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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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Parineeti Rashmi Richa Chhavi Sona

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MBA jobs for female candidates in 2016

Praqtise — Mon, 19 Sep 2016 08:30:35 +0000

After completing the management degree, the big question pops up- what about the right MBA jobs for females? All you know is that you need a job. But you go through a series of doubts. You don’t know which job you want or what package. What will be a good environment for a female to work in? Is the company favourable to hiring women? Will there be any late working hours?

To encourage the presence of female workers, companies come up with various female-friendly policies such as transportation arrangements and maternity leaves. However, the fact that female workers are still a subject of discussion, itself shows that inequality persists. Why is women employment regarded as a topic, which requires special attention in the first place?

Overview of the female workforce

It is assumed that gender roles are blurring, and more women are opting to work. However, an article in Mint suggests even though we are urbanizing, the number of female workers is high only in states with better sex ratio and high female literacy. It mentions that only a quarter of the women population is employed.

Economic Times came up with the following statistics. The following table shows that even the top companies in India, have an unhealthy gender ratio.

Why do the above companies have such low number of women employees?

To be fair, most of the above companies belong to the manufacturing or heavy industrial sector. Women generally do not prefer to work in these sectors.

MBA jobs – How campus placements are different…

Recognized companies follow a hiring ratio to promote employee diversity. Women are provided with the same options as men. In MBA jobs, for example, they are provided opportunities to work in industrial areas or given the opportunity of a field sales job. During campus placement, the same offers are available to both male and female students. It is all based on your academic merit. All this is ensured so that women, who are equally talented, get the job they deserve. In case you are wondering how to start on searching for jobs after MBA we have listed a few options which would best suit a female candidate:

Explore Human Resource Management

As HR functions require soft skills, Human Resource has been a preferable choice for women for a long time. If you have a specialization in HR, go for MBA jobs in recruitment, admin, generalist, etc. The salary ranges for an MBA in HR are different for each category. Recruitment, training, evaluation etc. are tasks that corporates have to keep performing on a daily basis. Hence, there is always a demand for MBA HR professionals.

For the Marketing geeks

If you have done your MBA in marketing, you have the advantage of choosing from a variety of options ranging from sales, advertising, public relations, research, etc. If you’re into advertising, start your career from prestigious advertising companies. They have good hiring ratio. Furthermore, companies also often prefer female candidates in public relations. The MBA salary ranges for each specialization can vary. However, according to India Today, a marketing professional can earn an average pay of 6-7 lacs annually, and it can go up to 22 lacs with increasing experience.

Career in Finance

A degree in finance opens up opportunities for MBA jobs in the BFSI sector as well as corporate finance roles. These companies are among the biggest recruiters for MBA finance students. Payscale.com offers statistics which show that average salaries in finance are higher than other sectors and is therefore a very good career choice after MBA

IT professionals

IT companies like Capgemini, Google, etc., are hiring more women for the technical roles to bridge the gender gap in the organisation. Companies are enforcing laws for promoting equality. For example, Accenture has a formal community for women employees to bring about their inclusiveness in the organisation.

Jobs in Hospitality and Tourism

Hospitality already consists of up to 50% female workforce. To add grace and elegance in the hospitality industry, women employees are given priority. If you have an MBA in hospitality and tourism, then you can try for management roles in top hotels or tourist companies. For example, Marriott is working on hiring more female employees not only on middle and lower level of management but on top level management as well to improve its diversity. According to Economic Times, Marriott is currently employing 1200 women across India out of which 25% are managers.

Ever wondered why a female never delivered your pizza? Or why you didn’t have female cab drivers that drove you home?

PRAQTISE Fact File: According to a report by Times of India, women are taking jobs in which males held an upper hand. More women have started taking odd jobs like rickshaw drivers, security guards, and delivery executive.

A Praqtical Look

This is the other element we have to add. As per a TOI article, following was the share of women employees in various sectors:

Sectors	Percentage
Dairy production	93%
HR services	60%
Small scale industries	58%
Apparel, fashion, and textile	51%
Hospitality	50%
Financial services and Insurance	44%
Software Services	44%
Media and development	40%
Leather and food products	30%
Pharmaceuticals	30%
Wholesale and retail	30%
Electronic products	23%
Chemical products	23%
Automobile	20%
Manufacturing	18%
Mining	18%
Infrastructure	7%

The reason why certain sectors have high numbers of women in the workforce is the ease of maintaining work life balance. We no longer live in a time where genders follow a particular set of rules. Breaking stereotypes is what the current generation is doing. No gender is confined to just a particular place anymore. Try and pick a good career option, not just a job.

So, it seems like MBA offers a fair opportunity for female candidates. Do you agree, tell us in the comments.

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