What does preliminary work mean?

IIMs - What does work experience really mean?

• I have often seen IIM applicants with zero years of work experience getting in IIMs. Does this mean they are directly recruited as soon as they pass out of Engg/Graduation? Or would they have a relevant work experience for a couple of years, and then they take sabbatical or otherwise just drop a year? What typically happens in such a scenario? One - When the candidate has relevant experience but probably dropped out a year. Second - Just graduated from Engg. college/ any basic graduation level. Another important question on this purview - What does "quality" work experience and a "differentiated" work experience actually mean? Will the candidate be awarded brownie points when she/he is fully able to justify the quality work experience? In short, what are the hidden elements to clarify the quality work experience obtained in any industry? Also, I happened to view other questions and answers on similar lines. There are many instances where the prospective candidate is from a well established IT company/marketing/finance background. Unlike the MBA schools abroad and ISB, do IIMs value people from varied backgrounds? For example - Health care, Education, Fashion industry etc? If yes, how impressively can a candidate prove to really stand out as an outlier and do justification to the industry she/ he appears from?

• Answer:

  The IIMs use both an objective evaluation and a subjective evaluation. The objective evaluation is usually a simple formula with weights for different criteria like CAT score, Prior academic performance (X, XII, Undergrad, Grad), years of work experience etc. There have been recent instances of some IIMs using gender (higher score for women) and education stream (higher score for non-engineers) as part of this objective evaluation. I believe this is meant to actively improve the diversity of the batch. The objective criteria do not (and cannot) judge the quality or diversity of work experience. A minimum score on this objective formula qualifies you for subjective evaluation. The subjective evaluation is in the form of essays, GDs and Personal Interviews. This is where the issues like quality and variety of work experience are evaluated. At this stage, candidates with varied and high quality experience have an unmistakable edge. All else being same, candidates from Healthcare/ Fashion/ Education fields have an advantage over candidates from IT. The high percentage of engineers at the IIMs is due to the heavy reliance on the CAT score as a metric. The IIMs realise this and are actively trying to bring in candidates from diverse backgrounds. I hope this answers the core of your question. I'll now attempt to answer some of your specific questions. What does work experience really mean? "Work Experience" usually means a full-time paid engagement. So, internships/ engagements that are part-time or academically mandated do not count. Any experience before dropping/ taking a sabbatical still counts. Does zero experience mean they are directly recruited as soon as they pass out of Engg/Graduation? "Zero experience" means the candidate has not held a full-time employment prior to admission at the IIM. This could be candidates fresh out of college (very likely) or candidates who haven't worked after college (highly unlikely). Though mostly engineers, I have seen BAs, BComs and MBBS' being admitted directly from college/ without any work experience. What typically happens in such a scenario? One - When the candidate has relevant experience but probably dropped out a year. Second - Just graduated from Engg. college/ any basic graduation level. The work experience in scenario One still counts. How can a candidate prove to really stand out as an outlier and do justification to the industry she/ he appears from? Assuming you have a good enough score on the objective criteria, the GD/PI gives you a wonderful platform to showcase your awesomeness. Make sure you show High quality of your work in the field Your passion for your chosen field Initiative in the activities undertaken Well-rounded knowledge of your current field How you have performed consistently better than your peers in this field How your experience in this field helps you bring a distinct perspective to the class