This month Calibre Creators met up with
Mr. Gejo Sreenivasan, Principal Consultant, Career Launcher, a prominent
Test-Preparation Company that has been coaching students to prepare for various
entrance tests to quality for admissions to prominent B-Schools with a good
success rate.
Mr. Sreenivasan shares his knowledge about
choosing careers wisely, management education, importance of higher education
and some important tips for test preparation which will be very useful to
students planning to pursue higher education from prominent educational
institutions.
CC: What
advice would you give to a young under-graduate student with regard to advanced
studies and how he should approach his future education?
GS: There
are two basic things that one would have to decide. The first starts with
deciding on the stream that one wants to do advance studies. This, ideally,
should be solely based on the interest they have to pursue a career.
In most of the cases, it is an extension of their graduation. However, one does have lot of options to
pursue higher education on areas beyond their field of graduation. In any case,
the decision should be based on an interest they have in the chosen field. If
they want to keep their options open, then a General Management program would
be a great idea. This will allow the student to look at sectors which were not
open to them previously.
The second step would be
to shortlist the universities or institutes to pursue the course
from. Now, this is very important. It is imperative that one aims at a school
which provides a good quality education. This would, in turn, mean that there
would be a lot of things that you can/must do to ensure that you make it to
such a school.
A. Focus
on good grades - most of the top institutes would want that;
B. Internships/Project
work - Doing a project work or internship relevant to the planned stream will
add a lot of value to one's profile;
C. Prepare
for the admission process - Most of the post graduate programs would require
candidates to take an admissions test. During graduation, one should plan the
preparation.
CC: What
should the focus of studies during undergraduate studies?
GS: The
objective of an undergraduate program is to act as a foundation for ones
career. To answer this question, let us look it in a different way. The
question to ask here is “How should my resume look like?” - Irrespective of
whether you are looking for a job after the graduation or planning to pursue
higher education.
Your
resume will need to highlight:
A.
Academics | B. Co-curricular Activities | C. Extra Curricular Activities
Let
me explain this further:
A. Academics:
The first thing that gets noticed is your grade. Ensure that you work on it.
Not that a bad grade will ruin your life, but a good grade is a great
advantage. It shows how you utilized your studies.
B. Co-Curricular
Activities: The projects that you did, the internship that you
did, the subjects that you studied outside curriculum (these you have so many
online courses available), the paper that you presented. All this will add
value to your profile.
C. Extra-curricular
Activities: Knowledge is one thing. However, your interpersonal skills are
also important. That you would learn from the activities that you are involved
in - be it sports, cultural activities, college committee member, community
services.
Make the best of the graduation days that you
have - it will not come back.
CC: What
advice would you give to a student who is about to graduate or has graduated
and does not know what to do next?
GS: There
are two situations when that happens:
A. When
I have not evaluated any options and hence have no clue;
B. I
have evaluated lot of options and have multiple interest, hence confused
about what to do.
The second confusion (category B) is
perfectly fine! If you category A, it is time that you start
evaluating various options and may be move to category B. One is to take advice
from faculty members and/or alumni to see which is the best option suited for
you. The other would be to take help of a career consultant. These days, there
are lot of scientific psychometric tests available which can help one
understand interest and aptitude.
Irrespective of whatever, ensure that you do
make any compromises on your career.
CC: Why
is higher education important for a young student?
GS: Well,
it is not necessary that higher education is compulsory. There are many
who have had great careers without having higher education. There are lots of
advantages of higher education behind you.
One,
it is an added qualification which will improve your career prospects;
Two,
you get different perspectives from your peers, who most likely are going to
from diverse backgrounds;
Three,
you get a better insights and knowledge.
CC: Who
should pursue an MBA program and Why?
GS: MBA
is open to anyone and everyone! Being a manager, I think, is inevitable. If you
are a Teacher, one day you would be a Principal - and that's a management
position. Therefore, the only question is whether you want to study management.
Good management programs bring in learning from the industry and uses case
studies to help individual understand how to tackle management issues.
