MBA @ Speed of Light

Just thought of giving some updates ...

2006-01-23T09:12:00.000+04:00

Just thought of giving some updates ...

It has been nine months since I joined Amazon. Life has been hectic ... I am doing program management and project management for a big cool project ... Will write about it after the product release as its confidential ... Am trying to move to product management side and have got a lot of interest towards open source and web technologies recently ...

Still a Bachelor ... Spend my weekends mostly watching movies or by browsing ... Life looks peaceful to brain but still heart says something is missing ...

And thats it ...

All is Well That Ends ...

2005-04-15T14:50:00.000+04:00

Today I thought of writing my last post of this blog.

Well... It has been a week since I joined Amazon.com as a Technical Product Program Manager (TPPM). Salary is more than my ISB loan ... I have landed at my dream job.. I am very delighted ... Back at work I feel like a different person... I am not anymore afraid of jargons such as Network effects or Core Competence. The place is cool, informal and filled with a lot of brilliant guys ... We have guys from likes of MIT and Carnegie Mellon...

I have moved to Bangalore. The future looks bright. So atlast a happy ending to my MBA life and to my sweet blog. I thank all the readers for their encouragement. Best of Luck for future ISB aspirants !!

Note: I will be blogging on my work and software related topics at http://silicongods.blogspot.com/ Techies can catch me there ...

I would also be a part of http://weirdweirdblog.blogspot.com

2005-04-06T13:47:00.000+04:00

I am at my home in Pollachi, reclining after the hectic ride for one year. I think I would be joining on April 11th itself and so the break is not for a long time. I might not join Deloitte. I will give other details after joining.

2005-04-02T21:32:00.000+04:00

Well ... We have come to the end of our ISB life. Graduation ceremony was great with Dan, Anil Ambani, Kiran Mazumdar, Godrej, Rajat Gupta and other board members ...

Today we got the yearbook. It has come out pretty well and will definitely serve as a nostalgic memento...

I was busy today with packing stuff, getting no dues etc. I will leave the campus Tomorrow ...

2005-04-01T20:06:00.000+04:00

Today we had the graduation rehearsal and group photos. It was pleasant to see the whole atrium covered with graduation gowns and hats. As usual, ISB event management is at its best and the decorations are mindblowing. ASA is putting a lot of efforts to avoid bad media reports on event management as it happened with IIMB.

My packing is done and I will courier them Tomorrow. I am not able to control the nostalgic feelings ... Its time to part ISB ...

2005-03-31T11:31:00.000+04:00

Yesterday we had our Graduation party at ITC kakhatiya. It was good fun. finally we have become MBA Graduates ...

Yesterday Placom met with the entire CAS team to give its feedback. We also had a high tea for all the students hosted by CAS. Today we have a dinner at CAS Directpr's house and then PLACOM has a party at some pub.

I think we are closing the placement process Tomorrow with 100% placement. Around April 11th, we will have a national press conference to announce the figures. I think the average this year will be a digit more than last year's.

2005-03-29T11:05:00.000+04:00

All my classes and exams are over. I am just enjoying the final week. We have parties daily and the grand finale will be at Kakhatiya (hope the spelling is correct).

So what else … I have to start packing things … I will not be staying for the orientation as I have to join work before that. Finally it looks like I will become an MBA.

2005-03-25T21:32:00.000+04:00

Well… I have my last exam tomorrow. I am not in the mood to study so I am just browsing. I browsed through some ISB blogs today and am pleasantly surprised to see the increase in the number of ISB bloggers. Some blogs were simply superb. I felt that I didn’t do my job properly as a blogger reporting on ISB life. I have been lazy and my posts have been infrequent. Hope the next batch bloggers will be frequent and will keep the momentum going …

I was also going through the placement reports of other Bschools … Booming economy has spread positive energy across all the schools, even the second tier ones … I am happy about that … Being with mature students has given me the maturity to overcome the barriers of bschool brands and be happy for a student placed whatever may be the school he is from … Whether he is from top rung school or a third tier school … Pain of being jobless is the same for everyone … I know that feeling … though I was not in such a situation in any part of my life, I have seen my friends and relatives suffering …

2005-03-24T21:44:00.000+04:00

Today I had the last class at ISB. Tomorrow I have a presentation and one exam on Saturday. With that, the academic life at ISB comes to an end. We have a week off and the graduation ceremony is on next Saturday.

I thought of answering two questions in the comments section in this blog.

Sujayath - do you think, at the end of it, the 15 lac investment was worth it?Sahil

I would say, definitely.

I wonder why this question is never asked to any IIM guy. I think ISB guys face this question just because the fee is high. Think like this – An average ISB guy gets around 10 L salary and if this is excluded from the fee to effectively compare with the IIMs, the course fee will be just 2 L and other amenities like laptop, hostel etc adding to 3 more lakh. So, the fee is out of question.

I don’t have to talk about faculty. If they are not the best, ISB has no reason to get them to campus.

Personally, for a person like me who has just around 2 -3 years of work ex, this is a huge leap, in terms of learning, designation, salary etc. Apart from that, ISB has refined my intuition process and I can take any work assignment confidently. I have learnt a lot from the experienced peer group, I mean it.

It doesn’t mean though, that every ISB student has been moulded into a great piece … You might find some guys not that promising … As I said already, ISB is a Gym, but not everybody works out.

On : 3/24/2005 4:24:37 AM Truthringer (www) said:
I agree about ISB being pathetic when it comes to media-saviness. MBA is nothing but a perception game. Never mind if half the class get 5 L salaries. If u r able to successfully broadcast the one or two guys who got the big ticket jobs, that has the public flocking. Last yr, ISB had a grad picked up by GS for 150 K. But, hardly anyone knew about it. This time same thing happened in IIMA and the whole world knows... Sujayath, maybe ur bschool administration will do well to attend a few mktg classes from all those profs u get from Wharton....hahahaha

I would say the other way – ISB handles media more effectively than any other institutions.

The common question is why ISB is not making a lot of news (noise??) like other B schools. The reply from me would be that doing so will make ISB look like IIPM which dares to think beyond IIMs. Media is a dangerous weapon and I am totally convinced that ISB communications department is handling it in the best possible way.

Yes, last year GS picked up a guy for 150k. And publishing that news created a lot of problems to the ISB from recruiters’ side. I think they don’t want ISB to publish the figures as other institutions might demand more the next year. I don’t know exactly what the highest offer at ISB is but soon it will be published, if the recruiters agree. You should also note that this year 152k paid in IIMA was for a lateral, which is reasonable. The guy with good experience should be able to get good offers whether he is at ISB or at the top IIMs.

And again as correctly pointed out, MBA is a perception game. Don’t get carried away by the highest salary. What does it mean to us if we are not the ones who are getting it?

Go through this article which makes a lot of sense:

http://in.rediff.com/getahead/2005/mar/23rashmi.htm

2005-03-22T12:01:00.000+04:00

Yesterday I had my International Finance exam and it was pathetic. Well, lets blame the prof for not having the courtesy of asking easy questions for us poor chaps in the last term :)

I am going to be busy till Friday – I have three presentations to make within Friday and an exam on Monday. Well, after then I can relax till Graduation day. Mmm … I am eagerly awaiting the demise of the Assignments era …

2005-03-18T22:39:00.000+04:00

Just now returned from the section reunion. It was a great fun. We went to Dhola-ri-Dhani. They have actually created a Rajasthan Village setting. I had hookah for the first time (flavored) !! It was fun with rajasthani dance, boating, camel ride etc!!

Regarding placement report, as I said already, it will be published only in April first week. There are official reasons behind it and we cannot push the school to publish it earlier. It has been like this even in the previous years.

2005-03-15T20:40:00.000+04:00

Assignments have started strangling me. I have to complete three projects with presentations and two assignments within next week. To worsen the situation, there is an exam this Friday and another one on Monday.

And at this situation, what will I say if someone asks about the life at ISB. Here I go for a yearbook survey “Life at ISB”.

Life? At ISB ??? Life at ISB ranges from small micro organisms to Dinosaurs. There are a lot of parasites who thrive on others for group assignments. There are cockroaches who survived amidst a lot of evolutionary changes. There are few butterflies but still in the cocoon stage. There are buffaloes that don’t care about anything. There are giraffes who stick their neck out to look at others' window. Lions are little different at this jungle. Usually lionesses hunt food for lions and here that’s exactly opposite. ISB is the Noah’s ark where you can find a pair of ALL the species. In modern terminology, we call it diversity.

And guys, take it lightly. Don't shoot questions asking me whether it is true that people override in group assignments at ISB:(

2005-03-13T16:52:00.000+04:00

ISB is getting ready to send us out. We have been instructed on exit procedures. The first activity is submitting the “Student Offer Form” to CAS which should be done before March 18th. This exit procedure mail has sent alarm inside my body on the hell lot of pending assignments and projects to be done. Today for the first time, I didn’t watch TV from the morning (which starts at 11:00 AM for me) and am sitting before the laptop full day. Assignments are the most boring part of the ISB life.

Today I thought of writing about Negotiation Analysis class. I was not able to enrol in it in the sixth term and was regretting it. The same course was offered in the last term by a Permanent Faculty (Dishan Kamdar). I attended it without much expectation. Usually permanent faculty in the ISB lose their shine infront of the dazzling superstar faculties from Top universities. But Dishan is too good and I am happy that the quality of permanent faculty is building up year by year inspite of the initial staggering. The new professors who joined this year are really good both in research and teaching. Dishan was mentioning that he had very good offers from other schools and he joined the ISB only because of the environment that fosters research. He said that Ajith has promised him data from all top companies for his research.

