Monday, October 12, 2009

Selecting a Business School

Many people are faced with a dilemma on which College or university to do do their MBA. These are a few pointers on how to select your business school.

1. First of all you have to know why you want to pursue your MBA and what major you would like to graduate in. This is because most of the colleges offer you the common MBA programs, but if you want to major in a particular field which is not so common then you will have to find out which colleges offer the required major.

2. Know your potential - I say this because we all are not IIM (Indian Institute of Management) material. So you will have to set realistic targets for you to achieve. In case you don't achieve do you have a back up plan.

3. Select the college with proper accreditation - Make sure the college you enter has the proper accreditation and affiliation otherwise all your hard work will be of no use.

4. Select colleges with top ranking - If your in India there are more than 1600 colleges offering am MBA degree. So choosing the right college is very essential. Know this, it is the colleges with in the top 50 ranking that will help you reach high places. Because these colleges will have better placement and the pay packages you will receive will be much higher.

5. Fee - The university fees can sometimes be a point you have to consider. But i think it is not that much of an issue because if you are a very good student you may able to get a scholarship. else you can avail a student loan.

6. Study Abroad - If you gonna study abroad then you have a lot of things to look into. Apart from the top five points you will have to know the language, culture, racism, food...More about this will be discussed in my future articles.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Is Experience Essential for Doing MBA?

Although some schools still consider it as a necessary criteria. But there are many schools which do not deem it as mandatory. As far i'm concerned I think it would be best if the student has some experience before he joins the MBA program. Let me tell you why?

1. These days there are a number of schools offering an MBA degree. In India alone there are more than 1600 business schools. As a result there are a number of students passing out. Getting a job has become very competetive. So what can give you an edge over the others? I'll tell you, it is your work experience that will get you places.

2. Due to prior experience at the work place you would have assed the places you need to improve and during the course of your study you could make those improvemnts.

3. In the class room your work experience will help you to better understand the concepts you are studying. This may not be the same for a person with out work experience.

4. During your job hunt you will be able to understand the needs of the employer and there fore you can prepare your self much better.

"Experience is the key to unlock your success"

MBA

In my posts MBA is not Master of Bad Activities, its Master of Business Administration. There is a need to specify so, because of T-shirts like these.
Now that the abbreviation for MBA is cleared, lets move on to the topic at hand.

MBA is a masters level degree which can be pursued only after completion of bachelor degree programme. The bachelor degree need not be in business administration alone, it can be from any descipline. During the course of study the students are exposed to a variety of subjects. Usually the first year the student does his core subjects and then they persue their specialization in the second year.

The two major ways of classifying an MBA degree is by the specialization and the type of Program.

Specialization
The specialization or major is a means by which we can classify MBA degrees. Although their major is different, the core courses are same for all the majors. Some of the common majors are given below:
1. General Management
2. Accounting
3. Finance
4. Marketing
5. Entrepreneurship
6. International Business
7. Organization Behaviour
8. Computer Information System
9. Operations Management
10. Tourism & Hospitality Management

Programs

1. Two year MBA programs - It usually take s place during two academic year period. Students enter with a reasonable amount of prior real-world work experience and take classes during weekdays like other university students. But some schools accept students without prior work experience.
2. Accelerated MBA programs or Fast Track MBA - These programs take lesser time to compleate the courese as a result the program involves a higher course load with more intense class and examination schedules
3. Part-time MBA programs - This program is targetted for working professionals and normally the classes are held on weekday evenings, after normal working hours, or on weekends. The students take a light course load for a longer period of time until the graduation requirements are met.
4. Executive MBA (EMBA) programs - This program is also targetted for working professionals and it was developed to meet the educational needs of managers and executives to earn an MBA in two years or less while working full time. Usually the students have a higher level of work experience when compared to others.
5. Distance learning MBA programs or Online MBA - Here the calsses are held off campus. There are various ways the program are offered. It could be postal mail, correspondence courses, e-mail, Videos, offline or online computer courses.
6. Dual MBA programs - Here a student can earn a dual specialization and the major advantage is it cuts cost and time.