DO something

Placement season is amusing, excruciating. Makes people jittery and on their edge. I guess it is okay to be so. This is when people start calling up everyone they know to clear their confusions or at least get a word of solace. Most of the decisions taken at this level go on to shape your career, life and in a way change your trajectory. Not all decisions are permanent in their outcome but most of them do. Talking to a junior today, I realised I am a minority!

Let me elaborate.

Sure, I belong to a specific kind, a very rare breed of B-School grads who just shelled out 7 figure amount to get an MBA and yet ready to take up a different/non-conventional career decision. The junior I was talking to told me that all her friends and some seniors have suggested her to choose a safe job, in an established firm, with a systematic way of functioning, HR practices in place... translated as a guaranteed paycheck at the end of the month, bonuses at the end of the year and so on. Who said small firms don't pay well? [ Ever heard of stock options? ] Not that I mock these safe ideas or dreams. Not all can try their luck and risk their career. A lot of things should fall in place, like commitments, family, etc. But seeking challenges and venturing in to paths that have been neglected is stimulating.

If you think you are exceptional and want to do something in life, here is an option, a short cut to fulfill your dreams. Go find a firm that has a good and sustainable business model. Work for the CEO or top management, at some place you actually get to learn and do stuff. The key word here is DO. You might have to stretch longer than most your friends, postpone your dreams but trust me the kick you get out of doing something is worth the effort. And guess what, there is a time to shine, for your efforts to be rewarded. The experience you get out of it will be more than your peers for sure. Wait for another five years and then compare. What are alumni meets for?

Another option which some of my batch mates chose is to start out on their own. They have their own firms and are working towards realizing their dreams. They face many hurdles, need to slog more, do all the dirty work themselves but the satisfaction of having your dream come true is awesome. You could actually help your employees take care of their family.

So you can choose a 9 to 5 job in a big building that teaches you nothing or go out and actually do something. Safe is boring. Safe is dumb. Safe is risky. What say?

Xmz, Again.

“Why Study For Exams.... Are they not about what you know, not about how much you can cram into your head the night before?”

 - Unknown

The last set of exams begin today and will be there for the next 3 days. Wish me luck!

Dis - placement?

THE WEEK-TMI First survey on MBA placements 2009:

The deep sense of caution and apprehension among students. Their priorities have changed, so, too, their expectations. As money is no longer the decider, some see it as an opportunity to listen to their heart.

If 'show me the money' was the motto until last year, B-school freshers are looking beyond the pay package this time. In fact, they are not in a position to bargain. Gone are the days of endless job offers, sky-scraping packages and 100 per cent placements on day zero. With the deepening recession, the whole economic environment has undergone a radical shift and B-schools are feeling the heat. Said Prof. Saral Mukherjee, chairperson, placement committee, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad: "B-schools are closely connected with the economy. Any change in the economy will have a direct bearing on them. The economic downturn has affected us but its magnitude is not known till now."

Confronted with a crisis that is expected to only get worse, employers are tightening their belts and treading cautiously. They are engaged in a comprehensive restructuring mode and are pulling out all the stops to survive in the current market conditions. Many companies are following a wait-and-watch policy and have not made any clear manpower assessment this year. This has left many B-schools in a tough situation. "Our students are in a very desperate position this year. They are uncertain about the companies that will come down to recruit," said Subir Verma, chairperson, placement committee, Management Development Institute, Gurgaon.

Not that nobody is recruiting. Many B-schools claim that their traditional recruiters have either come and recruited or promised to show up. With companies rationalising manpower, there is a drastic drop in the number of jobs on offer per company. As attrition levels have gone down considerably in the last few months, companies have limited openings. They are not hiring in bulk but picking the best.

Happy days...

Happy days are almost over...

Most of you must be knowing that I am pursing my Post Graduate Program in Management (Marketing) from Alliance Business School. Today was our last class based instructional day. What remains are exams, dissertation and placement. Some of my friends are placed and some, like me, are waiting. But suddenly it dawns on you that you would be missing the classes, exams, assignments, faculty, campus, etc. Na... I didnt forget friends. I think the best thing any institution gives you is experience, ambience and friends for life. I have got plenty of them here. We all have. Two more months to go before we embark on the glorious and hard journey called life. 

Wish me and my friends good luck :)

Think again

One also thought that having eminent academics from the world’s top business schools as independent directors provided some degree of comfort to the investors. One thought a company with a large holding from financial institutions somehow will be better governed.

One listened to the lectures of professors in eminent business schools with such awe. One expected so much more from such academics in their roles as directors on boards. One wonders, given the handsome compensation independent board members receive, shouldn’t the regulators lay down more stringent and more formal expectations from the independent directors to hold them more accountable for their lapses?

It is perhaps time the Indian corporate sector as a whole sat up and asked itself some searching questions.

We have been routinely listed among the most corrupt countries in the world in virtually all surveys. Recently, we were listed as the fourth most corrupt country in the world in offering inducements outside our own boundaries, even without the World Bank’s indictment of one of our top companies. Could it be that from being victims of political and bureaucratic corruption at home, we are after all proactively corrupting officials elsewhere? Wouldn’t the actions of even one of us impact all of us collectively? Who should make the first move towards reversing the trend of our corruption? Do companies have a role in nation-building and setting benchmarks? Could companies succeed where our politicians and bureaucrats have failed us?

V. Raghunathan is a former professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish

Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish is the story of 25 IIM Ahmedabad graduates who chose the rough road of entrepreneurship. They are diverse in age, in outlook and the industries they made a mark in. But they have one thing in common: they believed in the power of their dreams. This book seeks to inspire young B-school graduates to look beyond placements and salaries. To believe in their dreams. Sanjeev Bikhchandani (naukri.com), R Subramanian (Subhiksha), Rashesh Shah (Edelweiss Capital), Jerry Rao (Mphasis), Deep Kalra (Makemytrip.com), Ashank Desai (Mastek) and Nirmal Jain (India Infoline) are just some of the entrepreneurs who have shared their success stories in the book.

Stay Hungry Stay Foolish also looks at alternate models such as social entrepreneurship and those who believe they can be entrepreneurs without necessarily being 'owners'. The book is authored by Rashmi Bansal, who is an entrepreneur and IIMA alumna herself. Rashmi is co-founder of JAM (Just Another Magazine) and writes extensively on youth, careers and entrepreneurship.

MBA vs Self employment

You must have seen many people self employed like this. This is just to prove a point. This water melon vendor is operating for the last 20 years and is well known in Hyderabad. The mint road melon as it is called is a tela on which he sells them. The old man and his two sons work from 10 in the morning till about 6 in the evening. They sell about 500 melons every day in summer. In other seasons they sell other seasonal fruits.

Let’s take the melon sale for calculation. Each melon will be cut in to 20 – 30 pieces depending on the size of the melon. Each piece costs Rs. 6/-. So that is 500 melons * 20 pieces * Rs. 6 = Rs. 60000/- per day. Now the season lasts for about 6 months but the sales do vary. Lets say the serious season is for 4 months i.e. 120 days. So the earning is 120 * 60K = Rs. 72 lakh at the minimum. I am not even counting other seasons and the earnings.

Whats more this is not taxable, at his own choice, no boss, and office and so on.

Compare that to my MBA salary :(