What the importance of MBA degree when searching a job in India?

According to the researches, in the Indian labor market the rate of vacancies where MBA degree is a compulsory requirement doesn’t exceed 6-7%. Indian executives are sure that salary demands of candidates having MBA are often excessively increased, and so they prefer employing experienced workforce with lesser salary demands. Thus, there is sometimes no reason at all to educate oneself abroad for continuing work in India. For such an aim it will be enough to get either MBA diploma or the second higher education diploma within its borders.

Foreign MBA degree in India is a prerogative of people who have both high financial opportunities and big ambitions.

Continue Reading →

Advantages of a Full-Time / Executive MBA Program

All MBA Programs offered today at business schools all over the globe are conveniently divided into Full-time, Part-time, Distance-Learning and Executive Education. Today Full-time and Executive MBA Programs appear the most popular among students and managers. Both of them have specific advantages.

For instance, Full-time MBA will perfectly suit those who wish to change the industry of his/her activity and needs a sort of a transition period to get reequipped for a new workplace.

Most business schools offer two-year long Full-time programs comprising the whole scope of courses in every domain of management. Each year is divided into two or sometimes three semesters. The first year of studies implies the core curriculum amounting to almost 40% of the whole program. The second year, however, is a more choice-based, since students have to select 12 electives to match their interests and professional aspirations.


Executive MBA programs are much younger than their Full-time counterparts. If an average Full-time applicant has to have at least two years of work history, a typical Executive MBA student can boast over seven years of pure managerial experience.

An Executive MBA is reluctant to leave his/her current job and longs for professional improvement here and now. Moreover his/her employer, if the student is not self-employed of course, is so much interested in retaining such an invaluable specialist that he/she is eager to cover all the tuition fees and secure the student’s part time working day schedule for the whole study period.

The length of the Executive MBA Program depends on the institution’s location. In Europe it would most often last for a year, while it will take you two years of studies to complete your Executive MBA in the US. Classes take place either on weekends or one of the weekdays.

Along with traditional lectures and seminars the curriculum of both, Full-time and Executive MBA programs, is rich in innovative training approaches, including case studies, games, computer modeling, group work, project development for real enterprises and large-scale companies, online studies etc., depending on the school’s vision.

Continue Reading →

How long are the GMAT and/or GRE scores good for assuming you wanted to work a year or two before applying to graduate school?

GMAT and GRE scores are good for five years. If you’re thinking of taking some time off before going to graduate school, I definitely recommend taking any standardized test while you’re still in school now. Otherwise, it will be more challenging to refresh your math and certain other skills that you may not use often in a full-time job.

Continue Reading →

Should you attend graduate school if you want a business degree?

I’m not sure if I’m interpreting this question correctly, so I’ll try to answer it a couple of ways. Some institutions consider a business degree to be a professional degree (for example, some consider the MBA to be a professional degree; other institutions consider it a graduate degree).

Ultimately, your long-term career goals and what’s required to achieve that goal should dictate if you pursue an advanced degree, professional or graduate. Talk to professionals, such as alumni of your institution or recruiters that come to hire college graduates, to find out what level of education is required to achieve your professional goals. You may find that an advanced degree isn’t required, but perhaps it will make you stand out from other job seekers, qualify you for more job opportunities, or make you more likely to get a promotion at work.

My undergraduate degree was in business administration and I went on to get an MBA with a concentration in human resources because I ultimately wanted to advance to a managerial position and really enjoyed my undergraduate management and HR classes.

Continue Reading →

How has getting an MBA been beneficial in your own professional career? Would you recommend it?

For me, an MBA has been helpful in my career, especially as I’ve worked on special projects or initiatives that impacted my employer as a whole. The MBA helped me develop a solid foundation in the basic functions of any organization, so I can effectively communicate with a variety of business units. In addition, it helped me learn how to effectively think strategically and consider the organization as a whole. This has been invaluable. An MBA also forced me to come out of my shell, so to say.

As an undergraduate, I never liked doing presentations or working in groups. However, I was literally forced to become comfortable presenting to various groups and learned how to work with difficult peers, compromise, delegate, lead, and even follow. Almost every single class I took as an MBA student required a group project and usually a presentation. It was rather ironic when in my second job out of graduate school, I became trainer and gave presentations all the time as well as often facilitated groups of staff, most of whom were much more experienced than me. To this day, these skills have been an advantage in every position I have held.

For me, especially since I knew I wanted to eventually become a manager, an MBA has been an asset. It also complimented my prior career in Human Resources, even when I wasn’t in a managerial position. It’s not for everyone, though. I particularly suggest an MBA to people who want to advance through an organization, lead others, or own their own business.

Continue Reading →

Do you think that work experience before going back to school is important?

This really depends on the individual, the profession they’re going into, their personal circumstances and preferences, etc. In some professions, a graduate or professional degree is required to just get a job or to significantly improve your chances of getting a job or a better job. It’s often expected that individuals interested in engineering or science will go straight to graduate school. In other fields, like business or education, it may be more typical that someone goes right into the job market.

If you’re not sure if you will be able to or will want to come back to school later, it may be best to go straight into graduate school. For instance, if you go into the job market, begin earning a nice salary, get married, and/or have children, you may not be able to afford to go back to graduate school later. Or, you may not be willing to back to a student’s lifestyle where money is tight.

On the other hand, if you need to gain experience to be competitive when applying to graduate school, such as if you want to go for an MBA, it’s better to work first and then go back to school. Some employers will also help pay for a graduate degree through tuition reimbursement programs. When you’re interviewing for jobs and get far enough in the selection process where it’s appropriate to discuss benefits, ask if a potential employer has such a program.

For instance, I know a Master’s student in engineering here  who is being paid by her employer at her  salary to earn her Master’s degree here.  In addition, she gets to keep most of her benefits while she’s in school. This is probably the best of both worlds; however, she had to apply to a very competitive professional development program at her employer and get selected to the program. I think she also has to stay with her employer for a certain number of years after she earns her Master’s degree.

If you’re simply burned out by the time you get your Bachelor’s degree, it may be better to take some time off before going back to school, since graduate school is very intense and requires a lot of hard work.

Continue Reading →

Do Extra-Curriculars help to get approved at a B-School?

There isn’t necessarily one “ideal” for all programs and all institutions. This will vary. It is to someone’s advantage to be involved in professional organizations or other extracurricular activities, particularly when a leadership role has been held. Internship and full-time experience is important to many business programs. Some programs require full-time work experience, while others, strongly prefer full-time work experience.

Internships are definitely expected and will benefit you whether you go into the job market right away or go to graduate school, as long as the experience is relevant; relevancy is key. Holding leadership positions in organizations demonstrates your leadership potential, which is important in business school.

Continue Reading →

What Do B-Schools look for in an Applicant?

Business schools, particularly for the MBA, often look for three to four years of full-time work experience. Sometimes, they will also consider internship or co-op experience as long as it’s relevant to business. They often look for leadership potential, so it’s important to put leadership positions you have held on your application or resume.

A strong academic record and GPA are important. In considering this, they will look at what classes you took, the rigor of your undergraduate institution, how well you performed in various classes and at varying levels of difficulty or specialization, etc. GMAT scores are often required and many schools will list average scores or ranges of scores for applicants that were offered admission on their Web sites.

It’s important to have a good foundation of classes, but schools will certainly look to see how well you did in business classes, since you’ll be taking more business classes at the graduate level. Other classes, such as communication, statistics, and English classes, are important too since professionals must be effective communicators and must be able to analyze data to some degree.

Continue Reading →