Hi all,
I am an eng. student who is looking for post graduation. i will be giving my CAT (not confident of a good score) ,then i would also like to give GRE and would like to do MS in finance (since it is very rewarding monetary) or MS in Marketing(interesting)/ Operations/logistics/eCommerce.
To be very frank i am a final year student who definitely wanna study more and not go for a meager IT job.plz help me in deciding if i go for a GRE/GMAT what course should i go for and whether MS in finance a nice opt for me since i am not a person very friendly with numbers.Now my doubt is that i have read that MS in marketing/logistics/eCommerce is not very rewarding since yu would get better MBA guys in these field.
Can yu plz help me with this dilemma as it is haunting me ,the day i got in my final year and now that the date for the CAT is coming closer i am in a serious hunt for an alternative.
Hi all,
I am an eng. student who is looking for post graduation. i will be giving my CAT (not confident of a good score) ,then i would also like to give GRE and would like to do MS in finance (since it is very rewarding monetary) or MS in Marketing(interesting)/ Operations/logistics/eCommerce.
To be very frank i am a final year student who definitely wanna study more and not go for a meager IT job.plz help me in deciding if i go for a GRE/GMAT what course should i go for and whether MS in finance a nice opt for me since i am not a person very friendly with numbers.Now my doubt is that i have read that MS in marketing/logistics/eCommerce is not very rewarding since yu would get better MBA guys in these field.
Can yu plz help me with this dilemma as it is haunting me ,the day i got in my final year and now that the date for the CAT is coming closer i am in a serious hunt for an alternative.
Stupid question - Is IT the only type of job you think of?
All the best
Baccardisprite
For the last few days, I had been discussing about my career aspirations with one of my professors at my graduation institution and he too suggested the same degrees (MRes) as a stepping stone into academic research.
Finally, I have come up with a list of schools where I am able to find good research masters. would be glad if you could comment on the same, and if possible let me know any other good schools which are providing the similar masters.
1.Cambridge University : Mphil in Mgmnt and Operations
2. University of St. Andrews (Scotland) : MRes in Mgmt
3. University of Edinburgh : MRes in management
4. Birkbeck University of London : MRes in Management
5. King's College, London : Mphil in management
The ranking is in my choice of course content and ofcourse reputation of the schools. Let me know if I am wrong.
Also I have a vague idea on which areas I am interested in pursuing research, but since these programs don't have a research proposal as entry requirement, I guess I can pass them.
Looking forward to your reply.
Thank you so much in advance.
ps: coming to my ability to find a guy who would invest in my education, I don't think guys now are that generous.So I wanted to complete the groundwork for my research career before I am married. :grin:
So I wanted to complete the groundwork for my research career before I am married. :grin:I'd go for the university / school that is known, in addition to the academic quality, to also have the resources, technology, processes and the infrastructure to support deep research. You're likely to find that in greater measure in U London colleges or a Cambridge. So I'd go for Cambridge, Kings, Birkbeck, St.Andrews, Edinburgh in that order.
If your commitment, preparation and execution of plans is good - I think you can feel fairly confident of success.
I would recommend preparing for the GMAT and GRE. Use the help you can get (including attending classes if required). Getting top notch scores takes a bit of the headache away, and since you're young (yet professionally inexperienced) - offers the best indicator of academic ability.
All the best
Baccardisprite
Dear Baccardisprite!!!
You replied to me earlier too. We had a discussion related to MBA or other options. As you suggested I have searched few things and want to raise few questions.
1. "You asked me to build professional skill bank...". Can I go for a distance learning program from UK univ or from any good Indian B-school in operational managemnt or economics sort of ?
2. It may happen that after my 5 years of work ex, I may not be having any global work ex, I mean involving in any project, not just a mere visit. So, how much will it going to affect my candidature? As I have seen Insead's app form, it is clearly mentioned.
Thanks & Regards,
I have an offer from Lancaster University Management School for MSc Finance and one from Manchester Business School for MSc Qunatitative Finance : Risk Management. Basically, I am CSE graduate interested in Finance specialisation.
I am primarily interested in proceeding to a PhD after my masters. However, I havent decided on my research area. Hence, I am wondering which of the two courses is a better choice.
