Posted by TCYonline.com on October 5, 2011
MBA Aspirants across India can now give a final push to their preparation and also know where they stand on the national level.
TAPMI, India’s leading B-School, Jindal Global Business School (JGBS), a part of the O.P. Jindal Global University, and TCYonline.com, India’s No.1 Test Prep portal, have joined hands to provide impetus and guidance to thousands of MBA aspirants who will be appearing for various MBA entrance tests in the next few months. Winners would be awarded with cash prizes up to Rs. 10,000 and many other rewards.
The three organizations have joined hands to launch MBA Wizard-2012, a twelve week MBA pre-entrance contest that will help identify and groom India’s best future managers. The contest will be live on www.TCYonline.com from October 3rd to December 24th 2011.
Every week, Top 10 students will be selected on the basis of their performance and all these students will be given cash prizes, certificates of appreciation, and complimentary admission forms from sponsoring institutes & career counseling sessions. There are special prizes for Top 3 performers of the event.
With more than 50,000 MBA aspirants expected to participate in the MBA Wizard 2012 contest, the results will be less ambiguous than the results in a traditional classroom where skills of a limited number of students can be benchmarked against one another. TCY Analytics, a database of nearly 4 crore analytics will help the students identify their strengths and weaknesses, which in turn will help them improve their performance by targeting weak areas.
About TCYonline.com: TCYonline.com is India biggest test prep platform with 1.2 million enrolled students. The portal features more than half a million questions catering to over 50 categories of international and national tests. The tests have been contributed by thousands of educators who are registered with the portal. When students attempt a test, they can benchmark themselves against thousands of other students who have already attempted the test. TCY Analytics, a database of nearly 4 crore analytics, evaluates each student’s attempt by comparing it to the attempt pattern of other students who have already taken the test.
About TAPMI: The T A Pai Management Institute (TAPMI) located in the international university town of Manipal (Karnataka), is among the leading management institutes in India, and is reputed for its academic rigour and faculty-student interaction. Founded by the visionary, Late Shri. T. A. Pai, TAPMI’s mission is to provide much needed impetus to the task of building professional management capability in the country.
Since commencement of the PG Programme in 1984, TAPMI has received recognition and respect amongst the well-known industrial houses and academic institutions in India for the quality of its education. Over the years, the institute has earned a name for its Post Graduate Programme in Management (equivalent to MBA) and the quality of student talent it has produced. Continuous improvements in the curriculum, structure, academic systems and faculty resources have contributed significantly to making TAPMI a preferred centre for management education. Today, over 1900 TAPMI alumni hold responsible managerial positions in India and abroad.
About Jindal Global Business School: A part of the O. P. Jindal Global University, JGBS started its operations in 2010. The vision of JGBS is to impart global business education to equip managers and professionals with skills and knowledge to efficiently tackle challenges faced not only by businesses but also by NGOs, entrepreneurs and government organizations. JGBS offers multidisciplinary education to foster academic excellence, global collaborations and linkages between inter-disciplinary research and teaching. O.P. Jindal Global University has collaborative partnership arrangements with a number of globally reputed universities in the Asia Pacific Region, Europe, UK and the USA. JGBS currently has memoranda of understanding (MoU) with the School of Management at the University of Texas, Dallas and Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.
The partnerships provide for student and faculty exchange, joint seminars, and collaborative research. The Global Immersion Program at JGBS extends opportunities for experiencing business, cultural and academic centres in different global institutions with which JGBS has established partnerships.
Click http://www.tcyonline.com/india/MBA-wizard.php to know more.
Posted by girish seshamani on July 10, 2010
Once you get into your B School, you are all set to begin an exciting stage in your life. Undoubtedly MBA is a coveted degree, if it is done from a reputed institute. Over a period of two years, we study or we are exposed to around 35 subjects.
The basic objective of studying these subjects, is to ensure that your fundamentals are strong. No one expects you to master all the subjects. Tomorrow when you take up a leadership role, you should have the basic knowledge about all functions, to ensure that no one takes you for a ride.
