Inside IIM

Musings of an MBA AlumNUS

Shaili Pandia — Sat, 18 May 2013 09:35:29 +0000

As the various emails on gown rentals for the commencement ceremony pour into my inbox, I can’t help but feel a pang of pain that the MBA journey is over. I clearly remember how I had pestered dozens of strangers asking them for their opinions on NUS (National University of Singapore) before deciding to pursue my MBA there. However, I have never had any reason to doubt my choice.

Asia is the undisputed economic future. Any MBA aspirant wishing to gain exposure to the rising South Asian tide has a lot of good B- schools to choose from in China, Hong Kong and Singapore. Asian B-schools are on the rise and this can be seen by the increasing diversity within the cohort in the last few years, both in terms of profile and nationality. This, in turn, has led to a great improvement in the quality of the program and cohort experience. On the flip side, however, it has also made the programs far more competitive to get into.

Since I am not in a position to comment on other Asian schools due to lack of adequate insight, I will use this space to focus on some lesser known facts of the NUS MBA to help applicants gain an insider’s perspective on the program.

1. Flexibility:

One of the key distinguishing factors of the NUS MBA program is the flexibility it provides students with. Students wishing to complete early can take up more courses than the stipulated requirement and finish the program within a year. On the other hand, students returning to school after a decade of hard-nosed corporate life can structure their program into one with a longer duration and enjoy the vacation from work. Similarly, students who get full time job offers before the end of the program (and are pressurized to join immediately) can convert their program into a part time one by opting for evening classes.

The NUS MBA program also gives students the advantage of calibrating the rigor and pace of the academics and extra-curricular activities. Students who wish to take it easy can take up modules at their pace, whereas those who want to pursue student council positions, participate in international case competitions or take up part time internships can do these in addition to their academic workload. I would like to add here that since NUS is very well connected on the global MBA circuit, there are many opportunities for students to participate in global competitions and leadership forums.

2. The Asian experience:

There is tremendous merit in choosing the program for its strong Asian focus. Besides a wide variety of Asia-focused modules to choose from, the cohort comprises students from China, India, South Korea, Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Japan, Pakistan, Malaysia and Indonesia. Working together with these students day in and day out gives unparalleled exposure to their working style and thought process as also a personal insight into these nations which could never be gained by cursory interactions or even extensive reading.

The MBA office also organizes study trips to various Asian countries. The agenda of these trips typically include cultural events, company visits, alumni interactions, and networking opportunities with local B-school students, thus providing some perspective to students who want to work in these countries later.

Another unique feature is the opportunity to take up practical courses that require the students to work with Singaporean (or Asian) companies such as Lenovo, Yamoto and Sembcorp and advise them on dimensions such as strategy, marketing and operations.

The various departments of the school also organize events such as the Leadership Dialogue Series, expert talks and networking sessions where very high profile speakers of the South East Asian community address students and talk about various facets of their industries.

3. The S3 Program:

The S3 Program is a variation of the typical MBA Program and is aimed at students who wish to leverage more on the “Asian experience”. While the typical MBA Program is conducted for three semesters on the NUS Singapore campus, the S3 Program is conducted over three campuses (one each in Shanghai, Seoul and Singapore), thus giving students a very intensive exposure to three countries, teaching styles and student networks. The application procedure for this program is the same as that of the full time program.

4. Job opportunities:

The biggest question on the mind of most MBA aspirants (and rightly so, given the tremendous investment and opportunity cost of an MBA degree) is the job market and job prospects post MBA. In my experience, the Singapore job market isn’t one that favors students who want to make a radical career switch post MBA. However, it is easier to make the switch by speaking to alumni and mentors in one’s desired profession from the early stages (may be even before reaching Singapore) and get advice from them, learn extensively about the profession and take up part time internships having job profiles in smaller (non brand) firms. The importance of relevant work experience for securing a job in Singapore cannot be overemphasized. Thus, career switchers would be in an advantageous position by actively searching and pursuing part time internships and summer internships in their dream profession, thus demonstrating a strong case while applying for full time jobs.

5.The benefits of being in a University vis-à-vis a School:

The NUS Business School is one of the several schools within the NUS campus. There are various other faculties as well, including, inter alia, the schools of Engineering, Arts and Public Policy. This not only provides students a chance to know and befriend students from other faculties, but also gives them an opportunity to take up cross faculty modules in other schools. There are some really good courses in Public Policy, Financial Engineering and even Healthcare for students with an inclination towards these streams. The credits get counted towards the MBA degree.

6. Exchange opportunities:

NUS is a host to exchange students from all over the world and also partners with some of the best universities worldwide, including Kellogg, Duke, IE Spain, NYU, HEC and HKUST. Those looking for a good exchange opportunity at low cost could explore this option as well.

On a related note, the NUS MBA also has double degree programs with HEC Paris and Peking University which would give students the opportunity to spend some time on both campuses and secure degrees from both institutions.

