Countdown to CAT 08

Expert Advice by Mr Gautam Puri - For D-Day:

"One of the biggest pitfalls is that as students we always search for short cuts, asking 'which is the easiest way out and which are the easiest questions?' A critical issue here is the tremendous urge to skip questions.

We tend to lose concentration at different stages during the exam and tend to skip questions because of the pressures of time. But things get better if you follow a couple of golden rules. If you want to identify the questions to attend, it is imperative that you read all the questions.

Prioritise

Start with the shorter questions. The advantage with short questions is not that they are easier, but that it will take you less time to identify whether you can do them or not.

The short questions are not just one-liners or two-liners. So read all the questions and quickly decide which ones to attempt.

Be decisive

Decide in two readings whether you are going to attempt the question or not. This is perfectly normal and don't let it bother you. It will take not more than 15 seconds, at a very leisurely pace, to read a question. But if you read the question faster, you would have saved a few seconds. These can then be spent on understanding the question.

While reading the question, your attitude should be, 'let me give everything I have.' Concentrating for those two and a half hours is not easy, but imperative.

Another good approach is to attempt questions that you are comfortable with. The second issue is about the maximum marks per page.

Ask yourself, "If there are five sheets, can I get three marks in every sheet?" If the quant paper is covered in five sheets, it forces you to remember that you have to get so many marks on each sheet and not get stuck on the first sheet. Realise that you need to move on.

Here and now

This is also the time when students have to appear for other MBA entrance exams. For IRMA, XLRI, IIFT and others, the one section where you need to work on is general awareness and business aptitude. Good reading habits help. But right now, focus on CAT till November 19 and nothing else.

In the last month, people are under a lot of tension. Reading the newspapers will not only give you that daily dose of news, but also help you relax.

The DI Angle

Let's talk about the Data Interpretation (DI) section for a moment. If your basic fundas are clear you will immediately understand the question. And out of a set of five questions, at least three are bound to be easy.

Learn the art of skipping questions in DI. The misconception is that you have to solve the whole set before you move on to the next set.

Risk taking

If you do the question correctly, you get marks. If you do it wrong, you get penalized. The negative marking is broadly speaking 1/4th of a mark. Since you don't lose a mark if you leave the question, one should avoid really wild guesses. Which brings us to a controversial area: What should you do when you know that the two choices are wrong and that the correct answer is among the other two? You could mark one of the two as the answer. But if you do not have the appetite to take that small risk, leave it. But also remember that intelligent guessing is a part of the game. As long as it is an educated and intelligent guess, it will benefit you. Often by this stage we also know our effective at intelligent guessing, this is where the regular test analysis comes in, especially checking questions that I got right and analyzing what is it that helped me get it right. If you are a poor logical guesser even when down to two options – invest time in seeing why you consistently go wrong. This could pay huge dividends in the long run.

Expect surprises

The surprise is more in terms of format than spirit. They will change the structure somehow. CAT is traditionally known to check how students deal with ambiguity because it is necessary to be a good manager in real life and the IIMs are very clear, they are looking for the best of the best of the best.

Ease up Learn to relax

Many a time, very high potential students have not made it to the IIMs because they could not handle the pressure. So unwind, go for movies, do things that help you relax, go for walks, meditate… do all that it takes keep your head clear. Get back to those tougher sections after CAT, when you are ready for yet another lap for other management schools. People, who stick it out, hang in there and continue to peg away will make it."

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Fear is the word at IIMs too

KOLKATA: The global financial crisis seems to be sparing no one—not even the golden kids at the premier Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs).

Fewer offers, lower salaries and lesser foreign jobs are just some of the problems these students are likely to face as they gear up for what IIM circles fear could be one of the worst years in terms of placements after the dot-com bust.

“We could be looking at a 15-20 % fall in the number of offers,” IIM Lucknow placement incharge Sushil Kumar said.

“The situation will not be that bad in the summers but overall, pay packages are likely to be affected, though everyone will get a job. We will definitely not be seeing the 18-20 % growth in highest salaries which we see every year,” Mr Kumar added.

The financial sector, of course, is set to be the worst hit. “Lehman Brothers has withdrawn pre-placement offers (PPOs) at most locations, except New York. Merrill Lynch is yet to confirm. PPOs offered by other investment banks still hold but we are apprehensive in case some are withdrawn later,” said IIM-C external relations secretary Debtosh Mishra.

According to Mr Mishra, pre placement offers are still coming in, but they have slowed down somewhat. However, he added that summer placements are likely to be impacted marginally as most companies have already come in for the pre-placement talks (PPTs).

While IIM circles are confident that they, of all b-schools , are likely to be least affected by the slowdown, they nonetheless anticipate a drop in the number of offers per student. They feel a lot of companies will be coming to campus to maintain the relationship they have with the institutes but will be hiring in smaller numbers.

“We are weighing more options this time around. Usually, we call about 70-80 of the 500-odd companies who want to come during the final placements. But this time, we plan to call around 100-110 ,” said IIM Kozhikode’s Sashank Malakapalli of corporate relations cell.

“As expected, students are a bit apprehensive seeing the current market scenario. But at the same time, everyone knows that recruiting might not be severely affected. However, there is still likely to be a 14-15 % drop in the number of offers per student as compared to the 2.7 offers per student we had last year. Foreign jobs too, might take a 20-30 % hit,” he said.

Falling prey

Premier b-schools may see 15-20 % fall in the number of offer in the coming placements.

Lehman Brothers has already withdrawn pre-placement offers (PPOs) at most locations.

