Five Reasons Why You Should Pursue an MBA

Today, MBA is first choice of students after completing their graduation. It is popular not only in fresh graduates, but students from other disciplines like engineering or MCA are also pursuing MBA after completing their main stream. It is a valuable degree that takes you straight to the high level positions in Business world. This Article identifies Top Five Reasons as to why you should consider Doing MBA in order to achieve your career success.

1 - Leadership Skills - In order to get success in business world Good Leadership Skills are critical. Not only in corporate world, but also in personal life you need to have good leadership skills to lead a happy life. MBA teaches you leadership skills and prepares you for manager level positions in business and management world.

2 - High Salary - An MBA Degree help you in getting higher salary in the field you choose.  It has been confirmed by several surveys that starting salary of MBA is going up in recent few years. This trend of growing salary is global. The reason why MBAs salary is so high because of the fact that companies need peoples with good business and leadership skills to take their business on the top in competitive market and they view MBAs as more efficient and competent.

3 - Networking Opportunity - MBA provides huge networking opportunity which is necessary to obtain a career in big Multi national companies in many different industries. You are exposed into the community of business leader and Management experts. Thus you'll develop good relationship with these business leaders. This deep relationship with business leaders will be an important business network to your life-time career and takes you up to the career ladder.

4 - Start your own Business - If you want to start your own business, then you must pursue Master in Business Administration. MBA develops business expertise in you and helps you in starting your own business. MBA is all about how to successful manage business. It gives you detailed knowledge about every planning, researching, financing and successfully managing a business. Researches have shown that failure rate for business started by MBA Degree holders is 60 percent less then standard failure rate.

5 - Confidence - Last but not the least reason on why you should pursue MBA is to boost your Self Confidence. It can do wonders in boosting your confidence. Having high confidence gives you inner strength and helps you in getting your dream job. Moreover, high confidence leads to happier and healthy life-style.

Why You Choose Mba As Your Career?

Why an MBA

The MBA is not an end in itself, but a means to an end. It is a degree designed to give you the ability to develop your career to its fullest potential, at an accelerated pace. What will you get out of an MBA? Aside from a powerful life experience, the MBA degree should supply three main value propositions: Skills, Networks, and Brand.

Skills

These include the "hard skills" of economics, finance, marketing, operations, management, and accounting, as well as the "soft skills " of leadership, teamwork, ethics, and communication that are so critical for effective management. MBA students acquire these skills inside and outside the classroom. Since MBA programs attract people from very diverse industries and cultures, a program should be able to leverage these differences and translate them into learning opportunities.

Networks

An MBA degree program offers access to a network of MBA students, alumni, faculty, and business and community leaders. This network can be very useful when beginning a job search, developing a career path, building business relationships in your current career, or pursuing expertise outside your current field. For example, entrepreneurs need access to capital, business partners, vendors, and clients. Arts-related businesses need access to funding and strategic management in order to position themselves to be relevant in the marketplace. Global businesses need access to local business cultures as they expand their enterprises to new territories.

Brand

The MBA degree is a recognized brand that signifies management and leadership training. The particular school and type of MBA program you attend also have brand associations that can help open doors based on the school's reputation. The strength of a school's brand is based on the program's history, its ability to provide students with technical skills and opportunities for personal growth, and the reach of its alumni and industry network. A powerful brand can give you the flexibility to make changes throughout your career. 

The following was written by Wharton College Pennsylvania. This should help

Why Did You Choose This Career – Interview Question and Answers

Some of these job interview question are trick questions, which are basically asked in a bid to differentiate between good interviewees and the best interviewees.
One such tricky question can be asked in different ways:

1. Why did you take up this profession?
2. Why did you choose this career/job?
3. Why did you specifically select this career as opposed to a myriad of others?

Here are some tips and suggestions as to how you can safely answer this question–
Basically speaking, the answer to this question depends on the profession and job that you have applied for.

Noble profession 
If the job is in any noble profession such as law or medicine, you can simply say that you wish to join the noble profession in an endeavor to do your bit to solve the problems around you. If you are applying for a job in the legal profession, you can always mention the fact that you wish to help others with their legal problems.

Basic interest
Another answer that you can give to this question is that you have always had a basic interest in the core  responsibility of this career. For example, if you are asked this question during a programmer job interview, you can simply say that you always had an interest in computing and computers. Similarly, if you have applied for a webmaster job interview, you can say that you were genuinely interested in the digital medium and in computing and internet.

