Why MBA: How to stop worrying and start finding your groove
Posted: April 19th, 2018, 4:03 pm
Article originally published on our blog and then moved here:
For those who've just joined the party, MG handles the super-competitive area of international business school applications at MBA Crystal Ball and he's had a brilliant track record of conversions so far.
I might be biased in thinking that he's one of the best brains in our country, but when I see that McKinsey, IIT and ISB also share my sentiments, I feel the bias has less to do with my personal association with him and more to do with hard institutional facts.
Read more about him on our MBA Consultant profiles page.
But MG-bhai has been away from the online activities on the blog as he's been busy managing the offline action. It was only a matter of time that we pulled him to our blog. In this post he talks abut the big question that starts the introspection process - Why MBA.
-- Sameer
- - -
Why MBA
by Manish Gupta
Righty right, this has been long in the coming. Been thinking of what to share for so long that I decided heck I’d share what one really wonders. Is the MBA all hype and no substance or just the necessary evil that you need to overcome a la <em>Seeta’s Agni Pariksha</em> towards corporate superstardom?
Well, as it happens the answer is yes and no, but a lot more no than a teeny tiny bit yes and presto, we’ve got the topic of our blog today.
Like all good things, MBA does “3” great things to you. One, it gives you the tools to develop a perspective on almost everything around. And I don’t mean to belittle this skill. Though you may have heard CEOs talk and sometimes wondered, what’s the big deal in saying that – but it is a big deal. To be able to think about a topic, generalize it and be able to speak/communicate it is a rare ability. MBA gets you started on the journey, showing the path.
The second thing MBA does is it opens up the horizon of unbound possibilities for you. Irrespective of what you did before, you could do almost everything post an MBA. The prerequisite of course being the fact that you know in the first place what you want to do. Now that is one thing an MBA does not give you! You have to make your choices – an art no bschool can teach you.
I had the audacity of travelling on two boats at the same time during my MBA, not a very prudent move. I wanted to make a career in finance OR consulting. Though I got lucky in placements, but what really saved me was the benefit of experiences of friends in both industries. So don’t think what MBA can give you, think about what you want to take from an MBA for your career. It doesn’t harm to have foresight; ever!
Finally, coming back to clichés, MBA does give you a network with the “it” factor. Beware; this is not the network you got in your undergrad – friends for lifetime. The “it” we talk of here is the wider industry reach as you set your sights on becoming a corporate leader.
Whether you want to reach out to the prime minister’s office in Delhi or want to know the pulse of the rural India, the network just continues to amaze you. Like you, people in your network keep doing amazing stuff – and what’s fantastic is that they are a shout away; always. With an asset like that, how can success elude you?
Well, that does it really. Ah, but before closing, let’s tie up the “yes” bit of MBA hype. Of course the value of an MBA is hyped, but then it ain't bad to have hype around you – let’s just say there should be smoke for the fire within.
Now if you’re wondering what is the one thing I should take away as an aspiring MBA, that would be the clarity of why an MBA for you! It not only will help you leap miles over the hurdle that is the MBA essays, but it will really be the guiding force in everything you do professionally. And if you are still in doubt, remember you heard it from the horse’s mouth. Until next time...
- MG
For those who've just joined the party, MG handles the super-competitive area of international business school applications at MBA Crystal Ball and he's had a brilliant track record of conversions so far.
I might be biased in thinking that he's one of the best brains in our country, but when I see that McKinsey, IIT and ISB also share my sentiments, I feel the bias has less to do with my personal association with him and more to do with hard institutional facts.
Read more about him on our MBA Consultant profiles page.
But MG-bhai has been away from the online activities on the blog as he's been busy managing the offline action. It was only a matter of time that we pulled him to our blog. In this post he talks abut the big question that starts the introspection process - Why MBA.
-- Sameer
- - -
Why MBA
by Manish Gupta
Righty right, this has been long in the coming. Been thinking of what to share for so long that I decided heck I’d share what one really wonders. Is the MBA all hype and no substance or just the necessary evil that you need to overcome a la <em>Seeta’s Agni Pariksha</em> towards corporate superstardom?
Well, as it happens the answer is yes and no, but a lot more no than a teeny tiny bit yes and presto, we’ve got the topic of our blog today.
Like all good things, MBA does “3” great things to you. One, it gives you the tools to develop a perspective on almost everything around. And I don’t mean to belittle this skill. Though you may have heard CEOs talk and sometimes wondered, what’s the big deal in saying that – but it is a big deal. To be able to think about a topic, generalize it and be able to speak/communicate it is a rare ability. MBA gets you started on the journey, showing the path.
The second thing MBA does is it opens up the horizon of unbound possibilities for you. Irrespective of what you did before, you could do almost everything post an MBA. The prerequisite of course being the fact that you know in the first place what you want to do. Now that is one thing an MBA does not give you! You have to make your choices – an art no bschool can teach you.
I had the audacity of travelling on two boats at the same time during my MBA, not a very prudent move. I wanted to make a career in finance OR consulting. Though I got lucky in placements, but what really saved me was the benefit of experiences of friends in both industries. So don’t think what MBA can give you, think about what you want to take from an MBA for your career. It doesn’t harm to have foresight; ever!
Finally, coming back to clichés, MBA does give you a network with the “it” factor. Beware; this is not the network you got in your undergrad – friends for lifetime. The “it” we talk of here is the wider industry reach as you set your sights on becoming a corporate leader.
Whether you want to reach out to the prime minister’s office in Delhi or want to know the pulse of the rural India, the network just continues to amaze you. Like you, people in your network keep doing amazing stuff – and what’s fantastic is that they are a shout away; always. With an asset like that, how can success elude you?
Well, that does it really. Ah, but before closing, let’s tie up the “yes” bit of MBA hype. Of course the value of an MBA is hyped, but then it ain't bad to have hype around you – let’s just say there should be smoke for the fire within.
Now if you’re wondering what is the one thing I should take away as an aspiring MBA, that would be the clarity of why an MBA for you! It not only will help you leap miles over the hurdle that is the MBA essays, but it will really be the guiding force in everything you do professionally. And if you are still in doubt, remember you heard it from the horse’s mouth. Until next time...
- MG