Students’ Speak: What’s next after you have appeared for a management entrance exam

By: Utkarsh Rastogi

Prepare for interviews as you approach the result of your respective exam. Take mock interviews and work on the feedback.

Taking a competitive exam might feel like it's all done but, the reality is that it has all just started. Giving an exam takes a toll on you because of the hard work put in. But the fact is that if do not think through the post-exam time, the chances of conversion go down.

Even though you might have excelled in the exam, lack of preparation might hurt your chances of getting into your dream college. But this doesn't mean that you should get all stressed. In the initial one week, to take the steam off, do whatever you can to distract you from all the stress.

However, after the one week, pull up your socks for another three months of vigorous schedule that will help you get through. If you have had coaching from some institute for your exams, approach them to schedule as many GDs, case discussions as possible. And with all this start prepping up for the interview.

Start reading about business and recent activities that happen to impact business extraordinarily. If you have applied for a specific stream, read articles related to that stream. If possible, refer to the Harvard Business Review for such articles. Harvard Business Review has excellent quality articles that can provide you with comprehensive knowledge which would further help you in tackling the interview questions and well as it will help you to make relevant arguments in the Group Discussions. Also, Harvard Business Review will give you a 360-degree understanding of various cases which will help you in case discussions.

Now, one thing that you cannot ignore is newspaper reading. A newspaper will keep you updated with what is happening around the world. Some good newspapers include Mint, The Hindu and Economic Times. Once you have included everything stated above in your schedule, start looking out for the most commonly asked questions in an interview of your target colleges.

As you are approaching the result of your respective exams, start preparing for interviews in full force. Ask your institute to set up your mock interviews and keep at least one week between two mock interviews. This will give you enough time to work upon the feedback from the previous mock. Also, start researching about the colleges you are selected for after the results of the exams are out. Sometimes you get stuck at questions about the colleges and half information would project your lack of interest. Also start preparing for personal questions such as something about yourself, strengths and weaknesses, long term career goals. These question won't give you an edge in the interview but the inability to answer these question properly would surely have a negative impact. One thing to take care of is that you must continuously dedicate yourself to the schedule you have built. Keep your heads high and believe in yourself.

About the Author:

Utkarsh Rastogi is a student at University Business School, Panjab University, pursuing MBA in International Business. He is fascinated by the power of analytics and particularly marketing analytics. He has also been a part of the core organising team of TEDx as well as a Management Conclave in the past.