1. How u find the current scenario of corporate world?

That really depends on what sector and industry you are joining. I can speak for IT services, and there is a bit of apprehension owing to overall global economic slowdown and new visa rules that US has passed and will take effect in 2015. However, we are also optimistic that newer technologies like cloud, mobility, social media and analytics will help us find newer and more profitable revenue streams. However, leaving IT aside, if we are to consider the global business scenario, we are still in a recovery phase and all industries (baring energy which is always doing well) are hoping for an uptick in business over the next 2 financial years and hopefully we will be back to pre-2008 levels by 2016-17. By the time most of you will be out of business school, the gloominess should all be over. 2. How is MBA study different from real world professional life? I dont think its very different and most MBA courses (hopefully) are designed to mirror real world of business. That being said, only a fraction of your MBA learning would be required, while some of you may be applying marketing concepts, some would find Excel very useful while others may find their quant courses useful. That being said, there may be a few things you have to unlearn when you get into real life and some of your notions, particularly around people and their motivations, would be challenged. You would also realize that most of the work you do would be mundane and wont require much intellectual prowess, just punctuality and diligence. 3. Share your experience of being manager. Good: I have been lucky to have been in 4 different roles in 12 months and I learnt a lot of how the business work and how its organized across various units. I have also gotten opportunity to work on the companys strategy team Have been part of team across various geographical locations. I got to apply some of my MBA learning and worked with senior leaders like the Chief Human Resources Officer, Chief Strategy Office and Senior Vice Presidents. Bad: As a manager you dont have fixed hours, so while you may leave office at 1 pm on one day you may have to work till 2am on another or sacrifice your weekends. People expect you to get the job done, doesnt matter if it takes you one hour or ten.

You are expected to pick up things fast and hit the ground running. What others got years to figure out, you are expected to figure out in days if not hours While your boss liking your work and appreciating your intelligence is great, sometimes it so happens that he wants you on all important initiatives and you are stretched thin and get way too much work in your hand People are averse to change. But you have to nudge and push them to follow through.

Other learning Learn to make yourself redundant. It is great if you are good at something or if are the only one who knows to do something in the team. As an example, I had designing a comprehensive sales review dashboard for our team and it was better than anything we were using then. It was well liked and I was given the job of populating it weekly and leading the sales review meeting every week. However, populating the dashboard wasnt much of a challenge (designing it was) and any lower level employee who knew excel could do it. I realized that this dashboard was taking up my time which I could use in something else more productive. So I taught another guy to populate it weekly and I moved on to other things. Most people, if they are good at something, keep doing it and dont do anything new. Thats a sure way to become irrelevant in the long run. Instead, try to make yourself redundant and you will see that you are more valuable to your company. You can learn from everyone, right from the CEO to someone junior to you but who has been working for a few years in the company. So be humble and learn

4. What challenges did you face? I was asked to make a BPO process more efficient and I had no experience in BPOs and I was never good at HR and BPOs (I am more of a quant guy) are primarily about managing people. I overlooked the human aspect and focused on the quantitative aspects which I was more comfortable with. I prefer working with a boss/manager who gives me an overall direction and then lets me go about doing it the way I want. I had this one boss who was a bit of a micro manager and was resistant to pretty much any change in the way she had been doing things, It frustrated me to no end. However, I know a lot of people who like themselves to be micromanaged and dont question much and worked well under her. 5. How did you deal with conflicts and chaos?

I usually never enter into a conflict. However, I had this one back biting co-worker who spoke ill of me to the boss in my absence. Since, I was new to the team, the boss seemed to believe it. However, I remained cordial with the co-worker but aloof and I worked extra hard to prove to the boss that she was lying. I prefer to let my work do the talking. Another time my boss blamed for delay in a piece of work whereas the delay was due to my boss not doing her part on time. I stayed quiet because it was just once incident and I could let it pass. I dont intend to make a stand on every issue, just the ones that really matter Chaos: Most of the chaos has been of my own creation because, like most of you, I have the student syndrome; I procrastinate. Once in a while, chaos has come in the form of last minute work. Thankfully, I have what one of my boss called happy go lucky attitude. I am rarely flustered and you can see me listening to music on my earphones even at the most tense moments.

6. What quality a manager should have? People skills. You need to be able to relate to, motivate, encourage and butter people if needed. You should be comfortable with the CEO as well as the entry level guy. Clarity of purpose and calmness: You are the captain of your small ship. Dont lose sight of your destination Ability to prioritize different tasks, Everyone wants their work done ASAP, you decide whats important Figuring out what data you need to make a decision. Self-motivation Good communicator. Very Very important Leading by example Flexibility Reliability Assessing people. Understand everyones working style and what makes them tick

7. What quality should a fresher have for bright career? Always keep learning. Keep your ears open Take extra projects. You will learn more Keep your boss happy. And also make your boss look good in front of his boss Quantitative skills. At a lower management level, quant skills are important. As you go higher up, they become less important because someone else will do it for you

Keep informed. About your industry, your competitors, your clients and the world in general Cultivate your own brand: Who are you? What do you like? What are you good at? Why should people know you? For example: In my company, people know me as the quant guy, I can do statistical models and come up with insights based on data where no one thought one exists. They also know me for getting things done in very limited time and being always chilled out, even in tense moments. Sadly, they also know me for procrastination and many take my chilled out attitude as a lack of seriousness. So beware, what kind of brand you build because you may also end up sending negative signals.

8. Guide me about what we should do during dis 1 year, till our placement time? Get a few certifications like CFA etc. Participate in a few co-curricular contests and build a good CV Take a lot of varied courses, even a few that you think you wont like (assuming your b-school have optional courses) In your second year, at least have a vague idea of what you want to do post MBA like a set of 2-3 different roles that you would like. Then focus on those few.