My Journey from IT to Management: Abanindra Dey

There were multiple parameters I needed to take a look at before choosing NITK and choosing my specialization for MBA.

Some of the factors for choosing NITK, Surathkal were:

1) Its brand name and its value, as NITK is known for its excellence

2) Its ROI (Return on Investment) value, where you need to take a look at the amount you have invested in completing your course and the package you will be offered after your course

3) The student to teacher ratio- I made sure I am taken well care of and I get ample space and opportunities to connect and discuss with the faculty members my career and the way ahead

Why MBA?

1) I had already worked in IT for 40 months, so I wanted to change my domain i.e. from working as a developer to working in management.

2) While working in the IT Industry, I had made a good rapport with many people having different skills such as developers, testers, business management team, business analysts. I used to find interest in business analytics and business management teams. This made me want to pursue a career in those fields. So I followed my aim and started preparing for MBA.

3) In addition to my interest of working as business analyst or in a business management team, I also had an interest in domains of operations, marketing research, and analytics.

Being a NITK student has its own value. Admission to a management course (MBA) in NITK is based on the CAT (Common Admission Test) score or GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test) score and the professional record. The record includes the past educational records and work experiences, along with the performance during PI and GD rounds. Due to my performance in all those, I got qualified for MBA at NITK.

Mentioned below is a division of criteria on which you will be evaluated for an MBA seat at NITK-

Out of the two options (CAT and GMAT score) for getting a seat at NITK, I sat for CAT 2017.

Talking about my preparation for CAT exam, I had materials of some coaching classes which I got from one of my friends. Along with the physical materials, I took help of online videos (YouTube) to get through the CAT exam. Along with that, I had friends from MBA background who helped me in preparing for CAT, as it was difficult on my part to join any coaching classes physically due to my nature of work (24/7 Application Support).

I only tried for NITK Surathkal for pursuing MBA and I was lucky to get a seat at a national-level institute.

NITK has a big campus in itself and there are people from multiple backgrounds (from all parts of India) and multiple educational specializations, and it’s a great opportunity to interact with them. It is very helpful as I get a chance to learn about them and their areas of interest, and look at things from different perspectives. Along with my daily study, I use my time trying to develop a network with people, which is a basic way of working in a management team.

I love attending all the classes but classes related to the latest trends in market are the ones which I pay most attention to (learning Excel, learning R, learning about Marketing Research, etc). I like communication classes like Corporate Communications and Organizational Behavior as they help me learn more about everything going on in the market, and open up a number of ways of communicating with people.

If given a chance, I would love to explore a few fields of my interest like Operations, Data Analytics, Machine Learning, and Marketing Research. Being in a college which is so diversified in terms of its faculty members and students, it’s easy to learn things and look at a particular thing in ‘n’ number of ways.

Here, there are many opportunities for working in co-curricular activities like attending seminars, attending workshops, and attending sports meets, which is something I am most interested in. NITK gives ample opportunities for entertainment too. It conducts various fests. Here in NITK, every department has its own fest, like, for MBA, we have Bizwaves which we conduct around the month of October of every year. Similarly, different departments such as B.Tech, MCA, etc. have their own fests.

The college experiences have changed me a lot in terms of learning things. The only thing that had been missing in my life earlier was staying at a hostel. Here, staying at a hostel and being in contact with many people from different places has helped me a lot in developing myself. Being at home and being disciplined is common, but staying at a hostel and leading a disciplined life is what I have learned, and that is the best thing that has happened in my life.

Adding on to all these experiences, another thing which I love is the beauty of the city. There’s a sea beach nearby. Also, there are many tourist places like Chikmagalur, Coorg, etc. nearby which are well-regarded as beautiful places to visit.

About the Author:

I completed my B.Tech in 2014 and then went on to join Accenture as a developer (2015-2018). I worked around multiple domains and multiple technologies before changing my mind to pursue MBA from NITK, Surathkal.

I find travelling, reading books, and going through inspirational videos on YouTube fascinating.