Just 19 days for Graduation ...

2005-03-12T13:30:00.000+04:00

I think my blog is spreading a view that ISB life (atleast in the last terms) is not as hectic as it is supposed to be. There are guys who are slogging like hell and they will kill me if I say life is not that hectic. The truth is that my character is such that I don't slog much. I am basically a lazy fellow and to add to that, I don't care about grades (doesn’t mean I am a poor student – never went below B grade :)).

According to me, Grades make no sense for guys aiming for a career in IT. I don't know about other areas but am sure grades matter for Consulting / I-Banks. In fact, I was pushed to my limits for the first time in the ISB but soon I learnt the techniques of leading a peaceful life amidst the hectic schedule. Some days I have missed my whole night’s sleep but mostly I sleep for eight hours. I know guys who sleep only four hours a day but I never wanted to disturb my sleep schedule. I do watch TV regularly and movies occasionally. I do have time to read some philosophy books and do have time to gossip.

All I am saying to guys who are afraid of hectic MBA life (especially after reading “ Snapshots of Hell”) is that we can survive in ISB amidst the academic storm.

And I cannot write much about Placements now. I have to wait till the official reports are out. I can write more about placements after that.

2005-03-10T21:03:00.000+04:00

mmm… There have been a lot of complaints on my infrequent blogging … Not just comments but I also receive emails scolding me for not blogging regularly… Actually these complaints never hurt me, Infact I am happy that there are some regular readers for this blog …

I just didn’t blog because there was nothing significant happening here. Everything’s as usual - I go for classes, enjoy swimming, play snooker, watch movies and postpone my assignments … There are lot of parties … On Placom side, we have a Placom party and a dinner at the CAS director’s house …

And there’s something dramatic that happened to me. But I cannot write about that now (just to avoid unintended consequences …) I will write about that after graduating ( just three weeks to go … )

And it is true that I didn’t share everything I know about ISB … The only apprehension is that not all readers are mature enough to understand the issues clearly … You can always mail me if you want opinions on anything regarding the ISB …

2005-03-04T14:43:00.000+04:00

He identifies and forwards good ads

2005-03-04T14:39:00.000+04:00

From Chait Spam Works ...

Chait Spam works

2005-03-04T14:16:00.000+04:00

Writing about ISB life would be incomplete if I didn’t mention about Chait Spam works .. Chaitanya is the one who supplies spams frequently and keeps our mailboxes vibrant … Else guys like me who don’t have many friends to keep mailbox alive would have no reason to check mail every one hour … To honour him, other ISB students who send spam mails occasionally, dedicate them to Chait Spam works … I will give some of his forwards here … Hail Chaitanya …

2005-03-01T18:32:00.000+04:00

The last month at the ISB ... Gym is full ... Swimming pool is crowded ... Snooker table is always occupied ... Faculty are considerate on the workload ... Mails are floating around requesting for batch photographs and comments on friends for the yearbook ... I have started receiving mails from alumni associations … Everyone is talking about joining dates and place of work … The last month at the ISB ...

As I already said, any admitted student interested in taking this blog can mail me at sujayath@yahoo.com … I will also blog on my post-MBA life but that may not be frequent ( I know … I was not frequent even while blogging on ISB life) …

2005-02-27T21:12:00.000+04:00

I wanted to do a lot of things in this weekend such as finishing the assignments beforehand so that I am not pressed for time in the weekdays but as usual nothing happened ... Just slept and watched TV … Nothing else …

Campus has come to life again … with parties … with students running for assignments … with the preparations for yearbook … with Goa, Dandeli, Vizag tours … Just one month to go …

BTW, the admission results for Round II will be out Tomorrow … Heard that Round 2 was very competitive and the quality of applications was great …

And … I am planning to pass this blog on to a next batch student … If anyone is interested, just mail me …

2005-02-25T16:37:00.000+04:00

The Economic Times Article

2005-02-25T15:36:00.000+04:00

I have included the article that came in ET. It is not well written but may be because they didn't get much information.

This week I am spending in dinners. Two days before, I went for dinner with my core group mates and today I am going with my project mates. Courses are also good and so life is very peaceful.

I have preponed the Deloitte joining date to 25th April. I have to start looking for some apartments.

2005-02-20T17:35:00.000+04:00

Two days before, I went to Economic Times office with three other PLACOM members to have a chat with one reporter. We were instructed not to give any figures or any company names. The reporter was interested in knowing the companies visited and the type of salaries we are getting. It was very difficult to convince her without giving company names and figures. I think the official reports will be out only in April first week and till then no figures will be given to media.

While going to the office, we were discussing about the international placements. ISB is uniquely positioned due to its experienced students profile and we felt that this could be utilized in attracting companies with leadership programmes. For example, this time we had BP, Carrier etc. If we take BP, they need people with considerable experience and they recruit in Harvard, Wharton, LBS etc. They recruit only 10 students worldwide and they have recruited from ISB. This is the kind of roles that ISB should be gunning for, because ISB would be the only school in India that could provide these companies with the experienced students.

2005-02-17T10:10:00.000+04:00

Exams are over. So I can relax for next three days. From Tomorrow there is a 'Macroeconomics and Policy Instruments’ session by Dr Rangarajan. This will be for three days and will be a half credit session. I haven't decided whether to attend it or not.

Yesterday I evaluated some more applications. Application evaluation by students was completed yesterday. I think interviews will take place till next Wednesday.

Six weeks to Go

2005-02-14T10:53:00.000+04:00

As expected, ITES exam was fun. Except for the fact that the time was not sufficient, the questions were really enjoyable. At least in seventh term, I can afford to enjoy the questions despite the fact that I don’t know the answers J

And six weeks to go for graduation. Graduation is on April 2nd. We have Daniel Vasella, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Novartis AG as our chief guest. The preparations have started. The invitations are getting ready. We are expected to vacate our rooms by April 6th.

For alums who are asking for placement details: Please note that I cannot give any figures in public before ISB releases the figures to the media. I would be more than happy to share it with you in mail.

Exams on Monday

2005-02-12T20:09:00.000+04:00

Exams start from Monday. I have only two exams and there is one day gap between the exams. In addition, one exam is on open book one and so I don’t think I will have difficulty preparing for the exams. I expect ITES exam to be fun as the model questions were interesting. It doesn’t mean that I am confident of good grades. I have somehow managed to become detached from grades.

Today, I thought of moving to Blogger comments from CommentThis.com as I could have the option of hiding unwanted comments. But later on decided not to do it. Please feel free to leave any comments, but please refrain from using offensive language.

I respect the apprehension that my blog could be considered an official one. I have added a disclaimer stating that this is not an official blog. I have also removed the logo.

2005-02-11T11:12:00.000+04:00

I evaluated some more applications yesterday. I selected one for interview inspite of his low GMAT score as he was an avid quizzer and his essays were creative. Someone asked about the selection process and let me give a brief overview. We evaluate on three parameters – Analytics, Leadership and Personality.

Analytics comprises of academic performance in high school, college and GMAT. Low academics could be offset by good extra curricular activities in school/college or workplace. We also see the reputation of the undergrad college and how competitive is the company he got into after graduation. We will also look for analytical evidence from workplace.

Leadership doesn’t necessarily mean managerial experince or leadership in work. In fact, I gave good marks on leadership for one applicant just based on his experience as a head-boy in his school.

And Personality has weightage for experience, integrity, maturity and managerial ability.

A selected candidate should have a good mix of all these. Sometimes one might be a superstar in two of these three factors and might be poor in third but we could still call for interview and probe him on the third factor.

2005-02-11T10:53:00.000+04:00

It hurts to see such comments in my blog. I don’t know whether anything is wrong in my part. Anyway, let’s move on. We should not allow these things to affect us.

Our exams start on Monday. I have only two exams this time. I have bid for five courses for the next term. I will drop one course after sampling. I will be majoring in Technology & Finance. Though finance specialization doesn’t seem to be relevant to my job, I have that just as an entry ticket to my prior company. iNautix requires specialization in Finance to get in as a Program Manager. Right now I am not thinking of going back to iNautix but in future I might.

Deloitte arranged for another party with senior leadership (That’s how they call them). The leadership was keen on knowing about what we think of Deloitte and on building good brand name for Deloitte at the ISB. One of them asked us whether we would redo this course if an opportunity was given. My answer was “No”.

Life has not become that hectic as it was before placements. Still I get time to read books. I guess that the next term will be turbo-hectic as all the subjects I have taken are intensive ones.

Two good books I read recently were Fountainhead and Alchemist. Both books are advocating the same concept – “Live for us, our dreams and not for others”. Professor Ravi Aron also raised the same topic in the last class and advised us that there are unlimited opportunities if we could deviate. I think he is not happy with the fact that many students are going behind brands and prestige rather than really figuring out what their dream job is. I am right now trying to find out what my dream is.

2005-02-09T11:49:00.000+04:00

I think I should have been more careful in the usage of words ... My previous post sounds as if I am unhappy about the quality of current batch. All I meant was that the new batch should set new benchmarks which would surpass that of the current batch.

