This is not surprising since in India our strategy is simple — first crack the test, then see what is the best college your percentiles can get you and then finally start thinking about specializations! The funny part is that we do not seem to learn from our mistakes since this is the same policy we followed for our graduation as well and now want to do an MBA so that we can undo the mistakes of our graduation but without having changed our standard operating procedure!
There are only a handful of aspirants who know what they want to do and more importantly who also know what a career in that field entails (it is very easy to say with absolute conviction that I want to get into investment banking without having the slightest clue about the same).
What an MBA means?
One of the misconceptions is that MBA is equivalent to management. From this simplistic equivalence comes the notion that most people hold — doing an MBA will help them play manager-manager. The most important letter of the three in MBA is B — Business!
The difference between an MBA and other degrees such as MS or CA or CFA is that with those degrees the functional knowledge you pick up in the textbooks and master is very directly applicable in the jobs that you will take up.
An MBA on the other hand prepares you at a very broad-level by giving you a framework and direction to think through the real-life business problems you will face by using real-life business case studies.
Also, you might not be directly applying most of what you learnt in your first job post an MBA. It will be a few years before you reach a decision-making position that will demand you to draw on what you learnt in a b-school and find a way to apply it to the unique business problems you are confronted with.
It is not very different to learning swimming extensively in a swimming pool for two years before being thrown out into the sea.
So given this is it not ironic that very few CAT aspirants read the Business section of the newspaper?
Also, almost all the IIMs and other top b-schools have started doing pure GK and Current Affairs interviews over the last few years. Why do they do this? They know that most Indian applicants have been excellent students in class but few have little to show for in terms of their awareness of the larger world. They use the interview process to filter out those few who know more than what they learnt in the books.
The CAT results are usually out around mid-Jan and your first interview can be before the end of Jan and there is no way that you can mug up all the current affairs over the past year in the world in two weeks!
So, the first step towards really preparing for an MBA and not just the CAT is to start reading the sections in the newspaper apart from the sports section such as the business page, the international news page and the front page.
The IIMs call 4 people for 1 seat so technically even if you clear the CAT, and you can’t leave the preparation for that part of the equation for way too late in the game.
A reading list to learn a bit more about the MBA
A question that I get asked very often, that typifies the middle-class Indian mindset and one that, to put it bluntly, I hate the most is — sir, kaun se field mein scope zyaada hai – Fin, Mark or HR?
Well, the daftness of this question can be understood by looking at an analogous question — sir kaun se field from scope zyaada hai – Batting, Bowling or Wicket-Keeping?
From this, it should be very clear that the question itself is incorrect.
Your aim should be to find out about each specialization and analyze which one will you be good at. Any above-average person can be a 6 out of 10 on most things but a 6 out of 10 is not good enough for you to be really successful in the long run. You should try to find the area where you can be an 8 out of 10.
One small query will still be lurking somewhere but kaun se field mein paisa zyaada hai. There is enough money to give you great roti, great kapda, great makaan in every field. What you need to ask yourself is – why should someone pay you money?
The IIMs are under no obligation to ensure that you get placed. They only provide a platform for the best companies to visit their campuses and recruit their students. The 20-odd lakhs you will pay to an IIM is not a guarantee of a 20-odd lakh job because no one owes you a job!
Firms will pay top dollar to top talent. What you need to spend your time on is to find the area where you have the potential to become a top-drawer talent.
A good way to begin is to start learning a bit more about
- Finance (beyond Wolf of Wall Street)
- Marketing (beyond I-can-make-better-ads-than-these)
- Operations (beyond I-am-a-Mechanical Engineer) and
- Human Resource Management (beyond I-love-interacting-with-people).
The Finance List
Before one gets into Finance one needs to understand the basics of Economics and these are covered in an easy to understand manner in these two books — IIMA – Day to Day Economics
While learning the technical aspects of Finance can be left for later, you can pick up a real-world flavour of the workings of Hedge Funds, Investors and Quantitative Finance by reading these two books The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine
Both of the books above are very entertaining reads and the first one as some of you would know has also been made into a movie.