Growth potential
You can also point out the growth potential for anyone who joins the said profession. All jobs have a growth potential and a growth timeframe. The timeframe varies from profession to profession. In some professions it may be six months to a year, while in others it may be a year or more. Therefore, if your profession has a growth potential timeframe of six months to one year, make sure that you speak about it as one of the reasons to enter this profession.

The scope of the profession
Another reason that you can discuss is the scope of the profession that you have applied for. If the job that you have applied for may soon be part and parcel of every company and industry, it is another good point that you can make when you are asked why you have chosen this as a career.

Your skills
This can also be one of the most difficult questions asked of a customer care associate or a sales representative.  A customer care associate job is highly stressful and quite hectic. Therefore, asking this question during an interview would put the interviewee in a quandary.
The best answer to this question is that you are always interested in interaction with people and you wish to learn/know all about the day to day happenings in a high productivity department, so that you may be able to understand it better in the future.

A stable job
With the growing change in the global condition of jobs and finances, people are looking for jobs in companies and professions that offer stability and cater to many businesses. If your company offers a stable job, make sure that you inform the interviewer that you consider a stable job one of the reasons why you have applied for the particular job.

A Interview question- "Tell me about your self".

Do you know why this question is asked so often in most job interviews? This question is actually an ice-breaker. Asking this question starts the conversion. So you should better be ready with an answer. This question gives the interviewer a chance to know about the interviewee. Once you start talking about yourself, interviewer starts preparing his/her next question. So there are high chances that the next question that would be fired on you will be based on the answer of this question. As the answer for this will be based on you, you think and prepare it before the interview.

While preparing for the answer consider including following points.

1. You:

Tell them your name and which place you are from. Suppose you are "Mike Creamer", then do not start with "Myself Mike Creamer"; start with "I am Mike Creamer". This is a very common mistake. Not acceptable in interviews especially in call center jobs.

You may talk about your family (cover up in short); you may talk about your how you came to the city, etc.

2. Your education:

Tell them about your education i.e. graduation/post-graduation. If you are a fresher then tell them the grades you got. If you have done something different than others then tell them. It surely adds a value!

3. Your experience:

Talk about your whole experience. Start from early years and gradually come to recent years. If you have a long experience then you must not be doing same thing all years. Then exactly what you were doing? This is what your interviewer wants to listen. If you are a fresher then talk about your projects.

4. Your experience regarding to the post you has applied for:

This is of most interest to your interviewer. You may be having lot of experience but how much experience you have regarding current job post is very important. If you do not have it then you can talk about some related experience. Or if you do not have related experience too then say it clearly. Buy along with it give them confidence that you can do it and you have genuine interest to do it.

Fresh candidates who do not have any kind of experience, you should show some positive attitude and exhibit willingness to learn and do new things. Be ready to do new things. Don't worry that you will make mistakes. Fresher candidates are expected to do mistakes and your employers are well aware of it so you don't have any reason to be afraid. Believe me no one will give you more work than you can handle.

5. Do not describe your salary or pay scale at this point of time (unless explicitly asked).

6. Avoid giving unnecessary details. Value your interviewer's time.

7. The idle answer should not last more than 1 minute.

Take an Example.

Sir,

I am Deepak Patel. I belong to Shahdol(MP). I graduated in computer application from MCU University in 2008, I have also done Post graduation in Import-Export Management from Pune university. and now i am about to complete Post Graduation Diploma in Management with Marketing Specialization. 

And about my Experience I have worked for Bharti Airtel Ltd. as an intern in B2B Profile.

Commonwealth Games: Is it Good for India’s Economy?

India is a developing country. Focus on the word developing as India is not yet developed. Ironically, India is a country which is, on one hand struggling with the problem of poverty since the time of independence while on the other hand is spending millions on the Commonwealth Games!

Forty percent of India’s population is below the poverty line which clearly indicates that the booming Indian economy is still unable to feed a majority of its citizens.

Climatic change like global warming is causing an agricultural crisis for the peasants all over the country, worsening their conditions which, in turn, is leading to inflation in the economy, energy resources are getting depleted, unskilled and poor people are forced to get involved in unorganized employment with least possible wages and lets not forget the skilled and literate unemployed…but who really cares? India is too busy with Commonwealth Games!

