FAQ on Melbourne Business School

Here is the second of three FAQs I decided to publish to address commonly asked questions about MBA, MBS, and the like..read on...!

Q) How good is the school ?

Very, very good. Melbourne Business School is very well regarded in Australia (AFR BOSS ranked it #1 in 2009), and increasingly overseas as well. Financial Times ranked the school 52 in 2009 whereas the Economist ranked it 26 in the same year. The school will operate under the Faculty of Economics and commerce, University of Melbourne shortly.

Q) How good are the placements at Melbourne Business School ?

In 2008, Melbourne Business School was able to place 98% of the students within three months of graduation. Although the same can’t be said about the 2009 batch, a big reason for that was the financial crisis affecting the worldwide hiring trends adversely.

Now a little more about the placement methodology at MBS and in Australia. In Australia, things work very differently from say India or US where most students are offered jobs while they’re still studying. Here, one is expected to have to look for a job after graduation. I’ve heard a few people who’ve been here for a long time tell me that positions, though formally advertised, are actually filled up either internally or through referrals in most cases. This makes networking a very, very important activity in Australia. The same applies to MBS, where a significant number of placements tend to happen through students networking with alumni (who’re very helpful). However, this is not to say that you can’t get a job before you graduate. A lot of good companies do turn up at MBS to hire on-campus regularly, but the general trend is in favor of referred hiring.

Moral of the story ? MBS is a well regarded and known school in Australia amongst employers, but don’t expect to get a job easily. Getting an MBA from here is only half the battle won, you’ll still probably have to work pretty hard at getting hired.

Q) Where can I find more information about Melbourne Business School ?

Apart from the corporate website (www.mbs.edu), there are several blogs (such as this one) which are maintained by student, alumni and faculty at the school. Here is a link to the list of MBS bloggers maintained by Ameel.
http://insanityworks.org/acme/mbs-bloggers/

Q) What does the full time MBA course look like at Melbourne Business School ?

The sixteen month course is divided into four terms of about three months each. The remaining time includes breaks, summer vacations, orientation etc. You have to pass 20 subjects over these four terms, and if you’re an international student without an Australian PR, most likely you can’t take longer than this to complete the course. If you’re a resident of Australia though, you can play around with your course in a lot of ways; we won’t go into those at this point.

Each term you pick a list of subjects. Most students pick five each term but some also pick 4 or 6. It really depends on you alone to reduce the load by picking fewer subjects, but you need the approval of the academic dean if you want to take more subjects than five in any one term.

The course offers 10 core subjects which must be completed by all students (except those who get credit/substitution) and 10 electives. To do these electives, you need to have completed a combination of one or more core subjects. That’s why a majority of the students try to complete the core subjects by the second term, so that the third and fourth terms can be devoted to electives. But things are very flexible. You can plan your MBA as per your aspirations and objectives.

Q) What are the key strengths of Melbourne Business School ?

I’ll try to present my personal opinion. What sets MBS apart is it’s excellent brand equity in Australia, affiliation with the excellent University of Melbourne, and an emphasis on creating a highly diverse class. I’ve been advised by a few good sources that MBS happens to be better at Marketing than Finance, but I did not find any such thing. You might have to rely on some ranking websites such as Financial Times to get the general opinion on this, if there is any.

Employers need a PR !

Over the past few days, I’ve seen a few job advertisements coming up through the MBS career services, local newspapers/magazines, and the internet. I’ve observed from those that most companies in Australia want you to have a permanent residency when you apply for their advertised job. I find it surprising that a company which turns up at Melbourne Business School for hiring has this type of a policy. Here is why.

Melbourne Business School happens to be the premier business school in Australia, and amongst the best in the world. One of the defining features of the MBA here is the diversity of the class. In my batch, nearly 70% students were non-australian residents, and I am certain that’s also the case with many other batches though the exact number might be slightly different. Now given that seven of ten potential candidates for the advertised job do not reside in Australia, a company which makes permanent residency compulsory is being a bit unfair to these students as well as itself, to say the least. For one, you are denying a deserving student a chance to work with you. Second, you are only choosing from a reduced pool of candidates thereby leaving out a lot of talent.

My discussions with the career services have helped me understand the motivations of such firms. It is understood that these companies are looking for people that are likely to stay in Australia long enough, and that the companies do not want any hassles regarding the student’s working permits etc. This allows the companies to focus on their core competancy rather than spend lots of time and resources on visa processing etc.