At the end of the first year, students go for summer placements. The summer placement runs for around four months. After finishing their summers, students come back and the second year begins wherein they specialize in their core area.
Before the students go for their placement, they have to choose their core specialization, as in, Finance, Marketing, Operations and Human Resources. The students have a dual specialization. On most occasions, whenever I interact with students, I see students choosing the core field due to peer pressure. When I sit with them and discuss as to what made them choose that field, the replies that I get are:
Majority of my batch mates have chosen that field
We heard it is a sunrise industry
This field pays much more than any other line
As a teacher, it pains me a lot when I see students getting into functions they are not fit for. Personally I do make it a point to tell students to identify their strengths by doing an honest introspection and to discuss the same with their family members and close circle of friends. If they have professional contacts, they are the best people, since they are already working in that line. They are not only the best source of information they will also guide you properly. Once the student narrows down on his core specialization, he will know the gap to be bridged in terms of skill sets after he interacts with professionals working in that industry.
Lot of B Schools have come out with super specialization programs which is an add on to the core specialization. The areas are:
Airlines and Airport Mangement
Shipping and Logistics Management
Retail Mangement
Supply Chain Management
Let me also tell you that there is nothing called as a sunrise industry. Each and every industry has to go through the stages of Infancy, Growth, Stability and Decline. It is part of the economic cycle.
I also reiterate the point that compensation is totally secondary. According to me, at the start of your career what you learn, is more important than what you earn. I also see students having unrealistic expectations and living in their own dream world. Your specialization should be in tune with your skills. If you choose the wrong line, apart from being a misfit for the job, you are also putting your entire career at risk. If you get into an industry purely for money, the day is not far off when you will get frustrated and land up in a mess.
Once you have identified your skill sets and decided your core specialization, ensure that you keep yourself updated in that line. You need to seriously devote time to understand the industry, the major players, the standing of the industry right now and the future of the industry. The best source of information will be newspapers like Economic Times and Business Standard. Apart from this, try to identify a mentor, when you go for your summer placements. If you prove your worth during the summer placements, there is every chance that the organization will consider you, when they come for the final placements.
I would like to share some critical points to be kept in mind throughout the program:
- Integrity is the foundation on which your career is built. Never lie. If you have done a mistake have the courage to accept your mistake, instead of trying to hide it or getting into arguments.
- Be the first person to take the initiative. Put your heart and soul in your job, when you go for summer placements.
- Be disciplined and punctual. Never take any leave.
- Strictly adhere to organizational decorum.
- As I mentioned earlier, this is the apt time to identify a mentor, who will be your guiding and inspirational force. Never try to put on a mask and show interest. They are seasoned professionals and your reputation will take a beating. Be genuine. Be yourself.
- Be in touch with your mentor and work on your weakness. This should be done throughout the program.
- If you have the habit of gossiping, work seriously on it. All relationships are built on trust. Trust is built up only once. It cannot be built again and again. Likewise during the course of your program never criticize any of your batch mates or professors.
- During the program, you will get lot of opportunities to make presentations. Take each presentation as a challenge and keep on raising your bar.
- Be mentally alert and focused on the program.
- In group presentations you may have to work with other candidates who are not known to you. Extend your full cooperation and take the responsibility of keeping the group bonded together. Each individual will have his idea. Genuinely congratulate your group member if he has come up with excellent points. It is natural to get discouraged if your points are not included in the presentation. Try to find out why the point is not relevant. Always remember that our learning process continues till death. Moreover when you start your career you will inevitably be part of a team. You cannot afford to create disharmony within the group.
- Be very careful whenever you speak. Choose your words with care. Never indulge in any kind of casual talk. Likewise ensure that you are well dressed and maintain good hygiene. Groom yourself to become a person who can be trusted.
- Work on your vocabulary. Keep a daily target and strictly adhere to it.
- Keep working on honing your listening skills. There is a huge difference between hearing and listening. Hearing is done with the ears. Listening is done with the mind and the heart. Powerful listeners can create miracles.
