How to approach CAT 2014

This also tests your skill in quick decision making - which is what you will be doing for most of your time as managers anyway. Quick decision making based on limited knowledge and available facts. The ability to read through quickly and find those questions that you know you can do accurately; then discover the ones that will take you the least time to attempt with the highest possible chance of getting them right; also having the good sense to leave out the ones that you may get wrong: All this is a test of the finest skill in management - quick decision making for best results.

So they are looking hard for people who already have what it takes to be a successful manager. And one of the biggest factors there is Hard Work. Those of you who have read Outliers will remember the theory that successful people have done that activity repeatedly for many more hours than those who come 2nd. Be it Bill Gates at a computer, Sachin Tendulkar with a bat or Vishwanathan Anand at a chess board - they have been at it with a rigour and passion that's second to none! So needless to say, start practising as many tests as you can.

You would observe all around you however, that slowly business schools are also opening up to the reality of going beyond these managerial skills to skills that make one a leader. The empathy to really understand people - be it your team or your clients, the willingness to embrace diversity and work for inclusiveness, the integrity to stand by what you believe in and help others move towards it, the ability to work for the greater good in the long run. All this is tough to measure by this exam alone and business schools need to consider other alternatives to ensure that they are giving the world leaders who have a balance between their head and their heart and can go out there and make a difference.

An exam such as the Caliper would tell you about the student's potential as a manager (time management, decision making, people skills) and it would also tell you more about their ability to influence people. A balanced viewpoint through a combination of these tests, could enable schools to select the right candidates, rather than using exams only as an elimination criteria.

So even as you approach the CAT with the right combination of skills and attitude, look around you at how the world is changing in its expectations from leaders and adapt yourself to the need of the hour.

Kanupriya Sekhri

Alumnus, IIM Bangalore

AVP, School of Inspired Leadership