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experts view on cat exam
Mantra that still works magic
| Thousands of aspirants take the CAT examinations each year, hoping to get admission to a prestigious management institute. Is there a lot of hype about the MBA course or is it a worthwhile career option? SHALINI UMACHANDRAN finds out. |
THE CAT exam's just around the corner. Private coaching classes are full of students working on their quants — CAT jargon for mathematics — while watching the clock. Even kids who bunked the year's classes are spending hours with word lists and sheets of maths formulae in a bid to chase the management dream.
One of the first things most students do when they get to the final-year is head to the nearest training institute to enrol for CAT coaching classes. "Majority of our students are from the final-year, whether arts, science or engineering," says S. Balasubramanian, director, TIME-Chennai, an institute that trains students to tackle the management entrance tests. CAT is the Common Admission Test held every year and is your foot-in-the-door to the IIMs — and the world of opportunity. Admission to most management institutes of repute, such as the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), New Delhi, the Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), New Delhi, Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad (MICA) and others are based on the CAT or tests similar to it. With sections that test mathematical ability, language skills and logical reasoning, CAT is considered one of the more difficult exams to crack. "The GMAT (the exam taken for admission to MBA courses in the U.S.) and the CAT are more or less the same but in CAT the verbal section is a lot harder," says Professor Donald E James, director, Datamatics.
Thousands flock to take these tests as an MBA is seen as the only career option for those who have missed the MBBS or BE bus. "It's a stable career that's both challenging and pays well," says Balasubramanian. "Every organisation needs managers at some capacity. So just because you don't make it to an IIM, it doesn't mean you're not going to have a career in management."
But, for many, it's also all about the money. "When you're in college the idea of success is the guy with a tie and a laptop who seems to have a lot of money," says Gautam Hariharan*, who finished his MBA and worked as a marketing manager for a year. "When you finish college there aren't really many other options for a career that gives you that idea of success and money." Balasubramanian agrees, saying, "All the hype about alternative careers is a lot of loose talk. There really aren't many opportunities if you're not in the traditional lines here in India." There's also an element of social acceptance that the MBA enjoys. Apart from raking in the millions, they're considered more sensible, intelligent and stable.
In the 1950s and 60s, entering the Civil Services was socially acceptable. Now it's a management career, says Prof. James. He explains that the standard of the services has fallen due to reservation and so the "best and brightest" gravitate towards management, whether in India or abroad.
"In one sentence," says Rajiv Khattar*, a final-year student at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIM-B), "management is where the money is. There is so much hype about the salaries, that people are drawn towards it. Besides, people are getting disillusioned with the political situation and civil servants are seen as the puppets of politicians. It's very difficult to work without political interference." Rajiv, who holds a B.A. in literature, explains that he saw a management degree as "an entry pass to a decent job with good pay."
Parvati Shankar*, and ex-student of the Symbiosis Institute for Management and Human Resource Development (SCMHRD) now working with an FMCG company, explains that for people who are not able to pursue traditional courses such as engineering and medicine, it becomes more of a default post-graduation rather than a choice. But Gautam cautions against making it a default option. He did his under-graduation in literature and took up management because he really didn't know what else to do. "After I started work, I realised that meeting targets constantly just didn't give me the thrills. The theory taught at B-school is far removed from reality. All those management theories just don't apply to the guy you're finally selling your product to." He quit after a year to go back to college and is now a business journalist. Parvati, however, loves travelling all over the country, working to deadlines and selling products in a market.
"After a point there's no creativity in what you're doing. This week you have to dump 6,000 soaps in Maharastra, next week it's 7,000. It doesn't challenge me," says Vinay, an engineer who did his MBA and worked in sales for two years. He's just quit his marketing job to join a studio as an audio engineer. He says that he went into management because in India it's the only way to rise in the corporate world. An MBA course also builds character and improves communication skills. Management plus engineering opens up many doors to opportunity.
"But at the end of the day, management is the only career where you can earn about Rs 40,000 a month by the time you're 25."
Although he now earns half of what he earned in management, Gautam says he's happier.
"It's a trade off between how much you're willing to sacrifice and how much value you attach to what you're doing. It's like opportunity cost," he says with a laugh. "The difference is the job satisfaction."
Minaxi Indira, a final-year PGDM student at IIM-B sums it up, "I do think the MBA is a little hyped. One shouldn't opt for it because it's the trend these days. You have to see that it suits your aptitude. You have to be prepared for a hectic life with the urge to meet constant deadlines."
* Names changed on request
article courtesy: THE HINDU
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