Ritesh is a successful marketing manager working in a multinational company. Ask him what made him specialize in marketing and he confesses with a smile that he pursued it for it was the most popular choice in college.
This is the story behind many MBAs or those pursuing MBA. The buzzword today is doing an MBA and landing yourself a coveted job. But the fact is that with a host of different specializations available, it is vital to make yourself aware of all of them and select your area of study carefully and not follow the crowd.
Full – time or part-time degree /diploma courses courses come in various forms. The regular MBA is of two years duration with a break for summer training after the first year. The third semester is dedicated to the area of specialization. The traditional ones like marketing, finance, HR and systems are usually offered by most B-schools. Apart from these, there are various new age areas in which you can specialize in like communications, health care, agri-business management, entrepreneurship to name just a few. Some schools even have the concept of dual specializations where you can specialize in two areas as major and minor. Moreover, there are some other institutes which are renowned for specialized courses like programme in Rural Management by Institute of Rural Management, Anand; MBA in International Business offered by Indian Institute of Foreign Trade or Post-graduate Programme Diploma in Mass Communications by Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad, etc.
Here are some points that may help you make the right choice.
1. Consider all available options and zero in on the one that matches with your career aspirations.
2. Make an assessment of your personality traits. If you are an extrovert who loves going places then marketing is the right choice. Again the creative ones can go for communications management, the people-friendly types for HR and those fond of numbers for finance.
3. Consider your educational background. A graduate in pharmacy will benefit by doing a course in Hospital Management while a Computer Engineer by specializing in Systems.
4. Your previous work experience can also be a factor in deciding your are of specialization.
5. List the job opportunities in your chosen field. Gather information regarding the job profile and salaries offered in each of these roles.
All said and done, follow the path you are passionate about and lead yourself to a fulfilling career ahead. Institutes on their part can help students by offering counseling sessions or expert advice by faculty or alumni.
- Ranjita Chattopadhyay (views expressed in the article are that of the author)
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