" MBA AFTER WORK EXPERIENCE - A BETTER DEAL " Rems : Hello friends, the topic of todays discussion

has a lot of relevance to all of us as we are all aspiring management candidates. Lets discuss in detail what are the qualities required for an MBA, and how much work-experience adds to it. Management today is a way of learning to master the skills to manage people, work in teams and to refine the inner qualities to lead teams Supriya : Well this is something most people think of before proceeding. Lets get to know how many of us agree to it. In fact, I do agree to it. So how many of us agree to it that MBA after work experience is a better option?? Amit Kumar: Let us look at very purpose of MBA. MBA is a niche course designed to give a person all relevant knowledge and information to perform a business function in today's world. If we look at the course content, much of it is consolidated based on best practices, emerging trends, past experiences. I feel a person can connect well to it if he has a work experience because he has that vision to relate his learning to the practical world. Ami: I strongly think that there is no indispensable need to have work experience before doing MBA. Why? Let me come on to that. Ashish : MBA in India is a most sought after degree. Unlike other countries in India we have an option of doing MBA without any work experience. I guess once you have a work experience and then you try for MBA, you have some fixed goals in your mind as to what I have to achieve after MBA while when you are fresh Graduate, you are like an unfolded pot, ready to be shaped in whichever way you want Sheo Sumit: MBA after work experience definitely a good option because then you get to know how corporate world works.
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Ami: I do agree with Ashish, we Indians, when have the Opportunity to pursue an MBA degree without any Work Experience, why don't we feel ourselves a bit luckier than some other foreign countries where one has to have some very good amount of Work Experience before getting into an MBA Course!! Antony Thomas: Management is a profession that requires a lot of experience and leadership skills. A person who would want to enter this field is much better off doing his MBA after a few years of work experience because it would automatically give him the much required experience. Moreover experience can teach you much better than text books. You get to know first hand how things are done in the corporate world making your MBA studies all the more easier and much more comprehensible.

Amit Kumar: Having said this, MBA is all about bringing business ideas, giving you a platform to move ahead in business world. It necessitates the ground work also which one can gather if he has previous work experience, as MBA people directly move up the ladder. Rems: First hand work experience of working in teams in business corporations, to face problems in reality and to learn how to deal with people comes very handy while doing a management course. A person with work experience can definitely relate better to the courses being taught in management institutes, and hence I mean work experience is very important setting ground of doing an MBA Amit Kumar: I agree with you Rems. To substantiate let us look at MBA abroad where prior work experience is mandatory to get admission. Mittu Bha: I agree with Rems, before any post graduate degree one must know what he or she wants out of that course. Rems: We all know how much highly rated are MBA degree from top tier business schools like Wharton and Harvard., and statistics show that most of the students on an average have a work experience of 3 years or more. Supriya: Well you dont need a pre-requisite experience to appear for an MBA test. So if you dont have a work experience people dont bother of it and of course its very important that how you relate your courses to your experience. But Rems whats more important is how u perform after two years in the market and not how did you relate your subjects. Ami: Now let's reveal the entire process for getting an admission into an MBA Course in India. Lets take an example of CAT exam. We all are pretty aware of what kind of preparation goes to be appeared at a CAT exam? How much time we need to excel ourselves to be proved the best or even one of the best at exams like CAT, MAT, and XAT etc.? For this, we definitely cant start preparing from 12th standard or even from bachelors. All we start is only after completing at least a bachelors degree. Ashish : Friends, its also important that the kind of work experience you do before MBA must not necessarily help you in your MBA or in your future experience. You work in a call centre just for money and that you consider as your work experience that really doesnt help you relate to any topics in MBA and is equivalent to a fresher. So a related work experience is requires, not jus any kind of work experience. Ami: If we start working just after being passed out from college, we might spend some time to get ourselves adjusted to the Work environment of the place, some time to learn the remaining required skills to perform better at the place and such other things. After that also it's not it. We have to be Competitive and challenging enough to cope up with all the activities and with other colleagues. Mittu Bha: A manager is expected to be mature enough to decide between right and wrong and hence he must have tested his own principle beforehand in some job and therefore I think experience is always very helpful. Rems: I agree with my friend that the quality of work experience does matter, but at the same time we are also know that anyone serious about perusing higher studies such a management