I would also like to know the kind of careers and their scope for the Manchester course.
Kindly help. Thank you.
asthapd SaysI have an offer from Lancaster University Management School for MSc Finance and one from Manchester Business School for MSc Qunatitative Finance : Risk Management. Basically, I am CSE graduate interested in Finance specialisation. I am primarily interested in proceeding to a PhD after my masters. However, I havent decided on my research area. Hence, I am wondering which of the two courses is a better choice. I would also like to know the kind of careers and their scope for the Manchester course. Kindly help. Thank you.
In order to be ready for a Finance Ph.D program, your Masters education needs to have a healthy dose of research work. Standard M.Sc degrees in Finance are professional functional oriented degrees (S&T;, Corp Fin, IB, Asset Management etc) that may have a lot of analytics. But these careers not necessarily empirical research oriented. Empirical research is research through data gathering, pattern observation, calculative analysis and experimentation; all of which require you to learn the "process" of research.
The more appropriate research focused academic degrees offered in the UK, that prepare you for a Ph.D, professional research and later on an academic / research career; are M.Res/M.Phil Degrees in the functional finance area that you want to research (Finance, Economics, Econometrics, Quantitative Finance, Financial Engineering). What you should get through these programs is not only the courses that you'd learn in a standard M.Sc (or subtle variations), but a heavy dose of the "research methods" (refer 1st para above). Graduation from this degree would require you to not only pass all the courses / subjects, but also conduct research independently (or at least with minimal supervision & guidance), be comfortable with an ambiguous research environment, then publish defendable / verifiable / original work in a journal reviewed / read by professional researchers and professors. This is the ideal preparation for a Ph.D.
AFTER this, you'll probably need to work for 2-3 years in a research focused / environment e.g in a University Department (probably one you study in) or a research focused think-tank / consultancy, continuously publish bodies of work that are original, verifiable and defendable. This will sharpen both your research and communication / presentation skills. Over this period you can also concentrate your work & research interests towards one / two topics in the area of finance / economics and start looking at Ph.D Programs in good Business Schools / Departments of Finance & Economics. The best Business Economics / Finance Ph.D Programs are the US Top 20, LBS, INSEAD and LSE.
See my response on Ph.D admissions to a PG poster called perfectsmile and you'll get all the details you need.
If you have the passion and motivation to work hard for the next 10-12 years, a Ph.D and a future career in academia / research is actually quite fulfilling and rewarding (including financially).
All the best
Baccardisprite
Dear Baccardisprite!!!
You replied to me earlier too. We had a discussion related to MBA or other options. As you suggested I have searched few things and want to raise few questions.
1. "You asked me to build professional skill bank...". Can I go for a distance learning program from UK univ or from any good Indian B-school in operational managemnt or economics sort of ?
2. It may happen that after my 5 years of work ex, I may not be having any global work ex, I mean involving in any project, not just a mere visit. So, how much will it going to affect my candidature? As I have seen Insead's app form, it is clearly mentioned.
Thanks & Regards,
1. Professional skills are built while at work, using knowledge from education. So if your circumstances allow you to use what you learn from a distance learning degree immediately at work (or within a short time), go for it. If application of the education is not possible immediately / short term, the distance learning degree is unlikely to add value.
2. It depends. There're a lot of people in Insead who haven't worked outside their home countries. The (relative) lack of international experience can be made up with some other things - fast progress at work including team lead roles and promotions, truly large-scale projects involving significant client / customer face-time or interaction, hopefully experience in a multi-national company, and hopefully some differentiated skills (like a foreign language up to intermediate / business conversational fluency).
A school like Insead stresses the need for international experience to feel confident that it can help you get recruited to (hopefully) an international role. Inspite of not having true international experience (projects, extended periods abroad), you have hopefully interacted / worked (even remotely) with International clients / colleagues / customers on projects, while located largely in India.
Think about these things to work your profile for an application to Insead going forward. A good GMAT score (720+ as you're Indian), quick professional progress, a good & open cultural / professional attitude, strong language and communication skills, and a set of well-articulated essays with clear rationale on why MBA and why Insead, would certainly help the application. It doesn't guarantee an interview call / admission - but there's only one way to find out. Prepare and apply.