India’s present goal should be the development of human resources, dealing with poverty and creating a healthy, wealthy and literate India. I believe that as a result of the approaching Commonwealth Games, India, especially Delhi is undergoing a complete makeover where the infrastructure is concerned. Lavish five-star hotels, better flyovers, etc, are being constructed. Better buses can be seen running on the roads of Delhi.

Why all this? Just to show that India is on its way to become a developed nation soon?

But can it hide those shabby and disguised slums behind the shimmering and glamorous construction? Can it suppress the cries of those million hungry stomachs? Can it? Unfortunately not!

And can anyone explain how modern infrastructure helps those million unemployed men who have to support half a dozen of their family members without any source of income?

I won’t deny the fact that may be these games will have an international impact and benefit a particular section of the society temporarily. But this is where the most significant question arises that if the games will benefit a certain strata of the society which is already rich and powerful then what happens to those strata of the Indian population which is below the poverty line? Who bears the responsibility of their welfare?

I also agree that the Commonwealth Games will usher in a certain amount of employment but will it offer employment to millions of unemployed? And by the way this is only for a temporary period of time. Then what? Back to square one? Thus, a country like India wearing poverty in the form of national shame cannot afford to conduct such games at the cost of its poverty stricken citizens. Therefore India should first win the race against poverty and then think of going international through such ventures.

Hence India’s poverty and the hosting of Commonwealth Games are not at all compatible as for a nation the welfare of its citizen is its first priority and not the conduction of sports and leisure.

[sources- http://theviewspaper.net]

Common Interview Questions

Review these typical interview questions and think about how you would answer them. Read the questions listed, you will also find some strategy suggestions with it.