Infact, I am proud about the quality of the current batch. Especially, consulting placements have been a lot better this time and almost all the big consulting firms have hired more than what they initially expressed. I strongly believe that the placements in big firms are a matter of student quality rather than the school reputation. School just provides the opportunity and it is the students’ quality that converts this opportunity into offers.

Actually I don’t want to argue in favour of the ISB and I think doing so would be immature in my part. This blog is also not for that. All I can say that I have joined after tremendous research and am happy about my decision after my one year stay. I don’t expect anything more from any school.

2005-02-03T23:04:00.000+04:00

Today I was going through MBA forums such as Cool avenues, Pagalguy, Testmagic etc. It reminded me of my position last year. I was almost living in these forums, checking frequently for updates and posting stupid messages (or atleast they look stupid to me looking them after one year). These forums always excite me. They have some kind of energy and vibration that makes U feel as if getting into MBA is like placing your foot on the moon. But I do feel that MBA is represented more of a Gimmick in these forums and I don't think many of them think of what to get from MBA. Even I was like that.

Most of them want to do MBA just to associate themselves with a premiere school brand. They think that MBA is going to change their life completely. MBA is not going to change anything. It is U who have to change while doing MBA.

I was reading one message and was disappointed to read about one ISB guy not having a good reputation among his team. Though this is not going to affect ISB in anyway, I can see that this guy has failed to change himself during the one year. MBA is something like an entrance ticket to a Gym. You have to work-out or it is you who is wasting the opportunity.

Well, Today I went to evaluate some admission applications. The applications are evaluated on three parameters - Analytics, Leadership and Personal. It was good to see quality applications and I feel that next batch will surpass the quality of current batch. In fact, IT SHOULD. Else, no way is ISB going to grow, especially with more competition like IIMA'S one year course.

2005-01-30T20:07:00.000+04:00

Classes are restarting from Tomorrow. It really seems difficult to get up after the long hibernation. :)

Today I was thinking about my ISB life. Apart from the salary increase, role change, better future and the prestigious MBA degree that ISB has offered me, there had been a lot of learning for me that tailored me as a better Manager. I have understood not only what is happening in the world around me but also my inner side – my strengths and weaknesses. I was elated some days and depressed some days. Some days were real confidence boosters and some days my ego was beaten down to earth. It was like an iron rod beaten vigorously to from the desired shape.

Well, MBA doesn’t seem like an achievement to me, but as something essential to every human being. Those who have read my initial blogs could see how much my mindset has changed throughout this one year.

2005-01-27T20:23:00.000+04:00

Campus is lazy ... So lazy that I haven't seen the campus as lazy as this before ... Interviews are going on ... Not many are left and this time there are a lot of non-IT companies too from a diverse set of industries ...

My next class is only on Monday and I didn't have any classes from Tuesday. I am enjoying this holiday by relaxing ... I get up at 12:00 PM and have lunch ... read some fiction and watch TV till the dinner and then watch some movie till 2:00 AM. This has been my routine for the past three days. I didn't even bother to dust off the course materials.

We visited Deloitte last Friday and were taken to Dinner by the Senior Management. I am pretty impressed with the down-to-earth Senior Management.

2005-01-19T21:31:00.000+04:00

Ok, I have accepted Deloitte offer and am formally out of the placement process. I enquired about Deloitte and got a positive response from people working there. So, decided to accept the offer. So, now I am out of this placement tension and can blog regularly. I will visit Deloitte on Friday to see the infrastructure and get a feel of the type of work I will be doing. My joining date is fixed as May 9th.

Today I met Jaideep from Xansa, whom I met during preplacement talks. He told that he was expecting me in the interview. I explained to him that once we accept an offer, we cannot sit for further interviews. We had a small chat and I said to him that I might think about Xansa once Chennai center grows big. Really I don't want to settle in Hyderabad though it is better than Chennai in terms of water problems, temperature etc.

2005-01-14T20:56:00.000+04:00

I got my first offer from Deloitte Yesterday Morning 4:00 AM. Big disappoinment was Amazon. Actually I cleared all the three rounds of interviews but finally was not given offer due to my low product experience. I attended Deloitte interview immediately after Amazon disaster and thought I wouldn't be doing it well. Somehow the interview panel was warm and extended me an offer as Senior Analyst. I wanted Asst. Manager role but it looks like they are not going to give it.

I bailed out of NIIT interview and will bail out of other interviews also where I expect the pay to be lesser than what Deloitte has offered. I will attend interviews selectively as I have to opt out of the placement process after the second offer.

Thanks for all the encouragement you guys gave me.

2005-01-09T14:12:00.000+04:00

ISB placements started yesterday ... I really don't know whether I can give the numbers before ISB releases it officially ... As of now all I could say is that there were great consulting offers yesterday ...

Coming to my story ... I am still Jobless ... I was not blogging last week since I was preparing for Microsoft interview. It was a great disappointment that MS didn't even shortlist (resume - based) me. I was not shortlisted for CTS, Yahoo & Fidelity also and I think there is a major problem with my EOI/resume. Another reason could be my relatively low experience. Mostly students with 5+ exp are getting shortlisted.

I was shortlisted for IBM yesterday and cleared the GD part. The interview was very short (10 to 15 min) and I was asked fin questions. I had to explain them that I am a techie ( but have taken fin as second concenteration) and not that good in Fin. Somehow I screwed up the interview and was not given an offer. They have given double digit offers but I think acceptance will be very less as salary levels are very low.

Today I had Amazon interview. For everyone except me, it was very technical. But for me, there were not much (or should I say "no") tech questions. The interviewer was really good and said that it doesn't make sense to ask Java/ C++ questions to a Mainframe guy. The first shortlist would be out by Tonight. Then the shortlisted students have to fly to bangalore and there will be four or five more interviews. I am waiting for the results !!

I have also been shortlisted for Kanbay, whose interview is scheduled on Tuesday.

2004-12-30T17:52:00.000+04:00

Term 5 is over. The final exams are on Monday and Tuesday. The placement starts on next Saturday (Jan 8th). Campus is suffering from placement blues.

I have to prepare both for technical (for companies such as MS, Yahoo, Amazon ) and also for HR (for IT services companies) interviews. Currently I am running out of time. I usually sleep by 12 but now I am sleeping at 2. Still, I have covered only a small portion of what is needed to be covered for the interviews.

In this interview preperation confusion, I am not submitting good EOIs. I am unsatisfied by my EOIs and my only console is that most of the companies don't read EOIs. Shortlists will be coming by next week. Hope I will be shortlisted for interviews for the companies I am aiming for.

The blogs may not be regular till Jan 8th. But I will try to post daily once the Placement starts.

2004-12-24T11:22:00.000+04:00

Still, we have not yet settled on scheduling the companies ... This is taking a lot more time than expected ...

And my placement prep is moving at a very slow pace. I am also confused whether to target small companies with high-pay or take a pay-cut to enter into large brands. As I am looking only for IT, my options are limited. May be, I should apply to one or two marketing companies as a back-up.

And campus is getting ready for placements ....Everyone looks serious. There are a lot of discussion going on about what companies to apply and how to prepare for interviews. Everyone looks worried. ... Placement blues ...

2004-12-21T21:42:00.000+04:00

Yesterday I met an interesting person - Joseph Sigelman, CEO and co-founder of Office Tiger. I spent nearly an hour with him and his team. He was here for the pre-placement talk and I was in-charge for the talk. He is a Harvard graduate and had a lot of respect for the ISB. He didn't have any powerpoint slides but made the session very interactive and engaging. He offered very senior roles such as head of operations, Acquisition Manager etc. As far as I have seen, people from BPOs are very interesting ...

In Novartis (International)PPT, the HR manager said that they have recruited only from the ISB till now and from this year, they are thinking of going to IIM A,IIMB and XLRI. It seems Novartis is very impressed with the ISB and has decided to hire mostly Indians for worldwide positions.

Today YSR Reddy, CM of AP was here for inaugurating k-hub. K-hub is an initiative by centre of entrepreneurship, where they will fund entrepreneurs of AP. A lot of security measures were there and we were made to wait for half-an-hour for his ten minute speech. Let me not speak politics here :)

2004-12-19T23:59:00.000+04:00

Tomorrow will be the last day for the preplacement talks. We have seven PPTs scheduled tomorrow all after 7 PM. I think it is going to be a hectic task to handle these.

Today I organized PPT for Fidelity. Fidelity is here primarily for IT roles and the job and pay were attractive. Finance guys were little disappointed as they didn't have roles in Asset management. I then attended Computer Sciences Corporation PPT. I wanted to apply for this, but the company required minimum of three years of experience ( I have two and half) and is not lenient in this constraint. So I will not be able to apply for this.

Yesterday I was in-charge for Google. For me, Google role was not as attractive as Amazon or Microsoft. I am interested in Product Manager roles while Google is here for Business Service Manager type of role. But still I would be applying for Google. Come on, its Google !!

2004-12-15T20:29:00.000+04:00

Today it was a pretty relaxing day ... Had only one class ... Operations Strategy. The class was good and Professor Bassok is rocking ...

Somehow we PLACOM guys have managed to rank and schedule the companies for interviews. We have come up with a first-cut draft and have circulated it to students ... I am hoping for a lot of feedback and the schedule might even change dramatically.