In conclusion, I think the sheer beauty of the program is the plethora of choices one is offered. I have classmates who have packed their MBAs with top grades, exchange programs, student council roles and participation in global events. I also have classmates who have used the MBA as a ticket to travel every inch of South Asia and take a break from a hectic corporate life. The opportunities are all out there…It depends on what the student wants to make of them.

- Shaili Pandia

A CA-MBA by education, a corporate finance professional by occupation and a day dreamer by habit, Shaili will be graduating from NUS in July 2013. She is currently working in the healthcare industry in Singapore. She bothered tons of people during her MBA application process and would be glad to help any applicants and keep the virtuous circle intact.

Final Placements : FMS Delhi – Class of 2013

Team InsideIIM — Thu, 16 May 2013 11:53:05 +0000

FMS Delhi completed a very successful final placement season. The performance can be termed very impressive given the economic scenario. It is also very balanced across sectors and domains. Banking & Finance has been a tough sector to get into but FMS has ensured plenty of Corporate Banking opportunities for its students in leading MNC banks. Sales & Marketing (especially FMCG) is very strong as usual. Over 1/3rd of students will work in the marketing function. The Boston Consulting Group added FMS to its list of campuses (Others are ISB, A,B,C,L,I and XLRI). ITC Ltd. recruited 11 graduates from FMS (i.e. 5% of the batch).

Do note that the list of companies below includes those who have given PPOs. They may not have recruited for Final Placement season. For the Summer Placement report for this graduating class, click here. For the Final Placement Report of FMS Delhi for the Class of 2012, click here.

FMS clearly emerges as one of the most sought after institutions in India as it offers bright employment prospects at an investment which is less than 1/10th of what is demanded by other top schools in India.

Please find the placement report below.

Banking and Finance

Consulting

E-Commerce and Consumer Brands

FMCG

Others

Summary

Update 19th May, 8:00 hrs – FMS Media Committee does not want to make any comment on the number of sign outs/unplaced students. They would like to talk about the 5 students who have taken a placement holiday (and hence signed out).

“5 students from FMS took placement holiday this time to pursue their own ventures and are already working on it enthusiastically”

A note on the 5 Students who took a placement holiday at FMS. We wish them well in their entrepreneurial journey!

Update 17th May 2013 ,16:30 hrs – FMS Media Committee Representative had called us. We should get an official response on the exact no of unplaced/signed outs soon.

Update 17th May 2013 ,11:00 hrs – 20 Students were unplaced. 5 of which have signed out. We have access to the names of all these students. All queries to the media cell of FMS were unanswered. The figure is in line with what most business schools have experienced this year.

We cannot guarantee that 100% of the information above is accurate but we have done our best to verify. We would like to thank the Placement Team at FMS Delhi for their co-operation.

In case you wish to point out anomalies in the report, do write in to us at editor(at)insideiim(dot)com. We will try to clarify it with the placement committee. Anonymity will be ensured.

Other placement reports this season:

Final Placements : XLRI Jamshedpur – Class of 2013

Final Placements : IIM Kozhikode – Class of 2013

Final Placements : SPJIMR Mumbai – Class of 2013 (Unverified Report)

Final Placements : JBIMS Mumbai – Class of 2013 (Unverified Report)

Reports for the Final Placement Season 2012

Now, get the IIM Tag at 45 Percentile. What is brand ‘IIM’ worth?

Team InsideIIM — Mon, 13 May 2013 09:05:13 +0000

It may appear strange that a website called ‘InsideIIM.com’ has come up with such a headline. But, the concept of ‘Brand IIM’ requires serious examination.

The first question we need to answer is whether admission in an IIM requires an individual to be subjected to any standard. For years, the only standard to get an interview call from an IIM was the person’s percentile score in the Common Admission Test (CAT). Over the last decade, it has evolved to include a person’s past academic record and work experience history. But the old standard of the CAT percentile hasn’t been done away with completely. MBA schools across the world follow some standard. For e.g. the GMAT is used by majority of the schools across the world.

Now, if one believes that standardized tests like the CAT or GMAT are good measures to determine a person’s acceptability to join a business school, what is a minimum acceptable standard on these tests to be offered admission?

If you represent the ‘premier’ institutions in the country offering top quality management education, what is the minimum acceptable standard in the CAT to offer admission? 45 percentile? 60 Percentile? 80 Percentile?

Have a look at the various cutoffs for giving out interview calls for the new IIMs for the Class of 2012-14

source: New IIM websites

The numbers for the Class of 2013-15 will be similar

The case of the older IIMs is not very different. IIM Kozhikode does not have a sectional cutoff at all. General category candidates require an overall CAT score of 85 percentile. Cutoffs for various category candidates are 75,65,55 and 55 with no sectional cutoffs. Read here.

IIM Lucknow and IIM Indore have identical cutoffs for General and NC-OBC categories with a 90 percentile overall score and a 85 percentile sectional score. Around 50 percentile is the sectional cutoff for other categories at both these schools. IIM Bangalore has very similar cutoffs to IIM L and IIM I.