All the best
Baccardisprite
hi bacardi bro.
I m gonna take up mba course in the 2012 =14 season , hopefully from 95 plus percentile college. I intend to go to the usa or the uk after 5 to 6 years down the line after my mba. what course can i pursue which would complement my mba in finance and help me secure a job in the usa or the uk or any other european country ?
but i want to do it from a good b school from the usa - i mean the complementary course.
Dear Baccardisprite
I am Engg Grad with a 7.6/10 CG in Computer Science, passed out in 2011.
Placed in Accenture and Infosys as a software engg.
Apperaing for the gMAt in January.
my query is:
London Business School offers a program for freshers by the name of Masters in Management(MiM) whish is a ! yr course. LBS has a good brand name and also a good placement record. But the course fee is approx 30 lakh Rs and the economic crises in Europe worries me about the placements and the return on the tution fee if placed.
I would like to make a career in management so please guide as to which option to choose/;
1) Apply for the course, if selected do the MiM and look for placements.
and start in career in managemnt all the way in the beginning.
2) Appear for GMAt and continue the job as a software engg, gain work experience and later apply to top international B_schools .
Please help me, i'm really confused!
:
Hi Baccardisprite,
Thanks for the tons of info that you have been providing. Absolutely great!
I have more than 13 yrs of experience in IT and now want to do MBA in technology/operations mgmt and also I would prefer to do a one year program (accelerated). What schools would you recommend?
Thanks
Govind
I am Mohit Arora,an MBA & B.Tech .I want to pursue my studies further abroad. I am having 6 months teaching exp & Counselling students about SAT .
I am looking forward fr a great course that suits my credentials & help me begin a real great corporate life.I have a long term vision of starting my own firm 😃 .Please guide me
I am looking for programs in Marketing,Management,Entrepreneurship.Please guide me about the courses & tell the colleges that are good fr me
Hi Baccardisprite,
I currently have 18 months of work experience and I'm planning to apply to the IE Business School's International MBA program and MiM program ( 2012-2013) . I have a GMAT score of 600 at present. I have an IT consulting background. I have heard IE is good for entrepreneurship and placement statistics are good. But on the other hand , I have also heard some negative reviews about IE with respect to ROI and placements.
So i'm really confused about which information to believe. I am retaking my GMAT because I'm not happy with the current score. Also, looking at Msc in Management program @ HEC Paris and some other schools.Really want to do an MBA but the work experience criteria in most schools is an obstacle.
Since, I currently have IT consulting experience, in the near future I would like to switch to business/strategy consulting. My long-term goal is to set up my own venture.
If you could provide me some feedback on the programs that I mentioned, it would really help me a lot. Because different forums ( business week, Pagalguy) and websites like WSJ, the Economist, FT.com, etc carry different statistics.
hi bacardi bro.
I m gonna take up mba course in the 2012 =14 season , hopefully from 95 plus percentile college. I intend to go to the usa or the uk after 5 to 6 years down the line after my mba. what course can i pursue which would complement my mba in finance and help me secure a job in the usa or the uk or any other european country? but i want to do it from a good b school from the usa - i mean the complementary course.
Your professional skills and experience, and the state of the US/UK economy will count for way more 5-6 years down the line than any complementary course / program. So don't worry about it. Do your MBA if that's what you have decided, get into a financial career, gain experience, skill and superior competence in one/two areas of finance (like M&A;, Business Controlling, Treasury) through a banking or corporate finance career; then try making your move. A professional & recognized financial qualification might help you more than just a complementary / preparatory course.
For Corporate Finance / Control jobs in companies - CIMA (= ICWA in India) or ACCA (= Indian CA) works best. For banking / investment management roles - CFA. These are not easy to get and take 3-4 years of hard work; and you'll need to make a personal commitment alongside your job to achieve one of them. but getting one of these is worthwhile, as they're internationally recognized, and would be endorsements of professional competence in finance; alongside of course the experience you gain working in Finance from (hopefully) 2014.
All the best
Baccardisprite
Dear Baccardisprite
I am Engg Grad with a 7.6/10 CG in Computer Science, passed out in 2011.
