New Delhi 18 July 2006: Hi Shalini, ur question is not only very relevant but raises important issues related to maagement career planning - there is no doubt work experience provides good opportunity to deal with real life management problems and makes freshers better disciplined, both physically and financially, to become skilled managers, which B schools want - however the big problem with such work is that freshers often tend to be exploited by employers both in terms of low salaries (say 1/4th of a fresh MBA) and lack of freedom viz. very little choice of the type of work and virtually no flexibility in work hours which typically are long (12-14 hours daily) and often extend to the weekend as well! the aspiring manager hence, does not get any time to prepare for tough competitive exams such as CAT success in which is essential for entry into a good B school- at the same time even if a fresh graduate were to devote full time to preparation for CAT, success is not 100 per cent guaranteed! - the ideal situation therefore is to take up a job which permits upgrading professional qualification (such as M.Com.) while allowing flexibility to prepare for CAT and improve qual. Anil.
