The speakers said that there are enough reasons to go for an MBA even in an economically uncertain time

T.I.M.E., a leading MBA coaching institute, organized a seminar titled ‘MBA in Economic Uncertainty.’ The notable speakers at the seminar were Ms. Hima Bindu, Assistant Director – Admissions, India School of Business, Professor T N Swaminathan, Director – Admissions, Great Lakes Institute of Management, Mr. Ulhas Vairagkar and Ms. Tanuja Chandra, Centre Directors of T.I.M.E.

The seminars were held over two days, July 4 and 5. The Saturday, July 4 seminar was held in Gurgaon and on Sunday, July 5, the seminar was held in Noida and New Delhi.

The seminars were organized to address the question which is present in the minds of the lakhs of MBA aspirants in India: how wise a decision it would be to pursue an MBA degree in a tough economic situation? MBAUniverse.com in the two article series ‘MBA in Crisis?’ has already shown that the number of enrolments in the test prep centres has seen a plunge, which is likely to hamper the whole management education ecosystem. The speakers offered reasons to clarify the confusion in their minds and pursued them that this is the best time one should go for an MBA degree.

Ms Hima Bindu started her address in an interactive mode. She threw questions to the audience seeking answers for questions regarding the economic uncertainty. Most of the students felt that an MBA degree will serve them no good in this economic slowdown. The reason for such negativity is the placement reports of the various MBA schools where the presence of recruiters was very low along with huge dip in average salary.

Ms Bindu said, “This is the best time, get back to school and invest in yourself.” She sees this as an excellent opportunity to enrich one’s knowledge bank as she feels that whatever you learn will do you some good. She said that economic downturn has not arrived bolt from the blue. It had to happen but this will be followed by an economic boom. She drew a graph to explain it. “As soon as there’s an economic downturn, GMAT takers go up,” Bindu said. The reason for saying so was to convince the students that this kind of a situation is the best to invest in studying as after two years, when economy will be in an upswing, they will get much better job opportunities than the others who were stuck in their old jobs or did not go for an MBA degree.

Regarding placements, she said, “At ISB, the regular recruiters in ISB, Citi Group and Novartis have already booked their date slots for placement dates in January 2010 right from now.” Hima Bindu concluded her address by suggesting the students to work for love and passion, fame and money will follow suit automatically. 

Professor T N Swaminathan also started his address in an interactive note and asked students about their backgrounds and said that there should be no taboo regarding backgrounds for pursuing MBA degree. Since an MBA degree consists of a holistic program, students from any background can go for it. “Career is a long term perspective and you all should work with a goal in life.” According to Professor Swaminathan, the importance in doing an MBA degree not only lies in obtaining a fat salaried job, but it also widens one’s horizons. “You look at a problem with a problem solving mindset. A ‘crisis management’ attitude grows naturally.” While studying for an MBA degree , one must learn from his surroundings and should grasp knowledge from every source possible. You should even learn from your peers, said Professor Swaminathan.