[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by Fountainheader

What has MBA given me ?

1: Some gyaan. Mostly keywords - ROI, EBIDTA and such nonsense
2: Some really wonderful classmates, with whom discussing anything under the sun was an awesome experience
3: A 3-month vacation in Europe - Also known as Student Exchange program
4: And last but not the least, my take-home salary has multiplied 3.5 times, to what I was getting when I quit my last job in June 2006.

Brother,

Like any other thing in this world, what you make of it is what you want to. You can either just go for good grades, or you can make great analysis from case contests, or do in-depth non-graded analysis till 3am while someone else finished and dozed off at 12am with just the key insight.

And finally the prof asks the other guy to present, who'd have snazzy slides and your detail analysis dies a quite death.

It takes all kinds to make this world.

And yes, its not just about take home as you'll soon realize. All firms pay, some make you work extremely hard and become rigorous and deliver quality analysis boss

PS: Once upon a time on PG but never active. Forum business started in biz school - automotive forums!

[paras211]

i intend to join my dad's business may be after working somewhere else for a year or so.Is there a mba programe that isnt 'corporate' oriented? would i be better off in india or abroad.

[Mistakenguy]

@paras : I read somewhere that some of the B-schools have started offering MBA courses in family business . I think MDI is one of them . Not sure though .

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by Team_Godspeed

isnt this possible like one could first learn the whole thing and then put it into work the end effect would be the same rite.

What you learn by experience mostly can't be taught in class room. So you can't really learn the whole thing first.

Originally Posted by phamilyman

And I replied as well. Please tell me three decent jobs that pay well and give a person good business sense. I mean solid stuff, not just a wee bit.

If you want up close look at the business side as a freshie, then you should join a start up or a very small company. My first software job was in a very small company where we programmers constantly interacted with the marketing/sales teams. We had common weekly meetings where both technical and business ideas/actions were discussed. Even a trainee knew the general cashflow of the company. We also knew how sales team was performing, what their customers wanted, we (programmers) even visited potential customers as technical liaisons. The same holds good in my current company. In weekly meetings we have accountants and programmers (even trainee) sitting together discussing new technology, projects, finance, budgeting, deadlines, etc. In this kind of environment, after just one year of exposure, one can pick up as much business sense as one picks up in 5 years in a big IT company. Big IT companies are very compartmentalized, it is very hard to get any business exposure unless you work in marketing or sales.

However, small IT companies don't pay anywhere close to big companies, so most freshies avoid small companies if they can help it. They'll get the big bucks, but no business exposure.

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Sir the best and brightest of India's MBA students go and do investment banking in US of A, UK alongside who? Undergrads from arts, history, literature in investment banks who work as analysts. People there (in my work experience only) are much more process/business oriented than our average undergrad are.

Or maybe since you've been in USA long enough, you can tell me the difference. What say?

I've worked there for 9 years. However, it is quite difficult to explain it easily. Rather, I suggest you read this book, it is available in India. Snapshots from Hell: The Making of ... - Google Book Search

Originally Posted by paras211

i intend to join my dad's business may be after working somewhere else for a year or so.Is there a mba programe that isnt 'corporate' oriented? would i be better off in india or abroad.

MBA is quite universal, I don't think you need a non-corporate version. Just my opinion.

[WhiteKnight]

Originally Posted by Samurai

I've worked there for 9 years. However, it is quite difficult to explain it easily. Rather, I suggest you read this book, it is available in India. Snapshots from Hell: The Making of ... - Google Book Search

Excellent book that cuts across MBA life truthfully. This is not about Stanford GSB alone, applies to every Graduate school-those even in India

[Fountainheader]

phamilyman,
I never said that take home is all that mattered to at the end of the MBA. Thats why I mentioned it as the last point you see.

If someone thinks that you'll get very well paid and at the same time you would learn almost everything under the sun, then thats like having a cake and eating it too. A simple explanation would be something like this.

1: For a typical B-Schooler, the companies that pay the most are either MNCs or large Indian companies, who are so big that growing in the company is as tough as driving a Hummer in Chandni Chowk. So all you'd end up doing in such firms are doing monotonous sundry work, which you'll realise that even a non-MBA can do.

2: The companies where you can learn the best fundae of business are obviously start-ups. But of course, when the business has just taken off, they cant afford to pay you 10LPA and all that. So you'll have to manage with a take-home of say 15k pm. But at the end of the day, you'd be a lot more satisfied.

I have friends who are working for really small companies, but are really happy. On the other hand I also have very good friends working as I-Bankers in London/NY, who can afford a villa in Switzerland after working for 5 years. But 1 year into the job, they are totally pained with the same. Because at the end of the day, firms dont pay you big for nothing

Given a chance, I'd anyday love to work for a start-up. Or even join Pagalguy and work. But there comes a stage, where you have additional responsibilities too (Wife, family etc). So somehow it doesnt work out. So you take the safer approach. And this is why we dont see as many Start-up successes in India, nor do we see majority of B-School grads venturing into Entrepreneurship. But the trend is slowly changing I see.

[phamilyman]

Fountainheader, I say save that post. I'll ask you in a couple of years

Samurai: That is partly my point regarding small firms giving decent experience but regular jobs dont give that. That said, my perspective is exactly what NetFreak says here.

