Do experienced candidates really deserve preference in today's 2yr MBA scenario?

One of the most taunted questions of any fresh graduate, even i had the same
question ringing in my head when i had very very limited chance of getting into
a prestigious B-school in U.S. with a GMAT score of 720 and Zero years of work-exp.

A recent post( http://iimaexperiences.blogspot.com/2011/03/do-experienced-candidates-really.html) by one of my good friends has re-ignited my otherwise dormant thoughts.

Goal Clarity : May be a majority of Work-exp people have a particular position in mind before they join an MBA program. But, there are equally good number of freshers with similar goal clarity (at least at that point in time). Yes, their goals tend to change with exposure to the corporate world. In the current indian educational system, with very less emphasis on practicals/ real time industry problems a freshers goals are set by the environment he is in, from what he reads in news papers/magazines/books. The grass is not always green on the otherside. If only everything were ideal there would be no arbitrage, no Stock market and no "hefty packages" in the first place. yes, there are always exceptions to these common rules and hence they are called exceptions.

To cut the long story short, why do corporates offer huge packages and higher positions to the work-exp guys ? It is neither due to their sectoral expertise and nor due to their technical know how. It is mostly attributed to the precious softer aspects,the network they built and their strong exposure to the ground realities (which unfortunately can learnt only through experience).

The same story applies to 2-year MBA's as well. A traditional MBA is more about sharing your experiences and learning from each other rather than gaining a bookish knowledge. On other side you may argue that freshers add a new perspective away from the mundane and often fixed mindset of his/her work-exp counterpart. But, hey are'nt we generalizing ??

Please pour in your views in the comments section.

I won an award !!! interesting

IIM Banglore interview

PROFILE:

Acads
X - 88% , CBSE , 2002
XII% - 91% , state board, 2004
Undergrad - 74.5% , Elec n Telecom @ Sathyabama Univ, Chennai

Work-Ex:
18 months(till date) @ HCL Tech

CAT (2009-10):
DI - 99.40
Quant - 97.32
Verbal - 96.50
Aggregate - 99.58
(NC - OBC )

Extra acads : GooD

Any other special thing abt u:
1. CCNA
2. Developed a module for Air Bus 320

Interview & Essay

Venue: IIM B @ @ M23
Date : 30 MARCH

Essay :
Topic: Business = only profits / social + envi issues
Number of Ppl present: 6
Time: 2 PM
Brief Snapshot of the attempt:
1. Business uplifts the entire society and solves many social issues like unemployment , poverty etc.
2. Some environmental issues should be taken care of for better tomorrow.

Time given : 30 mins (U can think / write whenever u like to)
Rate your preparation(0-5): 3
Rate your performance(0-5): 4

PI:
Panel Members Intro: Alumni - A , Us Accent Faculity - U, visiting Faculty - V , Raj (me)-R
Questions:
V - u say business forms pillar of a society , why ?
R - Sir, ..... repeated same esssay points , compared India with US ...
V - In that case y should v bother abt environmental issues ??
R - For safe future ...lah lah....
U - U say standards of living , how do you measure it ??
R - Sir , per capita income...expenditure ..savings ..ability to buy basic aminities .....lah..lah..
(U quizzed me more on standards of living ....gave my small gyan on these big topics)
(Now A ....the most pleasant person in the panel takes over)
A - Describe ur typical day @ work ?
R- ...sir ...start with mails ..work..team meetings .....lah..lah..finally end my day with TT / badminton
U - Asks abt my work for Air Bus ....
R - (Almost jumped from my seat in excitement ): lah lah ..........for 3 mins.
U - So u know abt the biggest flight right ? wats it ?
R - A380
V - ok ... Lets say we run A380 from Banglore , wat r the pros and cons ?
R - sir ...pros n cons ..lets see...hmm..
1. Traffic congestion ..gyan
2. Fuel consumption gyan
(Now the show starts, it was more like a rapid fire round from here on)
U - ok Where's AiR bus's headquarters ..?
R - pass
U - Head of Air bus ?
R- pass
U - U don't know abt ur client ?
R - Sir , my Immediate client is tHales.
U - ok Where's Thales's headquarters ..?
R - France.
U - Air bus's major competitor ?
R - pass
U - Take a guess..
R - Boeing ..
U - operates from ?
R - US.
V - hmm ..Rajesh we are trying to check ur management perspective ,
can u give us any pointers ?
R - Sir , i read some management books , latest was The WinninG by Jack Welch.
U - Jack welch's Company ?
R - GE
U - One major product made by GE and Deployed in AIR BUS ?
R - Sir ..it must be the bulb .
A & V are satisfied by the answer ...but..
U says - i can buy a wipro bulb..., tell me the main product ..?
R - ..GE ..found by Edison...so main product is bulb.
V - hmm yes rajesh pretty much , any other main product ..he's expecting for something very core for an aeroplane...
U - Rolls Royce make ??
R - Cars.
U - So GE makes ?
R - Sir Engine (great yar GE engine thayar kartha hai).....
A - ok rajesh ..what are ur learnings from HCL ?
R - councils .....committees ...work....why MBA .....etc.....(4 mins gyan)
V- ok rajesh , thank you v r done..
R - thank you sirs