Generally, in the case of the older IIMs, the actual cutoffs are a touch higher than those declared earlier as more than enough candidates meet them. However, with the thrust on diversity and the increasing batch sizes, the gap between actual cutoffs and those announced is reducing or has vanished.

In order to probe this deeper, we had written to the admission committees of all the older IIMs to get similar figures as released by the new IIMs for 2012-14. We got a response only from IIM Indore. You can read it here

Questions we want to raise

1) Do minimum percentile cutoffs have any impact on brand IIM?

2) If yes, why can’t the minimum percentile cutoffs be higher? Why is it so important to fill up seats such that criteria for selection is relaxed to such lows?

3) Does this mean that the CAT percentile score is irrelevant ?

Our View

There is no definition of a ‘Low Cutoff’. However, we believe that some of the cutoffs are so low that it is affecting brand IIM. We believe that those seats should go unfilled instead of being occupied by relaxing minimum standards in such a manner.This is a career focused website and we speak to a lot of recruiters. Although, most IIMs prevent their students from revealing their CAT percentiles in their resume, it would be foolish for the IIMs to believe that recruiters are not aware of the state of affairs. Although the efforts towards promoting diversity are appreciated, the relaxation of cat percentile standards has also been noticed by them. There will be consequences that schools will face in the long term.

(People commenting on this topic are advised to exercise caution. This is not a debate on reservations but on minimum acceptable cutoffs)

The 3 Lifelines & the Poetic approach to Entrepreneurship

Team InsideIIM — Sat, 11 May 2013 05:45:47 +0000

(This is a Sponsored Post)

You want to be an entrepreneur? Then, you must listen to Dr. William Verdini.

Dr. William Verdini talks about innovation and entrepreneurship in his completely novel style.

Entrepreneurs are not Risk Takers. Entrepreneurs are Risk Managers!

Dr. Verdini offers 3 lifelines for every entrepreneur like the ones offered in Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC)

He also says that there are no typical types of entrepreneurs.

Lastly, he uses famous authors and poets to drive home important aspects about analyzing your venture. We recommend you refer to the slides below while watching the video.

You will also meet Dr.Shalini who tells us how Myra School of Business is responding to the challenge of creating entrepreneurs.

Please find the slides for the hangout below. We apologize for sub-optimal video quality.

About Dr. Verdini

Dr. Verdini retired as chair of the Department of Supply Chain Management at the W. P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University. On March 1, 2013, he joined MYRA to help with placement services and with building lasting relationships with corporate leaders in India and abroad.

About MYRA

MYRA wants to bring about change by creating change makers and business leaders with a difference.

Click here to know more about our courses

The application deadline for PGDM and the PGPX is 14th May 2013

The non-IIM Top BSchools Alumni Report 2013 – Part Three – Consulting and Banking

Team InsideIIM — Thu, 09 May 2013 04:19:04 +0000

In part three, we examine the glamour domains that attract the best in the country towards a MBA. On our helpline Eklavya, these are the most asked questions – “Is my profile fit for Front-end IB?”, “What can I do to ensure I get into Strategy Consulting and only in the ‘Big 4′ ?” ,”Please suggest best colleges in India to do Consulting (not IT Consulting)” etc. We have already seen this report for the 6 Old IIMs here

Last year’s report on Consulting for these schools below can be found here

Before we release the data, readers would do well to consider the following points in their own analysis:

1) The numbers below include the Executive PGP programme graduates and other global programmes offered by the schools mentioned below.

2) A lot of professionals within IT Consulting especially with less than 5 year work experience, do not clearly mention their domains on their linkedin profile. Our view is that the % of IT Consultants is more than what data suggests. We have consciously left out IT Consulting companies from the list. Despite that, almost 30% of the consultants in the list below claim to be operating in that space. Most of them are at Accenture, Deloitte and IBM. These companies have Strategy/Management consulting units too.

3) The numbers below includes all professionals who are alumni and even those with no dates in their profile.

Some Observations :

1) JBIMS’ weakness at Management Consulting comes as a surprise. Almost 50% of the consultants above claim to be in the IT domain and except for Mckinsey & Co., there is no visibility of JBIMS alumni at the so-called top tier consulting firms. Noshir Kaka, a JBIMS alumnus is the India MD of Mckinsey & Co. Despite this, Mckinsey & Co. does not visit the JBIMS campus and asks JBIMS to compete with XLRI,IIMs I & K, FMS at the batch day.

2) SPJIMR’s impressive numbers at Mckinsey & Co. are due to Supply chain consultants from SPJIMR. The number is higher than IIMs I & K, FMS. There are very few management/strategy consultants in that figure of 14.

