15 CAT and MBA Myths Smashed
15 CAT and MBA Myths Smashed
Kaushik Mukherjee, an IIM-Ahmedabad alumnus shares his insights:
The Indian MBA graduate has never had it this good. With the Indian economy finally flexing its muscles and big-banner ventures mushrooming every other day, there is a sudden paucity of people to supervise them. Add to this the fact that foreign recruiting firms spare no effort in conjuring up astronomical pay-packages to lure some of the best resources that the country has to offer. Shortage of good managers in the face of growing demand has spurred an unprecedented growth in the quality and quantity of placements. In a country where the media doesn’t bat an eyelid before selling dreams to the millions – whether they are the ramifications of an Indo-US Nuclear deal or an eye-popping seven-digit salary; the media breeds opinions and forms impressions. It also creates demi-gods out of those managers whose salaries see a meteoric rise.
If we care to know the rationale behind these processes, we need to separate the wheat from the chaff. There are amongst the hundreds, a precious few institutes that have carved a niche for themselves in the international management fraternity. With the media and peers serving as a constant reminder of how high the stakes really are, the selection process takes on the ominous ‘avatar’ of being more of an elimination process. So is it always the survival of the fittest? Well perhaps, but fitness is not a one-day wonder. It is the outcome of a regimen that has been perfected over time. This much-travelled path is bound to spawn myths. Here, we take a look at 20 such misconceptions that any aspirant should steer clear of.
MYTH ONE
The brain reigns supreme
In the months that lead up to the aptitude tests, we come across a motley crew of aspiring candidates. From the lazy to the struggler to the gifted few who seem unnaturally brilliant at making a mockery of the different sections of the test, they are all a part of the same race. Over years of schooling and graduation, it has been embossed in our minds that some students are more intelligent than others and, more often than not, it is the same select few who walk away with the cake. The mistake we make is that we view such people as perhaps the only ones who are assured of a safe berth in the second round of selections. It is, then, time to flip the coin. These tests are great levellers. Where some might possess superior intelligence, it is our duty to fish out the best in us and pit it against another’s. What is it? Qualities like Superior determination? Perseverance? Dedication? Let’s find our strength, draw up a plan based on it and explode myths like these. For all we know, our intelligent competitor might not have the endurance to last more than a month. |
MYTH TWO
There’s never enough time
The other day I heard of a second-year student who had started on his preparation for these MBA entrance tests. Now, this student seemed to be willing to sacrifice over two of the best years of his life – his college days — to study for a test he plans to take after two-and-half years. This is exactly what fear of failure does to aspirants. In fact, he is not the only one – quite a few ‘coaching institutes’ start their batches for a particular year even before the tests for the previous year get over. However, we have to plan our preparatory schedule according to our own profile. It would depend on the number of hours we might be able to put in everyday, our commitments and our work-study schedule. This is when we should bring in our understanding of the benefits of ‘back-planning’. From the date of the test, we move back in time – all the while accounting for the practice tests, analyses, classes, time spent in self-study. We have enough time. Once we accommodate our preparations in the scheme of things, we come up with a time span. We arrive at a date. That is the date when we start running – and we don’t stop till we’ve crossed the finishing line. |
MYTH THREE
To get ahead of the pack, stay away from it
Some of us have a habit of preparing in isolation. For most, it’s a compulsive habit. One of the biggest misconceptions that we all come across in some phase of our study life is that it works to our advantage if we keep away from the group, when it comes to matters of sharing information or knowledge. Is knowledge restricted, knowledge gained? Actually not; in fact, it’s just the reverse. That is the beauty of the manner in which the tests are structured. The oddball who decides to avoid helping others also stands a high risk of not getting help when he himself needs it the most. In a test where you are rated against your peer, where the percentile matters more than the percentage – a cloak-and-dagger approach to studying would ring the death knell for any aspirant. |
MYTH FOUR
Underrating yourself keeps the pressure off
We know that star performers always attract attention – from well-wishers and others, alike. At times like these, expectations sky-rocket and the pressure of performing increases manifold. To counterbalance this, most of us take a diametrically opposite approach. We discredit every success of ours as a stroke of luck and weigh heavily on every little setback. In short, we underrate ourselves. This might seem like a pragmatic thing to do because everybody loves an underdog. However, we need to be very careful while walking that thin line of modesty. Unchecked, it might breed dissatisfaction and infuse a latent sense of hopelessness in our minds. The next time someone asks you about your preparations or your performance, try this – instead of painting a sorry picture, tell them that you did your best and you have your fingers crossed for the results. Sometimes, being candid works wonders on both you and your party. You gain in confidence and the nosy parkers cease their taunts. |
