While nobody knows when we will get back to our b-school, there few things that you can do to prep yourself for all the activities waiting for you on the other side. Here are a few things you can do.
1. Learn PowerPoint
This is one of the most important things you will need at a b-school. Be it class presentations, or case competitions. If you are good at PowerPoint, you are likely to have an edge over others. Because how you present your findings and viewpoints is as important as having them. Also, when you go for your summer internships, this skill will help you to prepare reports as per project requirements and are noticed by others. There are several online resources that you can use, in this case, YouTube videos are more than enough to get a hang of it and then as you keep practising on your own you will be able to develop on it over time. No need to go for special paid courses
2. Build your CV / Prepare for the verification
Your CV is everything about you. Most of the b-schools have dedicated committees for CV preparation but the more prepared you are the better it is for you and as your CV mentors. Generally, you will have 5 broad buckets in your CV, which are: Academic Profile, Academic Achievements, Work-Experience, Certifications/Projects, Position of Responsibilities(PORs), and Extra Curriculars. Start with finding 4-5 points for each bucket. Make sure you write only those points for which you can produce proofs in for of certificates or letterheads. Placements’ committee does not allow any point to be there on the CV without proof. You will also receive detailed guidelines on this once you join the college.
3. Short-term internships or case competitions
Since most of the new joiners have a month and half before you start your MBA journey, you can use this time to do short term internships/projects. This will not only help you get a CV point but also pave your way to have a sneak-peek into the real-world workings of a business. There are several web portals that publish such opportunities from time to time. You can try to take up any role of your choice and try your hands at it. This will also help you to gain clarity on kind of roles you seek for your summer internships. It will also be a nice talking point during summers interviews.
4. Read as much as you can
At IIMs', unlike schools and undergrads, the professors are preparing you for real life business scenarios and they might not teach every single thing in class and rather discuss alternate solutions and strategies for the business case. In such a scenario you will have to read more than 100 pages (appox. 20 page per case and if you have 5 subjects). These cases are not like novels but more live business situations. At times you not only have to read and understand but also solve them and for. You can use this time to develop you reading abilities. You can do so by reading articles and cases on HBR, ET Prime, The Ken, Bloomberg Quint etc.
5. Prepare for some of the course subjects
First-year of MBA will have subject from finance, marketing, HR, operations and much more. If you are from an engineering background, finance might be new to you, if you are non-engineer operations might be new to you..any which ways as MBA take you through all these, you can use this time to read-up materials on these subjects and build on some prior knowledge regarding it. You can reach out to your seniors and ask of the right course books and various subjects that they had. In this case, your seniors will be your best guides. Preparing yourself with some of these will help you understand the concepts even better during your classroom sessions.