of tea... It involves travelling , it needs grades , consistent academic performance, well rounded personality ... lot of stuff .. Thats why consulting is most sought after jobs at ISB.. I too prepared for them .. everyone does....

2)
After consulting it is mostly a career leap within the industry .. Our batch too is replete with such cases and this makes perfect logical sense too.. You know abt the industry u were working in.. u hv done MBA so u deserve a steeper career and accelerated  path ...

3)
Then comes the actual switch which most of the new admits look for .. From IT to marketing or vice versa.. From IT to operations and vice versa.. etc etc.. completely perpendicular career paths... Thats where exceptional people succeed... The examples are few and far... I can only tell why this happened in my batch and this is completely my hypothesis.
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 a) Economy was down so companies preferred prior work experience .... Makes sense.. They want few people...
b) Companies have lot of choices .. No of interested candidates outnumbers the number of posts ( atleast in initial days of placements when most of the dream companies where every "SWITCHER" wants to go ...
c) People want to switch roles but might not be willing to take fresher level salary in some field where they will  be completely new ...
d) Large batch size of ISB - This factor is positive throughout the year and adds to ISB experience but then plays a huge negative in placements season .. The bargaining power is with companies .. They have choices , they have jobs , they are authority...
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I ended up in 2) .. I got a better role in same industry .. I am Relieved  ... Will be happy soon.. hopefully :-)

So what should people in 3rd category do....
1) Be god like :-) .. Do everything possible to manifest passion for new role ....
2) Participate in the club activities to network and build a strong user base...
3) Take part (and win) some competitions which strengthen your resume for such companies...
4) Be well read about everything .. You should be able to answer questions which someone with a background in that industry is able to answer ( stuff which wont be taught)
5) Use clubs and preparation materials of past year generously
6) Pray to god that economy improves and company's  hire in large numbers ...
7) Try and get grades... it does not matter everywhere but showcases your intelligence ..

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It is a great place to be .. Just set your expectations right and understand a few things

- This is just a hault and not the destinations
- First job is not last ( though it usually sets the direction)
- getting a career switch of type 2 is good..
- dont compare your career with others.. everyone has unique past and that helps in shaping future ...
- Salary matters but roles and company matter more ( to me)
- There are very smart people around.. do not get bogged down.. u have something whic others dont have .. thats why you are selected
- if u need to value MBA then try to imagine your career with or without MBA and then take a call and not by imagining your post MBA job with someone else's post MBA job .. Thats not right ( though is most common, i still fall into that trap in my mood swings)
- best is yet to come .. always ...


God speed and Good Luck !!!

week 39 and 40 - relieved and unhappy

The relieved word in the subject is for the fact that I have signed off an offer in ISB campus ... Unhappy is the feeling because of following reasons

1) I am not happy with the location offered. Having worked for 6.5 years I wanted to go to a city where I can stay for next few years atleast but this city was a strict no no. Actually I turned down the offer initially because of this. But thanks to some sensible friends I grabbed it again.

2) The package offered though is good is not what I dreamt off before joining ISB. But then it was my dreams that were off the mark. There have been cases in ISB where people actually landed up dream offers but such folks and extremely brilliant, deserving, lucky and exceptional.

What makes me happy is that role is good. After the roller coaster ride of one year the switch I wanted from my new job is there ans is something in which i will leverage my past experiences. Just as I said in my interviews:- A job where I can deploy the blend of my education and experience ...

What relieved me the most was  that I now have something to fallback on and the worries of loan installments are no more there... The joining date ad location are not 100% final yet but tentative information is there ...

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Coming to weekly stories
past 2 weeks have been similar to 2 weeks prior to those.. same mixed bag .. just that there are more number of relieved faces... Folks who have not yet landed an offer are still hopeful because some great firms have signed up off late and many more are lined up for the upcoming placement season ( 12th to 21st Feb) ...

Not too sure what else to chronicle. Term 7 classes ended and the costliest subject which i bought this term was the one in which i slept most ... first 6 lectures because i was up till late prepping and last 4 out of habit ...

Term 8 bidding happened and people are now deciding on their graduation requirements ... I m majoring in Strategy and Marketing. In hindsight I should have heard to my freiends who warned me against marketing.. I too feel marketing subjects are a lot more repetitive and that finance or operations would have involved more learning .. Finance was something i could not relate to so no issues operations is my background and would have me if I had majored in operations ... but then i came here for a career switch so I did no do what i did prior to ISB...

This post is not really a chronicle but a reflection , i guess...

Term  exams coming up ...

time to read the syllabus and find out what the hell went on in term 7 lectures ..

btw, 3 subjects in term 7 was definitely a good decision ...