Last month (August, 2016) we had the privilege of meeting and interacting with Dr.

Raghuram Rajan (yes, the rockstar, who also happened to be my boss till 7 days ago
(4th Sept)).

At the open interactive session someone asked him exactly this question. Why do most
Indians pursue MBA after BTech? (Rajan Sir had himself done that).

He first laughed and admitted that he too had to face that nagging question early on in
his career.

The rest of the answer in his words:

“Somewhere in the third year I lost interest in engineering. It is then that I decided I
would go for MBA. And after graduating from IIM-A I joined Tata Administrative
Services. I was taken on a visit to a plant along with other recruits. There we had the
plant in-charge cribbing that these engineering MBA grads have wasted an
engineering seat etc, etc. A while later while we were moving up in an elevator, beside
our elevator there was another shabby, dingy one. I asked the plant in-charge what or
who that other elevator was meant for? He replied that it is for the engineers! (crowd
bursts into laughter)

The point is, in India, the remuneration for an engineer is not at par with a manager
and we still need more companies which would treat their engineers at par or better
than their managerial counterparts. And that would happen if companies invest more
in R&D and give more challenging roles to engineers in India. People move in a
direction that is incentivized. However, no education is a waste.”

I you are asking this question it means either of the following

 You are a non engineer

 You are an engineer who doesn’t feel like doing an MBA
 You feel the same but are looking if you are the only one feeling so or you have
company of others as well
Most of the engineers (including me) find MBA as an attractive option after B. Tech due
to various reasons :

7 reasons why people do MBA after B.Tech

1. Boredom with current job/IT Job

2. For better roles and greater responsibilities
3. Apna Sapna Money money: Moolah!(undoubtedly the major reason)
4. No campus placements prospect after B.Tech
5. For switching the verticals according to your personality- transition to
finance/sales/ops etc. from Post B.Tech jobs
6. You see all your friends moving into MBA after B.tech and then you decide to
pursue it to avoid FOMO.
7. Because you want to have an additional degree to flaunt in your CV and MS is
an costly affair because of non availability of Scholarship and PhD program
takes too long(5–7 years) to be an option
8. Having worked in industries ranging from automotive to chemicals to IT to
FMCG, I can say beyond doubt that an organization really values top leaders who
can understand technology. I am not implying here non-engineers can’t take up
leadership roles in manufacturing sector. One of my previous company had a
Chartered Accountant as its CEO. All I am trying to say is engineers with good
tech experience can add enormous value to a business by training themselves in
business.

9. To be honest manufacturing and tech sectors are craving for savvy engineers who
are passionate for business. The opportunities for them in my opinion are
endless.

You will find a lot of people in the corporate world who have an Engineering as well
as MBA degrees from well-known institutions and work in wide range of sectors.