Our ELP ends on 27th but there's a lot of pending work to be done. I have to think on scheduling the ELP activities and Placement prep accordingly so that one is not affecting the other ....

2004-12-14T20:50:00.000+04:00

Yesterday I had a chance to chat with a Senior manager from XANSA, a BPO company, after the preplacement talk. Actually after the talk, my whole perspective about BPO changed. I was thinking of BPO as more of a call centre, false identity and American accent type of thing ... He mentioned that they don't take low-end work such as call centres and described the typical work. He was from IIML and said that BPO is challenging as it combines both Operations and People management ( He said that atleast 30 people will be reporting to me if I join as a Manager). Anyway now I have some respect for BPOs and see a good opportunity there.

Today I was with Raja Shanmugam, Director of Business Development from Mindtree. He is a down-to-earth person and said that humility is one of the characters they are looking for when they come for recruitment in Top Bschools. Mindtree is here for overseas positions mostly in US or Singapore. One good aspect of being a placement committee member is this opportunity to interact with key people from industry.

2004-12-12T21:04:00.000+04:00

Today I was chatting with an alum from Microsoft. He was saying that the life there was pretty relaxing. I was assuming that Microsoft will be drilling its employees and was surprised to hear that it was otherwise.

I was going through some of the sample questions from MS interview. There are a lot of hardcore OS, datastruture and Algorithm questions. Sad part is that these questions will be thrown only to the guys who have Computer Engineering degree. Other guys will have a non-technical interview it seems.

I am far behind in terms of Interview Prep. I have to brush up project management / SDLC concepts, read books on Domain knowledge and HR questions, browse some websites on OS/Datastrucure basics .... Phew ... And I have only some 20 days left ... In these 20 days, I have to wrap up my ELP, my assignments and give two exams ...

2004-12-10T20:55:00.000+04:00

Today we had ISB Leadership Summit. I attended the morning session and skipped the afternoon session.

This night the campus is buzzing with energy, fun and enthusiasm ... Our Alums are back for the Annual ISB Alumni Meet, Solstice ... Tonight we have a party and Tomorrow we have rock show.

2004-12-09T22:01:00.000+04:00

Yesterday after the CTS ppt, I had a chance to chat with Aarti, ISB alumnus working in CTS. Apart from interview procedures, she talked about life at CTS. It seems that CTS is a good place to work and it has great respect for MBAs. After the chat, CTS has moved up in my placement priority list.

Today we had Vcustomer CEO in our Tech Entrepreneurship class. He is a very down-to-earth person. He narrated his story of how he started his venture. His preplecement talk was also different. He didn't use any Powerpoint or Video, but just talked about BPO industry and his strategy. If at all I apply to Vcustomer (still not decided), that will be only because of him.

Today I missed Sasken PPT. Fin guys said that ICICI prudential PPT was also good !!

2004-12-08T16:15:00.000+04:00

Today's Operation Strategy class was good, atleast for me. I already knew most of the things , but he was emphasising on those concepts and was building further on it. While I was enjoying the class (due to his lively examples and casual approach), Suresh who was sitting next to me kept on complaining that the class was boring. Finally after the class I found out that all the things taught in the class were already known to Suresh, who has worked with Pepsi and other beverage companies for more than ten years. May be, he is jealous that I am learning in one year all that he learned in ten years :)

Fever is spreading in the campus. When I went to see the Doctor, there were more than 15 students lined up. So, I returned to room and just took some medicine. Now I am feeling better and think will be able to attend Satyam and CTS PPT scheduled for today.

Non-IT students may think that I am not giving any update on Finance/Consulting/Marketing companies. I really don't even track about Non-IT companies and think there's a substantial misfit between me and Non-IT jobs :)

2004-12-07T19:38:00.000+04:00

I am down with fever again. Same as last time - Body pain, Throat infection, Shivering ...

Somehow I managed to attend the Computer Associates PPT but missed the Amazon PPT. I think both the companies will be paying above average salary!

Today we had an interesting session on Browser wars in Technological Entrepreneurship class. Digital Business Models class on ERP and CRM was also interesting. I should thank my friend Siraj to make me enrol in these classes. Initially, I was so focused on getting Marketing Concenteration that I enrolled in all Marketing classes though they were not that interesting to me (Marketing guys say these courses are awesome, may be I don't have that feel for Marketing). Then I realized after talking with Siraj that Concenteration is not that important when compared to attending courses I like. So, Now I have changed my mind to specialize in Technology !!

2004-12-05T15:56:00.000+04:00

The KPMG training was a complete waste of time and money. We paid 5000 Rs for this traning and it was useless. The PPT was very unorganized and I didn't have any take-aways from the session. I have Operations Assignment Tomorrow and Portfolio management assignment on Tuesday. It was with this heavy work-load, I attended the six sigma training. Think about the frustration I will have.

We had ITC infotech PPT yesterday and the HR head who presented the pitch had great respect for ISB. He agreed that ISB students had to be paid a premium than what is paid for students from other schools such as XLRI. But still the pay may not be that attractive with the kind of loan we have. This is the case with most of the IT service companies. They may pay a premium but that may not look attractive. But this respect for ISB will turn into other inatngible benefits such as great work and job role!

2004-12-04T20:00:00.000+04:00

Oops! I made a mistake ... It was only 53 students who applied for yahoo and I misspelt it as 153 in my previous blog ... I don't think any company can attract 153 applications from the ISB...

Today I had KPMG six sigma training ... It was not that useful but could be helpful as a bullet point in my resume .... I also had my ELP presentation and that went pretty well ...

Because of the six sigma training, I missed the Verizon PPT and an opportunity to interact with Ramki ...

2004-12-03T21:17:00.001+04:00

This blogspot site is irritating! I am typing for the second time and I lost whatever I typed before!!

I had ITC Bplan contest today. we did well in the Presentation but screwed up in the QA due to the lack of research which inturn is due to the lack of time.

Yesterday I applied to yahoo for Product Manager position. Total of 53 students have applied. Yesterday we had presentations from Microsoft and HCL. I attended MSFT but missed HCL. Have to decide whether to apply for HCL. Today we had Mckinsey PPT. They distributed Mckinsey mugs, folders etc and arranged for a high-tea to give better impression than Marakon (Singapore). I didn't attend the PPT but managed to get the Mug :)

I have decided not to participate in any other competition as this requires hell a lot of time! This week I didn't do any interview prep and hope to resume my prep next week.

2004-11-29T16:02:00.000+04:00

After Poseidon, we are back in the class ...

Today I had only one class ... Operations Strategy. The first class was impressive. Professor Bassok is lively and gives a lot of examples to drive the concepts. Negotiation Analysis is the Star course but unfortunately due to various reasons, I didn't opt for the course.

Now the rate of Preplacement talks has increased. Tomorrow we have three PPTs and we have atleast one PPT on each day in the Month of December. Students are pretty happy with the list of companies visiting the campus though the list is dominated by Finance and IT jobs. Marakon impressed students on Saturday with hefty pay and with three varieties of Chicken after the PPT. The sad part is that they are going to hire only one or two ... There was good audience for Patni too ...

2004-11-26T09:59:00.000+04:00

Today I am applying to Seven Seas, Dubai. I was thinking about whether to apply and whether the job role would suit me, and finally decided to give it a shot.

My focus is on IT Product companies such as Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Yahoo !! Apart from these, I may apply for service companies such as CTS and Verizon. I don't know whether to apply for Infy, Wipro or Satyam as backup. But I am not planning to apply for non-IT jobs, except for a very few companies.

I see names such as Mindtree and Sasken, which are new in this field but show good growth potential. But further research is required to decide whether to apply for these companies.

2004-11-26T09:53:00.000+04:00

The campus is busy ... A lot of new faces ... Waves of enthusiasm everywhere ... Organizers busy in arranging for the events ... Ladies & Gentlemen, poseidon has arrived ...

Organizers have come up with unique idea of making visitors (students from other Bschools) stay with the students in the stident village. We are having earthquake rock show on Sunday evening but much awaited event is Barometer. Yes, as you guessed, tt is the Fashion Show to select the ISB Item Bomb ...

2004-11-25T10:34:00.000+04:00

I don't know what happenned to my previous post !! It appears blank !!

Ok, My exams are over and 6 weeks to go for the Placement D-Day. Yesterday Deputy Dean spoke to us about the importance of placement preperation. Today I can see the effect! I can see students polishing their resume and working on industry analysis in small groups. The list of companies visiting the campus will be out by Tomorrow.

I am also starting my preperations - I have bought some preperation books and have got some industry analysis books from the Library.

2004-11-22T20:21:00.000+04:00

2004-11-19T09:34:00.000+04:00

I don't remember whether I said about my participating in ITC competition. My team-mate Muthu got some project work and left the campus two days before the deadline for the competition. I managed to write a B-plan in 5 hours with help from another friend, Suresh and submitted it just because we gave the commitment to participate. I didn't include any financial or any roll-out plan. But again the L factor is in my side and our team is one of the six teams selected for campus round !!

Yesterday, I attended a lecture by Captain Raghu about leadership experiences from Siachen glacier. I should say that it was really an eye-opener. There were a lot of assignments and exams are on Monday but still, by God's grace, I attended it. The lecture was like a tour to siachen and as he said, I can't explain in words the smell of blood and the -40 degree cold, but it gave me a perspective of the hardships faced by our soldiers. It was interesting to hear that in that temperature, if you drop an iron rod, it will break into pieces like a glass and if you splash hot water from a kettle, it will turn into vapor before falling down.

