I was in my third year of Engineering when I realized that my interests leaned towards a career in management rather than the engineering side. Being a part of a premier engineering college helped me get a whoe lot of exposure in terms of academics, culture, and career options. I joined TCS after my engineering to beef up my resume with some work experience. In my opinion, having taken the decision to join an organization did pay out good dividends during and after my MBA.
In the two years I spent in TCS I was exposed to multiple organizational facets such as HR problems, cultural diversity, organizational level issues, constraints in execution, strategy roadmaps and many more. This exposure subconsciously impacted my thought process. I joined my post graduate management program at IIM Indore after completing just under 2 years at TCS.
The two years during your MBA fly by at a staggering pace. Everything is moving so fast, that it's all over before you even realize it. And that is perhaps the most endearing quality of a premier B School. You are always occupied with something in the two years that you will spend here. It could be a case study discussion over tea breaks, assignments that keep you awake all night, badminton games, a movie session, or a guest talk by some esteemed figures from the corporate or academic fields.
You are exposed to a variety of topics - from Economics to Statistics, Accounting to Communication, Marketing to Corporate Strategy and a plethora of case studies and stories from the business world. The entire approach of mixing theory with practice gets one more involved and keeps you on your feet. What would you do if you were wearing the hat of a CEO of a failing organization? What issues would you address first? What would you ignore? It's as real as it can get out there.
Those lively discussions in classrooms around case studies or what could be a better choice to make ensured that we steadily build our ability to reach decisions.
There are times when you wouldn't get to sleep for 2 days in a row, attending classes, solving assignments and submitting case reports all in a span of a few hours. But there was a lot to be done outside of the academic activities as well. I made plenty of time to pick up theatre, run a movie club, become adequately good at badminton, conduct the flagship event of the B School festival and plan weekend jaunts with friends. During your MBA you get to learn a lot of academic and business jargon, but at a good B School you will learn some valuable lessons outside the academic curriculum.
Along the way there are a lot of things that help you become better at managing and comprehending both macro and micro issues. The support from excellent faculty, amazing resources at your disposal, great peers to enjoy a healthy discussion, activities and exposure during internships and guest talks. These all go a long way in helping you hone your abilities. The work experience adds value because it helps you appreciate and empathize on some situations in the case studies.
I would have read and participated in the discussions for hundreds of case studies during my MBA. But each case had a different aspect to communicate. A different perspective to a similar problem would come across consistently. I learnt a very important thing during these case discussions - 'There are no right answers, only intelligent choices!'
And my life after MBA is pretty much ruled by this tenet. Everyday I am faced with a gamut of choices. You have a backlog that runs into miles and stakeholders getting affected by every single decision you make. But at the end, there is only so much that can be practivally achieved and executed, and you have to ensure that the choices you made are the intelligent ones.