V -Any qtions for us ?
R - Sir , can u tell me abt Vikasana ....the projects and frequency.....
U - hmm.. v don't have good idea , u can consult any senior for info...
R - ok...thank you sirs

Rate your preparation(0-5): 3
Rate your performance(0-5): 4
MISC.
Any other relevant detail.
The PI was very friendly , it was more like a usual chat with a stranger.

IIM Lucknow interview

Found my very old post @ PG

Re: [2010-2012] IIML Essay/GD/PI Experiences - 08-04-2010, 01:07 AM - Add Post To Favorites
PROFILE:

Acads
X %,Board, year -87.84% (CBSE - 2002)
XII%, Board, year-90.08%(Andhra State - 2004)
Undergrad Stream(BA, BE etc), Specialization(CS, mech etc), Percentage, Year, Institute. –B.E. (ETCE), 74.43% ,2008, Sathyabama University

Work-Ex:
Sectors, Company - Number of months – HCL TECH - 18 months

CAT (2009-10):
DI-99.xy%
Quant-97.ab%
Verbal-96.cd%
Aggregate-99.58%
(Nc -OBC)

Extra acads : 1. Kabaddi District level
2. Silver champ @ HCL

Any other special thing abt u:

Interview & GD/ESSAY

Venue: Luxury Monarch Hotel
Date : 07.04.2010
Course(PGP/ABM):PGP
Met Sukesh bhai of IIM C interview (C wale ne tho 5-5 mins mein baga diya hume).

Firstly , IIM L candidates were asked to enter through different gate,
So, we checked our panels and were waiting outside.

Suddenly arnd 1:40 we decided to get our docs verified (doc verification is @ interview room) and went to a hall in the immediate floor.
We almost submitted our forms ovr thr, when a candidate said "Man this is IIM k's verification room "

Essay :
Topic: It is destiny and not hardwork which guarantee’s hardwork
Number of Ppl present:9 out of 10 (1 absent)
Time: 15 minutes
Brief Snapshot of the essay:
1. opened the para with a sanskrit shloka.
(
Door opens and a candidate enters (rachana)
Panel member : take ur seat ..... no hurry aram see....
)
2. Success - goals - reasonable targets - planning execution- ex: india's struggle for independence
3. Destiny - luck factor - charm - value add but not the core- ex: candidate trying to get into IIM L without giving CAT

Rating: 4
GD: Same topic
(
common common ..this time i should start ...3 min badh tho sabh jaag jayengee

)
For 5 seconds no body started & I started with the intro of the topic..
Gave an okkish frame work, the group was pretty cool , very nice examples ranging from tendulkar's 200 to 3 idiot's harman joshi.
At the end of 11 mins ..every1 were exhausted , one of our group member concluded ...and we all looked at the panel for that 4 letter word "STOP".

