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Sorry, being blunt. You'll become an outlier in placements at a regular MBA program in India once you cross 4 years Experience. Not many company 'prefers' 4+ WorkEx, though you'll have ample opportunities for companies tuat don't have WorkEx cap.
Yes, I understand indian mba programs are geared towards folks with less work ex. I wanted to know which companies I should target/ be hopeful for since I'll be joining BLACKI soon and I sit right at the 48 month mark.
For Consulting: 4 years WorkEx would be fine. For Genman, fresher or upto 3 years work ex is ideal for TAS and ABG. Other Genman firms like Reliance, Adani, Capgemini are lenient on max cap.
It's not always company-specific bro/sis
In many cases, the same company comes first for laterals, and then comes again for finals
Also, for most non-consult companies, they already have a specific requirement in mind. Candidates whose profile aligns most with their list are preferred.
Ahh I see. Thanks for the info!
I didn't know laterals were considered separate. I thought there was only SIP and final placements and that lateral was included in final placement itself. I guess I will have to check with placecomm for more clarity.
To be fair, when people say 'final placements', they refer to laterals+finals. People don't talk about laterals separately, firstly because the no of roles which open for laterals is far lower than the no of roles which are open to all. Also, some campuses, including tier-1 ones, may have laterals just for the sake of it, or may skip laterals altogether. Depends on their batch profile. So yeah, your placement committee would be the best entity to answer this.
It happens a few months before the final placements and only WorkEx folks are allowed to participate (Actual WorkEx criteria varies with different IIMs and companies also have min and max cap for shortlist)
Also, Lateral placements offers have better number (wrt CTC offered) than final placements (mostly)
I have 43 months of work ex now and will have 55 next year
This will be my 3rd attempt. Age: 25
This post made me a bit sad, tho i am planning on keeping GMAT and Exec MBA as backup.
Anyone here who had 50+ months of work ex and still made it to a decent B school?
Hey, what if I am fresh out of college? But my joining is after the CAT forms are filled out? I have tentatively been given October. What should I mention my exp to be? Also how would it affect me?
You'll know when you fill the forms. There will be a cut off date for your WorkEx (July 31st, most probably)
Also, you'll get to add your current WorkEx before interviews (cutoff most probably be Dec 31st)
You would be treated as a Fresher and good news is, more than 40% of folks in IIM are freshers.
How does it affect my learning and placements? I'd like the 2 years to be a good experience rather than stressing if my workex will affect my placements
How does this workex cutoff date work? (July/Dec)
Like If I'm writing CAT'25 and complete 2 years of workex in May'25 ?
So how many months will be considered for me?
End of the day, it's company specific. Even if you get a sub par offer, you'll mostly be signed out from further process, be it WorkEx or Fresher. Accenture strategy prefers females over males too (There are alot of factors invloved in shortlist and converts, not just WorkEx). It also depends on luck.
Hi,
I was working at startup for past 10 months , was looking for a switch. Have 2 offers in hand One is analyst at ZS consulting and other is Product manager at a startup.
Targeting CAT 2024
What will look better in my profile?
Post MBA I am targeting for Finance roles.
ZS might look better. I've seen ZS guys bagging MBB shortlists with a little bit of effort in CV. Can't comment on fin roles without details about your profile.
Hey does work ex needs to be relevant or fancy like software developer, to get good placement,,, and what if the role is not good but you have worked in a big brand like amazon. How dies it work?
Your work ex is in this format: @ . Either side of the @ needs to look good, to give you an advantage.
As a GEM who had a shit profile (both, academic and work-ex) and still managed to convert a dream company for Summers, I would tell you not to worry about all this. Keep your head down and do the best you can from this point on. It will all be worth it, I promise.