• 1. Tell me about yourself: The most often asked question in interviews. You need to have a short statement prepared in your mind. Be careful that it does not sound rehearsed. Limit it to work-related items unless instructed otherwise. Talk about things you have done and jobs you have held that relate to the position you are interviewing for. Start with the item farthest back and work up to the present.
• 2. Why did you leave your last job? Stay positive regardless of the circumstances. Never refer to a major problem with management and never speak ill of supervisors, co-workers or the organization. If you do, you will be the one looking bad. Keep smiling and talk about leaving for a positive reason such as an opportunity, a chance to do something special or other forward-looking reasons.
• 3. What experience do you have in this field? Speak about specifics that relate to the position you are applying for. If you do not have specific experience, get as close as you can.
• 4. Do you consider yourself successful? You should always answer yes and briefly explain why. A good explanation is that you have set goals, and you have met some and are on track to achieve the others.
• 5. What do co-workers say about you? Be prepared with a quote or two from co-workers. Either a specific statement or a paraphrase will work. Jill Clark, a co-worker at Smith Company, always said I was the hardest workers she had ever known. It is as powerful as Jill having said it at the interview herself.
• 6. What do you know about this organization? This question is one reason to do some research on the organization before the interview. Find out where they have been and where they are going. What are the current issues and who are the major players?
• 7. What have you done to improve your knowledge in the last year? Try to include improvement activities that relate to the job. A wide variety of activities can be mentioned as positive self-improvement. Have some good ones handy to mention.
• 8. Are you applying for other jobs? Be honest but do not spend a lot of time in this area. Keep the focus on this job and what you can do for this organization. Anything else is a distraction.
• 9. Why do you want to work for this organization? This may take some thought and certainly, should be based on the research you have done on the organization. Sincerity is extremely important here and will easily be sensed. Relate it to your long-term career goals.
• 10. Do you know anyone who works for us? Be aware of the policy on relatives working for the organization. This can affect your answer even though they asked about friends not relatives. Be careful to mention a friend only if they are well thought of.
• 11. What kind of salary do you need? A loaded question. A nasty little game that you will probably lose if you answer first. So, do not answer it. Instead, say something like, That’s a tough question. Can you tell me the range for this position? In most cases, the interviewer, taken off guard, will tell you. If not, say that it can depend on the details of the job. Then give a wide range.
• 12. Are you a team player? You are, of course, a team player. Be sure to have examples ready. Specifics that show you often perform for the good of the team rather than for yourself are good evidence of your team attitude. Do not brag, just say it in a matter-of-fact tone. This is a key point.
• 13. How long would you expect to work for us if hired? Specifics here are not good. Something like this should work: I’d like it to be a long time. Or As long as we both feel I’m doing a good job.
• 14. Have you ever had to fire anyone? How did you feel about that? This is serious. Do not make light of it or in any way seem like you like to fire people. At the same time, you will do it when it is the right thing to do. When it comes to the organization versus the individual who has created a harmful situation, you will protect the organization. Remember firing is not the same as layoff or reduction in force.
• 15. What is your philosophy towards work? The interviewer is not looking for a long or flowery dissertation here. Do you have strong feelings that the job gets done? Yes. That’s the type of answer that works best here. Short and positive, showing a benefit to the organization.
• 16. If you had enough money to retire right now, would you? Answer yes if you would. But since you need to work, this is the type of work you prefer. Do not say yes if you do not mean it.
• 17. Have you ever been asked to leave a position? If you have not, say no. If you have, be honest, brief and avoid saying negative things about the people or organization involved.
• 18. Explain how you would be an asset to this organization You should be anxious for this question. It gives you a chance to highlight your best points as they relate to the position being discussed. Give a little advance thought to this relationship.
• 19. Why should we hire you? Point out how your assets meet what the organization needs. Do not mention any other candidates to make a comparison.
• 20. Tell me about a suggestion you have made Have a good one ready. Be sure and use a suggestion that was accepted and was then considered successful. One related to the type of work applied for is a real plus.
• 21. What irritates you about co-workers? This is a trap question. Think real hard but fail to come up with anything that irritates you. A short statement that you seem to get along with folks is great.
• 22. What is your greatest strength? Numerous answers are good, just stay positive. A few good examples: Your ability to prioritize, Your problem-solving skills, Your ability to work under pressure, Your ability to focus on projects, Your professional expertise, Your leadership skills, Your positive attitude
• 23. Tell me about your dream job. Stay away from a specific job. You cannot win. If you say the job you are contending for is it, you strain credibility. If you say another job is it, you plant the suspicion that you will be dissatisfied with this position if hired. The best is to stay genetic and say something like: A job where I love the work, like the people, can contribute and can’t wait to get to work.
• 24. Why do you think you would do well at this job? Give several reasons and include skills, experience and interest.
• 25. What are you looking for in a job? See answer # 23
• 26. What kind of person would you refuse to work with? Do not be trivial. It would take disloyalty to the organization, violence or lawbreaking to get you to object. Minor objections will label you as a whiner.
• 27. What is more important to you: the money or the work? Money is always important, but the work is the most important. There is no better answer.
• 28. What would your previous supervisor say your strongest point is? There are numerous good possibilities: Loyalty, Energy, Positive attitude, Leadership, Team player, Expertise, Initiative, Patience, Hard work, Creativity, Problem solver
• 29. Tell me about a problem you had with a supervisor Biggest trap of all. This is a test to see if you will speak ill of your boss. If you fall for it and tell about a problem with a former boss, you may well below the interview right there. Stay positive and develop a poor memory about any trouble with a supervisor.
• 30. What has disappointed you about a job? Don’t get trivial or negative. Safe areas are few but can include: Not enough of a challenge. You were laid off in a reduction Company did not win a contract, which would have given you more responsibility.
• 31. Tell me about your ability to work under pressure. You may say that you thrive under certain types of pressure. Give an example that relates to the type of position applied for.
• 32. Do your skills match this job or another job more closely? Probably this one. Do not give fuel to the suspicion that you may want another job more than this one.
• 33. What motivates you to do your best on the job? This is a personal trait that only you can say, but good examples are: Challenge, Achievement, Recognition
• 34. Are you willing to work overtime? Nights? Weekends? This is up to you. Be totally honest.
• 35. How would you know you were successful on this job? Several ways are good measures: You set high standards for yourself and meet them. Your outcomes are a success.Your boss tell you that you are successful
• 36. Would you be willing to relocate if required? You should be clear on this with your family prior to the interview if you think there is a chance it may come up. Do not say yes just to get the job if the real answer is no. This can create a lot of problems later on in your career. Be honest at this point and save yourself future grief.
• 37. Are you willing to put the interests of the organization ahead ofyour own? This is a straight loyalty and dedication question. Do not worry about the deep ethical and philosophical implications. Just say yes.
• 38. Describe your management style. Try to avoid labels. Some of the more common labels, like progressive, salesman or consensus, can have several meanings or descriptions depending on which management expert you listen to. The situational style is safe, because it says you will manage according to the situation, instead of one size fits all.
• 39. What have you learned from mistakes on the job? Here you have to come up with something or you strain credibility. Make it small, well intentioned mistake with a positive lesson learned. An example would be working too far ahead of colleagues on a project and thus throwing coordination off.
• 40. Do you have any blind spots? Trick question. If you know about blind spots, they are no longer blind spots. Do not reveal any personal areas of concern here. Let them do their own discovery on your bad points. Do not hand it to them.
• 41. If you were hiring a person for this job, what would you look for? Be careful to mention traits that are needed and that you have.
• 42. Do you think you are overqualified for this position? Regardless of your qualifications, state that you are very well qualified for the position.
• 43. How do you propose to compensate for your lack of experience? First, if you have experience that the interviewer does not know about, bring that up: Then, point out (if true) that you are a hard working quick learner.
• 44. What qualities do you look for in a boss? Be generic and positive. Safe qualities are knowledgeable, a sense of humor, fair, loyal to subordinates and holder of high standards. All bosses think they have these traits.
• 45. Tell me about a time when you helped resolve a dispute betweenothers. Pick a specific incident. Concentrate on your problem solving technique and not the dispute you settled.
• 46. What position do you prefer on a team working on a project? Be honest. If you are comfortable in different roles, point that out.
• 47. Describe your work ethic. Emphasize benefits to the organization. Things like, determination to get the job done and work hard but enjoy your work are good.
• 48. What has been your biggest professional disappointment? Be sure that you refer to something that was beyond your control. Show acceptance and no negative feelings.
• 49. Tell me about the most fun you have had on the job. Talk about having fun by accomplishing something for the organization.
• 50. Do you have any questions for me? Always have some questions prepared. Questions prepared where you will be an asset to the organization are good. How soon will I be able to be productive? and What type of projects will I be able to assist on? are examples.