3) In about 12 years, ISB has positioned itself perfectly for consulting roles and is clearly in the top 4 campuses in country. It’s rise in this domain is astonishing given that old campuses like IIM L, XLRI, FMS, JBIMS have been left far behind. You may argue that ISB was set-up by an ex-Mckinsey head, but one still has to deliver. IIM I and IIM K were founded just before ISB was but have not had even half the impact in the consulting space that ISB has had.

4) Given XLRI’s legacy, the numbers are relatively disappointing for the top tier firms.

The figures for other business schools like MDI,NITIE,IIFT,SIBM,NMIMS etc. are not substantial enough to be noted. On expected lines, these are all weak campuses for Management/Strategy consulting. There have been some lateral movements. But exceptions do not make the rule. Some of the these schools also have alumni in Research Analyst positions.

The table below talks about alumni stats in the Global MNC banks. The numbers below are a decent indicators but not conclusive to make definite observations. We suggest you take the numbers below with a pinch of salt for the following reasons:

1) It includes numbers from various back office subsidiaries of these banks. On LinkedIn, companies are not listed separately even though they different entities. For e.g. Citi numbers include Citi Financial Services, Citi India and Citibank, Bank of America Merrill Lynch numbers include Bank of America Continuum, Morgan Stanley numbers include Morgan Stanley Advantage Services etc.

2) It includes a lot of people in IT, Support and operations and have little to do with hardcore banking. Most of these professionals classify themselves as bankers on linkedIn. Now you could ask how we know that. We painfully went through profiles trying to dissect and understand. It was futile to classify functions as we did above in Consulting.

1) FMS numbers at Citi/Citibank and XLRI numbers at Standard Chartered Bank are noteworthy. The Asia-Pacific CEO at Standard Chartered Bank is from XLRI and we believe they will keep recruiting at XLRI in big numbers.

2) JBIMS and SPJIMR both have impressive number of alumni in this field and in very good front office profiles.

3) ISB has not enjoyed the same success in Banking that it has enjoyed in Consulting. However, the numbers are impressive when compared with likes of IIM I & K who were also founded around the same time.

Looking at some other schools in India not covered by us (yet), we see the following noteworthy figures for specific Banking. Of course, no filters were done for profiles or designation. The numbers below represent very few front office roles. Majority are in the middle office supporting the front offices in other countries. There are also plenty of alumni in IT, Support and Operations.

- MDI Gurgaon – 33 Alumni at Goldman Sachs – Greater than XLRI,IIM I,IIM K, FMS, SPJIMR, JBIMS – Mostly in Equity Research.

- NITIE Mumbai has 36 alumni at Citi/Citibank and MDI Gurgaon has sent 31 alumni at Citi/Citibank as per LinkedIn – Number higher than IIM I & K.

- Symbiosis has over 70 alumni and Narsee Monjee have over a 170 Alumni at JP Morgan Chase. They also have over 50 alumni at Barclays. But these numbers include undergraduate students from these universities and alumni at entry level. A lot of these roles are never offered at the IIMs and other top schools. It is very difficult to analyze alumni numbers for SIBM and NMIMS MBA programmes in isolation.

This was the final part in this series. We request you to use this data as an indicator and not indulge in hair splitting over exact numbers. Use this data to network with your alumni and create opportunities for your own career.

We will return next year with this series again in a bigger and better way.

The non-IIM Top BSchools Alumni Report 2013 – Part Two – Stats for Top Companies in FMCG and Technology,E-Commerce,Telecom

Team InsideIIM — Tue, 07 May 2013 04:13:00 +0000

We have already seen the FMCG, Technology and E-Commerce alumni figures at the older 6 IIMs here. Let’s do a similar analysis for other top schools in India. The 2012 report can be found here. (HKUST MBA has been excluded from this analysis as it would not make sense to compare a foreign school’s alumni in an Indian context)

(Note : There will be slight numerical discrepancies in the part 1 of the report with parts 2 and 3. It is because the reports are created from different sources within LinkedIn. The objective of this exercise is to study a trend and not to get exact figures.)

Let’s start with FMCG. We have taken 20 companies instead of 15 that we took last year. Let’s jump to the numbers straight away. Please note that since NO FILTER was done for functions in the company, the numbers below include alumni in Sales & Marketing, Operations, IT, Corporate Finance, HR, Others.

Disclaimer : It is user generated data. We cannot vouch for 100% accuracy. But it gives a very clear trend. The numbers below do not include most Class of 2013 graduates as they have not started work/not updated their LinkedIn profiles yet.

Some Observations:

1) ISB is a weak FMCG campus and lends more support to the theory that FMCG companies like to catch them young. Professionals hoping to switch to FMCG/Marketing post-MBA after more than 3 years of work experience need to know that it is going to be tough.

2) 65 of the 314 professionals from XLRI above are from the HR domain. Our experience tells us that the number could be considerably more than 65. Aspirants should be advised that traditionally placements at XLRI for the HR programme are better than the placements for the BM programme.