For anyone interested in trading The Intelligent Investor by Bill Graham
The Marketing List
Maybe seemingly the least bookish of all disciplines and yet posing the toughest challenge for all firms — how do we sell what we make or should it be what should we make or should it rather be what do people want?
Not too many books that directly explain the nitty-gritty of marketing but these three should do the job — Selling The Wheel: Choosing The Best Way To Sell For You Your Company Your Customers
The Operations & Project Management List
The bible for Operations and a part of the syllabus in most of the IIMs, The Goal uses a fictional story to help you understand the core concepts of operations and systems management. The author Eli Goldratt has used the same concepts to write a few more books to cover the entire domain of operations; the last book in the list below covers Project Management. Read him and you will not have imagined Operations can be taught in such an engaging and insightful manner — The Goal 
The HR List
Work Rules: Insights from Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live and lead
Read to get better, read with a target
The first thing to do is to approach these books with the right mindset. Do not read to
- use information from these to build answers in your interviews; that can be the most stupid thing you can do since you will be showing the panel that you are doing what the Indian system has taught you to do — memorize & regurgitate
- show off that reading is your hobby; if it is you should already have a list of favorite authors and books (that hopefully does include a certain Mr.Bhagat and his creations)
Treat these books as stepping-stones to learning more about the vast world of business management.
Do not look only at books that deal with your specialization because if you want to be a business leader you can’t just be Finance guy or a Marketing guy, you need to be curious to learn about everything that contributes to building a great organization.
The ones among you who should read all of this at any cost are those who one year from now when facing interviewers asking you — Why MBA — are ready to say — I want to start my own firm in the future.
These books will cost you, some a little and some a bit more but think about how much you spend on watching a stupid movie or an evening out with friends. If you have your priorities right, you will find a way to acquire and read them even it means making a few sacrifices on other fronts.
A good target to set will be to choose 12 out these 15 and finish them before June in which you aim to start your MBA.
And before you sigh thinking I don’t have the time for this or I wish I had the time for this — no one has time and you will rarely have more time than you have today until you retire.
Look at your day, look at the apps on your phone, look at your browsing tendencies. Whenever you make a choice to do one thing with your time, you are not doing something else with it.
Your current consumption of entertainment might seem much more interesting than this reading list but that is not very different from eating potato chips — absolutely irresistible to eat but absolutely useless for your health.
So time to weed out the potato chips you are feeding your mind and feed it something that is aligned with your long-term goals.
Learn what sort of profiles recruiters look for in each of these domains
So you have learnt what Finance is and are super-excited to become an I-Banker but is your profile aligned to the same?
What do recruiters at b-schools look for when they shortlist profiles for I-Banking. You have paid Rs.20 Lakh and taken all subjects in the Finance specialisation does not by any stretch mean that you will get an I-Banking shortlist.
Watch the two parts of the webinar — All About Specialisations — to learn about the practical aspects of the roles in each of these domains and the profiles that firms tend to favour.
The first part is not only Sales & Marketing but also starts by putting things in perspective.
If you thought life will be settled if you crack the CAT, think again!
As a professor at IIM-L told us in the opening/welcome lecture — they told you crack X and life will be settled, was it settled? No! They told you crack JEE and life will be settled, was it settled? No! The same applies to CAT as well.
I would add only thing to what he said — only sediment settles down.
The CAT Writer 
Hello Tony Sir,
Thank you so much for this.
Loved this post. ❤
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Hi Shivam,
It’s heartening to see a heart-emoji for an academic blog post!
Glad you liked the post; hope you take up some reading based on the same.
All the best!
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This is such a great insightful post. As I am interested in Finance I actually bought The Intelligent Investor, Ascent of Money and The big short. Thank you Sir for such great blog.
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Hi Niyati,
Glad to hear the you found the blog post useful and hope you also watched the webinar recordings that will tell you what sort of jobs that Finance offers and and more importantly the profiles for needed to bag those jobs.