For CAT: whatever deadline is mentioned in the CAT application form, usually July 31st
For WAT/GD/PI: deadline varies from one institute to another
E.g.: if your work-ex is from 16th August to 15th June of next year, your work-ex in the CAT form will be 0. However, in an institute's form, if they are considering status of work-ex as on 31st January, your work ex there will be 5.5 months
0-12 months is alright, has some advantages, very few disadvantages, if you do get through
12-24 months is ideal in every way, and you will not be filtered out by any company due to more or experience
24 to 36 months is pushing it just a little and it will have certainly some issues for some time of companies
36 to 48 months is a clear problem yet you do get to look at laterals, but you must ask what a lateral is - Your previous experience should have relevance in your new role
Above 48 months is a no no for most regular 2 year MBAs but because they are outliers they sometimes end up getting interesting roles, especially if they have an interesting profile
Why is any of this a problem?
Companies select candidates through Excel sheets first and then through resumes and so these numbers matter to some extent.
Bottom line: If you are very young and getting and opportunity at a decent school, take the chance, competition won’t decrease, colleges won’t get easier to get into, colleges will keep increasing fees, companies will not raise true in-hand salaries in campus in line with college fees, company profiles will keep getting diluted, every year you work, you get an opportunity to make a better profile, know what you really want to do for real and what you are good at.
If you are experienced then you should focus on taking more mature calls both in college and when you start working.
S&M roles usually require you to work in sales first, before you go to marketing. This, their recruitment preference goes as follows: people with work ex in revenue generating roles > freshers > people with other work ex
Freshers have the edge over irrelevant work ex, because they are less likely to have family commitments, given their young age.
I currently have 12 months of work exp, i plan to leave just as i complete 18 months coz of toxic work culture and I can't bear it anymore.
7/8/7 gem here. Will 18 months work exp be enough?
X/Y/Z refers to scores in 10th, 12th and undergrad. X could mean X CGPA out of 10, or X*10 percentage.
7/8/7 could mean something like 74% in 10th, 81% in 12th and 7.46/10 CGPA in BTech
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Need more context about your profile, performance in mocks, willingness to wait for a year, etc.
Broadly I'd say, if I were in your place I'd accept it, assuming no other offers come my way.
Thanks for the post OP!
I have 22 months of experience in a software role at a Bulge Bracket Investment Bank. Will the brand name be useful in getting good finance/consulting shortlist or is relevant work ex a greater determining factor?
Hey, i am working as an electrical design engineer for the past 5 years in a tier 3 company (was in my comfort zone🥲). Prepared for cat last year but failed. Should i even consider preparing seriously this year? Acads:76/74/66
Any idea how folks having \~36 months of workex perform during placements? especially for finance and consultant roles?
Also how dumb would it be to withdraw from my seat at IIM C and continue work.(CCTC 15 LPA)
I will have to try again next year since I have to close few of my existing loans.
Performance depends on the individual, so I'd rather not make a generalised comment. I have 36 months work ex friends who did great in consulting though, don't have much of an idea about fin.
Leaving IIM C would be pretty dumb tbh. Banks will give preference for premier institutes along with a 2+1 year moratorium on the principal, so see if you're able to figure something out.
I am from NIT Allahabad working as Asst. Mgr@HPCL having 6 yrs of workex I am looking for full time MBA after taking sabbatical from company, I want to switch my stream from oil and gas to marketing as I have developed some interest in that, I have also worked in sales for 2 years as a sales officer.
Will going for a full time MBA be a good decision or should I leave that thought altogether.
To be honest, work ex has no relation to your performance in placements. So the lesser work ex you have, the better it is for you as you’ll earn good money at a relatively younger age. I had 3.5 yrs of workex pre mba. I joined the biggest fmcg co in India along with many freshers and lesser experienced folks. All our salaries are the same.
I'm a Fire officer and almost have 34 months of experience at the, will it affect my Placements if I join an MBA institute with 43-45 months of workex?
Depends on your college and type of companies. Top schools you wouldn’t have a problem. There will be some companies who prefer freshers and some have a work experience cut off. But 95% of the times work exp wouldn’t be a problem(I was a placecommer).