Placed in Accenture and Infosys as a software engg.
Apperaing for the gMAt in January.
my query is:
London Business School offers a program for freshers by the name of Masters in Management(MiM) whish is a ! yr course. LBS has a good brand name and also a good placement record. But the course fee is approx 30 lakh Rs and the economic crises in Europe worries me about the placements and the return on the tution fee if placed.
I would like to make a career in management so please guide as to which option to choose/;
1) Apply for the course, if selected do the MiM and look for placements.
and start in career in managemnt all the way in the beginning.
2) Appear for GMAt and continue the job as a software engg, gain work experience and later apply to top international B_schools .
Please help me, i'm really confused!
My reco would be neither. Follow your career, work for a few years with Accenture / Infosys - try rising to a team-lead position with increasingly customer interactive / facing roles. Develop skills future employers will value and complement those skills with whatever education appropriate for your long term career.
All the best
Baccardisprite
Hi Baccardisprite,
I currently have 18 months of work experience and I'm planning to apply to the IE Business School's International MBA program and MiM program ( 2012-2013) . I have a GMAT score of 600 at present. I have an IT consulting background. I have heard IE is good for entrepreneurship and placement statistics are good. But on the other hand , I have also heard some negative reviews about IE with respect to ROI and placements.
So i'm really confused about which information to believe. I am retaking my GMAT because I'm not happy with the current score. Also, looking at Msc in Management program @ HEC Paris and some other schools.Really want to do an MBA but the work experience criteria in most schools is an obstacle.
Since, I currently have IT consulting experience, in the near future I would like to switch to business/strategy consulting. My long-term goal is to set up my own venture.
If you could provide me some feedback on the programs that I mentioned, it would really help me a lot. Because different forums ( business week, Pagalguy) and websites like WSJ, the Economist, FT.com, etc carry different statistics.
Opinion - you're still young and have time. I wonder why you're rushing this when you have an opportunity to build critical skills and competence in the job you have.
Let's look at the big picture. Your medium term goal (transition to business / strategy consulting) and long term goal (entrepreneurship) make broad sense, but with just 1.5 years you're currently missing key skills and experience that you need to get in the door to consulting firms - that of career progress (comes with experience, achievements and promotion), team leadership (with career progress) and customer interaction / face time (comes with progress and achievement). Each gap is critical and connected to the other.
As I have said repeatedly on this forum - getting the role you seek after an MBA is 75% your skills and competencies that you can apply / transfer to that role. Education in a top school brings you a good part of the other 25%. Without or with very little of the 75%, it'll take a lot of luck, an act of god or a seriously different / superior skill to get an interview with the consulting firms. So more than admission to IE or any other school, over your career goals, and job markets; ask yourself the question - why should a consulting firm hire you with your 2 years and an MBA? The consulting firm would ask itself what you bring to the table with your 2 years that they can valuably offer a client. Would you bring a critical, differentiable skill to the table, do you speak a local EU language (like Spanish, German, French etc) with a fluency good enough to transact business, discuss, formulate and deploy strategies with clients?
If you still want to go ahead, is a 600 GMAT good enough? Are your years of experience long enough to articulate a clear need for an MBA.. and why now? IE is a pretty strong school. I can't talk stats, but both IE's immediate job market, and the overall European job market is poor given the state of the European economy and it's problems with Italy, Greece etc - which affects all of Europe. Unless you have something super strong professionally to offer in 2013, the job market is unlikely to be welcoming.
Recommendation - Stay patient, build skill, experience and competence in the 3 areas I have mentioned, take your time 4-5 years if necessary - then make an attempt. In the next 2 years, prepare well for and retake the GMAT - trying for a score of 720+; get clearer in your head about what you want to do. Learn a language to intermediate / business fluency.
Guess you're female(?), and being Indian, you may have the constant concern around your parents wanting to see you married when young. Don't let that constrain you, and don't make your life a deadline. If you find a partner respecting your dreams, decisions and goals; you will be happy and you will succeed despite the odds!
All the best
Baccardisprite
Opinion - you're still young and have time. I wonder why you're rushing this when you have an opportunity to build critical skills and competence in the job you have.