The other advantage of doing an MBA is that it
opens doors to sectors and roles which otherwise would have been difficult to pursue.
So, if you are an engineer who wants to get in to Mergers
& Acquisition or you are a commerce graduate who wants to get
into operations, an MBA could help you.
Also, it helps in career acceleration.
CC: Are
any other options, other than an MBA available? Please elaborate.
GS: Within
management, apart from a normal MBA, one does have options
to pursue specialized programs - say an HR from XLRI or TISS,
Operations Management from NITIE, Advertising & Marketing from MICA,
etc. Outside India, there are ‘MiM’ programs or Masters in Management
programs.
CC: How
can a management education help a young graduate in furthering his career
prospects?
GS: In
a B-School, a young graduate will get access to diverse learning. One, from the
peers - they would be from diverse background. Imagine a case study discussion
on a particular company and there are engineers, commerce graduates, BBA
graduates, CAs, doctors...... who are sitting together and discussing it. The
perspectives that you get is invaluable. You end up adding different dimension
to your learning.
Secondly, some of the best placements happen in
a good B-School. So, you get access to great jobs post your MBA.
CC: What
are the specialisations in which MBA is now available in India and abroad?
GS: There
are many options from which one case choose from: the conventional ones are
Marketing, Finance, Systems, Operations & HR. There are certain schools
which gives other specializations - hospital management international business,
pharmaceutical management etc. There are
a wide variety of specializations that one can choose from.
CC: Is
it advisable to pursue an MBA immediately after graduation or should he gain
some work experience prior to that?
GS: Well,
it is a difficult question to answer. While many would say that it is better to
have a work experience since it can help extract more from an MBA, it is far
from the truth. Let's look at MBA
abroad. Almost all the MBA programs would require aspirants to have a
minimum number of years of work experience. However, there are Masters in
Management programs specially designed for freshers. So, it is not that a
fresher cannot learn from a management program. It is just how these programs
are designed.
In
Indian context, almost all the schools including the IIMs allow freshers to
apply and there are job placements which prefer freshers too. There are also 1
year full time programs which are offered by ISB, IIMs etc. which only allows
people with work experience.
So,
the point is simple - given the fact that the competition is so high in these
schools, why not try for these programs as a fresher - there is no harm!
CC: How
should one select the Institutes where one should pursue a Management Program?
GS: The
quality of an MBA is as good as the quality of the institute. Therefore, the
students should choose the institutes wisely. The most important parameter that
one’s goes by is the placements - after all, one does an MBA to get a good
job! What is important is not just look
at the median salaries, but also the kind of companies that come to the campus
and the kind of profile that they offer. There are other parameters that one
could evaluate - residential program, cost of education, faculty profile,
alumni network, etc.
CC: Are
entrance tests difficult to clear?
GS: Let
us take the example of the CAT. There are around 2 lakh test
takers eyeing for the 2000 odd seats in the top schools! It is the
competition that makes the tests challenging and not the difficulty level of
the test. Irrespective of how easy the test is, fact is - only 2000 aspirants
are finally going to make it.
Therefore,
one must prepare systematically for these tests and not worry about the
difficulty level of the test.
CC: Why
is there fear amongst students with regard to entrance tests?
GS: The
fear is quite natural. The fear normally comes from the difficulty level of a
test like the CAT. Math seems to be still a trauma for many! What they need to
understand is this though - that if a test is difficult, it is difficult for
all! And since it is the relative performance, all one needs to ensure is that
they are better prepared.
CC: How
should one approach the test taking process?
GS: The
first step is to take a diagnostic test to help them understand where
they stand today without any preparation. This will give an idea of the extent
of efforts that one needs to put in. They must then focus on a systematic
preparation. Ideally, 6 months would be sufficient to prepare for an entrance
test. This should be spent in two parts: (1) Getting the fundamentals in place;
& (2) Learning the test taking strategies.
These days, there are many programs available -
both classroom and online which can help the student. They should choose a
training program that addresses their needs and then prepare for the test.
