Why MBA? I’m sure that you will all agree with me when I say that it is the most important question for every MBA aspirant to answer for himself/herself or in the interview panel’s point of view.
I believe the answer to this question to be a journey. It is an ever changing, ever evolving journey. Why do we go for an MBA? For some, it is a way to go back and experience college life again. For some, they’re done with their current job domain and are looking for a change in career. For some, it is their sole aim and goal while for some, it appears to be the only option they have. And for some others, it is just an other option they’re considering for a career choice. For some, it is a money making opportunity while some see it as an opportunity to learn, to learn new stuff, to grow. So, is it just one among these that is your answer? I’m pretty sure that you have more than one answer, probably answers that I haven’t listed here, answers that I did not think about.
I could share with you all about the beginning of my journey to MBA IIT Kanpur. Where did my journey begin? I was a mechanical engineering student who casually applied for CAT as just an other option. I was never serious about it. I was even hesitant to take the exam until the day before, since I wasn’t at all prepared. With a little push from my mother, I decided to attempt the exam. With barely any preparation, I went and did the best I could on the D-day. I realised how lucky I was when the results were out. I scored 92.19 percentile! That was the moment I decided to find out what my answer for the question “Why MBA?” is.
I started to think on the lines of what an MBA actually is about. I googled, searched online, did my research. Simply put, it is a course that teaches one skills - managerial and leadership. I wondered if these skills have to be taught in a course. Aren’t people smart enough to figure these things out themselves? They are! But it takes experience to become wise. Wisdom comes with experience. But how much experience counts? How experienced should I be to be wise? I didn’t know! But then I remembered the Latin aphorism “scientia potential est”, translating to “Knowledge is Power”. I do know that knowledge leads to wisdom. Wisdom is knowledge applied in the right place at the right time for the right thing.
A personal experience strengthened my belief in this idea, “Knowledge is Power”. During my undergraduation, I took “Organisational Behaviour” as my humanities elective. At the time, I held important positions in our college’s outreach club and in our college’s annual techno-cultural festival organising team. I should say that the concepts that I’ve learnt about social psychology, conflicts of interest, perceived organisational support did come in handy. At a later point of time, the concepts of self-evaluation, self-monitoring, proactive personality, level 5 leadership helped me form the Animal Welfare Wing of our college with some student volunteers to save some mute souls! Each time I think about the animals we saved, the ones we sent to good homes, it fills me up to the brim with joy and pride. Is this relevant to the story? Yes it is. These concepts with fancy names that I was talking about aren’t something that a person already doesn’t have inside him/her. Everybody does have them already. But studying about them made me aware. They made me effective. And these are all but a few small concepts of a subject taught in a course. MBA. Being a person who has always wanted to make a difference, to leave a mark on the world, I’ve found my answer. MBA isn’t my goal but it is a step in a long journey that lies ahead of me. I’ve decided to do an MBA. But if you ask me if that is my only answer, I should say no. I do want to make loads of money and doing an MBA would score me a job that would make me more money.
If you are one of those people who are searching online for an answer to the most important and most probable question one could face from the interview panel, you wouldn’t find it here. You need to go inwards, set your mind free and fly high! You will find your answers. There are no right or wrong answers here. What matters the most is that how much you believe in “your answer(s)”! Believe and have an open mind to have an answer that keeps evolving into a better one! And you will find your perspective. All the best!
Thanks for reading!