My key take-aways from the lecture was that For a manager, Company comes first, his subordinates second and third will be his own welfare. He explained this with examples, may be this may not be that impactful without examples. Another take-away was thinking about crisis. What is crisis? If I lose one grade in one subject or If I am unable to get a good job in campus, is it really a crisis? When he talked about situations of life or death, I understood what is real crisis.

So, future aspirants ! If you make into the ISB, the key learning will be from speakers and not just from lectures. You will have assignments, exams and what not, but try to maximize your learning. I now regret not attending some lectures, which I heard was very good. Fo instance, the lecture by top management from Tata Motors, Cavin care and Pantaloon were supposedly very good but I didn't attend. They may visit again next year and don't miss these talks.

Today we have interviews from JDPowers. They have a unique way of interviews. Each one will be interviewed for a max of five minutes. Let me see how it goes.

And finally - I am receiving a lot of complaints for not being regular in blogs. I will try to be more regular. I know it is not fair to blame my assignments and exams for not posting. I will try atleast three posts per week. Lets see how this goes.

2004-11-12T09:58:00.000+04:00

Happy Diwali !!!

Deutsche bank shortlist has been announced and the interviews will be on Nov 15th. Good luck for all the interviewees.

In the IT side, I could see IBM, Yahoo, Amazon, Verizon, Satyam and Wipro lined up for Preplacement talks. There is another job posting from Seven Seas for a position in Dubai. I don't know much about the company and would have to research on this.

Goldman sachs ppt is on Nov 18th and I am not even planing to attend the PPT. This year most of the abroad positions are for Finance from companies such as SCB, HSBC, GOLDMAN and Deutsche. There is another big Ibank lined up.

Apart from these, this month we have PPTs from Novartis, Marakon and Olam international.

My resume is almost ready. I have customised it for IT-Products and IT-Services. While applying for the jobs, I will customise it more according to the culture of the companies.

I see students who are disappointed for not being shortlisted for Deutsche. For IT guys like me, the game has not yet started. I know there will be a lot of disappointments, a lot of surprises and a lot of difficulties. Everyone has started worrying about their placements and academics has taken back seat.

In sum, the Placement season has begun and everyone is looking for the D-Day Jan 10th.

2004-11-06T10:15:00.000+04:00

I had to cancel my XLRI plans due to the sudden fever. The fever has spoiled my whole plans. It has impacted my assignments, my ITC Bplan work and ELP project work. Only now I realize how much I am working daily that taking rest for just one day costs so much. In Micrososft terminology, I am drinking from the fire hose.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ISB has launched Poseidon. Poseidon is the annual b-school festival at the ISB. More about this even from the colloborative blog:

Poseidon offers a common platform for students from the finest business schools all over the world to test their mettle in competitive events. The following events would take place:·

Twister – Online strategy game·
Tsunami – Biz Quiz·
Vortex – Fin Quiz· Bounty – Fin Paper Presentation·
Blizzard – Mktg Quiz·
The Coke Wave – Mktg Case Competition·
Turbulence – Energy Case Competition·
Horizon – Emerging Markets Debate·
Typhoon – Entrepreneurship Case Competition·
Torrent – Tech Quiz·
Cyclone – Tech/SCM Paper Presentation·
Bermuda Triangle – Tech Case Competition

There will also be many informal events like Rock Show and Blind Date. Special note should be taken of Twister – the online strategy game. It’s the toughest strategy game to be played in cyberspace. For details, please visit www.isb-poseidon.com .Dates: November 27-28, 2004Venue: ISB Campus, Hyderabad, IndiaContact address: Email: poseidon@isb.edu www.isb-poseidon.com

2004-11-02T17:00:00.000+04:00

Tomorrow I have my mid-term test in Indian Financial Systems. I am yet to start my BPLAN for the ITC competition for which the deadline is this weekend. I am yet to prepare slides for XLRI competition (which I may eventually end-up doing in the flight). My placement preparations are astray and in the middle of all these, I got fever.

No wonder, Bschools are called as Hells.

The placement website is being filled up with the preplacement talk schedules. In November we have Marakon, IBM and Sierra atlantic PPTs. HSBC has already posted for their International management positions. Dec is going to be busy with a lot of PPTs and placement committee is contemplating on how to bring students to the PPTs.

2004-10-28T17:38:00.000+04:00

Deutsche bank got around 120 applications. This is a huge number and I could attribute two factors for this:

1. As the bank was keen on receiving as many applications as it can, the preplacement talk was trying to convince that anyone can apply irrespective of his/her background. This enticed many students to apply just believing the L factor.

2. The fact that the bank was given the privilege to come for campus before the regular campus schedule. Now the students have ample time to prepare customized resume and EOI.

JDpower has invited applications and the last date is Nov 5th. I think the applications for JDpower won't be very high.

I would be going to XLRI on Nov 6th and 7th to present a case analysis in the National IT seminar. I and Muthu did the case in one hour and didn't think it would be worthwhile enough to get shortlisted. Again, the L factor has helped us.

2004-10-23T11:26:00.000+04:00

As expected, the term is very hectic. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I have classes from morning 8:30 AM to 6:30 PM and I return to room like a dead horse. As soon as I enter the room, I will get a call for ELP Meeting which will go till 10:00 PM and then I have to prepare for next day's class. On Mondays and Wednesdays, I have only one class but most of the time will be spent preparing for the next day's four classes. Apart from these, I have to attend placement focus group meetings and work on my resume. Ooph! When will I write my blogs !! I am not managing time efficiently like other bloggers.

Tomorrow is the deadline to appear for Deutsche bank. I attended the preplacement talk and the bank was keen in receiving as much applications as it can. The bank has invited applications for almost all roles (except M&A) and they are even open for non-finance guys.

Tuesday we have preplecment talk by JDPOWER. Today EDS is conducting mock interviews for students and on Monday we have TAS conducting mock interview sessions. The whole campus seems busy with placement preparations and assignments but still yesterday's Dandhiya was rocking. I didn't dance but it was good watching people dancing with great energy and enthusiasm.

2004-10-16T10:34:00.000+04:00

Fifth term starts on Monday

I am back after a long break. I was so busy with the exams and with some project work that the term break is hectic than the regular days.

Fifth term starts on Monday. Some students are frustrated that they didn't get the electives they desired. Fortunately, I managed to get five electives. I am majoring in Finance and Marketing. This term we have wonderful professors for Marketing Implementation and Financial reporting. I am looking forward a great term.

But I am expecting this term to be more hectic than any other term. First reason is that I didn't opt for any faf course and all five are hardcore subjects. Second, the timings are ridiculous in my case. I have one class on Monday and Four classes on Tuesday (each class spans for two hours).

Placements

Deutsche Bank is on Campus on October 18th. The results would be out only on January 20, when the ISB placements start. This bank is given an exception to visit the campus early but is not allowed to declare results before Jan 10th.

Students are busy with their placement preperation. We have mock interviews this week conducted by the career services department. I am currently shaping my resume.

2004-10-05T20:07:00.000+04:00

"If IIMs are putting 100% efforts for placements, ISB students are putting as little as 30%"

These were the words by two McKinsey consultants (from IIMs) in a seminar at ISB. They emphasized the need of forming groups oriented towards the placements. I have spoken about this to a lot of students. In ISB, I feel the number of offers by a company could be substantially increased if students are more focused and put more efforts. I think, the bottleneck here is that the same students when were working, need not worry about the interviews and it is usually the recruiters who were keen to hire them. They approach the campus interviews with the same mindset. What they don't understand is that they are applying for the position of their boss and the interview procedure will not be the same.

The end-term exams are starting on Monday. We have the bidding process tomorrow to choose electives for the next term. I am planing to major in Finance and Marketing.

2004-10-02T22:48:00.000+04:00

I am giving below the piece I wrote for colloborative blog

My ISB essays

I dreaded about the essays than my GMAT. I was always sceptical about my essay writing capabilities and I didn’t know how to write essays that could project my positive points to the ISB admission committee. I called an alumni working in CTS and asked about the essays. She advised me to write genuinely and emphasized that even small aspects of my life (Such as my love for my dog, my NSS/NCC days) could be included in the essays. I understood that whatever I write, I should make sure that my essays look different from the others’.

I wrote my essays highlighting my love for literature and my extra-curricular activities in the college days. One of the early applicants, Tahseen, reviewed my essays and felt that the essays should be changed to highlight my good academic credentials rather than the extra-curricular activities. I changed my essays hesitantly. He also advised me to add some humour to the essays, the advice which I rejected.

I explained about my focus in the essays. I explained my love for computers and how the MBA could help me to shine in IT field. So, that’s all about my experience. My only advice is – Make sure your essays look different or project you differently.

2004-09-29T13:34:00.000+04:00

New Admission Policy

There are a lot of debates going on about new admission policy of accepting applications with CAT and GRE. I personally think this is a good policy. More number of aspirants will apply to ISB is they don't have the high application fee of 5000 and GMAT fee of 10000. The application fee has been reduced now and GMAT can be taken after getting the conditional admission. This will give more incentives to the aspirants.

Regarding the question on fees:

Books - We will be provided with the course material for all the courses. But in addition, we may have to purchase extra books also. We may have to buy 2 or 3 books per term. Some students also xerox the books though I don't prefer that.

