How I prepared for MBA entrance exams: Jaffy Gill

From the time I had cleared my 12^th boards, I was clear in my mind as to which career path I want to follow. I wanted a corporate job for which the most logical and sensible option was to undergo a professional course. But before that I had complete Graduation. After 12^th, I had two options, either to go for Delhi University Bachelor’s program or to pursue an undergraduate business course such as BBA. I opted for BBA as I had planned to do MBA later on and I thought the BBA course will lay the foundation for the MBA course.

After completing my BBA course I started looking out for MBA courses offered by different institutes and universities. I learnt that every university and institute offers admissions on the basis of the CAT percentile or MAT score or CMAT score. Honestly, I had never ever heard about these exams before. So I started to gather information about these entrances exams. After understanding the basics of these entrance exams I identified my weak areas, primarily Quantitative Ability. I also took some tips and suggestions from my seniors who had appeared for these entrances earlier. I also learnt that the trick of cracking these exams is using shortcut methods as all these exams evaluate the candidate on the basis of their time management skills. So I started practicing by solving sample question papers in the allocated time frame using the shortcut tips and methods. Also I went through the basics of certain topics in which I didn’t have a strong grip.

Challenges faced in MBA preparation

During my preparations for MBA entrance exams I faced a couple of challenges. The primary one being performing well in the Quantitative Ability section as these entrance exams have individual sectional cut offs. So one needs to perform equally well in all the sections and in my case I wasn’t great with Mathematics and numbers.

The other challenge which I faced was choosing my MBA college on the basis of location. Since I am based out of Delhi, my family didn’t want me to go out of Delhi for further studies, which in turn limited my choices.

Prep strategy for MBA entrance

I first focused upon getting my fundamentals right. Then I started practising questions with increasing level of difficulty. Then I started practising the questions within a time frame of 2 - 3 minutes per question.

To handle time management, I made a time table for the day in which I had allocated majority of my time in studying Quantitative Ability, followed by Data Interpretations and so on. I always used to have a session of not more than 50 minutes followed by a break of 15 minutes. Also I kept 45 minutes of outdoor activity time every evening.

Quantitative Ability was my weak area as I was not good with numbers. But I took help from my seniors and focused upon the basics. My goal was never to attempt all the questions but to attempt only those questions in which I had a surety of getting the right answer.

I don’t feel it is important to join a coaching institute as these institutes only tell you the short cuts of solving the questions and how can you improve upon your time utilization. I feel these things can be learnt by self also.

Also many students feel that one’s concentration level increase while they are at the coaching center. Here I beg to differ as it all depends upon the dedication of the student, if he or she is dedicated then the student can get the same or better results while preparing on his own.

How I selected my MBA Specialization

During the 2^nd year of my Graduation I was introduced to different management subjects such as HR, Marketing, Finance and Operations. At that point of time I had developed interest towards Marketing and HR. Post the completion of my 2^nd year I had undergone a summer internship program in the field of Sales and Marketing. My experience post the internship was not good so I decided to explore HR. Later on when I started with my MBA from Apeejay School of Management, I was again introduced to HR and other managerial subjects and HR again caught my fascination. Post my 1^st year in Post-Graduation I had to undergo a summer internship and I chose to go for a HR internship. After the completion of my internship I got an assurance that HR is the right specialization which I should be going for. Later on in my second year of MBA I was introduced to some core HR subjects like Training and Development, Compensation and Benefits. There I again got a reassurance that HR is the right career path which I want to follow to get a corporate job.

About the Author:

I am Jaffy Gill. I completed BBA (B&I) from IP University and MBA (HR and Finance) from Apeejay School of Management. I started my corporate journey with Sapient Nitro as a HR Associate. I have worked with Arrows group Global as IT Recruiter and Asian Education Group (AEG) as Assistant Manager Corporate Relations.