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5 well-known media personalities who cracked the CAT exam with great results

Praqtise — Thu, 24 Nov 2016 11:28:50 +0000

Numerous disciplines are offered if you plan to do an MBA

One evening, I was having a conversation with my father about my plans after graduating in Mass Communication. My dad suggested that I should pursue Masters in Journalism. But I was not sure if that was indeed what I wanted to pursue.

I countered my father, saying that I would like to give the CAT exam and pursue an MBA. My father said that how would I study accounts, statistics, business studies, and other subjects without having the basic knowledge. To him, MBA is limited to a few disciplines like Marketing, Finance, HR, and Operations. It was then that I told him that one could pursue an MBA in Journalism and Mass Communication as well. He stared at me wide-eyes for a few minutes, not believing what he had heard. But then again, at his age, and with such a limited exposure, who can blame him?

Let alone my father, many MBA aspirants do not have enough exposure to know the number of disciplines on offer. Avenues like Brand Communication, Media Management, Research Analytics are up for grabs.

MBA in Communication is the new ‘MBA marketing’

The concept of the conventional MBA with only a few specialisations is changing with the times. Today, you can find some of the most unconventional disciplines to pursue if you plan to crack the CAT exam and pursue MBA. And what better way to catapult your career to success than pursuing an MBA specialisation in the discipline you wish to make a career in? I wish to pursue a career in Journalism, which is the reason why I plan to pursue an MBA in Journalism or Communication. With the advent of social media and hence, social media marketing, an MBA in Communications is gradually becoming equally and even more valued than MBA in Marketing. As more and more companies start realising the importance of social media, communication, and brand management, numerous opportunities are going to open up for MBA graduates specialising in Communication and Journalism.

Five celebrities who aced the CAT exam

The following is the list of celebrities and media celebrities who have studied MBA and have scaled great heights of success.

Prasoon Joshi

We all know Prasoon Joshi for his award winning lyrical work and screenplay . However, a lot of people don’t know that he is also the CEO of McCann World Group India, which is a subsidiary of McCann Erickson, a global marketing firm. Prasoon Joshi has successfully completed his MBA from IMT, Ghaziabad, which is one of the most prestigious colleges for studying MBA in India.

John Abraham

John Abraham is one of the top stars of Bollywood. John holds an MBA from Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies in Mumbai. NMIMS is one of the most prestigious Business Schools in India.

Siddharth Suryanarayan

Siddharth who is a successful actor and an MBA graduate from SP Jain

Siddharth is a beloved actor well known for his performances in movies like Rang De Basanti. He is also a singer and a screenplay writer. Siddharth too is an MBA graduate, from SP Jain Institute of Management and Research in Mumbai.

Mini Mathur

Mini Mathur, the successful model, actress, and host; best known as the host of Indian Idol season 4. She is also a Video Jockey and has hosted many shows on the popular channel MTV. However, not many know that Mini is an MBA graduate from Institute of Management and Technology, Ghaziabad.

Ira Trivedi

Ira Trivedi is a columnist, yoga teacher, and an author. Her most popular works include ‘What Would You Do to Save The World’ and ‘The Great Indian Love Story’. Ira Trivedi is as a successful MBA graduate from the Columbia School of Business.

PRAQTISE Fact File

Mallika Sarabhai is yet another minor celebrity turned politician who cleared the CAT exam and pursued MBA from the most prestigious B-School in India – IIM Ahmedabad. Similarly, Deepika Narayan Bhardwaj, the independent film-maker holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Journalism from the Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media.

A Praqtical Look

It is inspiring to look forward to a role model in the field that you want to pursue. Knowing that people who have studied the same discipline have excelled at whatever they have done gives you the much-needed motivation to achieve your career goals. Keeping an update of the successful people in the discipline which you want to follow can inspire and motivate you in the right direction.

Which of your heroes also hold management degrees? Do share with us in the comments.

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Image Sources

Prasoon Joshi

John Abraham

Siddharth Suryanarayan

Mini Mathur

Ira Trivedi

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Five women who choose unconventional careers after MBA specialization

Praqtise — Thu, 27 Oct 2016 09:32:11 +0000

Shreya’s life at IIM-L was one that was truly memorable. This included the frequent secret outings as well as the periodic bouts of craziness. She was never too interested in studies; however, she always had a knack for the creative and the crazy. She used to persuade and help her friends whenever they had second thoughts during the late night hostel bunking, or the early morning trek into the hills. After coming out of IIM-L, almost all of her friends took up dream jobs, with great salaries, perks, paid leaves, and guaranteed personal growth.