MYTH FIVE
Classroom Coaching is Mandatory (or, Classroom Coaching is Useless…)
Let’s face it - coaching institutes don’t work magic. They facilitate miracles, but it is we who have to be prepared to perform them when it matters most. It does depend on the individual and his ability to assess his need for a mentor. Most of us are used to the damaging process of being spoon-fed each and every detail of a course. Well, that might have worked in school and in college, as well. In this case, it is up to us to take the initiative and engage in class participation, discussions, doubt-clearing sessions. Know yourself and if you invest in this, for the sake of time, effort, dreams and money, go the whole hog. |
MYTH SIX
Maximising my score in my area of strength will see me through
Over the past few years, the results of the entrance tests have sprung quite a few surprises. By results, I do not mean the overall percentile - I mean the probability of a score translating into an interview call. This is where the term ‘all-round performance’ assumes importance. In a test with different sections on verbal, quantitative and data interpretation skills, there is no doubt about the fact that the requirement of consistency spikes the difficulty-level. However, on a healthier note, it shatters the idea that one can always use one’s strengths to offset weaknesses. As in real life, it is imperative that we invest time in identifying our weaknesses and spare no effort in strengthening them. |
MYTH SEVEN
Having extra-curricular merits would balance a low score
Notions like these are a dead give-away of the dubious confidence-levels of a candidate. Facts first – the wide pool of aspirants comprise those who fall in the ‘all-work-and-no-play’ category as well as those who push it to the other extreme. And to put things bluntly, there is no substitute for academic credentials. The profile of the ideal candidate would be one with a sound academic record and enough extra-curricular initiatives to prove that studies was not the only things he did in his formative years. Use your extra-curricular merits to differentiate yourself from the other candidates. Do not use them to cover up a chink in your armour. |
MYTH EIGHT
The university score decides all
Having brought up the point of academic credibility, there is one aspect about this thought, which warrants further discussion. A majority of the applicants are those for whom the last education degree was that of their graduation. Surprisingly, a large number from this pool suffer from the fear of their grades being too low for them to be given a chance. But benchmarking our capabilities on the basis of a figure is hara-kiri of the deadliest order. The entrance tests are akin to a window of opportunity for such people who have the determination and perseverance to prove their worth to the watchful world. After all, this is not commerce or electronics or physics, but a different ball game with an even playing field. |
MYTH NINE
Disadvantage – the fresh graduate
Quite a bunch of the applicants, predominantly those who apply as fresh university graduates, fear the fact that they might be at a disadvantage when it comes to the selection rounds that follow the written test. Simply put, this would be a disadvantage only if we’d want it to be one. For starters, there are enough things going our way. Unlike most of the working applicants, we would be in the habit of studying and ought to have our core graduating courses and projects right at the top of our minds. To make a start – read up about things outside your university curriculum – current affairs, the Indian economy, or the Chinese manufacturing model. In short, the well-informed, mature freshman with a fair idea of the happenings of the world around him wins. |
MYTH TEN
Disadvantage – the working professional
The biggest challenge that working applicants face is that of time-management. Based on your profile in the company, you might be in India or abroad, working twelve hours a day, or even longer. It’s a slipstream you have to avoid at all costs – and if you are determined enough, it won’t seem as Herculean as it sounds. The trick is to prioritise the tasks and make sure that no matter which slots you juggle and reshuffle, the top spot remains untouched. Re-schedule work hours, take a day off to catch up, start early so as to accommodate unforeseen office night-outs – but fight tooth and nail to stay on course. Once the initial hurdle is crossed, your work experience promises to be a show-winner at almost all of your interviews. |
MYTH ELEVEN
Oh, for a 99
As is the norm, we learn from other people’s experiences. One very elusive figure for every aspirant is 99 – ninety nine percentile. To put it in layman’s terms, this is when you break into the top 1% of all the students who appear for the test. For most candidates, this would translate to a confirmed seat in the second round of selections and would elicit complacency. Don’t make the mistake at this point of benchmarking yourselves on standards set by others. In spite of knowing that a perfect score is quite possible, we strive hard to achieve only the average score at which a candidate secured an interview call. We perform, when the need of the hour is to outperform. A safer option would be to benchmark ourselves against a higher goal till such a time when we break the barrier. |
MYTH TWELVE
The easier section must be done first.
