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What is the average pay package for a new I.I.M. recruit?

Would it be wise to learn to code or prepare for CAT?

  • I am a final year student studying CIVIL ENGINEERING in a tier-1 engineering college in India. I am placed in a Big-4 Management Consultancy as an Associate Consultant in IT-Advisory Services. I still have 5 months before I start to work at Ernst and Young. I have a few options for me right now : 1. Prepare for CAT-2014 and aim getting an admit in a b-school. Honestly saying , my motivation to do an MBA right now is of course for a better career , better pay-package , better profile. That's it. But still , a few things that demotivate me to think about this right now are : A : Slogging too hard for CAT and even after getting high percentiles , there is no surety  that I'd get IIM calls , thanks to IIMs criteria.  Adding to that I am a GEM (with NOT SO GOOD Academics). B: Investment of about 20 lakhs ( program fees of MBA ) and 15 lakhs ( opportunity cost of two years while I pursue MBA ). C : Even after all this , there is no surety of getting a "good job" even from a top B-school. ( which is my motivation to pursue an MBA ) The other thing I can do is to learn to code and gain coding skills over a period of time by participating in competitive programming events like Code chef , SPOJ etc. I have an intuitive feeling that I can be a good coder. I've studied C/C++, but I am not active in competitive programming. The factors which motivated me to learn coding are : A: No investment of money. It's not like I have to take up a loan. B: Being a coder , gives you quite a lot flexibility, like the ability to open your own start-up or think about other creative things, which opens up the option of being a freelancer or entrepreneur. C : If things go really well and I gain good coding skills ,  I can think of about a career in software development  ( which are quite well paying ) and plan to do a master's in computer science instead of an MBA. Please give suggestions as to what I should do at this time. CAT would always be an option I guess, even if I figure out that coding is not for me.

  • Answer:

    Both the fields are so diverse that it may actually be cataclysmic to compare them. But on learning to code, you might become a coder; on doing CAT you may have to manage a team of coders. Both are diverse fields with lots of opening, and are highly paid but demand a lot of preparation in return. Aptitude, reasoning, logic are required in both CAT and code but verbal requirements are additional in CAT exam.

Irfan Ahmad at Quora Visit the source

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Follow your other passions. May be there is something that you always wanted to do but couldn't do till now. You'll learn what is required for the job on the job. MBA colleges these days prefer experienced guys and not fresh out of college day dreamers. Being in an organisation will teach you more about management than a degree ever will. But of course the degree will help to move up the ladder(real and imaginary), but only later. As far as EnY or any other big-4 is concerned, no need for programming. P.S. - career in software development is not 'that' exciting;to open startup in India, one needs guts more than the programming skills.

Ankit Rana

Take up job as it will show you the real world and only then you will be able to decide what is best for you. Lets consider that you took that job and with time you realize that it is way too boring and you do not fit there.What next? Go for MBA,I guarantee that you will prepare harder. Now lets consider that you get into a good B-school.You invest alot of of your money and time, and it could be the case that you may not like it either.After 4-5 months you start thinking that you do not belong to that place. What other options available? What next?????/...............................................

Pritika Mehta

If you really enjoy coding and mathematics ,then do masters in computer science.There are wide range of interesting areas in cs like AI, machine learing ,cryptography.All in all cs =maths+coding.

Anonymous

Hey! Appreciate your enthusiasm and would like to congratulate you for the campus placements. If you like to grow as a consultant then it is good to take the offer or else try your core companies; if you are interested in Coding - surely there are sea of companies which would hire you. Pros & Cons of you considering an MBA at this point in your life - Pro - 1. You have time to study for CAT 2. One shot you could complete your studies with out gap for work 3. After MBA, Recruiters see you as - High qualified fresh mind. You stand good chance to get into middle-management or consultancy or many other streams Con - 1. Going for MBA with work ex is good (provided you find time to study for series of exams while working) 2. As you have got into consultancy, you many work for 2 years gain good experience(this might solve your problem of not so good academics for IIM calls) If your interest is in coding, go ahead. No point in thinking about MBA. I bet you, it's worth the money that you spend of tuition fee, if you are in a premier institute for an MBA. You can't connect dots looking forwards, keep thinking that you would get a good institute and things would work for you. That's how it is done in life. Of course, work hard! Keep in mind - Don't waste your next 5 months, start preparing for CAT. The preparation is all-purpose either for your MBA or MS. Once you start working, it's tough task(not impossible, but a bad option for your situation) to find time for a competitive exam preparation. And don't forget to have fun too. Good Luck! Cheers!

Bharath K Raj

It's way better to follow what's most agreeable with your heart.That's how you stay happy. And, for the money part, planning for a startup is not the w(h)ealthiest option. PS: please remove the iOS development tag! thank you!

Kasula Vamsi

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