3) SPJIMR is the real star in this group. There are alumni across companies. SPJIMR is not as old as FMS or JBIMS and neither has SPJIMR’s batch size been more than 180 until recently. However, as we have seen repeatedly in all kinds of reports, SPJIMR has a loyal set of companies that keep recruiting from that campus. Numbers in a company like P&G are outstanding. (Most of the alumni are in operations/IT)

4) FMS and JBIMS have a strong legacy and always seem to have good number of FMCG companies visiting their campuses. But alumni numbers are not very impressive especially for JBIMS. XLRI and SPJIMR have done better with a similar batch size over the years. Based on the experience of IIM Lucknow, it would not be very audacious to predict that IIM I and IIM K will also eventually start doing better than FMS and JBIMS at FMCG in numerical terms. This is also aided by the fact that both these IIMs will have bigger batches. By 2018, we predict that alumni in FMCG companies from IIM I and IIM K would be double than those from JBIMS and more than those from FMS.

5) Given that COO of Unilever and CEO of HUL are from JBIMS, the number of alumni from JBIMS at HUL is quite low.

Looking at some other schools in India not covered by us (yet), we see the following noteworthy figures for specific FMCG companies. Of course, no filters were done for profiles or designation.

- NITIE Mumbai – P & G – 71 Alumni – Most of them, Purchase & Supply Chain managers – Outstanding number

- NMIMS Mumbai – Unilever – 39 Alumni – Number in the same range as FMS, SPJIMR and greater than IIM I & K

- NITIE Mumbai – Unilever – 34 Alumni - Number in the same range as FMS, SPJIMR and greater than IIM I & K

- SIBM/SCMHRD/Other Symbiosis Schools – Unilever – 23 Alumni - Number is greater than both IIM I & K

- IIFT Delhi – Unilever – 18 Alumni – Number is greater than both IIM I & K

Let us look at the other important sectors now. Rock star technology and e-commerce names will increasingly dominate placement reports. Electronics and Telecom companies are always important and hiring numbers are steady as they are for FMCG and General Management roles. We listed 15 companies to be analyzed.

Please note that since NO FILTER was done for functions in the company, the numbers below include alumni in Sales & Marketing, Operations, IT, Corporate Finance, HR, Others.

Disclaimer : It is user generated data. We cannot vouch for 100% accuracy. But it gives a very clear trend. The numbers below include professionals who could have done short courses. The numbers below do not include most Class of 2013 graduates as they have not started work/not updated their LinkedIn profiles yet.

Some Observations:

1) The story changes completely for ISB when one looks at numbers here. ISB literally owns Google with most business schools in India not even having half the alumni of ISB at Google (IIM C has 36). In general, the performance is exceptional at Google, Microsoft, Amazon.

2) SPJIMR surprises again and trumps IIMs K,I and also FMS and JBIMS.

3) It is interesting to note XLRI’s dominance at Nokia.

4) In general, FMS seems to do well at companies headquartered in the NCR region whether it is Airtel here or Reckitt Benckiser and Pepsi in the FMCG table.

Looking at some other schools in India not covered by us (yet), we see the following noteworthy figures for specific companies from the list above companies. Of course, no filters were done for profiles or designation.

- SIBM/SCMHRD/Other Symbiosis Schools has 36 alumni at Microsoft

- NMIMS Mumbai has 30 alumni at Microsoft

(Some of the alumni from these two schools are quite senior at Microsoft. A lot of alumni from Symbiosis are in the HR function.)

- Symbiosis International University (SIBM Pune is a part of that) has 74 alumni at Airtel

- NMIMS Mumbai has 59 alumni at Airtel

- MDI Gurgaon has 52 alumni at Airtel

- IIFT Delhi has 36 alumni at Airtel

(Please note that not all of the above numbers reflect alumni recruited via the coveted Bharti YLP at Airtel.)

Study Plan for CAT 2013: Part 2

Ravi Handa — Mon, 06 May 2013 10:28:21 +0000

This is Part 2 of Ravi Handa’s study plan for CAT 2013. (You can read Part 1 here)

The three big questions, which nearly every aspirant wants to know the answer to, are:

a) In which order should I prepare?

b) How much should I cover and by what date?

c) When should I start taking mock tests?

The dates for the CAT 2013 exam (October 16 – November 11, 2013) were declared last week. There are a little over 5 months for you to prepare. The answers to the above questions are based upon that key information. I will not say that I know the perfect answers as they would vary from person to person. But I shall try to generalize.

In which order should I prepare?

The CAT syllabus could be divided into three broad areas:

Verbal
DI / LR
Quant.

1. Verbal

This can once again be classified into two broad categories:

Reading Comprehension
Verbal Usage & Reasoning

Preparation for Reading Comprehension is something that you should start from day 1. You can start by doing small passages and studying the kind of passages that you are comfortable with and gradually move up to tougher passages and questions.