Pay-per-meal - I don't have any idea what it could cost. My guess would be Rs 60 for breakfast and Rs 100 for Lunch and Dinner. Please don't take the figures as such. Just my guess.

Friday Movies

One of our professor, Johan Talbott, teaching Government, Society and Business arranges for movies every Friday. We had Sea-Biscuit, Master and the Commander and some office documentaries (comedy). This week we have Moulin Rouge.

Infrequent blogs

I understand that I am not blogging frequently. I will try to write more frequently. In addition, if you are tired of checking my blogs for updates, just mail me with the subject "Blog Update". I will send you mail whenever the blog is updated. This will save you from checking my blog for updates.

2004-09-24T22:44:00.000+04:00

Next Year Admissions

This year ISB has come up with many surprises for the next year admissions. Main surprise is the decision to accept GRE and allowing applicants with CAT score. Applicants with CAT score will be given conditional offer that they have to take GMAT and get above 680. Fee structure has changed though the fee as such has not. Deadlines are earlier compared to the previous years. The number of admits will be 320 next year. Best of luck for the applicants and mail me for any clarifications / help (Don't try to get me in messenger - Please contact via mail).

My advice is to take GMAT as early as possible and apply ASAP. Mostly, the ISB admissions dept doesn't wait till the deadline to process the applications. They do it as and when they receive them.

Note : You can read my GMAT story from the link given below archives section.

2004-09-22T07:22:00.000+04:00

Is it that difficult to Focus at this point of time?

It's a good question by Lee. Infact as a placement committee representative, I am persuading guys to make up their mind about their careers. I am focused on software and some of my friends who want to shift to finance also have already made their mind and are working hard on accumulating finance knowledge. There is no question on whether to focus. Focus is necessary to land on the dream job. I have eliminated finance career options (though I will take fin elective). I have also eliminated marketing but now the question is whether I have properly researched the marketing career options before deciding that it is not suitable for me. In sum, I am a software guy going back to IT. The previous blog was written in a state of confusion.

2004-09-19T09:08:00.000+04:00

Experiential Learning Projects

At ISB, the ELPs are equivalent to the summer projectsof 2-year BSchools. The only difference is that the project will be done in the campus. Students bid for the ELPs they are interested in. I have got a proejct from Altair Engineering on marketing their Grid Computing Product.

My friends advise me that I am a guy suitable for marketing. They want me to focus on marketing rather than software companies. I was a guy focused on software industry from my school days. My friends' argument is that my creativity and reasoning skills would be more valuable in marketing and that marketing could give me more visibility than the software companies do. This has not persuaded me to shift my focus but atleast I have started thinking about it

2004-09-15T10:00:00.000+04:00

Spicing up the Resume ...

I think I shouldn't have used the word "spicing up". Anyway, what I meant was, to make the resume different so that the recruiter atleast sees it with a "What's This" factor. Have you heard the story of someone sending resume to Microsoft with a Giant Size cut-out ? And of course, he was short-listed.

Grades - Should they matter?

If there is an association against grades, I would be the first person to enroll in it. I am fed up of the arbit CPs and Exam fevers just for Grades. In US, ALL THE TOP BSCHOOLS have grade non-disclosure policy. Note that this is not a school policy (Even ISB has this policy in school level), but student policy. That is, Students will not disclose their grades to recruiters at any circumstances.

One argument against that is ISB is relatively new school and it lacks the bargaining power the US Bschools have. Are recruiters so immature to question a policy that has been put-forth by both school and students.

What is the advantage of not having grades? I am not going to elaborate on this. Think in this direction - If grades are not there, what will the mature students concentrating on?

Some links on grade policies ...

Wharton

http://www.whartonjournal.com/news/2003/01/27/News/Wga-Clarifies.Grade.NonDisclosure.Policy-351875.shtml

Columbia

http://www3.gsb.columbia.edu/botline/fall02/1205/Safwan.html

Harvard

http://www.hbs.edu/career_services/step4/page4-3.html ( Please see the link to recruitment policies)

Berkeley HAAS

http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/careercenter/grdNonDisc503.pdf

Chicago GSB

http://www.chibus.com/news/2001/10/08/Perspectives/Why-Im.For.Grade.NonDisclosure-113509.shtml
(Note that Chicago GSB has adopted nondisclosure policy this year -> http://gsb.uchicago.edu/dynamic.asp?nNodeID=960)

Kellogg The only Exception

http://www.kelloggmerger.org/news/2001/04/06/CoverStory/The-Grade.Disclosure.Debate-63173.shtml

Even in Kellogg, you can find the grade nondisclosure initiative for this year -> http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/student/gma/gmasite/initiatives.htm

2004-09-11T10:25:00.000+04:00

As I have already said, this term has only one theory subject - Investment Analysis and all other subjects are relatively "soft". So there would be a lot of free time available in this term and students are planning to use this term to prepare for interviews.

CAS has initiated meetings with students to advise them to start work towards recruitment. It is possible to get any recruiter we want to the campus. But what is the use of getting a company if the students are not prepared enough to crack the company's interview and boost the reputation of the ISB. CAS is thinking in this direction.

Some students are working on getting good grades. Grades are an important component for Investment Banks or top consulting companies. But what about students like me who want to go back to IT? Mostly, IT firms don't look at grades. So we should be working towards building our soft skills, revising the management concepts, learning about the companies and working on puzzles (for companies like Microsoft). I am planning to start in this direction. I have found that my resume currently looks very dull and vague. I am searching for things to spice up my resume, but I am unable to find any.

The campus interview starts on January 10th and would probably end in a month.

2004-09-07T17:56:00.000+04:00

I have already mentioned that the owner of Alacrity Housing, Chennai, was at ISB during a case discussion about Alacrity in entrepreneurship class. Alacrity is not in a good position now. Our final presentation in the class was to give suggestions to him about how he could come out of the present difficult situation.

He said that he was impressed by the presentations and he is coming again to ISB to see if anyone is willing to join his company in the future. Prof has warned that it is going to be an uphill task to turn-over the company. Lets see if anyone would take the deal.

2004-09-05T16:32:00.000+04:00

MBA for IT Professionals

First let me clarify my stand about MBA for IT professionals. I recommend ISB for experienced professionals but this is not necessarily from the salary perspective. This is a golden period for IT professionals with salary reaching new heights. I don't think an MBA is necessary to get a good immediate pay-hike. MBA is a long-time strategy. In salary and position, difference could be seen after eight or ten years.

I believe that experience gives maturity (thought not in all cases :)). I have learnt a lot from my peers though this may not be true with all ISBians.

For freshers, IIM is the ideal choice. Fifteen lakh loan while starting the career is not a good idea. Secondly, IIMs could give a stronger theoritical foundation which is necessary for freshers.

Fourth Term Starts ...

The fourth term starts from Tomorrow. Except Investments, all the other courses doesn't seem to have extensive theory. I am planing to start my interview preperations from this term.

Colloborative Blog

A new collaborative blog (http://isblife.blogspot.com/) has been started by some ISBians. Check it out !!

Clarification on Exams

Someone has asked whether exams are online or pen-based. Mostly pen-based and some are project-based. No online exams !!

2004-09-01T21:17:00.000+04:00

Is MBA a good choice for IT guys?

I get a lot of mails asking whether I recommend ISB. Most of them are with IT background. Before answering this question, lets think why an MBA is necessary. In salary perspective, MBA might be attractive for freshers. Even there, the gap is reducing. Recently, I read an article in Economic times about the hike in salary for IT engineers, especially in entry level. Engineers are getting as high as 9 lakes per annum and even IIM MBA cannot give more than that.

For laterals, especially for people getting more than 8 lakes and with around 5 years of experience, MBA is not going to give a big salary hike. For those who go back to the company they worked for, there could be a good hike and promotion, but that is not just because of MBA but mainly because of their proven track record. Typically, your boss may not be able to give you hike and promotions as much as he wishes due to company policies. He would be able to decide on the salary part for lateral entrants, but he may not prefer to give them more salary as he doesn't know about them. When you go back, he is betting on a known horse, with added qualifications.

For laterals making a career shift salary could even be lower than they were getting. Then why MBA? MBA is a long-term strategy. Your growth will find an impasse after ten or twelve years. That time, salary will not be the only thing that matters. You might have ego problems in reporting to the new CEO/COO younger than you. MBA is just letting others know that you know to manage and that you are certified for your managerial skills. If you are keen about learning, then MBA gives t o time and tools to rethink about your management style.

For laterals, learning comes mostly from the peers. That is the reason ISB is becoming an ideal place for experienced professionals. I don't recommend ISB for freshers. IIM is ideal for them. First, they start their career with a huge burden of 15 lakh loan. This makes them risk-averse. Second, they don't have the maturity to learn from peers.

2004-08-31T19:47:00.000+04:00

I am Back

Ooph! Somehow I managed to finish the exams !! The final exams were not tough but there may be a possibilty of one re-exam due to administrative errors. I am tired of this exams and am against the re-exams.

Two out of four subjects next term are going to be less theoritical ( or more of cp subjects CP- Class Participation). I hate doing cp and am expecting a tough time ahead. Management of Organizations Prof has asked us to prepare network matrices listing all the professional people I know and interlinking them. He is going to design the course pack based on that. I think this course should be somewhat interesting !!