will be looking for a job profile which provides him with a wider scope and variety of experience, helps him groom and grow personally and professionally. Amit Kumar: I agree with you partially but work experience may be of any kind provided it is in company gives you sense and idea of working in teams, manging company affairs, kind of roles, etc. This all lead to more focused ideas when doing an MBA. For example you can connect to problems well and even possible you can clarify and discuss some king of bizarre solutions you might have faced at that time. Ami: Definitely Rems, As you said, we groom personally and professionally also but all at cost of time. Remember, "ROME WAS NOT BUILT OVER A NIGHT". Mittu Bha: Adding to Rems point on quality of work experience , I would like to say that work experience of any kind helps one realize the difference between theory and practice and thats what is important when it comes to converting ideas in to reality which is a job of manager.
Rems: Now, as we can see that most of us agree that MBA with work experience is important, lets discuss that type of job profile a candidate must look for while preparing for an good MBA degree

Antony Thomas: Ashish is right in saying that a work experience can only be beneficial if you are in the right job otherwise its just a waste of time. In such a case, it is better off for a person to directly do his MBA. I mean what use is it if you work for an year or two and it has nothing to do with a management field like BPO for example. Ami: Now when all of our quality time if goes in being trained for a job you are doing for gaining work experience, then how can you focus on any other competitive exam which can gift you a brighter career than what you are having now? Supriya : Yes and unless you are involved with the market(which takes to be at a high position in the firm) , sitting in the lower or middle order offices also doesnt get you hows the market operating. So to get the experience to match with MBA, you need to be involved with a firm in higher ranks(which obviously takes time) Mittu Bha: I think an MBA degree caters to all walks of life so it can not be background specific, and hence it should not make difference in decision making capabilities of a manager, until off course he is not carrying any bias from his background. Amit Kumar: Let us look at the statistics also. All the successful people (business administrators) in the world have some or other kind of work experience before they took on managing businesses. Look at Thomas Edison, Welch, Ambanis, etc. Also, when son of a CEO company overtakes his father, he gets his fact and fundamental right by working in teams at ground level Rems: Though money is a big factor in deciding jobs while one just comes out of a graduation course, and is seeking a break in the corporate world. I believe he should keep in mind the quality of exposure the job profile gives him, whether it is IT or consulting or a core technical job. He should look into the way the organization is planning to grow him, giving him responsibility and have chances of working and leading teams he gets into.

Ami: Also , one very big point is that, Is it necessary that all or most of us after being passing out from college, would get a Job easily and quickly? I think, NO, it is not as easy as it may seem. So what about them, who dont get job? Is that their fault not getting a right job after having a certain level of Education? What you all, in favor of having experience, would like to say about this? Ashish: Amit by giving these examples you are infact negating the very purpose of doing MBA as a matter of fact the WALTONS n AMBANI never went to any B school Amit Kumar: No I am not. I am just stressing on fact that work gave them clear vision what to do. Getting B schools is an added advantage to us because we get to know from experience and research of other people. In long term one can learn these traits without going to B school also but it takes time. Ami: So, in this case, should someone be deprived of doing MBA from a good institute just because he/she could not mange to get a job of their kind!! And take it otherwise, how can that experience help you achieve your MBA degree when it comes to your merit after passing your MBA? Ashish: But that took them a long time if they had been through a b-school probably they would have done it more faster way. Mittu Bha: Your experience can not and will not help directly in your capacities as a manager, it will only give you a wider point of view for things and society as a whole, it will give you an exposure of team working, accepting challenges and accepting defeats as well. Supriya : well as I said earlier the more imp. side is how you perform in the market after two years grooming. And that grooming is the responsibility of the institutions Amit Kumar: Not exactly, it depends on many factors such as how passionate and learned the person is plus market dynamics at that time. We have examples today of people managing company affairs, jumped to start ups just after graduation without any B degree. Ami: Mittu, Isnt there any kind of right or wrong experience? Suppose, you are a B. Tech. and your getting a job in an HR Department of some local company, tell me how would it help you to nurture your skills in your MBA Course? Mittu Bha: Ami, i would like to answer your question by your example only. if Im a B tech working as HR, if not anything I will definitely learn that how to use your capacities and rise from a wrong spot in your life, which is infact a major strength required for a manager and also the HR experience will teach me how to handle people of different kinds and will enhance my team working skills. I dont say that experience is must for an MBA. : i think people without experience also be good managers, only that they have to be a bit creative to learn from mistakes of others, which is a difficult process but not impossible Antony Thomas: Performance in the market is relative to the person's potential. If he is bright and smart, he will perform well. If not, even an IIM degree may not help him much. Sure, he may get a job but his sticking on to it would be purely a matter of his talents and potential..