For Verbal Usage & Reasoning, it is recommended that you start with vocabulary building, move on to grammar and prepare for Verbal Reasoning in the end. You should not spend too much time on Vocabulary and Grammar but it is a good starting point. Also, you need to have a good handle on things before you start topics in Verbal Reasoning. It would be difficult to do well in Verbal Reasoning unless you are confident in vocabulary and have decent grammar.

2. Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning

This section does not follow a fixed pattern. The questions and question types vary every year. You can start off with the easy stuff like bar charts, pie charts, etc. and move on to advanced / difficult questions in the later part of your preparation.

3. Quant.

It is probably the easiest part to structure in your preparation. It can be further classified into:

Number Systems
Arithmetic
Algebra
Geometry
Modern Maths (Progressions, Permutation & Combination, Set Theory)

You should study them in the order that is mentioned above. A very common mistake that I have seen students make is that they spend too much time on Number Systems & Modern Maths whereas they spend too little time on Algebra & Geometry. I think it is because it is easy to get fascinated by concepts in those two topics while Geometry & Algebra are, for the lack of a better word, boring. But then – you are not writing the CAT for amusement. You have Robert Downey Jr. for that. Do not make this mistake and give importance to all parts of Quantitative Aptitude.

How much should I cover and by what date?

There is no correct date but some broad guidelines which should help.

By end of July, you should have covered the basics of all topics and should be able to solve easy questions / sitters from all topics.
August should be spent on analyzing and improving your weak areas. By end of August, you should be able to reach your peak understanding in all topics.
September should be spent solely on improving your speed and performance in tests.

When should I start taking mock tests?

An ideal scheduling for mock-CATs would be:

2 in June

2 in July

3 in August

3 in September

Now some of you might be wondering that this is just 10 mock-CATs. Too few? I don’t think so. Ten tests are more than enough if you can analyze and improve your performance via these. You might have read on various forums and a lot of experts tell you to write as many mock tests as possible and that is the best way to prepare. I do not belong to that school of thought. I believe that attempting 10 mock-CATs and analyzing them is more than good enough for any aspirant.

Having said that, if you are someone who has written the CAT before and scored a 95+ percentile, you can go in for a higher number of mocks as the time you would need to spend on preparation is going to be much less.

I hope you found this post helpful. If you have any queries / suggestions for future posts, use the comment section.

- Ravi Handa

(Ravi Handa, an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur, has been working in the CAT Prep sector for the past 7 years. He currently offers online coaching for CAT 2013 You can use the coupon code INSIDEIIM to get a 20% discount on the course. He can be contacted on Facebook or Google Plus)

You may also want to :

Visit our Learning Section for over 20 Hours of FREE High Quality Test Prep

Other articles by Ravi Handa can be found here

The non-IIM Top BSchools Alumni Report 2013 – Part One (Locations, companies and functions)

Team InsideIIM — Sat, 04 May 2013 04:12:59 +0000

This is the second round of the 2013 Alumni reports. We focus on Top B schools outside the six older IIMs. For coverage of the six older IIMs, read Part One here, Part Two here and Part Three here.

For Part one, we are focussing on six leading non-IIM B schools: ISB Hyderabad, XLRI, FMS Delhi, SPJIMR, JBIMS and HKUST School of Management (Hong Kong). The methodology is similar to the earlier report, i.e. we are looking at a universe of people who have mentioned these six B schools as part of their ‘Education’ between 1997 and 2013 on their LinkedIn profile. This report focuses on the top locations where they work, top companies where they work and main organizational functions. The time period for the study, 1997 to 2013 – includes 17 batches of the flagship program at these schools. This period has been divided into two nearly equal parts – 1997-2004, and 2005-2013. In case of ISB, we have considered a single continuous time period from 2002 to 2013, which reflects the twelve batches that have graduated since the B school began.

Disclaimers: It is user generated data. There may be fake profiles and we cannot vouch for 100% accuracy. We suggest you look at the general trend. The numbers below include professionals who could have done short courses at the IIMs. The numbers below do not include most Class of 2013 graduates as they have not started work/not updated their LinkedIn profiles yet. There may be a minor instance of double counting at the boundary (2004-2005) because of the way LinkedIn categorizes these alumni, but this is uniform to both data sets, and the trend is not affected as such.

Data and Analysis

ISB (12 batches: 2002-2013)

Top companies

Top locations

Top functions

The analysis : ISB has certainly been a success story in consulting and technology. Look at the number of grads lapped up by the likes of McKinsey, BCG, Google, Microsoft and Amazon, in a short span of 12 years. The performance in banking and FMCG is less impressive. Too much work-experience is probably the culprit. Work-experience doesn’t really help in landing marketing or banking profiles, unless it is extremely relevant, in which case it will help land you a niche profile. For instance, if you have worked at Infosys for a few years, you would possess a good understanding of the dynamics of an IT firm, and by extension, the IT industry. This, along with an MBA in finance, can help you land a sell-side research profile as an IT sector analyst, or even a buy-side profile with a tech-focused private equity fund. But the number of such job opportunities would be limited.

