Q&A Highlights from the recent ISB alum chat on 1st September!
I never understood, does it really matter if u are in IT field or some other field(ultimately the same pool engineers)anujbairoliya Yes it does matter engineer is a big pool, applications are bucketed further as per work ex and field of engineering
Hello Anuj, can you please shed some light on how helpful are the social and professional clubs at ISB, when one needs to change his career industry post MBA Like healthcare to Consulting or Construction to FinanceanujbairoliyaYes they are of great help. From my personal experience, I am the L&D coordinator of consulting club here, so have seen so many people changing sectors. If you see the past student history of ISB also, a lot of healthcare professionals have changed to consulting. The professional clubs organize sessions to prepare you for the job interviews and to give you an overview of the sector/ industry you are targeting.
how does ISB compare ppl with different backgroundsanujbairoliyaYou are compared with people from the same background. Applications are bucketed as per the background and experience. Adcom tries their best to compare profiles in same bucket.
Hello Anuj - Can you please shed some light on the importance/weight-age of an international work experience at ISB? ThanksanujbairoliyaIt depends more on the quality of work experience rather than on number of years or countries. I have seen few applicants with outright international experience getting rejected.
does ISB prefer 10+ years experience candidates? how much approx. percentage of students in ISB are 10+ years experience?anujbairoliyaYes there are ppl with 10+ years of experience. Our Senior Executive Club (ppl with 7+ years of work ex) is 50+ members.
i applied for ISB last year , but not selected , Should i reapply this year with same Score ? Does it make sense ?anujbairoliyaYou will need to first think that where did you go wrong. Score if it is 700 or above doesn’t matter much. Also think what changes/ additions you have made in your profile in last 1 year, which the Adcom will see as a significant change.
ISB being a 1 year course, how much does the preMBA work ex matter when it comes to Consulting placements ?anujbairoliyaConsulting companies here want to see more than your work ex. If your profile shows straits of leadership, analytical thinking, structured thought process, extra curricular achievements; then you are a good candidate for them.
How is an MBA, particularly from ISB helping in your career progression?anujbairoliyaan MBA from ISB gives you a platform to build and learn skills which you might not have developed till now. You get a network of some amazing peers and alumni who have done absolutely brilliant work in their field. You are pushed to your core in terms of work pressure so that you get used to the feeling. At ISB you will learn from the world class faculties who can guide you in whatever indutry you want to go in future
given that ISB is still a certification course, how do ISB students fare in the international market ? Specially in the first change on company to an MNC.anujbairoliyaOur international placements are not that great especially just after ISB. About 30-40 students get an international job from placements. But a change in country is possible after working for few years in your post ISB job. What I know is that once you are out of ISB and you start your career, nobody thinks of ISB as certificate program, you are as good as an MBA from IIM or LBS.
can you share some light on the bidding process at ISB for electives? Eg; - How does this process work? Is there live tracker where students can see the max bidder? What hppens if you are out of points?anujbairoliyaSo we just started with Term 4 which is an cross-over terms. There is a platform where students bids for electives and every student gets 4500 points for completing 17 electives. You will never run out of points as by default system reserves 100 points (which is minimum for any subject) for all 17 electives. But again this is students responsibility to make sure he completes his 17 electives in the allocated points and also complete one specialisation. If a student is not able to do so then he will not be allowed to graduate. do not worry on this now, you will have ample guidance once you are in ISB.
what made you realise that ISB was the right choice?anujbairoliyaI was looking for a program in Asia and NUS and ISB were my first preference. I dint get NUS and had an admit from SMU. I was all set for going to SMU but then ISB happend. With ISB the advantage was that there was a clear career services process and I would not had to loose getting a job just because of visa issues. I knew a lot of alums and everyone was appreciative of the academics and the college facilities. We have some top faculties visiting and the batch is super diverse. After being here for 5 months now, I am happy that I made the right decision.
can you tell which are the electives / profs that are the best (according to you) and which one must attend?anujbairoliyaOperations and Marketing is a very strong area in ISB. We have some great resident faculty and some amazing visitng faculty. Prof such as Bhagwan Chaudhary, Radhika puri (wife of raghuram rajan), sarang deo, milind sohoni are absolutely amazing
Any love/hate for Hyderabad? What you like and dislike most about your campus?anujbairoliyacampus is amazing. You will never get bored out of this place. ISB has a great infra in terms of living and recreation facilities. Hyderabad- Not much explored till now but monsoons are a real beauty. Looks like a peaceful city.
How does ISB help to switch the Career from IT to Consulting/Mgmt?anujbairoliyaISB is know as a consulting school. Almost 30% placements is in consulting companies. Consulting Companies here do not differentiate based on background. You can use this 1 year to take courses in finance, marketing, organizational management, operations which you had not learnt till now. This can really help in building a great profile. And also be active in the club activities as they host some amazing learning sessions.
Is there a campus exchange that between the Mohali and HYD campus?anujbairoliyaYes you can go for campus exchange in term 3, 5, 7 and 8
what are the must do activities/Co-Curriculars during the course at ISB, that one must participate in to boost his career/personality ?anujbairoliyaDepends on what your interests are. There is plethora of activities going on. For the first 2 months I was just running around trying to be part of everything but I could not attend even half the activities :p. But in terms of professional extra curricular workshops related to product management, consulting case preps, and marketing sessions are the highest attended session.
How will isb help to transform one from executive to manager in terms of decision makinganujbairoliyaYou will learn here what you have not till now. Eg. An IT engineer will learn finance, marketing, OB etc. which will help him broaden his thinking and get ready to take the managerial position. But a greater learning is outside the classroom where you interact with you peers and learn about their experience.
How the course structure build in finance ,as MBA is only for 1 year?anujbairoliyaYou can choose to specialise in finance or just take electives. 1 year is divided into 8 terms with 4 core and 4 elective terms.