All the best!
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Hey Tony sir!
I’ve never met you and yet you have guided me seamlessly into my MBA prep journey right from helping me narrow down on my specialization ( marketing) to clarifying concepts with your various Masterclasses. Thanks for this blog and your guidance.
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Hi Sanika,
The goal was to help students on their irrespective of whether they were IMS’ students or someone else’s and in a way that does not drain too much of my time and it is most satisfying to know students benefit and appreciate the effort.
Good to know you have narrowed down on your specialization; hope things go as per your plan or even better!
All the best!
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Hello Tony Sir,
Firstly, I am huge fan and your posts always inspire me to study harder.
I am interested in MBA in sports management but couldnt really find that great institutes for the same in India and also in depth information about the course as well.
It would be great if you share your thoughts about the same or suggest some books or anything that might help.
Thank youu.
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Hi Sharvari,
Ah, sports management!
Back in my days at IIM-L, during the preliminary intro sessions, a senior had asked me what I wanted to do and more importantly how much money I wanted to make — I instinctively said sports management and he replied oh there is no money in that!
Well, I was not passionate enough about it to pursue it and there is enough and more money to be made in the profession.
The path though is still not easy. I do not think any of the Indian sports management firms — IMG, Globosport — visit b-school campuses.
If you do an MBA from India then you will have to be super-resourceful, reach out to these firms on your own and snag an off-campus job.
I have heard some really inspiring stories of a b-school grad who wanted to work with Real Madrid and managed to on his own pursue them and bag an internship.
So, to put it simply, you are on your own.
There are a few decent schools abroad, I would suggest just go dive deep into Google and keep looking.
When areas are niche and paths are not laid out as they are for paths walked by the general public, there will not be any books and schools to help you out; you need to figure things out on your own.
I can get you names of the best international schools for sports management and stuff but may be you should hit the road on your own first and get back 🙂
All the best!
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Thank you so much Sir for your valuable insight. I will surely look around more and then decide which way to go.
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hello sir
really liked your post
is there a window where being ims student i can talk to you one on one ?
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Hi Nischal,
That would not be possible since I handle the responsibility of being the CLO of IMS and with tens of thousands of IMS students, I would be left only fielding 1-1 interactions day in day out.
Which is why I try to cover everything as comprehensively as I possibly can through blogs and webinars and you need to take it from there.
All IMS classroom students can book 1-1 Mentorship slots with mentors of their respective centres to get their queries cleared.
Hope this helps,
All the best!
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Woah! I really love this blog. Thanks for this amazing list of books!
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You are welcome, Nitya; do not forget an unread bookshelf is worse than no bookshelf 🙂
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Hi Sir! Great post, as always! Actually I am in a dilemma hence would love to get your advice, I have converted IMT-GHZ full time pgdm and It was my best call. But my acads are lower than 60 in engineering. Will it be ideal for me to join? I am concerned about the placements! Thank You Sir!
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Hi Yogesh,
I suppose your specific worry stems from the fact that the batch size is huge, otherwise, this is a problem that you will face in any school, not just IMT.
I would say that if the school meets your criteria go ahead and join, do well academically, and work on other aspects of your profile.
Hope this helps,
All the best!
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The ‘only sediment settles down’ at the end! An amazing article that all of us needed sir
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I am glad the article struck home, Shruti.
Well, I had another analogy or rather another riff on a phrase that people usually use — life set ho jaayega — dahi nahi hain, ke set ho jaaye! Given the pan-India audience, I stuck to English version 🙂
All the best!
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As you said, a person should 8/10 in a particular field and a person needs to be curious to learn about everything that contributes to building a great organization. Sir, I’m interested in the finance field and have learned beginner’s level concepts. Should I go for learning the advanced concepts related to finance or start learning about the other fields like Marketing, HR? I’m preparing for CAT-21.
Thanks for this wonderful post.
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Hi Hardik,
Whichever domain you feel you are suited for, you learn more before joining and more importantly build a profile for the same; hope you went through the All About Specializations videos in the blog to learn what kind of profiles recruiters look for in Finance.