XLRI Jamshedpur (1997-2004) and (2005-2013)

Top companies

Top locations

Top functions

The analysis: We have not been able to distinguish between BM and PMIR courses. As a result, HR seems to be the most preferred stream for XLRI graduates. Preference for the consults – Deloitte and Ernst and Young, has increased over the years. BCG started hiring from XLRI in 2011, and given the small batch size (which creates a good perception about the quality of the batch), expect XLRI to make some serious inroads into the top consults from now on. It is always debated whether the location of a B school is important for its prospects. We believe it is extremely important. Look at the number of graduates working with Tata Steel.

FMS Delhi (1997-2004) and (2005-2013)

Top companies

Top locations

Top functions

The analysis: Consulting has grown stronger, but finance has been quite robust. Again, this could be because of location – a lot of strong demand for middle-office banking operations from places like Gurgaon. All in all, a very good mix of names from all fields, although the big boys (strategy consults and front-end I-banks) are missing.

SP JIMR (1997-2004) and (2005-2013)

Top companies

Top locations

Top functions

The analysis: SPJIMR has made rapid progress on many fronts. More will be shared in the Parts 2 and 3 where data tells us that SPJIMR has a very loyal list companies that recruit year after year.

JBIMS (1997-2004) and (2005-2013)

Top companies

Top Locations

Top functions

The analysis: One look at JBIMS, and you would think the banking recession never came to JBIMS. But then again, we had stated earlier that Indian retail banks and middle-office roles at foreign banks had seen decent hiring, in this report. It is interesting to see the contrast between JBIMS and SP Jain. Both are highly reputed, and both are located in the same city. Both have more or less the same chance of attracting top companies. What could explain the relative lack of overlap between these two B schools? One reason, of course is the alumni effect. Another, is the selection process. SP Jain’s selection process effectively locks you into a particular management stream when you join. This gives you a narrower, more specific list of options where you can join. We had earlier discovered that SP Jain candidates were the least likely to switch jobs – because of the same reason. At JBIMS, you can freely follow the latest fad.

HKUST MBA (1997-2004) and (2005-2013)

Top Companies

Top locations

Top functions

The analysis: When it comes to finance, Hong Kong is to Asia what Mumbai is to India. Unlike rival Singapore, which markets itself as a hub in Asia-Pacific for all types of companies, Hong Kong is an out-and-out financial centre. Probably the third most important place in the world for finance, after London and New York. Those of you who dream about investment banking, Hong Kong is one of the places to be. All the marquee names from investment banking are present. And nearly each one of the top 20 names is a blue chip MBA recruiter. And these are much more likely to be front-end roles (most people in India won’t really fret about front-end and back-end when the job is abroad). Consults have managed to make some headway in 2005-2013 – look at McKinsey, BCG, and the big four (Deloitte, KPMG, PwC and Ernst and Young). It is fitting that we sign off this report with the B school that has the best credentials in the group- ranked in the top ten B schools of the world.

Conclusion: This report shows the impact of location (XLRI, FMS, JBIMS and HKUST) and selection process (ISB and SP Jain) of a B school on the job prospects of its students. We will be back with more slices of data that will be useful to you.

The Six IIM Alumni Report 2013 – Part Three – Stats for Consulting & Banking

Team InsideIIM — Thu, 02 May 2013 16:18:47 +0000

You can read last year’s report here on Consulting. Read last year’s report on Banking here .

Before we release the data, readers would do well to consider the following points in their own analysis:

1) Consider the number of graduating batches when you look at the numbers. IIM A and IIM C both have had over 45 batches of students who have graduated for the PGP programme. For IIM B that number is 38. At IIM L 27 batches have graduated and at IIM K 15. IIM I is the youngest of the lot with 14 graduating batches. Also consider the fact that up to 2006-07 batch sizes at most of these IIMs were less than 200.

2) The numbers below include the Executive PGP programme graduates and other courses offered by the IIMs in the recent times.

3) A lot of professionals within IT Consulting especially with less than 5 year work experience, do not clearly mention their domains on their linkedin profile. Our view is that the % of IT Consultants is more than what data suggests. We have consciously left out IT Consulting companies from the list. Despite that, almost 30% of the consultants in the list below claim to be operating in that space. Most of them are at Accenture, Deloitte and IBM. These companies have Strategy/Management consulting units too.

4) The numbers below includes all professionals who are alumni and even those with no dates in their profile.

Let’s look at Consulting first.

1) The alumni numbers suggest that the best 5 campuses for Management/Strategy Consulting are IIM A, IIM B, IIM C, (in no particular order) followed by ISB Hyderabad in 4th position and by IIM Lucknow in 5th position. More on ISB in the non-IIM top business schools report to be released later in the week.

2) IIM K is the weakest among the old IIMs in the Strategy/Management Consulting domain (JBIMS is the weakest among top schools). IIM Indore is marginally better. However, strength in IT Consulting ensured that traditionally more consultants were churned out by IIM K.

