Written by Sameer Kamat

You might have heard about psychometric tests when you were applying for your first job. If you haven’t, fret not. Unless you are the monogamous, one-job-for-life kinda person, you’ll have many opportunities to experience the joys of tackling psychometric tests in one form or another. You may have wondered what it is about these mind-numbing series of aptitude test questions and answers that make the higher educational universities (colleges & business schools) and the not-so-higher echelons of the corporate world lap them up with relish.

Written by Sameer Kamat

As a manager, you might think you are at the top of the game. But many ambitious managers in your situation are not content with the pace at which things are moving. They are signing up for the best executive MBA programs in the world in order to keep the career graph growing. They aren’t content with the steep, though linear trajectories they already have. They are looking for exponential growth. They want to convert the ‘Manager’ tag into ‘CEO’ sooner than their regular HR policies would allow.

If you hope to get to the top of your game, you should check out some of the top Executive MBA programs in USA, India, UK or anywhere that you are currently working. See if it is something that’ll boost your career prospects.

Written by Sameer Kamat

In an earlier post we covered frequently asked questions about the F1 Visa requirements in U.S. for Indian students (criteria, documents, F2 dependent visas etc). We left one part out that we’ll cover here – F1 Visa Interview Questions and Answers.

Keep in mind that there is no pre-defined or comprehensive list of F1 Visa Interview Questions that you can prepare mechanically and go out and blurt the answers for a 100% report card. A lot depends on your profile, aspirations, choice of university, financing status and other factors.

What we are covering here are just the basics that revolve around the categories in previous statement. First, revise the key 4 reasons why F1 visas are rejected. Then use the list below to see if you have genuine and convincing answers to each of the F1 Visa Interview Questions listed below.

Written by Sameer Kamat

You remember our friend Achamba – The Super MBA, don’t you? Oh c’mon, just because he’s been busy with some important MBA work that lesser mortals like you and I can’t fathom, doesn’t mean we write him off.

We bumped into him on Facebook when he shared this picture that seems to have gone viral.

Written by Sameer Kamat

We have published our first B-school rankings based on a popularity index. Unlike the other B-school rankings, our attempt is to find out the top 50 international business school that have the best online footprint. Or in simple terms – the most popular business schools.

The big assumption here is that the level of interest in a bschool’s ‘online properties’ (website and social media presence) is directly correlated to how popular it is among prospective students as well as other stakeholders (staff, employers, alumni).

If you haven’t seen it yet, check out the full list first before reading the rest of this post:

Written by Sameer Kamat

“What kind of a question is that? And what’s that got to do with my career plans? Don’t try to get all spiritual now. That space is already overcrowded with Swamis & Babas. Just stick to your regular career guidance fundas and tell me how I can get a better job, better salaries, international placements.”

If that was your initial reaction, you are justified in thinking that way. Everyone and their dog knows that unwavering focus and keeping your eye on the target is very important. The same is true for career planning too.

But it’s equally important to take a step back once in a while to evaluate if you’ve chosen the target well and all that furious running you’ve been doing so far is in the right direction.

Don’t worry. There’s no spiritual angle to this, if that’s what you were suspecting. But there sure is an introspective flavour.

Written by Sameer Kamat

Kumar Pushkal wrote about how he got a phenomenal admission deal from the Smeal MBA program – a 100% MBA scholarship and a graduate assistantship.

If you missed that post, read it here –> Smeal MBA Penn State Full-tuition scholarship plus stipend.
He is back to share more details of a typical day in the life of an MBA student at the Smeal MBA program. He also includes the exciting update of being the first one in his class to get an MBA internship offer within 2 months of starting his MBA curriculum at Penn State Smeal.
That should be encouraging news for Indian MBA students and applicants who were concerned about whether MBA internships and jobs are coming back and whether international MBA students (including Indians) are falling behind in the race.

Written by Sameer Kamat

Distruptive innovation – a term coined and popularized by Professor Clayton Christensen – has serious implications for business. No wonder all the top bschools include in in their MBA curriculum (either through lectures, case studies, or group assignments).
Many Indian MBA applicants have a technology + engineering background. So it’s imperative to understand how disruptive technologies can impact your business…and your future, as a top MBA graduate at the helm of creative and innovative companies.
Avinash Errigineni is back with another hot MBA theory dissecting article. In this guest post, he delves into the world of innovative disruption and tries to go beneath the meaning by using an example.

Written by Sameer Kamat

For many MBA applicants, the search for their top bschools starts with the MBA rankings list. However, there are several challenges.

1. There are too many of these MBA ranking lists floating around
2. The methodology of how bschools are ranked isn’t entirely clear
3. The definition of ‘best’ isn’t universal. Different MBA rankings show different heroes
4. Bschool ranks aren’t sancto sanct. They change frequently.

Despite these drawbacks, whenever there’s news of a new MBA rankings list being release, there’s a mad rush of applicants to check out which ones have won the battle for that year. Alumni (new graduates especially), driven by ego or curiosity (or both) also make a beeline to these sites to see if their alma mater is still on the pedestal it was one when they graduated.

Written by Sameer Kamat

All accepted undergrad and graduate program (including MBA) students from India require an F1 visa stamping to get into the U.S. and stay there for the entire duration of the MBA course. In this post we try to address the most frequently asked questions on how to apply for a student visa, the basic documents needed, and problems / issues to tackle before you can confidently answer the F1 visa interview questions at the American consulate. Read on to see what you need to do before you can get access to all the high-paying consulting and investment banking jobs that are coming back to the US based bschools.