@NetFreak: btw, see the salaries and jobs many engineers are getting (investment banks, finance, consulting, KPOs) - makes even MBA seem like a waste of time

[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

@NetFreak: btw, see the salaries and jobs many engineers are getting (investment banks, finance, consulting, KPOs) - makes even MBA seem like a waste of time

Talking about Schlumberger and some trading groups tht pay 20 lakh+ for BTech freshers in India ?

They do exist, but Schlumberger job is so demanding that you are not even allowed to drive yourself home (only chauffeured cars allowed) and others do not hire more then 10 in aggregate every year.

[spadival]

If you have done most of your studying in India, I would say go and do your MBA outside India. Reason being that Indian class room is a highly competitive rat race and you end up mugging up everything instead of actually learning anything.

That does not mean MBA outside would be less competitive, but it would be a refreshing change from the way we have been taught in India.

[tsk1979]

After 7 years in the industry(4 in a VLSI Behemoth, and 3 in a sort of startup), I still don't think I am ready for the one year MBA.
2 year course with CAT entrance is not an option now, so the 1 year MBA looks attractive(no doubt its very expensive),

My take. A 1 year MBA next year may see me doubling my take home, but if I land up doing something which I don't enjoy it won't matter.
If I can't have my weekends, can't have my life, can't have my freedom, the big bucks are worthless. Some of my good friends with higher take home think I am crazy, but then I would rather eat at Dhaba outside IIFT, than have high BP.


I seriously weighed my options. If I go for MBA after a year, I will be too young to head a large team in the same field(Tech field gives more weightage to 10 years work ex than a degree), and the kind of job I will land up will be in some Bank or Financial or a retail firm, doing work I have no Idea about.

I know someone who is among the top brass of one of the biggest private banks of India, but he has to take permission for taking a saturday off. Right now MBA is looking as a free ride to big bucks and big headaches.
Maybe after 5 more years it will make sense, but right now it does not.
I too just sit an wonder why do people go for MBA right after B.Tech. I know some do it because the campus placement was just 10%, some do it because Dad said so, some do it because they read the 1 crore package in the newspapers.

FountainHeader, hats off to your post. A very very honest view about MBA. You have put forward the real reason. More money. But thats kind of expected ain't it?
We live in a country where we chose our discipline in 11th and 12th based on what is more marketable, and not what we love.

A real world example. A family aquantance's daughter who is a good painter and loves music and history went into Non-Med stream because thats the most bankable right now. the poor girl fears maths and Science.
MBA is also like this sad story of education in India. People are changing themselves to fit into a job. The time when we used to look for a job which fit us is long gone.

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

Talking about Schlumberger and some trading groups tht pay 20 lakh+ for BTech freshers in India ?

They do exist, but Schlumberger job is so demanding that you are not even allowed to drive yourself home (only chauffeured cars allowed) and others do not hire more then 10 in aggregate every year.

What Andiiii. Firstly, schlum isn't brainiest guys (i have enough friends there to know) but more solid interpersonal ones.
Secondly, demanding? ha ha. I've been in an oil firm and chauferred cars is for a different reason than what you think.

Agree about the numbers. But then I'm tlaking of a small number only.

And I meant lotsa other consulting firms.

Originally Posted by tsk1979

My take. A 1 year MBA next year may see me doubling my take home, but if I land up doing something which I don't enjoy it won't matter.
If I can't have my weekends, can't have my life, can't have my freedom, the big bucks are worthless. Some of my good friends with higher take home think I am crazy, but then I would rather eat at Dhaba outside IIFT, than have high BP.

As a consultant I can relate to all you say - including two full months of working Sundays

But yes, knowing that choice and LIVING with it is key.

PS: There are jobs which pay twice as much, infinitely more wining/dining, lot less thinking/analysis, more pseudgiri. Interested?

[Eddy]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

PS: There are jobs which pay twice as much, infinitely more wining/dining, lot less thinking/analysis, more pseudgiri. Interested?

I am

What's the catch though ?

[kuttapan]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

What Andiiii. Firstly, schlum isn't brainiest guys (i have enough friends there to know) but more solid interpersonal ones.
Secondly, demanding? ha ha. I've been in an oil firm and chauferred cars is for a different reason than what you think.

Pray tell us what the reason might be?

[WhiteKnight]

Originally Posted by Eddy

I am

What's the catch though ?

Well, can't call it a catch. Everyone has their own preferences. Many jobs require you to work long hours. They also tend to be extremely result oriented and competitive. Few of my friends in i-banking work 18 hrs every day. Then, no one asked them to- rather they choose their career.

So, that is the catch. Understand what exactly you want from life, and mould your career track accordingly. Being a fresher, I was also attracted to high-paying job, 100 people reporting to me, jet-setting across the globe etc. Once I started making my home and being in the job, most of those lost attraction. Some may still prefer the first set. That's a choice to make.

MBA doesn't get you the perfect job. MBA does prepare you to make choices. If you already have experience, you have higher chances of making the right choice the first time itself.

Jargon dumping

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

PS: There are jobs which pay twice as much, infinitely more wining/dining, lot less thinking/analysis, more pseudgiri. Interested?

Are you talking marketing ?