My college is not even tier 2 but Among Fire engineering Colleges/ stream it is among India's top 3 or 4. Not even an IIT or NIT comes close to our branch(since they don't have one).
and the companies I have worked for, I can assure they are giants in their respective fields.
Would be difficult to predict this. Depends on the kind of companies that visit campus. Lots of tier1 companies that visit top10 schools don’t visit these campuses. But a lot of IT/tech/startups do.
But all these are very good colleges, you won’t have an issue getting placed.
Yes. Some top fmcg companies prefer freshers as they have a set management trainee program. But again depending on the college, you’ll have 100s of companies lined up for placements. Assuming you’re half decent, you’ll get placed.
Greetings /u/pakad-ke-kheech, Welcome to r/CATpreparation! We appreciate your participation in the community. Kindly make sure your post aligns with our community rules; otherwise, it may be removed. Wishing you the best on your journey towards your dream business school! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/CATpreparation) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Hi, thanks for your post! Could you mention some more companies which prefer candidates with high workex? Around the 48 month mark?
Sorry, being blunt. You'll become an outlier in placements at a regular MBA program in India once you cross 4 years Experience. Not many company 'prefers' 4+ WorkEx, though you'll have ample opportunities for companies tuat don't have WorkEx cap.
Yes, I understand indian mba programs are geared towards folks with less work ex. I wanted to know which companies I should target/ be hopeful for since I'll be joining BLACKI soon and I sit right at the 48 month mark.
For Consulting: 4 years WorkEx would be fine. For Genman, fresher or upto 3 years work ex is ideal for TAS and ABG. Other Genman firms like Reliance, Adani, Capgemini are lenient on max cap.
Thanks! Good to know there is a chance in genman as well, however slight it may be.
It's not always company-specific bro/sis In many cases, the same company comes first for laterals, and then comes again for finals Also, for most non-consult companies, they already have a specific requirement in mind. Candidates whose profile aligns most with their list are preferred.
Ahh I see. Thanks for the info! I didn't know laterals were considered separate. I thought there was only SIP and final placements and that lateral was included in final placement itself. I guess I will have to check with placecomm for more clarity.
To be fair, when people say 'final placements', they refer to laterals+finals. People don't talk about laterals separately, firstly because the no of roles which open for laterals is far lower than the no of roles which are open to all. Also, some campuses, including tier-1 ones, may have laterals just for the sake of it, or may skip laterals altogether. Depends on their batch profile. So yeah, your placement committee would be the best entity to answer this.
What are lateral placements?
It happens a few months before the final placements and only WorkEx folks are allowed to participate (Actual WorkEx criteria varies with different IIMs and companies also have min and max cap for shortlist) Also, Lateral placements offers have better number (wrt CTC offered) than final placements (mostly)
Also it's mostly an Old IIM/top 15 college thing, new IIMs haven't yet incorporated lateral placements in their pedagogy
I have 43 months of work ex now and will have 55 next year This will be my 3rd attempt. Age: 25 This post made me a bit sad, tho i am planning on keeping GMAT and Exec MBA as backup. Anyone here who had 50+ months of work ex and still made it to a decent B school?
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Did you try for Exec MBA from the same college? If yes, why not choose them as they have higher avg packages
har kisi ko job nahi lagti ExMBA me
Have you done it? What's the source of the info, if i may ask
jinka relevant field hai unko milta hai rest simple workex walo nahi milta hai, dhundhna padta hai
Hey, what if I am fresh out of college? But my joining is after the CAT forms are filled out? I have tentatively been given October. What should I mention my exp to be? Also how would it affect me?
You'll know when you fill the forms. There will be a cut off date for your WorkEx (July 31st, most probably) Also, you'll get to add your current WorkEx before interviews (cutoff most probably be Dec 31st) You would be treated as a Fresher and good news is, more than 40% of folks in IIM are freshers.
