What kind of work experience is required prior to pursuing an MBA in India?

Assuming you know what you want to specialize in, a job in a related field would help but is not necessary. A lot of people pursue an MBA to allow them to change their field of work. A lot of people do not know what they want to specialise in. Many of those who think they do, change their mind during the first year. That's why the first year is more of an introduction to all the fields and second is a specialisation year. A bank is not the only place you can work after an MBA in finance. However, if some finance related experience is available prior to the MBA, it will help in showcasing a stronger profile and consistency during placements. Having said that, I have seen a lot of people who were developers in IT companies land the most coveted finance jobs. So, a bank job may help but is not necessary. First of all, let me clarify that you won't get a leadership role right after your MBA. Almost everyone who pursues a two year full time MBA has a non management job before it. If you do have management experience you would prefer an executive course. Btw, 95 percentile is not a strong enough score to get into a top B-school in India in my opinion. Academics and a strong score is not the only thing the admission committee looks at. Diversity in the batch is something that they look for too. So, anything that sets you apart from your competition helps your chances of getting in. Volunteering in an NGO is just one of those. The idea here is to look at yourself and figure out how are you different from others. Volunteering just for the sake of adding a bullet point in your CV wouldn't do justice to it. This is a tricky one. I may be stereotyping the jobs here to put my points across but here's what I think of both the jobs. Both the jobs will give you a slightly different profile compared to the vast majority of people who come from IT companies. However, the smaller engineering firm may give you better chances of growth and opportunities to lead earlier than a large bank. On the other hand, a banking profile may help your chances of getting into a finance MBA. It is difficult to give an absolute answer without more context on the nature of your job in both the places. Need more clarity on what you intend to ask here. The way I interpret it is that what should someone do if they don't land their dream job after their MBA. There are very high chances that one would not land their dream job after MBA. What job you get is a function of many things, market conditions, institute reputation, your standing in your batch being some of those. However, if you use the two years judicially, you will get something close to your dream job. If you can't, your MBA will give you the skills and the network you need to get to your dream job.

Well, I am intrigued by the amount of details and questions you have pumped in a single question. 1.) A job in the field you want to earn an MBA is neither a requirement nor an application assessment criteria. But in my opinion, it is helpful. It could help in solving two problems. -> You would understand the MBA coursework much better than other students, which in turn, may assist you in scoring a higher GPA and securing a good job. -> You can link your previous work experience with your long-term and short-term goals allowing you to answer the question "Why MBA?" in a more confident and convincing way. 2.) If he/she does not know the field to specialize in ... its perfectly normal and ok. So it is totally fine to try new things, jobs, career. Your resume is nothing but a reflection of what you have done. If you have made rational decisions and contributed well in your job, the variety of your experiences would, in fact, garnish your resume. 3.) You need to understand that MBA is mostly a three way jump. Location, Industry and Role. The most important is the role, then location and then industry. By working in the banking sector, you may benefit but the relevance of your work ex would not matter. The reason - you are targeting the industry but forgetting that the role is more important. So if, say, I work in an Investment bank as a developer, I may gain some financial knowledge but that would be nothing compared to someone who is working as a financial analyst in the same bank. And to get the job for the same role, you need the relevant qualification. It is rare and difficult for a computer engineer to secure a financial analyst job. That's because you have a qualification as an engineer and not a financial qualification. That being said, you can try your luck with some additions in the resume. Example - Clear a couple of levels of CFA or demonstrate your financial knowledge in some way. 4.) 95+ percentile in CAT is not a strong score. A strong score is something above 98. Secondly, have you seen anyone who has started his/her job as a manager? Everyone on this Earth knows that a person starting his career would not be a manager or would not be in a position to lead a team. So this question does not make any sense. However, people still can and do demonstrate leadership qualities. It is something you can show by examples from your day to day life, and of course, with proof. 5.) When you volunteer for an NGO, its not the work which makes it important but your mindset to bring upon a change. So, if you are joining an NGO just to add another star to your CV, its useless. Ad coms, who are really smart in judging people, would figure this out in no time. The idea is not to work for an NGO but it is to be unique, to be smart and to be bold and strong enough to bring a change. You can do that with other activities also. Example - Open a startup, showcase rare talents like music or sports. How many times have you seen a computer engineer who is a national basketball champ or a mathematician who is fluent in 4 languages or is guitarist in a popular band. Thats what they are looking for. 6.) Wait, you wanna do something because most engineers do it! That breaks the very essence of "Why MBA". I am a computer engineer who will start his MBA this fall, but thats not because all do it, but because I have my personal reasons which are strong and aligned with my life goals. As per the options, the bank job would be more beneficial. It would teach him/her the work culture in a better way and the brand name definitely helps. 7.) For IIMs you need to crack CAT and the Interview with GDs in some. So you need to be smarter while answering than on paper. ISB weighs the GMAT and work ex way more heavily than other details. So work hard in your job and crack the GMAT. For ISB, you should be really good on papers with respect to your work ex. You might want to read these answers. Thanks for the A2A.

Generally, the best work experience you can have to get into an elite business school is the job that is hardest to get. Admission officers are a risk adverse bunch. That's why they lean toward candidates from prestigious undergraduate universities and companies that already have a tight screen on quality. If you've gotten through those screens, the thinking goes, you already have been singled out as someone with high potential. So the more highly selective the opportunity is, the better it will be on your application. Just as important, if not equally, is the opportunity itself: You want to get yourself int a position where you are doing something consequential and have the ability to demonstrate your ability to lead others and to work collaboratively in a team, making a significant contribution to a group effort. And when you get the job, you want to get a promotion or two to show a school that you can a valuable contributor. These two factors are far more important than what company you join, what organization you volunteer for. As for your future career, if you know you want to eventually work in finance, a job at a bank would make more sense at this point. But the two points above even trump that. You can always use a full-time MBA program to make a career switch as most MBA students do.

Obviously your preMBA work experience will help you in getting in the same sector post MBA. Changing lines of work would need your profile to be very convincing and you will have to present a very strong case- though, many people change work lines post MBA. In a nutshell- there ain;t elite or non-elite companies- wherever and whatever you work on- make sure you do good there so that you know how to present yourself to people with lots of experience in evaluating people.