The Journey From Graduating In Psychology To Pursuing An MBA | Sakshi Agarwal, IIM Ranchi

We have a Psychology graduate here!  Are you reading my mind? Well, that's cliched question for a psychology student. However, our readers want to read your journey to IIM. Without further ado, let's begin.

Q1. So, tell us what inspired you to choose a career in MBA?

I was always fascinated by all the fields of Psychology, Industrial Psychology was my favourite. It gave me a chance to apply the reasoning and principles that I had been learning in class to a corporate setting. The decision to pursue an MBA in HR rather than a simple MA was based on the fact that the former would give me a broader perspective where I would be gaining basic knowledge about all the other departments as well. I can say that this has not been easy as I give exams for never-studied-before subjects like FM and Accounting but I’m hoping that all of this would somewhere help me in the future.

Q2. How did you prepare for your CAT and GDPI process? Can you shed some light on your GDPI experience?

I had left Mathematics after 10th with a strong belief that I would never return to it. So, when I realized that CAT was a mathematically dominant exam, I realized that I had to study this subject which I am terrified of again. I started from the very basics of Quants and slowly developed confidence in it. My Verbal and LR was fairly well and had to revise it only once or twice before the exam.

I took up GD/PI prep classes and found that I can do decently good in GDs when I know the topic well. So, I decided to read more, i.e. read more articles, newspapers, GK material, novels and everything else that I could. This helped me support my arguments during GDs and also was useful during PIs.

Q3. What value do you think you can bring to IIM Ranchi culture through your diversity?

I feel I can bring in higher tolerance and acceptance in the college’s culture. I’m coming from a college and course where we were encouraged to have our own viewpoints even if they differed from the ones held by the majority. It is essential for an organization to foster a culture where students/teachers/colleagues are not afraid to speak their mind and are accepting of what the other person has to say.

Q4. Can you talk about some of your activities/achievements and how have they impacted you?

Throughout my college years, I have been a part of different committees which has helped me deal with a wide variety of people and improved my conflict resolution skills. There have been situations where despite only being a team of 5 members, we were not able to come to a consensus on how to best score an event. Only after reflecting on it, we realized where we went wrong and what we could have done to make the situation better. I have been a part of psychology workshops of new and upcoming fields like Sports Psychology and Dance Movement Psychotherapy. This has led me to understand how Psychology is not just restricted to classroom learning and can be utilized in almost every domain possible.

Q5. Have you been able to help your peers through your domain knowledge personally or professionally? Can you illustrate with an example?

Apart from the fact that I’m a Psychology student and we are taught how to be good listener, I have always liked the listening part where people tell me what, how and why they feel the way they feel. This has helped me help my friends when they are distressed and need someone to talk to.

Q6. How do you think your varied skill-set or domain knowledge will help your future organisation?

My Domain knowledge would come handy while trying to comprehend the reasoning behind various HR policies and frameworks. To give a very small example, the logic behind giving bonuses in organizations is embedded in the reinforcement theory of how individuals can be motivated. I also try to understand why people behave in certain ways which makes me more empathetic and can result in faster conflict resolution.

LinkedIn: Sakshi Agarwal