Come June and many of us will be jubilant having made through the hallowed portals of our dream institutes.Parties will begin,new friendships forged and we will be ready to go to “school” again.Some say,they do MBA for experience, some for knowledge but for many, at the end of these 20 months,a good job offer in hand is what they have dreamt of except those who feel that entrepreneurship or handling family business is their calling.

From my previous experience in my esteemed B School,I would love to point out a few Dont’s and Do’s(Yes,the dont’s first as we err a lot than do the right thing).

The Dont’s

1.Don’t just aspire to be a part of the herd.Contrary to popular beliefs,those ‘eccentric’,’loners’ or ‘anti-social’ folks do bag lucrative job simply because they had the courage to follow their beliefs.That said,don’t also rebel against the mandatory institute regulations to be followed .

2.Don’t blame/depend too much on placement committee or institute.They too are bunch of humans and we should give our best shot first before hurling brickbats at others.

3.Don’t ignore your books.No matter how much of a dude/dudette you are,how much you have previously accomplished,how many case study competitions you win,if you don’t have knowledge ,you aren’t fooling anyone.

4.Don’t be biased by “trends”.

“Buddy,I joined IIM so that I don’t have to do an IT job.”

Sounds familiar,right?

Be smart enough to deduce your interests. If the next logical step in your IT career would have required you to have some management knowledge,you are far better starting with some advantage than say a field where you are complete novice.

The Do’s

1.Connect with yourself.There is no harm in accepting who you are and working to better yourself.Contrary to many in my college,I preferred to have a working knowledge of finance and major in IT Strategy than concentrate on becoming a stud in investment banking.

2.Research about the company and the role for which you might be shortlisted.Have some idea about how you envision yourself and your potential contributions if you get into your desired firm.

3.Explore all resources.Some overlooked options can be your college professors .Many of them have prior work experience in myriad fields and may help you bag those coveted,industry projects that can get you a taste of how a particular career might appeal and look good on resume too.

Some obvious facts like being thorough with resume and not missing deadlines are a given .

Lastly,think on your feet and make your interview a meaningful conversation rather than Q&A; session. After all,some day the same interviewer sitting on other side of the table “deciding your fate” might become your boss,colleague,confidante or a mentor.