Let's look at the big picture. Your medium term goal (transition to business / strategy consulting) and long term goal (entrepreneurship) make broad sense, but with just 1.5 years you're currently missing key skills and experience that you need to get in the door to consulting firms - that of career progress (comes with experience, achievements and promotion), team leadership (with career progress) and customer interaction / face time (comes with progress and achievement). Each gap is critical and connected to the other.
As I have said repeatedly on this forum - getting the role you seek after an MBA is 75% your skills and competencies that you can apply / transfer to that role. Education in a top school brings you a good part of the other 25%. Without or with very little of the 75%, it'll take a lot of luck, an act of god or a seriously different / superior skill to get an interview with the consulting firms. So more than admission to IE or any other school, over your career goals, and job markets; ask yourself the question - why should a consulting firm hire you with your 2 years and an MBA? The consulting firm would ask itself what you bring to the table with your 2 years that they can valuably offer a client. Would you bring a critical, differentiable skill to the table, do you speak a local EU language (like Spanish, German, French etc) with a fluency good enough to transact business, discuss, formulate and deploy strategies with clients?
If you still want to go ahead, is a 600 GMAT good enough? Are your years of experience long enough to articulate a clear need for an MBA.. and why now? IE is a pretty strong school. I can't talk stats, but both IE's immediate job market, and the overall European job market is poor given the state of the European economy and it's problems with Italy, Greece etc - which affects all of Europe. Unless you have something super strong professionally to offer in 2013, the job market is unlikely to be welcoming.
Recommendation - Stay patient, build skill, experience and competence in the 3 areas I have mentioned, take your time 4-5 years if necessary - then make an attempt. In the next 2 years, prepare well for and retake the GMAT - trying for a score of 720+; get clearer in your head about what you want to do. Learn a language to intermediate / business fluency.
Guess you're female(?), and being Indian, you may have the constant concern around your parents wanting to see you married when young. Don't let that constrain you, and don't make your life a deadline. If you find a partner respecting your dreams, decisions and goals; you will be happy and you will succeed despite the odds!
All the best
Baccardisprite
I completely agree that aspiring for an MBA at this point of my career is too ambitious from what I've heard and your opinion as well. That is why I was considering the Masters in Management program that these schools have to offer. And wanted your feedback on the Msc/MiM programs at IE, HEC, ESADE etc.. But in India, people pursue an MBA right after graduation. So it is really discouraging to hear that even with 1.5 years of work experience, my goals are too ambitious. I respect your opinion and hence look forward to the advice.
I am also considering applying to the SP Jain global MBA program next year.
Coming back to my job, although, I want to transition to business consulting, the work that I'm doing is not very client facing or interactive. The only interaction with the client takes place over conference calls. The client does not know my achievements personally. So I'm wondering if making a job switch to business consulting at this point would help me in the long run. Moreover, I am not happy with the work that I'm doing. It is purely technology consulting where we are working with softwares/applications and performing either development/testing.
Switching to a company focused only on business consulting would mean starting from scratch as I have no experience in business consulting. I'm definitely willing to do that.
Further, there is no marriage pressure at this point of time and that is not a real concern at the moment. :)
Looking forward to your reply.
Thanks,
mbagirl2012
I completely agree that aspiring for an MBA at this point of my career is too ambitious from what I've heard and your opinion as well. That is why I was considering the Masters in Management program that these schools have to offer. And wanted your feedback on the Msc/MiM programs at IE, HEC, ESADE etc.. But in India, people pursue an MBA right after graduation. So it is really discouraging to hear that even with 1.5 years of work experience, my goals are too ambitious. I respect your opinion and hence look forward to the advice. I am also considering applying to the SP Jain global MBA program next year.
Coming back to my job, although, I want to transition to business consulting, the work that I'm doing is not very client facing or interactive. The only interaction with the client takes place over conference calls. The client does not know my achievements personally. So I'm wondering if making a job switch to business consulting at this point would help me in the long run. Moreover, I am not happy with the work that I'm doing. It is purely technology consulting where we are working with softwares/applications and performing either development/testing. Switching to a company focused only on business consulting would mean starting from scratch as I have no experience in business consulting. I'm definitely willing to do that.