However, I feel that this should not stop companies from hiring students who have already applied for a permanent residency. Sure, for a minority of students, the PR application does not garuntee a PR approval, but students at MBS are well qualified, experienced, and have a stable financial and character record. Therefore, I feel that the chances of an applicant from MBS being rejected a visa are fairly low. In fact, the Australian government allows ‘eligible’ students from MBS to obtain the 18-month temporary work permit after they graduate. This being true, I find it massively dissapointing that companies still have the rule that they do about the PR.

Be that as it may, I plan to take this issue up with individual companies and I hope something positive comes out of my raising this issue. Look out for more on this front soon…

FAQ on MBA Admissions

Today happens to be the last day of the term break. I am not sure whether I am disappointed the break is over or whether I am eager for the mayhem to resume. Anyway, I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome the new batch of students into this fantastic school. At the same time, I thought to publish a set of frequently asked questions for those who’re either starting out the admission process or are in the middle of it. I’ll publish a set of 3-4 FAQs covering the different aspects of the MBA admission, and the post-admission planning process. Hope it helps!

FAQ on MBA Admissions

Q) What’s a good GMAT score for admission to a good school ?
Believe it or not, there is no such thing. You get evaluated on your essays, your academic and professional experience, and your GMAT among other things. One could say that a weakness in one of these areas may be made up by a strength in another, but that’s not always true. I know people who’ve a sub-600 GMAT score but a lot of invaluable work experience make it through to top schools. Therefore, work as hard as you can for the test, but don’t lose heart if you don’t go above 700, because only 7% people who write the GMAT do. For those still obsessed with a number, I’d say anything above 650 looks good for average to above-average resumes, but obviously there aren’t any guarantees. Ever.

Q) What’s the best way to find good schools ?
A good place to start looking is www.mba.com. Another way of looking up schools is through various ranking websites such as Financial Times, The Economist etc. Obviously rankings do play a role in school selection but you must look beneath the numbers here. For example, if you want to do finance you want to chose the school with best ranking in finance programs rather than its overall rank. Another couple of aspects to consider are the school’s location and program duration. Most top ranked schools happen to be in the US where programs run for two years mostly. You obviously should not compare these programs with say 1 year programs in UK, so be careful with the rankings.

Use the information about the school from its website to see how best it fits your career plans, how well it is known by employers you plan to work with, how many scholarships are available, what are the school’s strengths and weaknesses with respect to academic streams such as Marketing, Finance, Strategy etc.

Q) How important is the University affiliation ?
I personally think it's very important. Not in terms of placement, but in terms of educational infrastructure, facilities, programs, depth of teaching and research experience etc. Ideally, you want your school to be backed by solid credentials. Having an affiliation with a good university also means the school can offer a wider range of electives, have better professors to teach you etc. As for you, you get to use the facilities of the university itself such as the libraries, career events, cultural societies etc. Having said that, I do know a couple of schools which are super-cool without being affiliated to any university (case in point – Indian School of Business). However, by and large most good schools are also with really good universities. For e.g., Said Business School (Oxford), Judge Business School (Cambridge) etc.

Q) What are the key criteria for admission to a good business school ?
Essays, professional work experience, letters of reference, Academics, and GMAT score among others, though not necessarily in that order. Your essays should convey your exact aspirations, career plans, your reasoning for the MBA, etc. Try to be as specific and as honest as possible in the essays since this is the first time the reader gets to know anything about you. It’s always advisable to present your thoughts in a clear and concise manner. Use simple language, short sentences, good grammar etc.

The remaining points should be self-explanatory I presume. The MBA selection committee is looking for people who’ve done well in their career, have a solid academic background. Weaknesses in any of these areas can potentially be offset by strength in another. For e.g., if you have only average work experience and academics, it would appear that the GMAT and Essays are going to be more important than otherwise.

Q) What do I need to know about the admission procedure ?
Timing! I strongly believe that timing is one of the most important things to get right in the admission strategy. You just have to apply as early as possible (unless the school does not have rolling admissions), so that your chances of being selected are highest. Most schools have rolling admissions which begin almost an year before the actual term commences. Therefore, it’s critically important that you have all documents (GMAT score, essays, references etc.) ready at least one year before you wish to start studying. Of course, if either you’re a genius or plain lucky you can still apply on the last day and get in, but weigh the odds before you go down that path.

At this point, I must say this. If inspite of all your earnest efforts, you’re not able to apply early, apply anyway; for a small amount (application fee), it’s not that bad a risk.

Watch this space for more common questions answered...:)

The Great Indian Circus !

Before I become lazy again, I must start writing. I must, because there is so much to say. There's the great Indian General Elections to talk about, our road trip to the Great Ocean Road and finally a tribute to my grandfather Major S. R. Kulkarni. Read on..