I can't believe three terms have passed and I never realized it. One more term and we will be half-way through the course !!

I think the application forms for next year admissions will start in October. Still the debate of raising the intake is going on!! Lets see what happens !!

I will write tomorrow whether I recommed ISB or not for future applicants !!

Next term subjects:

Government, Society & Business

Investment Analysis

Management of Organisations

Strategic Analysis of Information Technology

2004-08-25T16:42:00.000+04:00

Yesterday night I was not able to sleep. I was spending my time in preparing the VC presentation for entrepreneurship class. Today I slept full day compensating for that.

The previous entrepreneurship class was interesting. We had a case discussion about Alacrity Housing, Chennai. The founder was here and was explaining how difficult it is to live as a honest person amidst the corrupt society. It was a good learning.

I am going to start my exam preparation. My next blog will only be on Wednesday. Till then, Goodbye. :)

2004-08-25T16:36:00.000+04:00

Yesterday I was preparing a presentation for entrepreneurship class and was not able to sleep. Today I spent full time sleeping to compensate for that. The previous entrepreneurship class was interesting. We had a case discussion about Alacrity Housing, Chennai. The founder Amol was there and was explaining his principles and values and how he is facing difficulties in living as a honest person amidst a corrupt environment.

I am going to start my Exam preparation and my next blog will be only on Wednesday after the exams. :)

2004-08-21T11:12:00.000+04:00

Assignments, Exams and A Poor Soul ...

I have not yet recovered from the shock of mid-term exams and still can't believe that the final-exams are on next Monday. Exams are becoming routine tasks and assignments are becoming increasing burdens ... We have business plan evaluation assignment for entrepreneurship. Each team will have one crore each (You know, it can't be real money) and will be investing according to the presentations we make.

We have a bidding game in managerial accounting and a problem set in Operations. Apart from that, I have opted for an independent study in operations and have to prepare a proposal for that. PLACOM work is also very hectic with a lot of issues to be tackled. Still I have commitments to go out on alternate days and what not.

Tell me, can I call myself a poor soul ...

2004-08-18T10:48:00.000+04:00

Today I decided to bunk the operations class. Yesterday was very hectic with two assignments to submit. So today I decided to bunk class and take some rest.

Nowadays I am playing badminton daily. I am having neck pain and wrist pain due to that but am planing to continue playing.

Yesterday I started a new account with Kotak for trading. I have invested in reliance, tata mostors and Union Bank. Lets see how it goes.

Admission process will start in next two months and am still wondering about the impact of increased intake.

2004-08-16T18:00:00.000+04:00

Hectic Weekend ...

The weekend was very hectic. Saturday we had India-China conference. We had speakers from all over the world to talk on India-China issues. Sunday, there was a talk by Deepak Jain, dean of Kellogg. He talked about new marketing concepts. He emphasized the need to change from product marketing to cutomer experience marketing.

Then, we had children from a nearby school visting the ISB as part of net impact activities. I volunteered for this event. I was conducting games for these children and it was good fun. That afternnoon, I visited IIIT as part of BTC club activities. It was impressing.

Ooph! Today morning I didn't feel like going to class.

2004-08-12T19:49:00.000+04:00

Tomorrow is the exam. Still a lot to read ... How happy I was while working ... No tension ... No exams ... :(

Soon this term will come to an end and then I have to start working towards my placement. Still I am confused whether I should switch to consulting or finance or should I return to IT. Sometimes I would be firm in going back to IT and suddenly my mindset would change ... I have decided to do my profiling to see what would suit me ...

2004-08-10T20:08:00.000+04:00

Exams, Exams and Exams

Well...Biswajit asked a good question...We have exams every 22.5 days ideally :) Each term spans over 1 1/2 months and if you take mid-term and end-term exams, it will seem like the course is full of exams.

This time I am very relaxed and am not even planning to go through the books , while others are having night-mares in completing it. I am just going to browse the class notes and try my luck in the exams.

Students are planning to bring out "Harbinger", the student magazine. I have written an article for it and am involved in design also. Though I am very interested in contributing to the layouts and other stuffs, I am unable to do anything due to the lack of time at this moment.

Today we had a session about profiling and career counseling. An external vendor will do that for a fee of Rs 2500. I think I will also do my profiling.

I have enrolled for an elective called "planning an entrepreneurial Venture". I don't know why I enrolled for it as I don't have any big entrepreneurial plan as of now. Lets see how it goes.

2004-08-06T17:50:00.000+04:00

Nowadays I am spending too much timed in the recreation center. I am not a person interested in sports but somehow I have started playing badminton and snooker and am spending nearly 5 hours daily in the recreation center. Alums have said that students start relaxing from the third term. I think that is happening now.

Next week, we have mid-term exams. Time is flying very fast. I have not yet started preparing for the mid-term. Lets see how it goes.

2004-08-03T17:32:00.000+04:00

Urgent need for permanent faculty ?

Yesterday I was having dinner with one of our profs. He was an excellent guy who was responsible for starting the IT division of wipro in India. He was praising the ISB students that they are very bright and they prepare well for classes regularly. While talking with him about the institute, I raised this question about permanent faculty.

He said that the school cannot depend entirely on the visiting faculty. He mentioned that a Mexican school, operating on 100% visiting faculty model, was able to survive only for seven years and was shot down in the eighth year. On the other hand, we have schools like Insead which has been very successful in visiting faculty model.

The ISB is doing a right thing in recruiting permanent faculty at a good pace. Though these faculties cannot give the same learning experience as given by some world class visiting faculty, a trade-off has to be there.

2004-08-02T15:55:00.000+04:00

It's Raining ...

It's ranining outside ... I do love rain but nowadays it is raining frequently disrupting my normal schedules. Sometimes I have to go late for dinner or start early for class .... Though I can take umbrella or wear my jacket, I hate going out while raining. Apart from all these, I don't get the mood to study while it is raining.

The ISB is getting better term by term. There was a period in term 1 when I was thinking whether I made a mistake by opting for ISB. Term 2 was good except for some classes. Term 3 is really rocking ... All the courses seem to handle very essential and relevant topics. Another reason I can think of is that this term has no ISB faculty. All the profs are visting profs mostly from Kellogg. I don't want to talk more on this issue... :)

These days the time I spend studying has reduced drastically. But I have started to be very attentive in the class, taking notes in detail and reviewing the notes regularly. Reviewing the notes doean't take more than 10 minutes and most of the time I spend watching movies in DVD or watching Tv.

2004-07-29T17:33:00.000+04:00

The classes in this term are too good. I am not a guy interested in operations but the Managerial accounting and Operations classes are very interesting. The professors are from Kellogg and they are very good in developing intuitions.

One thing I can be sure is that what they are teaching is the latest in the industry. I have read some issues about the problems in cost accounting in manufacturing firms and these classes hit that problems in the very beginning. So these classes are not going to be mundane, teaching the assets and liabilities but focus on bottomline improvement.

Coming to Biswajit's question - Sun Micro offers solutions manager and customer engagement manager positions. Verizon offers project manager and program manager roles. Verizon has also called for fresh graduates last year but I am not sure of the positions offered to them. Students with around three years of experience get BD or program management roles.

2004-07-28T17:00:00.000+04:00

Yesterday there was a mail from an alumni to the student batch. Our batch is supposedly concentrating too much on the grades and the mail advised us to concentrate on networking and other aspects in addition to grades. I do believe that grades tell nothing about us to the recruiter unless we are top 15% or so.

Tonight I have convened a meeting to discuss about the placement policies. The companies coming to the ISB mostly look for experienced peoples and they do iterate about their expectations while calling for applications. This would automatically reduce the number of applications but companies such as MCKinsey, BCG etc do attract very large number of applications, which may indicate the absence of focus among students. CAS is desperately trying to reduce the number of offer wastages. Students are afraid that they may become guinea pigs. Lets see how this goes.

For me, anyway the options are limited. I want to go back to IT and all the IT companies coming for campus don't necessarily accept students with less than three years of experience. For example, I think verizon asked for students with more than 4 years of experience and Sun asked for more than five.

2004-07-26T12:30:00.000+04:00

Am back After a long time ...

I went to my hometown, Pollachi and had a nice term break.

Today I had entrepreneurship class. I don't have any other classes today but have a lot to read for tomorrow.

In this term, I have corporate finance, Managerial accounting and Operations along with entrepreneurship. I have a positive feeling towards this term. The markets are bullish and I am positive about the placements too.

As a PLACOM representative, I am planning to meet all my placom babies before this Wednesday. Knowing each of them personally would be very helpful during the placement process. The new PLACOM policies, especially the cap of ten companies that one could apply, has a created a storm of reactions in the campus. PLACOM has to solve these issues before starting to work on training and tiering.

Ok. That's it for today.

2004-07-15T20:20:00.000+04:00

It is Exam Time ...

Exam fever is at the peak. Everyone is seen roaming with a book. I don't think I will be able to blog before next wednesday.

Finally we have drafted placement policies. We have restricted the number of offers to two. We have also put a constraint that one can apply to a maximum of 10 companies per tier.

Let me start my exam preperation.

2004-07-12T07:58:00.000+04:00

It is raining here ... I am just sitting near the window and watching the rain. Yesterday I watched two more movies. Now I think its time to start studying for the end-term.