Rigid answers like this surprise me no end. True, it might hold good for one who wants to make sure he is off to a secure start. Another candidate might simply not feel comfortable with the idea of leaving a difficult section till the end. This is where beginning early displays its merits. The home-tests offer numerous opportunities to experiment with different time-splits, order of sections and strategies. A time comes when we boot a high score and with new-found confidence in the winning combination, we teeter on the edge of aborting the trial-and-error process. This could simply be the first nail in our coffin, if we’re not careful enough to try all the permutations and combinations possible. |
MYTH THIRTEEN
The answers are all in the books.
In spite of nurturing MBA dreams in the deepest corners of our hearts, most of us fumble at the simplest of questions that might be posed at the interview stage. Questions which ask you to tell the panel about yourself or why you want to pursue an MBA degree are some of the shortest ones that are ever asked but befuddling enough to give any aspirant sleepless nights. The inherent problem is that we are always looking for answers in the books, our peers, our guides – everywhere, but ourselves. We all want to have the best essays, the wittiest answers and, to acquire them, we consult the very same sources that every other aspirant would. This is a paradox in itself. If we end up walking the same road which every other participant walks, could there be any chance in heaven that the destination at the end of the road would be different for one and not for the other? None. Some of the best answers are those that have a genuine ring to them. Indeed, they are the ones which are born out of a careful self-analysis of one’s goals and the motivations that fuels their pursuit. After all, you would want the university to select you based on what you truly are, and not what a bunch of trite answers make you out to be. |
MYTH FOURTEEN
It is okay to say ‘no idea.’
How many times has an unfamiliar question blindsighted you such that all you could mutter in response was a non-committal ‘no idea’? Is it more than the number of times you received this answer yourself? ‘No idea’, is probably what most might say. The second round of selections at the premier B-schools of this country tests the candidates on a wide range of topics, ranging from the known to the obscure. The important thing to realise here is that they do not always take us to task for not knowing enough about a particular subject. They rate us in the negative when we shrug off a question with an evasive ‘no idea’. In today’s competitive world, this same answer could put a million managers out of business and, surely, an aspiring manager with such a nonchalant attitude might as well be overlooked. It is thus very important to have an idea about the issues affecting the world around us, however unrelated they might be. The next time someone offers you this answer, do not accept it – push and prod till you force him to think. You’ll be surprised at how much you are able to fish out! Likewise, the next time you are tempted to offer a ‘no idea’ – ponder, reason and wager a plausible answer. It is a habit that every one of us should strive to make a part of life - after all, even if we’re wrong, we’ll simply know what is correct at the end of it! |
MYTH FIFTEEN
There’s always next year…
It is a disturbing trait amongst B-school aspirants. Given the time span of preparation and the cyclical schedule of the B-school entrance tests, it has been observed that a startling number of aspirants always look to the next year as a backup even before the tests of the same year get over. This weaves an illusory safety-net which does more than just infuse a sense of complacency amongst aspirants… it takes the urgency out of the preparation. A year of single-minded dedication thus dampened could fall inches short of the target. This deals a blow to one’s confidence. The ideal thing to do is to plan your attempt when you feel ready for it. This is, again, heavily dependent on the individual. While the fresh graduate who desires an immediate shift might go for it without wasting any time, it helps to gain a few years of work experience in a field to which one is sure to align one’s career path. But once the decision is made, there ought to be no next time. After all, in a manager’s dictionary – there’s no such word as procrastination. |
Given the way in which the Indian premier B-schools have come up over the years and are finally making efforts in expanding their reach beyond the national boundary, there is a good chance that things might just be on an upward spiral. If you are the one to jump into where all the action is, well, congratulations! Now you know FIFTEEN ways of avoiding a disaster in your MBA entrance preparations, before they even begin. And as they say, forewarned is forearmed.
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