CAT

M.B.A, Master of Business Administration is a degree which will never go out of fashion. It is the most coveted profession.

Common Admission Test (CAT), is the common entrance exam that you have to take to get admission to the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), at Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Calcutta, Lucknow, Indore, and Kozhikode. Many other institutes like, MICA, Nirma Institute of Management, S.P. Jain Institute, also draw out their candidates based on the performance in CAT. 

The exam itself consists of four parts which are Verbal Ability, Reading Comprehension, Problem Solving and Data Interpretation. All the questions are multiple choice and you should shade your choice of answer (only with a HB pencil) in the computer coded answer sheet. For every correct answer, one mark is awarded and for every wrong answer, 1/4th of a mark is deducted.

Overview

Every year around 150 thousand inspirence accross India take this test with one goal-getting into a top B-school. Some dreams do come true while others are shattered the very fact that so many students take the test makes it one of the most competetive exams of modern times. The amount of manteled strength it demands makes CAT even more unique. So, is CAT really difficult to tame? It is all about staying focused and making the right choicess, at the right time. Those who are able to manage it excel while others are caught napping.

The MBA degree opens up worlds of opportunity for its bearers. Many business positions require an MBA for advancement. For example, investment banking and management consulting firms hire large classes of newly minted MBAs each year at six-figure salaries into the "associate" level, those without MBAs generally don't advance past the "analyst" level. At major consumer products companies like Procter & Gamble, Kraft and Colgate-Palmolive, MBAs are hired as "assistant brand managers" into the brand management department -- those without MBAs are generally not eligible for the department. And it is from this function that these companies' senior executives are generally drawn.

There are two kinds of MBA institutes in India, a handful from which you leave with a pedigree and the vast majority which offer just degrees. In the first category lie the IIMs, XLRI and, to a lesser extent, FMS and Bajaj -- the institutions which pioneered the concept of management education at a time when the IAS was a far more wanted career path.
 
Although numerous B school rankings may be published every year, it rarely if ever alters the recruiter's pecking order. For 'class' or the jobs requiring brainwork, it's a select few institutes. For 'mass' or the groundwork jobs, it's down the B school ladder. And how low down this ladder a company will go depends on how many fresher it requires. With so many new sectors opening up retail, insurance, BPO, telecom, it would seem the job pie has grown exponentially. True, except that B school you graduate from often still determines whether you eat your slice at the chairman's table. Many companies follow differential recruitment policies. Better salary, designation and job profiles are offered to the more premium grads. 
 
But, in an ironic twist, one man's Cat can be another's Dog. Several reputed companies, especially ndian ones, prefer to recruit from less elite campuses. These MBAs, they believe, work harder to prove themselves and are far more loyal to the organisation.