The other fields you will learn about in a b-school during an MBA.
Hope this helps,
All the best!
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Hi Sir,
Shashwat Parekh here. I read the article and saw the videos which helped me realise that I want to pursue a Consulting Career. I would like to talk to you further regarding this and gain your valuable insights. Please provide me the required guidance.
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Hi Shashwat,
You can post your queries here and I will answer them.
All the best!
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Sir i am from engineering background but i am very much interested in treading and i can set up a trade in market through technical analysis should i go for some certification courses ? The doubt is if i go for this then it seems opposite with my background so it impacts good on my profile or not?
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Hi Het,
Well, the thing is what is your goal — trading or getting into Finance as a field — if it is the latter then apart from your own trading account your profile has to be academically strong and as I mentioned in the webinar, which is posted in the blog, a CFA will be the things to do especially given that you are an engineer.
Being an engineer and getting into Finance is not a problem at all but as I said if you want the best Finance jobs you have to take up a CFA. For the admissions interviews, all that matters is that you actually know stuff and are not just expressing verbally expressing interest — so even if you do not have certifications as long as you know what you are talking about and can answer their questions you are good.
Hope this helps,
All the best!
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Hey Tony sir,
Thank you for this amazing post. Very nicely put !!
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Thanks, Afreen; I remember you from last year 🙂
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Hi Tony,
Thank you for this post. Could you elaborate on the product/ program management roles offered at top B-schools by firms such as Amazon, Flipkart and the rest. Also, are non engineers considered for the same and how to build our profile,
Yours sincerely,
Nischay
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Hi Nischay,
I am not sure if the product management roles are offered by firms such as Amazon or the tech firms such as Microsoft and Google; as far as I know, it will be the latter and not the former and for that, they usually take engineers with IT/Tech work-ex (Amazon might be taking people in for roles related to Alexa, I am not sure if those roles are called Product Management but they might definitely need a tech background)
The e-commerce firms usually take people in for roles in category management.
All of these roles are related to Sales & Marketing, so they are profiles with good ECAs and PoRs; courses in digital marketing can also add to the profile.
Hope this helps,
All the best!
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Hi sir
I am confused whether to join BLACKI or FMS given I am a Bcom fresher(SRM university) interested to get into marketing. I know results are not out yet but given my interview performances I will most probably convert one of these,. Also sir many are advising to go for an IIM rather than FMS just for the tag. What’s your advice sir?
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Hi Shirajith,
I will doa post on this once the calls are out 🙂
All the best!
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Hello Sir,
Lovely post, thoroughly enjoyed it. If it’s alright, I’d like your views on BITSOM institute. I wish to pursue to an MBA in finance specialization and take a consulting role. I’ve secured a seat in NMIMS Mumbai and awaiting results from other institutes as well. However, I am in a dilemma whether to go ahead with BITSOM as compared to NMIMS Mumbai – MBA Finance especially. BITS has mentioned that the MBB firms will be visiting their campus and they have really reputed faculty however it’s their founding batch and it’s a big risk too. If possible would like your opinion on the same.
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Hello sir, if possible please do let me know your opinion about the above query. I’m in a huge dilemma around this. What is your advice sir.
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Hi,
I do not see any reason why you are even considering BITSOM when compared to NMIMS for Finance! I do not know if it is the fee that is a constraint or if it is the BITS brand is exerting a pull.
Do not think too much, choose NM.
All the best!
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Hello Sir,
I have been diligently following your blog as well as your tips since the last year and therefore I have been quite successful in tackling CAT 2020. I have currently converted both IIMA & IIMB and would most probably FMS as well. Given that I’m inclined towards sales & marketing as well as General management roles, how should I decide which college to get admission in?
I have 2yrs workex marketing analytics, good acads, average PoRs and I have a little financial constraint (which is why considering FMS too).
Thank you
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Hi A,
Congratulations on converting A and B!
