MBA admissions are not just about scoring great in entrance exams. Maintaining a good profile is also important if you want to get into the b-school (and later company) of your choice. If you want to build a strong profile for MBA admissions, focus on not just creating one but also trying to fill gaps in the existing profile. Management colleges today, assess everything. Specifically, achievements that are beyond academics. If you are someone who has taken CAT 2020, scored well but still not get a shortlist call or aspirant who wants to sit for CAT 2021, this article might be of great help.
Profile building is an important activity that features the skills, expertise, and achievements of a person that helps in shaping his/her professional life and career aspects. In simple terms, it is a series of achievements usually from class 10th till the current. Two very important things that help you build a strong profile are planning and execution.
Usually, a candidate with work experience more than 1+ year (including the training period) is given preference as they have some understanding of the business and market requirements. If you are thinking of taking a gap year after you undergrad and preparing for MBA exams, then it is strongly recommended that you utilise that time by gaining some work experience.
Internships may feel like a small stint, but it plays a crucial role in providing you with industry knowledge, and kick start your professional journey even before your first job. Internships are a good option for freshers because they provide them the flexibility to explore various career options even before you finalise a field of study, where you might build your career in. Working in a professional setup can help you develop communication skills, which will ultimately help you ace the interview process during the admission process.
You can also sign up for a certificate course/s. Doing a course in a subject of your interest can help you develop a skill in a particular area. It can also provide an extra bonus to freshers or people who have left their job before the completion of 1 year. If you are one of those who already know what they want to specialise in a particular field, a certificate course can be extra helpful. For example, if you want to do an MBA in Finance, a certificate course in Excel or Advanced Excel, Sheet Balancing, etc. can aid in building your profile.
Since the last decade, entrepreneurship has received a major boost in India. In fact, there are MBA colleges who even prefer candidates who have work experience in a startup. This is because people who work in a startup are more well-equipped and have a better grasp on handling situations like product, target audience, economy, market research etc. In a startup, everything is end-to-end. Everyday in a startup is different. Everything is fast-paced and every work is required to have a different approach, which someone with corporate work experience may not have.
You can also start attending conferences that pique your interest, professionally. After attending these conferences, you should be able to draw learnings and inferences like - how various industries work, what are the new things in tech, market, etc. These conferences are a great place to grow your knowledge, network with successful speakers and can help you get clarity in the MBA course you want to pursue.
If you think that your English is top-notch, hence you don’t need to learn a new language, then you are wrong. The business world has become global, and in order to become the workforce of the future market, you will have to learn the language and culture of different countries. Fluency in a foreign language like French, German, or Chinese can provide you with an added advantage during MBA admissions. Usually, candidates who are fluent in foreign languages have a higher probability to get placed higher in the merit list. As these candidates, after MBA, attract well-paid foreign jobs and become a valuable asset to their employers.
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In Conclusion
Remember, building a profile is important and it cannot be done overnight. This means you have to spend a huge amount of time and effort on it. So, don’t try to pursue a very fancy activity in order to lend solidity in your profile. It might backfire when you will be explaining your profile to the admission committee or the recruiters.