Almost
ten months back, I was facing a huge dilemma. It was the financial year end and
I was putting in 11-12 hours daily at work. It was my first job and I had been
working for around six months. As a trainee, I wasn’t expected to work till
late but since everyone in the department was doing it, I too felt responsible
to do the same. At the time of appraisals, I was informed that even though
people with six months experience were eligible for the appraisals, I wouldn’t
be considered for it as I was a Trainee Engineer. I was speechless. I had put
in a lot of hours for the company when I wasn’t supposed to and that’s how the
company repaid my loyalty. This made me question my choice to work in the
company.
After
I had given my 12th std. board exams, I visited my elder brother’s
workplace at Mahindra and Mahindra. He worked in the Engine Production Unit and
I was fascinated when I saw how they produced 325 engines in one day. The
planning and scheduling that went into successfully completing their production
target was commendable and that was the moment when I decided to do an MBA.
During
engineering, after months of research, I had decided to work for two years and then
pursue MBA. But with the current scenario at work, I decided to take a leap of
faith on my ability to crack the management exams and put in my resignation. It
was a huge risk on my part to chase my dreams but I had made up my mind to
continue with my bold step and not back down.
By the
time I took this decision, the most-dreaded management exam of the country, CAT,
was just two months away. Knowing that being in the top 1% in CAT wasn’t a
realistic option, I weighed in my other options. I found that apart from CAT,
there were many other exams like IIFT, NMAT, XAT, SNAP etc. which provided similar
opportunities (though nothing like the coveted IIMs).
My one
month notice period went hassle free and I still managed to study four hours every
day. After I was done with my job, I made sure I studied every day for at least
8 hours. The first exam of the season, IIFT, was an eye-opener for me as I was
unable to complete my paper. Being an engineer, I blindly tried to solve all
the questions and it was my undoing. I learnt from my mistake and worked on strengthening
my question selection while increasing my speed calculation ability. This helped
me in NMAT, SNAP and XAT. The results were out in December and I had done
exceedingly well in NMAT and SNAP. My risk had paid off and I had cracked these
exams.
It was
now turn for Phase 2- Cracking the Group Discussion-Personal Interview. Now,
students have this inbred fear that without knowing specific facts, one cannot
crack a GD-PI. It’s a myth. As long as you’re confident with your preparation
and make smart entries in a GD, you’ll do just fine. By the time I completed
the GD-PI process of my converted calls, I was totally relaxed as I had
honestly given my best shot.
On 4th
March 2015, I received a mail from NMIMS that I was selected for the full-time
MBA course. My hard work had paid off. This is but just the first step. The
future looks bright again and I’m looking forward to beginning a new chapter in
my life.