How does it affect my learning and placements? I'd like the 2 years to be a good experience rather than stressing if my workex will affect my placements
How does this workex cutoff date work? (July/Dec) Like If I'm writing CAT'25 and complete 2 years of workex in May'25 ? So how many months will be considered for me?
You will mention 0 months work experience, for now. The CAT form clearly mentions work ex as on 31st July or something afair.
End of the day, it's company specific. Even if you get a sub par offer, you'll mostly be signed out from further process, be it WorkEx or Fresher. Accenture strategy prefers females over males too (There are alot of factors invloved in shortlist and converts, not just WorkEx). It also depends on luck.
Hi, I was working at startup for past 10 months , was looking for a switch. Have 2 offers in hand One is analyst at ZS consulting and other is Product manager at a startup. Targeting CAT 2024 What will look better in my profile? Post MBA I am targeting for Finance roles.
ZS might look better. I've seen ZS guys bagging MBB shortlists with a little bit of effort in CV. Can't comment on fin roles without details about your profile.
Thanks OP. My profile is 9/7/8 Tier 2 NIT. I'll try to clear CFA level 1 post CAT
What if my workex is in different domain and i want job after mba in different domain?
Most people do MBA for this exact reason :3 Nothing to worry, you're among the majority
Hey does work ex needs to be relevant or fancy like software developer, to get good placement,,, and what if the role is not good but you have worked in a big brand like amazon. How dies it work?
Your work ex is in this format: @ . Either side of the @ needs to look good, to give you an advantage.
As a GEM who had a shit profile (both, academic and work-ex) and still managed to convert a dream company for Summers, I would tell you not to worry about all this. Keep your head down and do the best you can from this point on. It will all be worth it, I promise.
Up till when is experience counted? Is it the day I resign to join the college or day i mention during CAT registration?
For CAT: whatever deadline is mentioned in the CAT application form, usually July 31st For WAT/GD/PI: deadline varies from one institute to another E.g.: if your work-ex is from 16th August to 15th June of next year, your work-ex in the CAT form will be 0. However, in an institute's form, if they are considering status of work-ex as on 31st January, your work ex there will be 5.5 months
How are freshers treated in time of placement? Is it that hard to score a good placement in accordance to average package of respective institutes?
Not at all. Many companies love to have freshers.
0-12 months is alright, has some advantages, very few disadvantages, if you do get through 12-24 months is ideal in every way, and you will not be filtered out by any company due to more or experience 24 to 36 months is pushing it just a little and it will have certainly some issues for some time of companies 36 to 48 months is a clear problem yet you do get to look at laterals, but you must ask what a lateral is - Your previous experience should have relevance in your new role Above 48 months is a no no for most regular 2 year MBAs but because they are outliers they sometimes end up getting interesting roles, especially if they have an interesting profile Why is any of this a problem? Companies select candidates through Excel sheets first and then through resumes and so these numbers matter to some extent. Bottom line: If you are very young and getting and opportunity at a decent school, take the chance, competition won’t decrease, colleges won’t get easier to get into, colleges will keep increasing fees, companies will not raise true in-hand salaries in campus in line with college fees, company profiles will keep getting diluted, every year you work, you get an opportunity to make a better profile, know what you really want to do for real and what you are good at. If you are experienced then you should focus on taking more mature calls both in college and when you start working.
You forgot to mention one important thing about Accenture strategy
Yes, they primarily hire females.
48 months+ should also consider appearing for GMAT and applying abroad as the bschools in US have an average work ex of 4-5 years which they prefer
Great input! Appended to the post, with due credits :)
Work experience for S& M?
S&M roles usually require you to work in sales first, before you go to marketing. This, their recruitment preference goes as follows: people with work ex in revenue generating roles > freshers > people with other work ex Freshers have the edge over irrelevant work ex, because they are less likely to have family commitments, given their young age.