CC: Pursuing
a management education is becoming expensive and quality is
deteriorating. Please comment.
GS: Let
me first address quality. The quality of the top schools have not changed that
much! They still provide world class education. What has happened over the
years is that there are many number of B-Schools that got added where one can
easily get an MBA. Many B-Schools are even finding it difficult to fill the
seats because of the sheer number of B-Schools! So, the answer to the
question on quality is a both ‘Yes’ and a ‘No’.
What I would believe is this - that the aspirant should be very careful
in choosing a B-School.
With
regards to the expense - Yes, it has become expensive and some should shell out
around 10 lakhs for 2 years. My belief is that it looks expensive today because
it was pretty cheap yesterday! There is
this attitude that we have that education should be cheap. Well, if you look at the Returns on Investment
(ROI) and the impact that a good MBA can have in one's career, the amount is
actually not that high. Plus, the B-School can utilize the
money to provide better quality education. There is a caveat though - you
should do an MBA from a good B-School.
CC: Is
MBA losing its importance?
GS: No,
it is not. The IIMs were founded to create leaders who can take India to the
next level and we can see the impacts many of the MBAs from top schools have
had on this country. Mind you, I am not saying that only an MBA can create such
an impact. What I am saying is that there are MBAs who have created a good
impact. The good schools will always survive. There will always be need for
good management professionals. So, MBA will stay!
CC: What
is the demand and supply situation with regard to MBAs?
GS: The
demand is from the industry and the supply is from the B-Schools. Like any
education, the demand of 'employable' graduates and post-graduates is less than
what the industry needs. It is an encouraging sign that Government is
setting up more and more IIMs. That would help in meeting the demand of quality
management professionals.
CC: How
should working professionals desirous of pursuing higher education to further
their careers prepare, dividing their time between studies and hectic
professional career?
GS: It
is just a matter of managing time. Actually if you think of it, it is not about
managing time, but managing yourself. The preparation for an MBA entrance
requires someone to put in about two hours of study for about 6 months. It is
about setting priorities and getting it done.
Think
about this - almost all the schools worldwide have criteria for compulsory work
experience. That would mean that all the students who made it to B-Schools
across the globe prepared for GMAT (the entrance test for schools abroad)
alongside their work.
I
would just say - that don’t hide behind the excuse of a hectic professional
career - We still get time to brush our teeth everyday!
CC: Are
educational loans and Scholarships available for deserving students?
GS: Student
loans are easily available.
CC: What
advice would you give to young individuals about careers?
GS: No
compromise! Make every single day count.
Gejo is an IIT Madras & IIM Calcutta
Alumnus.
Gejo has trained thousands of students for CAT,
GRE, GMAT, CLAT in the last 13 years.
Passionate about mentoring, he is known to
spend innumerous hours with his students helping them challenge a problem and
bring out newer ways of solving and simplifying them.
His details are as follows:
Gejo Sreenivasan, Principal Consultant,
Career Launcher India Limited,
201, Second Floor, 22 Business Point,
Opp. Andheri Subway, S.V. Road,
Andheri West, Mumbai - 400058.
Ph: 022 - 4253 1810/1811 | Mobile: +91 97698
54234
Email: gejo@careerlauncher.com
BB PIN: 227623CD
Linkedin: http://in.linkedin.com/in/gejos
This interview was published in the Calibre Creators LEARNING LETTER issue of April 2015, Vol. 3, Issue No.8.
To view and download the previous issues, please visit www.calibrecreators.com.
Or you can simply send us a mail to sarfaraz.calibrecreators@gmail.com to request your copy and receive the issue regularly.
Get Your Child Assessed for Making the Right Career
Choice. Take the Aptitude Test – go to www.calibrecreators.com
Write to Calibre Creators to resolve all your education and
career related queries. Please visit www.calibrecreators.com/contact-us.
There are no charges for this service. Make extensive use
of the service. All queries are responded within 24 hours.
