During my preparation days, one of the things that I used to run away from was answering the question ‘
Why MBA?’. During my last year of under graduation, I was extremely confused about the next step should be. Even though architecture was extremely interesting, the opportunities it offered did not align with my vision.
Therefore, I started jotting down career options beyond being an Architect. I resorted to an in-depth self-analysis to seek answers within than by searching them on the internet. In my architectural college, I focussed on not just the technicality and creativity angle, but also on managing people and developing better soft skills. This seemed like a key insight for ‘What next?’, a question that was bothering me. Therefore, for my first job, I decided to break the notion of a ‘stereotypical’ role and undertook a dual one - that of an Architect and Business Development Manager. It was during this tenure that I understood how interesting it was to network with people, how to make a positive brand image for the architectural firm that I was working for and how to go about marketing the firm and getting business opportunities on board.
It was six months into working when I realised what I wanted to do next. Marketing was an obvious calling. A firm might constitute of the best architects and designers, but if their outreach is poor and their clientele is less, their impact is not long-standing. The job made me understand that there is more to a brand than just a great quality product and hence, I made the decision to learn these aspects, in detail, at a marketing school.
And as they say –
Think Marketing, Think MICA.
I applied to MICA because I believed the unique curriculum, with its focus on ‘people’, would equip me to successfully merge the supposedly different worlds of design and management. MICA was the right choice in my journey of going beyond labels.
After joining this institute, fondly known as ‘The School of Ideas’, I realised that there is more to a business than just numbers. It is the ideation, innovation, and creativity that add the ‘special ingredient’ to the final outcome.
MICA, to me, was an amalgamation of NID and IIM. It’s the hustle-bustle and the tightly packed schedules that makes one proactive at all times, and yet one finds time to sing, paint, play and chit-chat at the canteen. I fell in love with the college when I understood that the courses offered here are an in-depth and more detailed version of all the aspects that I mentioned. Ranging from Cultural Context of Communications to Consumer Behaviour, MICA explains the entire consumer journey to help make great managers. It is not your typical B-School. It’s a mile ahead because of its explosion of creativity and understanding of human psychology.
With my first year at MICA coming to an end, I have understood how crucial it was to take the road
most travelled by because what you do along the journey and the uniqueness you bring by being yourself is what makes the whole way memorable and worth all the effort.
Engineer or non-engineer, if MBA is your calling, then answer it sooner rather than later.