Management is all about organizing, managing, and being an able administrator. It is about specializing in the art of estimating and analyzing the future happenings or events almost to an exact degree. Management students are taught exactly this while undergoing their course, so that they don’t commit any mistakes while at work. However, as an MBA aspirant, you are likely to inadvertently make some mistakes. Let’s look at the 5 biggest mistakes you are likely to make as an MBA aspirant.
1. Not Choosing Wisely
The very first step you take as an MBA aspirant is choosing a course that suits you and will work for you in your career. What with various institutes offering a plethora of courses, it is quite likely that you’ll make your first mistake, which can prove to be a very costly one. To compound it further, most students have their parents acting as backseat drivers and choosing on their behalf.
Before enrolling for a course, it makes sense to prepare a checklist highlighting your expectations from the course and deducing what you are likely to achieve after passing out. This is what helps lay the foundation for your career prospects. Some may want to join the family business, while yet others may have the entrepreneurial bug. You need to choose your course wisely to suit your aspirations and needs. While you are at it, make sure you check out the affiliations and accreditations and the general feedback regarding the reputation of the institution.
2. Taking it Easy in the Beginning
Another mistake most aspirants make is taking it easy in the beginning. You may keep telling yourself that there’s a lot of time to catch up until one fine day, you find there’s so much more to be done and no time left. While partying on weekends is quite OK, partying every night takes its toll on you, and on your education as well.
It is important to focus on your goal from the beginning and remain focused until your goal is achieved. This is one of the basic requirements of an MBA aspirant, however brilliant he or she may be, staying focused is very important. The trick lies in rolling up your sleeves and getting to work from day one.
3. Missing out Sessions and Workshops
Educators have devised courses that include mandatory internships and summer training camps. This is done with a specific purpose as it gives the students the necessary exposure and leads to some great job opportunities as well. Normally internships are full-time affairs that give the companies a chance to size up the candidate and decide whether he or she would be a good fit.
Ignoring such sessions and workshops can be a very costly mistake. It doesn’t matter whether you are going to start a business of your own or joining your family business, a little bit of exposure can do plenty of good and no harm at all. Make it a point not to miss internships, sessions and workshops because they are for your own good.
4. Not Honing your Communication Skills
Being an introvert can be disadvantageous. Try to socialize with your peers and gel with the crowd. If you lack proper communication skills, you need to focus on improving them in order to keep up with your peers. It is not enough if you are brilliant academically, improving other soft skills is equally important. The first thing most companies look out for today is great communication skills. Management and communication skills go hand in hand and failing to improve them can be a very costly mistake indeed.
Effective communication has been made part of management science, and educators take great pains to emphasize the importance of developing good communication skills. It helps not only to keep up with your peers who come from diverse backgrounds, it also comes in handy during a crucial interview.
5. Absenting Yourself from the Campus
While missing important training sessions and internships is bad, it’s equally bad to skip any of the happening events at the campus. A B-School prides itself in organizing various cultural activities as well as job fairs and seminars. Several VIPs and industry leaders are invited to give guest lectures and share their experiences. All these are supposed to help the student fare better in life.
One of the worst mistakes an MBA aspirant can commit is to ignore meetings and conferences that are frequently organized within the campus. Remember these events are organized for the benefit of the students and the institution does not look for any benefits for itself.
Closing Thoughts
Being educated at a B-School is a privilege that only a few are lucky enough to enjoy. It is an expensive affair and getting into a premium institution is not all that easy. But the benefits to be gained from these institutes are many and will ensure your growth outside your curriculum. Some interesting initiatives by ISBR include the likes of the Mind Management Lab that delves on subjects like emotional intelligence. Similarly the C-Talk series lets you catch glimpses of industry leaders’ cross-financial expertise in financial and banking service. Aspirants will do well to make best use of the resources and the opportunities such an education throws up.
Know more about PGDM courses at ISBR.
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5 Ways an MBA Will Change your Life