In Placom, we are discussing about the placement policies. Policies have been given by CAS and we are brainstorming on them. I will disclose the policies once it is published for all students.

I am going home during this term-break. I think life will turn hectic next term onwards.

2004-07-10T21:36:00.000+04:00

Just one more week to go...

The end-term exams are on next Monday and Tuesday. This term went very fast and was very relaxing. I really enjoyed this term both in terms of learning and relaxing.

Today I watched "12 Angry men" and "Life is beautiful". Both are good movies.

The finance club here arranged sessions about budget. The pre-budget session was good. I was unable to attend the session on the budget day. Tomorrow there will be post-budget discussions by a panel of veterans from different industries. The budget is bad for me with my stocks going down (25% loss). I started my first trade at a bad point - the day before election. So you can know now why I have such a huge loss.

But, overall, I am happy with the budget. I am confident about PC and Manmohan and I am happy that the country is ruled by educated economists.

2004-07-07T09:23:00.000+04:00

Yesterday I was not able to sleep properly. I watched the movie "Pulp Fiction" and went to bed late. I dreamt of roaming in the beach, alone in the night, with turbulent waves. I was disturbed by the dream and searched in the internet for dream analysis. It said that turbulent waves symbolize mixed and confusing emotions in my mind. It also explained that the dream could reflect exploring my "own unconscious" in a spiritual way. Somehow the dream disturbed me.

Today morning, my Mother called me in the phone and scolded for not calling her. From the day I have come to the ISB, the link between me and the external world has been cut. Thank god, I don't have any girl friend. I have noticed my friends finding hard to allot time to call their girl friends inspite of the busy schedule.

Note: In my previous post, I wrote that Prof. Vohra was from Wharton. Actually, he is from Kellogg. Sorry for the mistake.

2004-07-04T19:58:00.000+04:00

Today we had the launch of Aikya. Today I got up late due to yesterday's party threw by my team mates ( We won in Markstrat and hence the party). Then rushed to the Aikya launch. Aikya is a program where each study group will be allotted a family in Hyderabad. This will make sure that we develop relationship with the family and understand the culture of Hyderabad.

The family allotted to our group was not able to come today and so we may meet on some other day this week. We were joking that we have become orphans ( Arpan shah became Orphan shah and Animesh kumar became Anaadh kumar).

Tomorrow Jagmohan's class will discuss about the key learnings from Markstrat. We have two new profs coming this week to handle the remaining classes of DMO and Competitive Strategy.

2004-07-03T09:55:00.000+04:00

Monday is the last class for prof. Jagmohan Raju. He was a wonederful professor. His timely wits and deep knowledge in the subject blended together to give a great experience. Prof. Vohra, Prof. Raju, Prof. Anjani Jain ... all profs from Wharton are good. I envy Wharton guys.

I spend time watching movies. Yesterday I watched "My cousin Vinny" and "Airplane". "My cousin Vinny" is really a classic comedy. It also emphasizes that grades are now way related to performance in the job. :) A way to console myself for my poor grades.

2004-07-01T09:49:00.000+04:00

Just now finished the Global Eco mid-term. Yesterday I got the Grade for Micro Eco. Micro is the only exam in which I performed above average. This term I have to pick-up.

Our group is doing well in Markstrat. Usually our group assignments won't work but this time it is rocking. May be experience effect !!

Sometimes we don't notice the repercussions our actions could create. We had a case about a projector company that wrongly signalled Sony that it is going to compete in Sony's market. This signal was untentional and completely wrong. The company had no idea of competing in Sony's competence. Prof. Jagmohan dealt the case very well and it was like reading a suspense story. Now, coming to the point, the same kind of signalling has happenned in case of Regular reader. I never intended to be nasty in yahoo groups but some of my messages has made him think so. I ought to be careful in my blog and forums !!

2004-06-29T09:32:00.000+04:00

The Feel Good factor

I am feeling pretty good this term and even my friends feel so. Excellent Profs, Interesting ubjects, lot of free time, Interesting Markstrat game and No strangling assignments ... It is the profs who decide the fate of the term. Usually profs who teach excellently don't trouble students with intimidating assignments. We have one assignment this term but that can be done in pairs and the assignment is also designed to be interesting. Overall ... A great Term !! We are relaxed - still learning is pretty good.

Placom Representative

I was elected as the Placom rep in the re-election. I should try to do my best to build the image of the ISB in terms of placements.

I am giving some of my election campaign mails below:

http://www.geocities.com/sujayath/CAMPAIGN1.bmp
http://us.share.geocities.com/sujayath/babycampaign.bmp
http://us.share.geocities.com/sujayath/bookcampaign.bmp
http://us.share.geocities.com/sujayath/campaignmail.bmp
http://www.geocities.com/sujayath/ISBLetter.doc

2004-06-26T11:05:00.000+04:00

Election results were out and I am in tie with other candidate. Reelections are over and the results may be out by Monday.

Grades are out for Marketing and Accounting and I am just average ! I have got good marks in individual assignments but group assignments lowered my grade in Marketing! At the same time, I am bad in Accounting and group assignments saved me ! Thats the trade off!

This term was very relaxing but now grades would send energy waves to students to start studying ! The mid-term is on Thursday !

Yesterday, there was a talk by Deepak Jain! All I could say is "very impressive"! He was supposed to be the dean of ISB but Kellogg lured him by making him the dean of kellogg. ISB has lost a very good dean !

2004-06-24T08:56:00.000+04:00

Though this term is supposed to be as hectic as the last term, I have started relaxing. Yesterday, I was just sitting and watching TV. I am also noticing that most of the students have started relaxing. They might have understood that running like this till the end of the year is not a good strategy. This week might be free and next week comes the mid-term. We have mid-term for only one subject, Macro Economics.

When I say free or relaxing, don't assume that students are having a good 8 hours sleep. Markstrat takes care that students spend most of the time in it. The advantage in Markstrat is that though you put a lot of time in it, it won't be as tiring or boring as going through the book.

2004-06-21T09:28:00.000+04:00

Sorry Gentleman ! I was so busy yesterday with Markstrat that I was not able to blog. Even the simplest decisions require hell a lot of time as everyone in the group has to be convinced. In my group, we have a good understanding and so even if we fight like wrestlers during the discussions, it does not affect relationships. I don't know how it goes in other groups.

I sent a mail yesterdar for election campaign. I came up with three different mails and asked my friends to choose one. They opted for the simplest one and I sent it. The mail just had two lines. The subject of the mail was "I was Pregnant!" Inside the mail, there was a photo of a pregnant man (yes man!) with caption "Have conceived many ideas! Give me a chance to deliver !!". Lets see whether this campaign works !! The screenprint of the mail can be found in "http://us.share.geocities.com/sujayath/campaignmail.bmp".

2004-06-19T10:06:00.000+04:00

Yesterday I slept at 4:00 AM. As expected, the Markstrat discussion went on and on and finally we made some decisions at 3:30 AM ( We started at 7:00 PM). Our group lacks experienced candidates in operations and so we almost have to reinvent each and every concept.

I have decided to stand for election as Placement Committee representative. We will have 12 representatives and there are 27 contestants. I wanted to be in Placement or Admissions committee as these are the two aspects that decide the ISB brand image. I think I can contribute to ISB more if I am in these committees.

Class participation is becoming a head-ache for me. For example, Competitive Strategy has 25% marks for CP (Class participation) and so each and everyone wants to speak something in the class. Mostly it ends up with the same point repeated 4 or 5 times and students giving very vague and very evident comments. This is reducing the energy level in the class.

2004-06-17T08:15:00.000+04:00

Yesterday there was a session on how to use the MARKSTRAT software. It is a simulation game where the students compete against each other and this constitutes significant portion of the grade. Seniors have warned that this game is addictive and could consume a lot of time. My groupies are so enthusiastic about the game and I can see sleepless nights awaiting me. Yet I see this as an interesting platform to test our competitive skills without causing much damage (Grade damage is there but we can afford it). Lets see how it goes.

2004-06-16T08:46:00.000+04:00

What to get out of MBA?

Somehow I have landed in the MBA land, without having much idea of what to get out of this MBA. I was never a die-hard MBA aspirant, but just landed here by accident. Students who were dreaming of their MBA from their school days might enjoy the learning here. I am still contemplating about what to get out of this MBA.

Atleast after one term, I should have got an idea of what MBA tries to convey to me. This MBA has taught me the art of being with books. Even when I watch TV, I have a book in my lap. MBA has taught me the art of regretting. I chat and watch TV for one hour and regret about it for two hours. MBA has taught me the art of raising hands. I should say it is trying to teach me the art of raising hands. Even when the prof coughs, students raise their hands and try to explain the reason why he coughed. Still, I am very naive at this art. I don't raise my hand even when I know what the answer is. I should change this behaviour in this term atleast. MBA has taught me the art of using Buzzwords. Good example -> Some yesterday told me - "You have illusion of control. Don't stick to your prior hypothesis belief. Try to change your locus of control".

What has MBA taught me in this one term? It has changed my thought process. It has made me realize that it is not the outcome that is important, but the way how we reach that outcome is important. I believe this is the valuable lesson I get out of MBA. I have learned to question the basic assumptions. This forms the basis for any out-of-box thinking. I have started analyzing whatever I read in magazine or watch in TV and try to find the reason behind it. MBA has taught me to give importance to thought process and this lesson is what I learned in the first term.