Panel member : u ppl still have a min ...if any wants 2 sy something go ahead .
(we looked at each other ....and then towards the panel, he understood the signal and finally the GD was over)

Many of us were smiling as we went out.
(Man ...... achaa hua usnee rook diya....mein tho iss bar sehwag ko gusanne valla tha ...)
I was the last member in the panel...(phir se )
the group was gd ..met vinay, rachana, ramya ...and a few others...
(

YP opens the door : Vinay .. do u want to come in ??
Vinay goes in and we chat....
we started discussing abt uttarakand ..telanganaa...lok sabha ..rajya sabha ..etc.
Then abt our Other IIM Interview experiences.
beech mein sukesh ka interview ho gaya ...so we were having a galla time ..sukesh :" yar meinne phir se Mayawati ko GD mein involve kar diiyya"
Time really flew @ speed of Light
)



Rating : 4/5
PI:
Panel Members Intro:Professor (P), young Professor (YP)
Questions:
YP: Long wait huh ?
Me: yes sir pretty much
P: got bored?
Me: naaahh.. had a gr8 time
yP: so gathered all the qtions ?
Me: yes sir ...some what.
P: So what qtions ?
Me: sir mean median mode ......that u asked the last guy
YP Dont worry i wont ask u the same.
P : tell me abt ur extra-curricullars?
Me: explained watever i wrote in app.
P : tell a tamil movie ...kabaddi...
Me : (b4 he completes the qtion) gilli.
YP : Telugu...
Me : (b4 he completes the qtion)Okkadu
P: Rajesh , what's ur passion ?
Me: Sir business, I read lot of management books ..
p: like ?
Me : mentioned.
P: So why MBA then ..apply whatever u learn...
Me : Aswere why MBA ...
yp: Real estate in vizag is booming why ?
Me: 1. Development in that area ..
2. Increase in spending power after 6th pay commission.
yp: anything else ?
Me : 1. Increase in demand.
2. Budget allocation
yp : Explain short wave ..long wave ..FM ?
Me : Expalined (may be right / wrong)
P: what else ....apart from reading books ?
Me : guitar.
p: how many strings ..names ..make a small note diagram ?
Me : answered some ..drew some.
(then some GK qtions and finally Panel say thanks)
Me : Sir, i have a qtion..
YP: yes please.
Me : Acads ..extra-curicullars hows it divided at L...?
yp: what do u want ?
Me : a proper balance sir ..i believe in work hard party harder principle.
P: we have many....and u ppl can add some when u come....
Me : Sure ..thank u sir.


Rate your preparation(0-5): 4
Rate your performance(0-5): 4.5

Memory Lane -1 , Synchrony 2010

Things have moved too fast too soon here at IIMA .
When i look back, it has been 5 months since i came to this insti but hell lot of memories to share. Let me take you through my memory lane ( atleast some of them ) in the coming 4-5 posts.

Call it the "typical me" or the "mysterious me" - here i am posting article after article when many of my friends are busy slogging for their summer interns ( which start tomorrow).

The Synchrony meet 2010
----------------------------------------

SynChroNy 2010 is the annual alumni meet of IIM Ahmedabad conducted in the lush green lawns of ISB, Hyderabad. It was really surprising to get an invite since i was yet to join the insti back then. I felt previleged, honoured and excited to meet Our Alum ranging from Batch of 1969 to Batch of 2011. We met a DGP, a social entrepreneur (NDTV most influential person finalist), a HR director, a CEO , a CMO ..the profile list was endless. It was an experience of a lifetime to meet all these stalwarts before joining the insti. Some pics at that time -

The current batch shared the pics of recent events and latest developments at the insti and the alums were all the more excited. We had an informal dinner with the alums some of them at the age of my grand father who went back to their youthful days and told us all their stories - how they cursed their first few months, how they won the T-NITE, how they got their dorm names and how they found their life partners. The stories were endless and the discussions pushed my expectations from the insti even higher.
That day Ravi and Me left ISB by taking a oath that we will become social entre's one day.

Is this what you think ?

Pheww!!!! Started writing this post a month back, pardon the lazy me that I usually am – just finished the post today.

A few months back i went to a book store nearby with two of my batch mates . We had a friendly conversation with the shop keeper and i wondered if most of the people think so. I thought i could shatter some of the public perceptions with this post --

Shop Keeper(Sk) : So you are from wimWi , you are going to earn a lot won't you pay me more ??

We : hmm.. may be after 2 years , but will you sell the same book at different prices ??

Sk : i was just joking

(we exchange a couple of smiles)

Sk : you people have lots of opportunities, it's very hard for me (after xy years of work-ex) to get my funds, but you can get those even now.