If I were you, I would choose the IIMs over FMS. Trust me when I say that you will clear off the loan soon, you are now in the big leagues so think big and not small (within the first 5 years you will make much more than the salary you graduated with)
Between A and B, A has a better reputation for Marketing and B for General Management but we are talking about very small margins here. It will not make any difference if you choose either of the two you choose.
A better method will be to choose the school where the culture-fit is better. If you can handle the really high-pressure academic culture of A, which is tougher than the rest of the schools put together also may be and this has a lot of dropouts as well, choose A. If you want a more balanced and less stressful environment choose B. I have advised students who I felt couldn’t handle the cauldron to choose B and also made students who I felt must experience the heat choose A (the former did well, the latter had a breakdown but eventually did well). Since I do not know you personally I can suggest one.
Alternatively, you can toss a coin as well because either way, you eventually win!
All the best!
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Hello Sir,
Found your blog around Sep-Oct 2020 before my CAT exam, after going through the articles the only thing that crossed my mind was was how have I not come across this before. All your articles drive home the message of being mindful about your approach( the thought/ the intent ) before tackling anything whether it is preparation for exam, interviews, b-school selection.
Since all the interviews are over and the results are coming out, I just visited the blog today half-hoping to find something aligned with the next step in my journey (Joining IMT Ghz – FT program). I was so glad to see that you have posted new articles. Thank you for that and I hope you write more content guiding aspirants like me for the 2-year journey ahead.
P.S. This is just fan-mail
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Hi Mayukh,
Really glad to hear that the blog was useful throughout your whole journey and hope you will take the learnings into all other spheres as well. I read a chapter from a book — Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind — every day; while all the chapters in that book are enlightening, to say the least, the one that I like a lot is called Quality of Being, it says that the quality of our being when we approach a task determines the outcome, determines the quality of outcome, so if our spirit is calm and one-pointed then the outcome will always be correct.
And yeah, I will keep putting up stuff for the next lot!
All the very best for your MBA!
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Hello Sir,
I will be joining a B school this year. Your video on choosing MBA specialization really cleared my mind. I have decided to pursue my career in General Management role because it resonated with my thinking and the ideal resume given by you also matches my record. Can you please suggest some books or any other type of material that would help me dive much deep into it.
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Hello Sir,
I will be joining a B School this year. Your video on choosing MBA specialization really helped me clear my mind. I have decided to pursue General Management role because I think it resonates with my thinking and the ideal resume shown by you also matched my record. Can you please suggest some good books or any other type of material for it.
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Hi Tanmay,
Glad to hear that the video helped you figure out which specialization works best for you.
In terms of books about General Management there are so many that it is tough to recommend since they fall into the business best-seller category.
You can just good greatest or best Management books of all time and choose the books based on your liking — I would suggest that you start reading these books after your MBA since you will be able to make better connections.
All the best!
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Hello Tony sir,
I am a student in the last year of my BBA. I have given cat this year and now I am targeting getting admission for MBA. As I have been provided a basic exposure to subjects that are being taught as specialization in MBA, I found that I have interest in finance but I still didn’t had that much clarity regarding what are roles that are there in the field so I watched the session conducted by you on topic of “All about MBA specialization” and that session really helped me in getting a better clarity on roles offered in it and after doing some evaluation of various roles offered in the field , I found Retail Banking to be the most suitable role for me as a career option so can you please offer some advice on what books I should read or should I get enrolled in some course to have more in-depth understanding regarding the role.
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Hello Tony sir,
I am a student in the last year of my BBA. I have given cat this year and now I am targeting getting admission for MBA. As I have been provided a basic exposure to subjects that are being taught as specialization in MBA I found that I have interest in finance but I still didn’t had that much clarity regarding what are roles that are there in it so I watched the session conducted by you on topic of “All about MBA specialization” and that session really helped me in getting a better clarity on roles offered in the field and after doing some evaluation of various roles offered in the field , I found Retail Banking to be the most suitable role for me as a career option so can you please offer some advice on what books I should read or should I get enrolled in some course to have more in-depth understanding regarding the role.
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