The basic objective of having summer placements is to get exposed to what an organization is, how does it work, the role of each department and how the industry works as a whole. This is because most of the students are fresh from college and directly enroll for an MBA Program.
The second year is the time when you have to hone your skills in your line or function and ensure that you keep abreast of all the latest developments in that line.
Likewise during your final placements make a very careful choice. There are two critical points which you need to keep in mind. The first is the reputation of the organization. The second is the Human Resource Interventions that the organization has in place. All professional organizations have an individual career growth plan for each employee. They also have structured training programs to help the new employee develop his skill sets and also get him exposed to all the functions. Your first job is the most critical because it is going to determine the entire course of your career. When an organization selects an employee, it does so with a long term perspective in mind. Never make the mistake of job hopping. It is suicidal. As of today, job hopping is looked upon very negatively by all reputed players in the industry. Even an experience of five years in an organization, makes the other company think. You need to have a really valid reason for quitting the organization.
My only advice to all MBA students is to make the right choice in terms of their specialization. Once you make the right decision, believe me, it will be an eternal honeymoon for you.
CHEERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by TCYonline.com on June 10, 2010
Contributed By Sidharth Balakrishna
After the written exam, most management institutes invite you for the next stage of the testing procedure, which could comprise essay writing, group discussions and interviews. In fact, almost every institute uses interviews to assess the suitability of the candidate.
So what are the broad topics that you should prepare for in interviews?
There are some questions/ topics that you should be ready to address. These are:
- Your introduction
- Academics (especially for candidates who are currently in their final year or who have just recently completed their graduation)
- Work experience (for candidates who are currently working)
- Current affairs and business awareness related questions, to assess whether a candidate is aware of and can speak on broader issues of national or international importance
- General questions such as why you wish to do an MBA, your career plans, etc
- Your hobbies and interests
- Your strenghts and weaknesses
Tips to prepare
- In your introduction, try to ensure that you go beyond just repeating some mundane details about yourself. Try and make your introduction interesting by highlighting your unique qualities, interests, aims, etc.
- It is important to also highlight your achievements in your introduction, this could impress the evaluators and go a long way in ensuring your success.
- You could write down some points about yourself that you wish to cover in your introduction, this will ensure that you don’t miss anything and may also aid in a smooth delivery on the day itself.
- When preparing to talk about academics, you will need to revise the fundamentals/ basics of the subjects you have studied during your graduation. Application-based questions could also be asked. For example, engineers with an electronics and communication background are often asked the differences between GSM and CDMA and which technology they think is better and why etc. Similarly, a candidate with an economics background may be tested on the relevance of Keynesian theories today, especially in the light of recent global economic developments.
- Quite often, candidates are asked about their favourite subjects and are asked questions on these. So think about which subjects you are ready to answer questions on!
- For candidates with work experience, the panel could ask you about the company in which you work and your role, as well as your firm’s major competitors, the industry in which your company operates in, etc. Plus, be prepared for questions on recent developments in the industry — such as large M&A deals, etc.
- Whatever your background, I strongly suggest that you read a newspaper every day. This will go a long way in helping you answer questions pertaining to GK and business awareness (besides helping you in the GD/ essay writing round as well (if any)).
- For questions on your career goals, strenghts and weaknesses, hobbies, etc ensure that you do some introspection and above all, be honest! Do not invent some hobby or strength just to impress the interviewer. Try and think about these questions — remember that if you mention a particular strength, you may be asked to justify it by providing an example of when you actually demonstrated that particular strength.
- I suggest you read about the MBA course before the interview. If asked a question such as “Why MBA?”, you could speak about the subjects that you are interested in or how the methodology used for teaching the course interests you — the use of case studies, ‘live projects’ with companies, the summer placement experience, interactions with people working in the corporate sector through guest lectures, etc.
- Finally, it is a good strategy to practice for the actual interview by undergoing a couple of mock interviews and seeking feedback. You will find that practice helps you improve your responses and provides you indicators on which areas you need to prepare better.
Source: http://getahead.rediff.com
