Tata Institute of Social Sciences is an institute of immense repute in India and its prestigious HRM&LR programme offered from Mumbai campus is about 50 years old. Over the last five decades, it has produced many luminaries in the field of Human Resources Management. I strongly opine that TISS Mumbai is a lucrative opportunity for all MBA aspirants especially for those who have slightly higher work experience than what is considered “normal”. Some of the many greatest and unique advantages of TISS are:
- More than 75 years old Institute with TATA brand and located in the financial capital of India, Mumbai.
- The government of India funded Institute with a substantial return on investment (RoI); comparable with very few b-schools (FMS, JBIMS, NITIE) in India.
- Its campus is a microcosm of culturally diverse India.
- When compared to other b-schools, TISS’s small batch size (less than 70) leads to a devoted and individual focus on students by faculty members.
- Its trademark foundation courses and the larger educational ecosystem of social sciences enables TISS to produce professionally competent and socially sensitive management graduates.
- Concurrent field work placements across diverse industry sectors spread over the four semesters, closely integrates classroom teaching with practical learning.
- At the end, summer and final placements in top conglomerates and MNCs among others with handsome packages.
Now let me turn to the main topic of discussion and elucidate it through the story of my admission in TISS for M.A. in HRM & LR (2017-19 batch). I had been working in a central public sector unit from the last more than 5 years. I realized that my career has stagnated and there are no worthwhile career growth opportunities available here. After a great deal of thinking and soul searching I made up my mind that no matter what I will take the risk of quitting this stable but unfulfilling job. Many people advised me otherwise that you are making a huge mistake by leaving a semi-government PSU job that too after more than 5 years of service. It’s too ‘late’ now for you to go back to studies. But I was very clear in my mind and started exploring future career options and ultimately decided to give my career a fresh start by pursuing masters first. Following the popular trend just like thousands of fellow engineers, I finalised on going for MBA. Now the time was to make some tough and calculated decisions and jump into real preparatory struggles for various MBA entrance examinations CAT, XAT, GMAT, NMAT, MAT, IIFT and so on. This is where I would like to outline the hurdles many probable MBA aspirants like me (supposedly late and with work experience more than 5 years which is deemed more than desirable) face:
- They are no longer into regular studies mode and since long time back they have not engaged themselves in any kind of aptitude, reasoning, data interpretation etc. exercise.
- They obviously get anxious at the thought of even writing CAT & like entrance tests and hence highly suspicious of themselves being able to crack any of them.
- They don't have much time for a thorough preparation (may be coaching assisted) and neither enough patience for multiple appearances in various tests year after year.
- Their eventual aim is to get into a good college in one serious attempt requiring not so rigorous and continued preparation.
- One very crucial reason they can't aim for IIMs and other top private business schools is the affordability of fees. People at this age after enjoying 5 years of financial self-dependence are not at ease with the idea of causing a heavy monetary burden to their parents again.
- They are not open to the idea of educational loans as well because of a very practical reason, which is they are already past mid-twenties and they would like to settle soon after completing MBA. Nobody wants to start a family life with a debt of 25 lakhs hanging on their head.
- They have an inadvertent advantage for selection at interview stage. Due to their long work experience they have a lot to talk about in their interviews. It gives them an accidental but strong lead over others in personal interview round.
- In many top b-schools abroad one of the eligibility criteria for pursuing regular full time MBA is that you must have at least 5 years of work experience. And there is a solid reason for this requirement which I realized while attending classes at TISS. My younger and fresher classmates simply couldn't comprehend some concepts being taught by our professors. It is due to the complete lack of understanding of a factory environment on their part.
- For people with sufficient work experience the chances to get into middle management positions are significantly higher especially when one chooses to make a switch after having worked for 2-3 years after their MBA. A fresher or people with less work experience might get the same lucrative packages but they can't jump to middle management ranks within short time span.
Having considered these points in detail and done adequate deliberation on them I chose TISS and dedicatedly prepared for it for around two months. TISSNET’s level of difficulty is manageable for old timers too if they could do reasonable practice for 2-3 months before the exam using previous year question papers and other materials. Naturally developed an interest in current affairs and reading newspapers over a period of time comes in handy for general awareness part of TISSNET. Scoring high in general awareness section is the deal maker or breaker for qualifying TISSNET. General awareness also helps a candidate in group discussion as well as in the personal interview. Although my score in TISSNET was just enough to take me to the next PIT/ PI stage, it was due to my work experience that I fetched sufficiently good marks in interview and ensured my final selection.
Comparatively, TISS fees and other expenses are so less that people with 5-6 years of employment can easily afford it even in cases of minimal savings over the years. You will definitely get a good placement at TISS at the end of 2 years. Moreover when one successfully leverages the benefit of having past work experience of 5-6 years plus an MBA from a reputed b-school, soon you will be able to reach middle management ranks along with the assured handsome salaries.
A large number of probable MBA aspirants including many of my friends who are similarly situated with respect to their jobs, work experience and age have such worries and they fail to gather enough courage to take a chance despite their strong inclinations for it. After hearing about my story of taking an unusual and risky decision and finally making it to TISS, many of my friends had these concerns to share with me. All these hurdles suppress their good ambitions and create a cloud of fear and failure in their minds. However as outlined earlier, due to its unique and niche character TISS emboldens "late" and "more work-experienced" MBA aspirants to join the race and arrive at its doorsteps.
I would strongly suggest to all such MBA aspirants who are in a similar dilemma to evaluate themselves on the basis of above-listed factors and decide accordingly to secure ways for charting out superior career paths. I was in the same spot a year ago and taking into consideration all these aspects finally zeroed in on TISS which in every regard turned out to be the best institute among a few, addressing all my concerns and limitations exceptionally well. TISS offered me a viable opportunity to give a new direction to my career and I am sure you could also grab it in case you are contemplating for one.