Ashish: Mittu a valid point, its like either you are born with those qualities of manager or you learn it and due course of time either in your college or in your work experience, it will help u to be a better manager but if you even after three year of work experience fail to acquire those skills then its really no point in such kind of work experience. All I can say is that if one learns about managerial skill during its work experience then yes MBA after work experience is a better deal or else it doesnt matter whether you are a work experience or a fresher Supriya : Amit dont you think continuing with an MBA degree after graduation is a matter of passion. Yes Amit there are examples but that is not the point of discussion Amit Kumar: I agree. It depends on person aspirations but I am stressing on the fact that MBA after work experience is a better deal. Supriya : Yes Mittu experience is not must for MBA . If you get a call from an IIM after graduation will you leave that because you dont have a work experience? Mittu Bha: I agree with Ami in what he is saying that one can solve problems intuitively , but at the same time, having any kind of experience just helps realizing this strength and so it helps also Rems: Well, I agree that most of the people ruling today's industry may not have done MBA's from Whartons, Harvard's or IIM's , but these may also be the people who had inbuilt management capabilities and they nurtured these to become successful managers and leaders as we see them today.. On the other hand, there are others, who might not have these from birth but can be learnt over a period of time and that are what management schools help us in and hence, if you enter a management school with some work- experience, that really is an added advantage. Antony Thomas: Imagine a situation in which a manager has to make a drastic decision concerning his company. If he is fresh out of college, his decision may not be the right one. Am not saying that an experienced person is infallible but his chances of making a mistake may be much slimmer than that of a fresher's. Ami: In fact, the earlier you can pursue your MBA the Younger you might be of age and that would certainly help you better learning more things and being flexible to ever aspect of management. I think doing MBA for 2 years in itself is like an experience of 2 years as it teaches you so many things all together with the highest level of enthusiasm. Ashish: Anthony, if he is fresh from a B school its expected that he does make a rite decision, after all thats why he is paid so much for Supriya : But then what! Do the people in college just mugging up? They are exposed to the various environments and circumstances. Amit Kumar: Yes its an advantage considering the vaibrant economy today. Also fresh people may bring very fresh ideas without any stereotype. Antony Thomas: Ashish, it was said under the impression that both the candidates did graduate from top B schools.

www.UrPercentile.com: OK, WILL REQUEST EVERYONE TO GIVE ONE CONCLUDING STATEMENT ON THE TOPIC Ashish: In my opinion: work experience not really necessary, but having working in corporate before hand gives you a slight edge over other people in B-school. Mittu Bha: I think from our discussion we all accept that experience though not a requisite for MBA, it certainly helps one to be a better manager, though a person without experience can also be a good manager, with his shear intelligence. I hope you all agree with me. Amit Kumar: I think MBA after work experience is a better deal though not must. The right MBA group can be mix of all kind of people. This will help all in getting all perspectives and all sorts of ideas. Ami: I would like to say, No work experience should be there to be judged the best to pursue an MBA, what is necessary is a strong will to pursue it as 2 years MBA is no less than any experience to prove yourself in the Corporate Sectors. Supriya : However vibrant and flexible the economy may be, you are all exposed to during your MBA--every circumstance and situation (and that is all your experience). That is the reason why companies dont hesitate in taking fresh MBAs as managers. Moreover who'll like to leave a call and go for a work experience? Antony Thomas: As a conclusion, I would say that a person can definitely be a fresher and do his MBA. No problem whatsoever. However a good work experience would definitely be a boost both for his student and professional life in that his vital decisions would be based on experience rather than text book knowledge. Rems: To conclude, I would like to say that I believe work-ex actually adds to you, and helps you learn and relate better to management courses, and hence I believe that MBA after workexperience is definitely a better deal.