Further, there is no marriage pressure at this point of time and that is not a real concern at the moment. :)
Looking forward to your reply.
Thanks, mbagirl2012
MiM Programs in the schools you mention are designed for a younger and less experienced demographic. IE, HEC, ESADE are well known schools, so you may not need to worry about academic quality. Two things will be a challenge when you graduate in 2013 (if you attend any of these):
1. The EU is unlikely to have recovered from the wounds of the coming bailouts for Greece, Italy, possibly Spain and Portugal. In other words the EU is bleeding. So if you are looking to get a role in the EU / UK - be ready for a huge challenge to convince anyone (including the consultants) to hire you. In a weak job market, the EU candidate is culturally (for obvious reasons of client interaction), financially (similar pay / easier tax and benefots management) and logistically (no work-permit hassles) easier to hire than a non-EU/non-UK graduate &/or job seeker. If you don't fluently speak an EU language, you can just about forget a consulting role, and any other role / industry with any degree of client interaction.
2. You should note that the job search, even in good times for the M.S / MBA programs is iterative, challenging and lonely. Unlike in India, where placement happens over a week; you will need to network, communicate, and convince your way to get even a first interview. You'll need a program in a school that has a strong career services office that will help you not only will contacts to alumni, (hopefully) have a street credibility to attract the best companies to campus to present and meet you, and train & coach you for an effective job search off-campus. VERY few European schools can boast truly competent career service resources. I'd also urge you to speak with Indian graduates of the M.S/MiM programs to understand their experience in the job-search.
Given the above, you may want to think deeply. As for your current job, am afraid there's little substitute for patience. If you want to get into business consulting, build a bank of skills you can work with (takes time), try and address the three profile areas from my previous post, then attend a top program, and jump to consulting - don't worry, if you attend a top school, your pre-MBA/MiM experience will definitely find favor, and you will start at an Associate / Sr.Associate level, one level below manager, but certainly not a junior level.
Perform well, and see if you can swing a project assignment at a client site (India or abroad), take opportunities to lead teams on projects or modules. As you go ahead, acquire a couple of special skills that differentiate you, which along with team lead roles and progress, put you in front for client facing roles going forward. Take German or French classes and acquire business fluency in 2 years.... You might find yourself ahead in a race for an assignment with a German / French client. Network with people, understand what they do, communicate your interest and passion for projects which you find interesting.
The SP Jain Global MBA is a new school, and before making any application there, gain insights into the strengths of the career services offices in Dubai and Singapore campuses, understand what jobs people with a pre-MBA profile similar to yours got after graduation. Did anyone enter any of the consulting firms of the type you want to work for? If any one did, then how did they find that job? Get these insights.
If marriage is not the concern (good!).. use the opportunity to work hard and progress, patiently and diligently. I am aware it's the hardest part of the advice you're getting now, but there ain't any magic bullet here :-).
All the best
Baccardisprite
an opportunity for post grads in economics who want to get some research experience that'll give them a good shot at ivy league eco phd programs.
Jobs - Professional/Technical
last date 3rd dec, 2011
All,
This article from the Econ Times of India this morning gives you some insight into the attraction and value of an overseas degree. While not the best journalistic piece, it's fairly factual and should give all of you good insights into your own choices and decision making processes.
All the best
Baccardisprite
Hi baccardisprite,
I'm new to this forum but have been following your tips on foreign admissions. I'm a business analyst, fresh out of engineeing, working with an analytics driven firm. I gave my gmat first attempt this year and got a 700. I was looking at getting some international exposure in terms of education and work and I'm interested in continuing in analytics/consulting/operations research.
I'm looking at applying for fall 2013 for the following courses:
LSE- Msc Decision Sciences and Warwick- Msc Analytics and Consulting
Waiting till 2013 gives me a solid 1.5+ experience in analytics. Could you suggest other such courses (preferably 1 year) keeping my aim of being in strategy consulting in mind? I read the article you posted, and that adds to my conerns of getting a job out there. Makes me wonder if its worthwhile spending so much? What do you suggest?
Looking forward to your 2 cents worth. Thanks a ton! 😃