Peas and Paneer Pulao

Two of my favorite ingredients, peas and paneer come together to make a new favorite - Peas and Paneer Pulao...! All diets and resolutions go in the dumps when I'm faced with some paneer and rice, I just can't help but have some. So of course, I only make this once in a while, but when I do, it is totally worth it!

Here's the really easy recipe for days that you just want to indulge, and you know, we ALL have days like those once in a while.


For this delectable Pulao, you will need:


2 cups of Basmati rice - soaked for an hour
1 cup - green peas, I used frozen peas.
1/2 cup Paneer -sauteed in some olive oil and chopped in cubes
1 green pepper - sliced lengthwise
1 cup any other veggies you like (I used some French beans and a few carrot slivers)
1 large red onion- sliced lengthwise


1 tbsp - Olive Oil ( use what you normally have on hand, I cook a lot with Olive oil)
1 tsp - Shahi Jeera or plain Jeera ( cumin)
2-3 small green cardamoms
1-2 cinnamon sticks
2-3 tbsp of yogurt- whipped
1 tbsp - ginger and garlic paste
2-3 heaping tbsp -of your best Biryani/Pulao or garam masala- I have some Gujarati biryani/pulao masala that I used. Use to your taste. I used a lot because I wasn't using any turmeric or chili powder.
Few fresh mint leaves - I had about 7-8 on hand, so I used them all.
salt - to taste
sugar - a pinch or two


Soak the rice and let it sit for an hour.


Take a deep pan, heat some oil and add the jeera, cardamoms, and the cinnamon sticks. When they sizzle, add the onions,and the ginger-garlic paste. Stir really well and now add the biryani/pulao masala. Add the Peas, and the veggies you have. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes and add the yogurt, mixing it well. Don't overcook the veggies, because you'll be adding the rice.

Now add the soaked rice, mint leaves, salt and sugar to this mixture. Add 4 cups of water to the pan. Mix gently, taking care not to break the rice. Season the rice and veggies further with more masala if needed. Let the mixture come to a boil, and then lower the heat. Cook until the rice is done.I usually don't cover it, I find that the rice becomes sticky that way. Towards the last few minutes of the cooking, add the paneer pieces and toss gently. Garnish with cilantro leaves if you like!

Fluff the rice and serve with some onion and cucumber raita.