3) Although not at par with IIM ABC as in the case of FMCG, IIM Lucknow numbers are impressive especially at Mckinsey and BCG.

4) Accenture, Deloitte and IBM account for over 50% of the Consultants in this list above.

Some observations :

1) Goldman Sachs is to IIM Indore what P&G is to IIM K in the battle between the twins. However, the situation is likely to balance as Goldman Sachs has recruited for the last 3 years both for Finals and Summers at IIM Indore. MDI Gurgaon has a very impressive number of alumni at Goldman Sachs (better than IIM K and I).

Overall, the number of alumni from IIM I and IIM K at MNC banks is lower than at SPJIMR and JBIMS. However, the rate of progress at these two campuses is the most impressive in the country bettered only by ISB.

2) IIM Calcutta’s dominance in finance is clear. At UBS, RBS, HSBC and American Express the leads seems more definitive.

3) Standard Chartered Bank, Citi and HSBC have been and will always be the most important foreign banks with regards to number of graduates getting placed.

4) The number of J.P.Morgan alumni is relatively lower at IIM Lucknow. We believe it could be due to a refusal to accept middle office jobs that are offered at IIM K and IIM I.

5) We hope to see a fresh twist to this story next year as the RBI is expected to issue new banking licenses soon. Although the new banks will be Indian, we expect this development to affect the numbers here in a substantial way. It may also mean more hiring for the Class of 2014

From tomorrow, we will start releasing numbers for other top schools in India – ISB,XLRI,FMS,SPJIMR and JBIMS.

The Six IIM Alumni Report 2013 – Part Two – Stats for Top Companies in FMCG and Technology,E-Commerce,Telecom

Team InsideIIM — Wed, 01 May 2013 07:42:25 +0000

(There will be slight numerical discrepancies in the part 1 of the report with parts 2 and 3. It is because the reports are created from different sources within LinkedIn)

In this second part, we explore how the mafia rules in few of the most crucial sectors for every business school in this economy. We listed down 35 top companies in the ‘real’ economy which are fast becoming the most sought after because of the stability they offer in tough times. They are also intricately connected to the India consumption story and business schools would do well to treat them with respect. In the last 5 years, when headline-grabbing, money-throwing names have deserted business schools regularly, most companies from these sectors have come to the rescue.

You can read last year’s Alumni report of 6 IIMs on FMCG here

Disclaimer : It is user generated data. We cannot vouch for 100% accuracy. But it gives a very clear trend. The numbers below include professionals who could have done short courses at the IIMs. The numbers below do not include most Class of 2013 graduates as they have not started work/not updated their LinkedIn profiles yet.

Some observations:

1) IIM Lucknow numbers are at par with those of IIM ABC. In fact, in some FMCG companies it has more alumni than any school in India. It can safely be said that from a career point of view, professionals from IIM ABC have no additional advantage over professionals from IIM L in the FMCG sector. As shall be evident from the non-IIM top business schools report, XLRI has slightly better numbers but at least 100 are expected to be in the HR function only. Contrary to popular belief, in terms of sheer quantity FMS Delhi numbers are not as impressive. JBIMS Mumbai numbers are worse. (non-IIM top business schools Alumni reports to be released later in the week)

2) IIM Calcutta and the Johnson & Johnson story is very intriguing. It stands out.

3) IIM Indore (14 batches) and IIM Kozhikode (15 batches) are weak FMCG campuses. Since HUL and P&G are the biggest recruiters in this sector, both these campuses need to attract these companies regularly for Finals. Both these campuses have resorted to criteria that increases the percentage of freshers and/or women on campus – a strategy likely to attract more FMCG names. It will be interesting to see how it pans out in the future.

4) ITC Ltd. is fast becoming the 3rd most important FMCG name on all campuses. It recruits in big numbers now.

Please note that since NO FILTER was done for functions in the company, the numbers below include alumni in Sales & Marketing, Operations, IT, Corporate Finance, HR, Others.

Disclaimer : It is user generated data. We cannot vouch for 100% accuracy. But it gives a very clear trend. The numbers below include professionals who could have done short courses at the IIMs. The numbers below do not include most Class of 2013 graduates as they have not started work/not updated their LinkedIn profiles yet.

Some Observations:

1) Microsoft and HP/HP Software have a lot of alumni from the IIMs. Except for IIM Indore, 25-30% of the numbers above are from these two companies.

2) IIM Bangalore is distinctly dominant at Yahoo!

3) IIM Calcutta has the largest contingent at Airtel by quite a margin rivaled only by IIM Ahmedabad with a contingent that is almost half the size of IIM C.

4) The only possible explanation for both IIM C and IIM B having double the number of alumni in this list than IIM A is the certificate programmes and MDPs held by IIM B and C. This huge gap in quantity can only be explained by this. However, IIM B has a clear advantage in the technology and e-commerce segment due to its favorable location.