This year, IIMs don’t expect 18-20 % growth in highest salaries seen every year.

Job offers in the financial sector, of course, will be the worst hit.

Summer placements, however, are likely to be impacted marginally as most companies have already come in for the pre-placement talks.

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Four components of a perfect B-school application

Chennai: The four dimensions of a perfect business school applicant are leadership, innovation, teamwork, and maturity, write Omari Bouknight and Scott Shrum in ‘Your MBA Game Plan: Proven Strategies for getting into the top business schools,’ revised edition (www.landmarkonthenet.com).

The authors explain that, since business schools want to be known as institutions that produce leaders in their fields, admission committees look for applicants who display leadership ability in all facets of their lives.

“Candidates who successfully demonstrate leadership in their applications exhibit how they have provided others with direction, shown initiative, and managed difficult situations in their professional, personal, and academic careers.”

The second dimension, innovation, is a combination of traditional intellectual ability and creativity, with the former reflected in the hard statistics such as your GMAT score and grade point average. Example for the latter can be newer solutions to everyday business problems.

The authors, therefore, advise candidates to strive and deliver “application stories that speak to adding something new to their selected career paths, rather than merely becoming middle managers in mindless business conglomerates.”

Teamwork, the third dimension, is about basic social skills and a willingness to share successes and take accountability for failures, say Bouknight and Shrum. “While top business schools are certainly known for being competitive environments, operating in teams has become an integral part of conducting business, and as such is a key aspect of the business school experience.”

Maturity, the fourth dimension, comes as a result of candidates’ work experience, which may be five years, on average.

“Top business schools are in search of candidates who present multilayered experiences inside and outside of the workplace. An important aspect of the business school experience is that students teach one another based on their backgrounds.”

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Global meltdown panic echoes in the corridors of IIM-Lucknow

Lucknow, October 11 The students of the country’s B-schools are keeping a close watch on the global financial crisis that was triggered by the problems in the US housing mortgage. Their interest, however, doesn’t end here for they are aware of the repurcurssions such a meltdown can have on their placements.

When the discussion moves on to the topic of placements, the management students of IIM-Lucknow seem to be speaking with a desperation in their tones.

This year, five major investment banks will not arrive at the gates of the B-school. “We are not expecting global investment banks, which earlier offered exotic job profiles at international locations, to come for recruitment this time,” said Sumit Garg, a second-year student of IIM-L specialising in finance.

Debojyoti Chakraborty, who interned at Lehman Brothers, was expecting a pre-placement offer. But with the firm declaring solvency in the US, he is now looking for other options. “I will look for job opportunities in Indian investment banks such as Edelweiss and Kotak,” he said.

The future of the Finance subject, which till this year has been the most coveted specialisation at the B-school with 40 to 50 per cent students of IIM-L’s final year opting for it, seems to be bleak. “Now many students may switch over to other specialisations,” said Vipul, a professor at IIM-L.

Sharat Chander, a first year student at the institute has decided to choose general management or strategy as his specialisation instead of finance, which was his initial choice. “The current financial crisis made me change my mind about specialising in finance as jobs are going to be scarce in the sector,” he said.

Though this may affect the graduates in the coming year, they might not suffer as much as their working counterparts, according to professors. “They will be able to flexibly reorient their career paths,” Vipul added.

For those who had set their sights on a career in investment banking, the expert opined that the situation would get better with the passage of time.

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Business schools ready to respond to change

Signals that the UK and US economies were heading for testing times recently moved from the fringes to centre stage. With established investment banks failing in both countries, some are questioning whether what was first believed to be solely a financial crisis may spread to the wider economy.

Business schools are making sure they are ready to respond and lead in this climate. Research will inform future policy to try and avoid a similar situation reoccurring. Through management education, like the MBA, leaders are taught approaches to cope with both today's issues and future developments that will require new insights and novel solutions. A highquality MBA programme is one that provides an enduring education, through everything a graduate will encounter in their working life.

At times of economic difficulty a number of things happen to employees. Most obviously, some are made redundant and are presented with the opportunity to retake control of their careers. Others decide that its high time to move into a new area of working, enabled by an MBA programme. We also quite often see applicants with a great idea wanting to start their own small or family business - becoming an entrepreneur.

Overall application numbers to the full time Imperial MBA have risen over 40% on last year. The number of applications for the MBA programme from candidates with a finance background has increased this year. Most are still working in senior positions at reputable financial organisations but decided that it's a shrewd time to begin a move out of finance.

A higher calibre of student is applying, suggesting that for those considering a place in a top business school - things are only going to get tougher in the coming years as competition for places increases.

The range of candidates is as diverse and colourful as previous years - something that Imperial has worked hard to establish:

A collaborative culture doesn't just happen by mistake. We bring in the right applicants and encourage certain ways of behaving. We're always looking for people who can work with others and who bring alternative views to any discussion or task. If a CV or application matches our cultural 'wall paper', it's obvious. They are comfortable and capable of leading a group but also have the experience to know when to step back and support others. We don't believe that a pool of piranhas is the best environment in which to learn and innovate.

Graduates tend to move into four broad areas: consultancy, service or manufacturing industries and entrepreneurial ventures. What all seem to share is an understanding of the importance innovation and discovery. The candidates that perform best on the MBA want to find the most challenging questions and embrace change. The reward is simple: a view of the world that will unlock value and generate the ideas, income and collaborations, so vital to a modern company.

It seems that regardless of where applicants are coming from, or where they want to go, one thing is clear. There's never been a better time to invest in your own skills.

(The author is from Imperial College Business School)

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