"Life is not exactly about planning, rather handling unprecedented turns with a calm mind." - My Dad
Studying in a coveted engineering college (DCE) and then bagging a Big 4 company in the first month of placement season felt like a smooth sailing career-wise. I had a full 3 months to set my CAT 2018 preparation back on track but as things start becoming all nice and cosy human mind tends to get complacent. Obviously I didn't fare well in CAT or IIFT or XAT because that back-up was always there and it was good enough! Fast forward to June 2019- Got my location to be Bangalore, recuperating from jaundice and father's haemoglobin went spiralling down for which blood transfusion was suggested. Despite a million requests my location was not changed to Gurgaon office, which tbh broke my heart.
It has by far been my toughest decision to let go off such an opportunity and rather joined a Facility Management start-up company. For the next 6 months, I had not known day or night. Job during the day and a minimum of 6 hours of continuous study at night.
PREPARATION PATTERN: LRDI had been my strength and VARC was my good friend. Despite being "an engineer" yes Quant was my weakest of all (FYI, I had scored 67 percentile in Quant section in CAT 2018). I used to give 4-5 sectional tests each day and 2 mocks a week initially. I had charted out that all concepts will be covered by August end and for 3 months only mocks, sectionals from varied sources. Aspirants must try to understand which pattern suits them the best and most importantly stick to your bloody schedules, ignore your family and friends and whatnot for just some time. Your true friends are never going to leave you, relax! Be consistent with your efforts and keep challenging yourself with questions at unexpected instances. I am mentioning some methods I used to improve on my sectionals below:
- LRDI section- No book, no concept can help you. All you need is a huge bank of question sets of all levels of difficulty and practice them. Learn from your mistakes, refer the solutions, and time yourself. You don't want to spend more than 10 mins on any set ever, so always keep a track of your time. Maintain a separate notebook wherein you note them all down properly with the logic and formula used. Initially, you might wish to hammer a nail to your head but things will get better with time ( the more you practice the faster that time comes).
- Quant section- Don't dive into questions straightaway. Familiarise yourself with the concepts properly first and then solve questions from books, sectionals, mocks etc. My guides had shared an amazing strategy to attempt the quant section- he asked me to attempt the first half in 30 mins and the rest in the remaining 30 mins. In this way, you will never miss out on doable questions. Our engineering mindset does not allow us to leave questions, the first hurdle is to let go off your attachment with that particular question. Strategise your attempts- that's what is called "managing". With sufficient practice, you'll be good to go!!
- VARC section- I have simply hated reading the newspaper and I can still not emphasise on how damn important it is to read your bloody newspaper, not only to improve your vocabulary, reading speed and comprehension but also for the personal interviews whenever you sit for them. Also, this is an elephant task- you won't see any improvement even in 7 weeks but then you ultimately will with your VARC scores getting better than before.
I had 2 chart papers filled with formulas stuck to my walls so that I could see those formulas every time I was roaming around in my room.
While preparing and giving mocks, don't get disheartened with low percentiles or with other aspirants scoring exceptionally well. I myself have seen percentiles like 57 and 78 flash on my screen, but don't go nuts about them. Understand what went wrong and where could you have had improved.
For all those who are both working and preparing for MBA exams, never lose hope, keep hustling. You'll definitely reap the benefits of the efforts you put in.
Never be afraid to take bold decisions in your life. Your compassion and determination makes you push your boundaries and helps you achieve what you truly deserve. Always have confidence in your capabilities and focus on working hard, without expecting any results.
I had practised a lot but then still I scored 97.62 percentile in CAT 2019 ( not an extraordinary score for GEFs) but then I did have XAT coming up and I also had a lot of desperation because I didn't have any backup. I didn't have a glittery job nor getting into coveted IIMs seemed like a possibility now.
I had a fair idea of how much I would score in CAT so I had started focusing thoroughly on the XAT pattern. Studied with renewed vigour for an entire month with a more strict schedule, celebrated my New Years Eve with completion of a mock paper, but at the end, the effort was worth it when I saw a 98.68 percentile on my Xat scorecard.
I am finally joining
XLRI Jamshedpur for their HRM program with other converts in IIM K-PGP, CAP and waitlisted in MDI-PGP, IIM I-PGP & PGP-HRM.
Now when I look back at my decision to leave a dream job for MBA preparation, it's all worth the pain and the uncertainty playing air hockey in your mind.
Had my parents and my friends not been supportive enough, I might not have had the courage to take this decision and today they are more than happy for my achievement.
" Stop overthinking about anything and everything idiot, just have faith in your studies atleast if not god" - My Mom
All the very best to everyone reading this!!
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