We : Great to hear , thanks for the info.

Sk : you know what , you won't get time to read that book in your first year. The curriculum is very hectic and i rarely see a first year buying these books. (i bought The mughal empire, brothers at war)

Me : hmm.. it depends on how you manage your time, We do have some free time - some people play , some watch movies , i prefer reading this book ;)

Sk : So, which field are you going to ?

Me : May be marketing , might be consulting, not yet decided.

Sk : Do you know how many opportunities you have , you can start your own business and do anything you want , you will have great network and can raise lots of funds. You should really do something with the degree you are getting.

Me : Yes, that's true - there are lots of prestigious companies hiring at our campus and we are getting a feel of these companies through our tuchaas.

Sk : Do you wish to live like a KING by starting a firm or work like a SLAVE all your life ?(After these words something started stirring in myself, should i end this discussion - since he is touching some personal preferences (or) should i take the pain of explaining him "what's in my mind", i decided to do the later)

Me : See It’s all about the gut feeling. If you think you are a KING by playing games all night on your computer then you are . If you think you are a worthless sole even after cracking through the toughest b-school in the world then you are. Similarly some go for financial security and hands-on exp by working for a few years and then taking up entre , while others jump into it straight away. I would say both are KINGS if they think so.

Sk : I see in news papers all the time, the companies pay such huge salaries to you guys who are just out of college with so little experience and even lesser maturity . Even the VCs are going crazy for you guys. You guys are really lucky.

Me: (Ideally I would have said “that’s great to hear” and moved on. But I was really set to explain how and why it works) hmm.. I am not exactly sure if the inflated figures are really true, but what else do you expect for students of the best school in India. Do you know how much people struggle to achieve this so called “Lucky” stature. I have seen people giving CAT for 4 years straight and still not cracking it. Do you know how it feels like to be in an interview where the professor rips you apart very systematically and proves that whatever you know is just a drop in the ocean.

First SurpriSe Quiz @ WimWi

I had a taste of the so called "surprise quiz" (Surprise quize is a small 7-20 mins test that has a good weightage in the overall grading ) today."I go back to the 1st day at RJM when i asked our Gen Sec- Abhinav ..till last year we had the surprise quizzes in the afternoon after the classs with a short notice of 1.5 hrs , but from this year we have two afternoon batches , So what are the timings for surprise quizzes ?? Abhinav replies after discussing with a prof - Let the surpRise Quizzes remain a surPrise" The prof just announced at the end of the class that we have a surprise quiz in 15 mins and there we were staring at him helpless, stunned and nervous, i could almost see a full-length wicked smile on his face :(

TA : "Start the quiz exactly at 7:15 and stop writting at 7:35 , we will not entertain any students violating these instructions "
"FRA - Session1 - Prof : Take care that you write the title properly - for balance sheet it's As on a date and for income statement it's during a period x to y"

7:15 - I open the answer sheet, and start writting (even before reading the question)
Balance Sheet As On _____

Income Statement during ______

7:16 - Completed the title after reading the question
7:17 - 7:30 - rent teek haii..cash teek hai ...
Bad Debt Provision. Yo yo i read it yesterday (rather got loads of Gyan yesterday)
"trinG trIng - Ram ??
yeah
Sunn e birla valla case mein Bad debt kaise karte hai ??
Gyan..Gyann....
TrIng trIng - Seema ??
What's the entry for Bad debt recovered ??
Gyan GyaN
"
arey ye kaha se a gayya..?? Shitt!!!! wronG entry ..
Strike Strike Strike.......ok cash tho finally 6 L hi haii... Bakki kaha jayegga ?? ok i will get back later.
7:30 - 7:35 - Entered a few expenses.
TA - "Stop"

Finally , am done with the most awaited "1st FRA Quiz".
As i reach my dorm , i tell my tuchaas (In IIMA's Jargon Fachaas - 1st years, Tuchaas - second years) abt the Surprise FRA Quiz, i can see their eyes glittering with happiness
"My Dorm Bap says - yarr ek minute rukh ............. abi atha houn"..
After a few minutes -The whole dorm came alive with the most inevitable slogan - "MuGGo Fachoo MuggO... Muggo Fachoo Muggo !!!!!!!!!!"