However, whenever her friends wanted to get out of the mundane routine of their everyday lives, they would go to Shreya for some much-needed respite. However, Shreya did not care much about them, especially when it came to pushing them out of an aeroplane! Oh, do not take that part too seriously. What I meant to say was, even when her friends screamed on top of their lungs, she would carry them to the door of the plane and jump with them into the skies. I’m sorry if I sound too vague, but it might be because of the fact that I have not told you how Shreya became a full-fledged sky-diving instructor after her exit from IIM-L. But, that is a story for another time…

MBA aspirants are usually consumed with the need to have a secure job and a six-digit salary, rather than using their experience for exploration of unknown and unconventional professions. They want more from their career, which is gratifying and satisfying at the same time. These people have the capability to leave their MBA salary and job to venture into uncharted territories and achieve something truly unique. The world has many examples of people who dared to do this.

So let’s look at five ladies who dared to choose an unconventional career after MBA specialization.

Parineeti Chopra

Parineeti Chopra has a triple honours degree in business, finance and economics from Manchester Business School in the UK, with a dream to be an investment banker. However, the 2008-09 recession forced her to return to India. Here she landed an internship at Yashraj Studios as a PR consultant. By spending more time on the sets and learning about filmmaking, she went ahead to become an actress in the Bollywood. Her first movie was Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl, and since then, she has not stopped excelling in her passion.

Rashmi Bansal

Rashmi Bansal is the author of 2 bestselling novels – Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish and Connect the Dots. She is an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad. Being a scholar throughout her life, Rashmi is a prolific writer with over 100 articles featured in leading newspapers and magazines. She initially took a job as a brand manager at BCCL but now she is a renowned author and entrepreneur. Most of her books have been on entrepreneurship and successful startups.

Richa Kar

As the founder and CEO of Indian lingerie e-tailer, Zivame, Richa Kar has been a successful entrepreneur. She holds an MBA degree from NMIMS and has worked for companies like Spencers and SAP retail consulting. During her stint in the corporate world, she learnt that there was social discomfort surrounding lingerie shopping in India, which created problems for consumers as well as retailers. This lead to the beginning of her entrepreneurial venture in the form of an online lingerie store, which is now a leader in its domain. The store offers more than 5,000 styles, 50 brands and 100 sizes.

Chhavi Rajwat

Popularly known as the Sarpanch with an MBA, Chhavi made headlines in 2011 for being the youngest Sarpanch in India. She has studied at LSR and completed MBA specialization from Sri Balaji Society, Pune. This got her into a regular MBA jobs at a top corporate. But, she gave up her job to help in the development of Rural India. Now, she is taking the lead in the development of Soda Village in Rajasthan. She has implemented many projects successfully, like rainwater harvesting, toilets facilities and more in her stint as a Sarpanch.

Sona Mohapatra

People know Sona Mohapatra as an Indian singer, music composer and lyricist. She has sung famous songs like “Ambarsariya”, “Jiya lage na”, etc. But not many know that she has an MBA specialization from the Symbiosis Centre for Management & HRD, Pune in Marketing & Systems. Before pursuing a full-time career in the music industry, she has worked on big brands like Marico, Parachute and Medikar. But, passion is greater than big brand names, so now she works on her music and creates wonderful pieces for her dedicated audiences.

Praqtise Fact File:

Person	First Job
Parineeti Chopra	PR Consultant
Rashmi Bansal	Brand manager
Richa Kar	Retail Consultant
Sona Mohapatra	Brand manager

A Praqtical Look: Getting an MBA specialization does not mean that you have to do only an MBA job. If one has dreams and passions beyond their current state, they should give it a try. Take up a job that gratifies and satisfies you and not the one which is set in stone because of an education degree.

Do you agree, tell us in the comments?

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Image sources:

Parineeti Rashmi Richa Chhavi Sona

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Five Non-Mainstream MBA Jobs offered to B-school students

Praqtise — Mon, 10 Oct 2016 12:51:02 +0000

Management studies opens up a plethora of career options from construction management, tourism management to luxury management and so on. We see MBA jobs opening up in an increasing number of unconventional domains.

