Have a vision and self-confidence before choosing career: Experts

The two important aspects while choosing and chasing a dream career are a clear vision and a strong belief in oneself, participants of a seminar were told.

“I’ve learnt from my own experience that if you have a vision about what you want yourself to be after five or 10 years down the lane, the decision on which course to pursue, what tests to write and which college to study at would come through easily,” said Ram, instrumental in forming an education website MingleBox.
He was speaking at a seminar organised by Jamboree Coaching Centre at Nimhans Convention Centre on Sunday where expert panellists guided aspirants for Masters in Business Administration (MBA).

Those who gathered at the seminar were mostly IT professionals and students who wanted to polish their career edge by having an MBA degree from a reputed B-school. But getting through the graduate management admissions test (GMAT) and also to their dream college is not a path of roses.

“Cracking such exams and getting a high score is not enough. You must score good and choose a business school or streamlined career which suits your academic profile and your skills,” said Vineet Gupta, director, Jamboree Education.
“While many students tend to think that if they get a 750 score, they are eligible for Harvard and Yale, they forget that there are other qualities that such prestigious schools expect from them. Each of the foreign universities takes about 60 to 100 Indian students for their course along with various other nationals,” he said.

“Many students say ‘My Indianness is my exceptional quality’. But that is not enough when you are asked what makes you stand out among other Indian applicants to a college. You have to be very careful at these places if you wish to study abroad,” said Gupta.
Several participants asked the panellists questions on GMAT test, admission procedures and educational loans. “I have been working as an IT professional, but I am bored. I want to have a managerial profile. Hence, I want to know which stream of MBA I should go for,” said Rony Bhaskar.

Another participant, Arijit Roy, asked, “My Maths is good. But I am weak in writing essays for the test. Tell me how to improve my grammar, language and communication skills?”
Radhika Mandarshi, a BCom student and an MBA aspirant, asked, “I want to study overseas. But the quantitative section is what I dread and also the cost factor makes me sad. Is there any option of scholarships?”

Panellists Prof Easwar Krishna Iyer, director of admission, Mumbai Business School, and AM Kannan, director of admissions, Indian Business School, Hyderabad, answered the questions. Kannan said there were a lot of opportunities for Indian students to get scholarships from foreign universities but it all depended on their GMAT scores and their diligence.