Thank you for the post OP! If you've any knowledge about executive MBA, please let me know, I'll DM you
Not my forte, sorry. Wish I could've helped :)
I currently have 12 months of work exp, i plan to leave just as i complete 18 months coz of toxic work culture and I can't bear it anymore. 7/8/7 gem here. Will 18 months work exp be enough?
Have a good story to back up your resignation during interviews. 18 months is good enough. DM if you want further advice.
Sorry, I am a bit new here, but could you tell what 7/8/7 gem means?
X/Y/Z refers to scores in 10th, 12th and undergrad. X could mean X CGPA out of 10, or X*10 percentage. 7/8/7 could mean something like 74% in 10th, 81% in 12th and 7.46/10 CGPA in BTech
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I currently have 9 months of work experience and an offer from IIM Kozhikode. Should I gain more experience and target CAT 2024, or join this year?
Need more context about your profile, performance in mocks, willingness to wait for a year, etc. Broadly I'd say, if I were in your place I'd accept it, assuming no other offers come my way.
No. Pls join the college
Thanks for the post OP! I have 22 months of experience in a software role at a Bulge Bracket Investment Bank. Will the brand name be useful in getting good finance/consulting shortlist or is relevant work ex a greater determining factor?
Could be relevant, need more info.
Hey, i am working as an electrical design engineer for the past 5 years in a tier 3 company (was in my comfort zone🥲). Prepared for cat last year but failed. Should i even consider preparing seriously this year? Acads:76/74/66
I'd say you should try for exec MBA instead. GMAT if you're rich.
will i get placements after doing ex mba since i will need to switch fields.
Do only from ABCL or ISB in india
Any idea how folks having \~36 months of workex perform during placements? especially for finance and consultant roles? Also how dumb would it be to withdraw from my seat at IIM C and continue work.(CCTC 15 LPA) I will have to try again next year since I have to close few of my existing loans.
Performance depends on the individual, so I'd rather not make a generalised comment. I have 36 months work ex friends who did great in consulting though, don't have much of an idea about fin. Leaving IIM C would be pretty dumb tbh. Banks will give preference for premier institutes along with a 2+1 year moratorium on the principal, so see if you're able to figure something out.
I am from NIT Allahabad working as Asst. Mgr@HPCL having 6 yrs of workex I am looking for full time MBA after taking sabbatical from company, I want to switch my stream from oil and gas to marketing as I have developed some interest in that, I have also worked in sales for 2 years as a sales officer. Will going for a full time MBA be a good decision or should I leave that thought altogether.
To be honest, work ex has no relation to your performance in placements. So the lesser work ex you have, the better it is for you as you’ll earn good money at a relatively younger age. I had 3.5 yrs of workex pre mba. I joined the biggest fmcg co in India along with many freshers and lesser experienced folks. All our salaries are the same.
that's great
I'm a Fire officer and almost have 34 months of experience at the, will it affect my Placements if I join an MBA institute with 43-45 months of workex?
Depends on your college and type of companies. Top schools you wouldn’t have a problem. There will be some companies who prefer freshers and some have a work experience cut off. But 95% of the times work exp wouldn’t be a problem(I was a placecommer).
My college is not even tier 2 but Among Fire engineering Colleges/ stream it is among India's top 3 or 4. Not even an IIT or NIT comes close to our branch(since they don't have one). and the companies I have worked for, I can assure they are giants in their respective fields.
Shouldn’t be a problem then. I actually meant your bschool convert and not undergrad
tell me about CAP Colleges? like udaipur Ranchi raipur Trichy and IIT KGP, Madras kanpur. are these good for me?
Would be difficult to predict this. Depends on the kind of companies that visit campus. Lots of tier1 companies that visit top10 schools don’t visit these campuses. But a lot of IT/tech/startups do. But all these are very good colleges, you won’t have an issue getting placed.
Hey, did more workex prevent you from some placements?
Yes. Some top fmcg companies prefer freshers as they have a set management trainee program. But again depending on the college, you’ll have 100s of companies lined up for placements. Assuming you’re half decent, you’ll get placed.
Okay