The great circus called the Indian General Election ended last week with a good final outcome. No, I am not saying the better party won - I am implying rather that some party won, which means we will have a stable government for the next five years. Not that it matters though, but it's better than horse-trading and hung parliaments; it's cheaper, to say as much. Though I am convinced about Manmohan Singh the Economist, I have my doubts about him as a statesman or a leader. As maligned as the word politics is, it has distinct importance in running a nation. Just as you dont want a military general running a country or a politician running a planning commission, you don't want to see a true blue economist running a country. I would much rather that a career politician do that job and so would've preferred Pranab Mukherjee or Sharad Pawar anyday over MS. That said, it's a good overall result in the end with the people who thought they could use the hindu sentiment to their political advantage religated to the sidelines, and rightly so.

Away from politics, we went out for a road trip to the Great Ocean Road last week. Must say, it's my best drive ever. I cant claim to have seen better landscapes, prettier countryside or a more maginificient Ocean ever before. I would've liked to see more, or rather feel more of the atmosphere by living at say the Apollo Bay for a coupla days, but there's always next time. The trip once again was made memorable by the company I had. All in all, a truly delightful experience.

To end the post, I'd like to pay a tribute to my late maternal grandfather Major S.R. Kulkarni, IOM. The words IOM mean "Indian Order of Merit" - a gallantry award conferred by the British, for his 'par excellence' performance in World War II. A remarkable soldier and a most humble pesonality. Here's to him, all due respect and honor!

Life so far

Life has been awesome !!! The first line says it all, doesn't it ? It's been about 3 months since I landed in Melbourne to study at Melbourne BSchool, and it's hard to express how surprised I am that it's been over 8 weeks ! It's true, doing a two year course in just sixteen months is a real hard ask, but the good part is, you're out in the market before ya know it - so money saved :-). The MBS MBA does change your life. I can already say that my life's got two parts, one before my MBA and the one after (not that my wife will aprove though, but that's another story). This part of my life, is called fun !

Agreed, the weekly assignments and homeworks are so hectic that I am playing catch-up 70% of the time (dont ask me how I calculated that figure). Agreed, the fifteen hundred bucks a month budget cuts out what I just love, eating out and partying etc. Agreed, I hardly get any time to experience Mesmerising Melbourne. All said, doing an MBA is still very enjoyable. For one, the people are all smart and mostly (?) good fun to be with. Then there are enough opportunities to hang out (without cutting a hole in your wallet), play sports, attend events etc.

And then there's the excitement of the assessment. It's chaotic, it's brainless (duh !) and it's infair for the most part - but what the hell - I love the madness ! Having written a totally junky blog this week, I plan to write a better one next time, one that will be more informative to the average reader :-). So long for now...and take care !

First week in Melbourne..

Well, I am in the bus back home and this is practically the only time I get to write blog posts :). So I think there's a lot of truth in the generally accepted principle that the first term of an MBA is usually the hardest one, both on your body and on your mind.

Ergo, the first academic week at MBS was quite a warm one - no a HOT one ! Well I am obviously neither referring to the birds around nor the workload. I guess anyone and everyone who's been anywhere close to Melbourne over the last week knows I am talking about the weather. Well it's 45 degree right now and this was actually the hottest ever week in the history of the city of Melbourne! Not that I am complaining though cause my body somehow prefers warmer climes to cooler ones.

Having digressed already, I think I'll come to the point right away :). Well, the first day of the week was a holiday and it did a lot to ease the pressure that had built up over the previous week. We made our ways to St.Kilda beach but I have to admit it was pretty cold out there and we couldn't do much except enjoy the scenery :). Day two to five were primarly spent at the school covering the principles that govern the 'world of management'. Day two being the most hectic one in terms of the reading we had to take care of, we had tons of material as pre & post reading. It was way past midnight before we could sleep. Add to this schedule the fact that we're living quite far at the moment (takes over an hour to travel one way) and the mix is HECTIC ! Day three and four turned out to be more interesting in that there was more role plays and team activities. Plus there was lesser stuff to read.

All in all though, a very hectic week and am sure one of many more to come. Lots of learnings on the way though, with the best coming from easily the most enjoyable lecture from Richard Speed. Amongst the many other important things he said, he emphasised that this was our time to be able to b stupid and still not lose the race cause it's school and we're officially out of the race (at least for now :) ). I think that's a really well made point.

Plans for the weekend ? Well we need to look for a house AND do our assignments AND cook AND take care of our health AND remember to ENJOY !!! Cya later mate !

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!

All..have a great new year. Wish all your dreams come true this year, and you have the best year you've ever had in more ways than one...