One aspiring to land up in the non-profit sector can now achieve this through their MBA degree. Similarly, students with a strong inclination towards arts can now combine their vocation and avocation in placements.

A lot of hype is created by the best MBA colleges in India, about dream jobs like a brand manager at HUL, a consultant at KPMG or an analyst at Barclays. But careers after an MBA shouldn’t be restricted to these. Instead, there are lots of dream jobs waiting for those wanting to get into non-mainstream (from an MBA perspective) sectors.

We compiled a list of non-mainstream job areas that have taken in MBA students in significant numbers in recent years:

MBA JOBS IN NGO

NGO’s provide an excellent outlet for a broad range of society’s skills and labour force, remarked Peter Drucker, a management thinker. A research study indicated that there are 19 million people employed full time in this non-profit sector. When it comes to MBA graduates, they have the skills (strategic as well as analytical) and accreditations which non-profit segments need.

PRAQTISE Factfile: Habitat for Humanity International, which aims to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness, has recruited an MBA team that won the Hult Global Case Challenge for 2012. The students exhibited proficiency in planning and organising limited resources, much akin to the working environment in an NGO. Such jobs also offer good exposure since the stakeholders involved are large entities such as local communities, environmental bodies, governments, etc.

NGO’s: Teach for India, Goonj, SOS, Rotary Club, Give India

MBA JOBS IN PERFORMING ARTS & CULTURE

Every one of us has hobbies since our childhood whether its dance, drama or music. MBA careers have now opened up even in performing arts and culture. Today, there is a realisation of inculcating business and administrative skills in creative fields like those of entertainment, film, theatre and stand-up comedy. As a result, many companies look for a blend of management and artistic knowledge including Book My Show, Wiz Craft, Canvas Laugh Factory, Yashraj Studios, TVF and MTV Indies.

MBA JOBS IN AGRI – BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

Agri-business sector is growing rapidly with a CAGR of 13%. IFAMA, 2012 reports confirmed that food and agriculture business is going to triple itself by 2020. It presents huge opportunities with the scale of investment required in production and processing. Hence it is on an exponential trajectory and demands people with managerial skills. It opens up opportunities to work with government (NABARD, FACT, and FCI) and non-government organisations. Also, the scope is not limited to PSU and NGO’s but extends to FMCG; retail chains like Big Bazar, Reliance Fresh; organic food producers, biotech food manufacturers; and food processing companies. It requires one to be very operation and quality oriented.

GREEN JOBS AFTER MBA

Green jobs have been on the rise and are going to thrive for another decade. Clean energy and sustainable development are issues of global importance. Companies like ITC, HUL advocate the ‘Triple Bottom Line’ concept of ‘People, Planet and Profits’. As a result, firms are always on the hunt for efficient and diligent MBA professionals. Managing finance, law, logistics and marketing requires significant expertise. Many companies like Tata, SBI, Amul, Taj, and Godrej are adopting green marketing practices and policies. MBA professionals contribute by designing campaigns to educate customers and reach them. Some of the best MBA colleges in India like IIM Lucknow, TERI University, IMTS, Amity Institute of Energy and Environment are providing MBA courses in areas such as environmental management, sustainability & disaster management.

MBA JOBS IN SPORTS MANAGEMENT

Sports Management is one field that is growing with increasing grandeur of events such as RIO Olympics, UEFA league, T-20 World Cups, Futsal, IPL and EPL. A greater number of MBA graduates are taking up sports as a career option. Job profiles include roles such as organisers, managers for teams and spokespersons. NBA, NFL, MLB, EPL, NHL, and PGA – the biggest of sports leagues are expanding aggressively, with no signs of slowing down. This field is ideal for people who are sports enthusiasts as well as have credible business acumen. Today games like Football, which has a market size of $28 billion each year presents a plethora of opportunities for football freaks such as team managers for football clubs, customer and ticketing managers and officials of governing bodies.

A Praqtical Look: Strong and sincere passion should dictate the choice of going for a non-mainstream job. Entering into verticals such as sports management or the non-profit sector will require more than just a managerial outlook. In the long run, a person possessing the genuine interest in such fields is likely to reach further than one treating it just as a job.

What is the most interesting non-mainstream MBA job that you have heard about? Do tell us about it in the comments.

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Image Source:

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