Feel free to ask any doubts or dm. It can be related to sip, career or general doubts. Would be happy to help!

GEM

Did my B.Tech from a Tier 3 College in 2019. Prepared for UPSC for 5 years. Couldn't crack it so joined M.Tech in 2024. Landed my first job at 29.

What IIMs would even consider me even if I score well on the CAT exam? Wouldn't age be a factor while placements? How do I justify a massive 5 years Gap? Is MBA even for me at this point?

Profile
10th: 91%
12th: 78%
Grad: 6.33 CGPA

Currently doing the PGP at ISB. Figured I’d do an AMA

Happy to answer anything about ISB.

upvote for better reach

i'm a dropper already, so i just want to know from guys who went through it about private b.com courses. will it be of significant consideration during CAT interviews? or during job interviews?

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I recently completed my MBA in Finance from a Tier-3 college, and my long-term goal is to get into a Big 4/Big 6 firm in a finance-related role.

I understand that coming from a Tier-3 MBA makes getting shortlisted difficult, so I'm looking for practical advice from people who have actually made a similar transition.

Hey peeps,

So I am 22 (graduated last year from a T1 engineering college and have 1 yr. experience), and like many others, I am also working as a front-end SDE in a remote startup. My pay is good (~2LPM fixed) thanks to the T1 tag, but I have literally no interest in development. I literally get so tired after reading code and question my life choices. The only reason I survive is because I am hardworking (I literally spend 10-12 hrs every day and weekend working) and have a great manager and Claude.

But I don't feel it's worth it. Like, if I don't like something inherently, then I can't become great at it, right? It will stay as a burden and keep me scared and I will always feel like an imposter.
Moreover, SW Development in itself is going a bit of downhill, and I only do front-end react work.

I am good with numbers/algebra and communication, so i was thinking of going for an MBA from top Indian B-schools, but even that doesn't make sense ROI-wise. For an MBA abroad, the risk and investment seem too high, and I am kind of naive in my knowledge about abroad MBAs. I thought of transferring to product roles, but in my startups, the role hierarchy is pretty strict, and I don't feel they will appreciate my request for an internal transfer.

I have been thinking a lot about this, and it's impacting my mental health at this point, like the more I stay here, the more I go away from the work that I will actually like. Please help me out. I am pretty sure some of you have been in this situation before.

Hey! I wanted to ask about IBS Hyderabad. My brother is considering joining the college after completing his BBA from SRM. How is the college overall, especially in terms of placements and career opportunities? Would you recommend joining IBS Hyderabad for an MBA?

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I am a 26 year old female. I have cleared one group of CA Final and have one group left. I have attempted CA Final around 6 times and unfortunately I have not been able to clear because of Audit. So I am very close to completing CA but it has already taken me a lot of time.

Currently I am working in a Founder’s Office role. The job is decent and I am getting exposure to strategy, business, GTM and operations, but I am not sure if this is what I want to do long term.

I feel that doing an MBA could help me move towards better roles in strategy and business and could also open up more opportunities for me.

So I am confused about whether I should give MBA entrances and try for an MBA in 2027 or just focus completely on completing CA first.

One part of me feels that I only have one group left and I should just finish it. I have already come this far and it would be silly to leave it incomplete.

But another part of me feels that I have already spent so much time on CA and maybe I should stop spending more time on it and focus on building my career.

I am also worried about MBA interviews. They will obviously ask me why I took so many attempts to clear CA and why I haven't completed it yet. I don't know how much of a disadvantage this will be.

I am genuinely confused about what makes more sense in the long term.

Should I focus completely on clearing CA and then think about an MBA later?

Should I prepare for MBA entrances and try for a good MBA college in 2027 while keeping CA as a secondary priority?

Or should I just leave CA and focus on work experience?

Would really appreciate advice from people who have done CA and MBA, people who decided not to do an MBA after CA, or people who took multiple attempts at CA or other professional exams and still built a good career.

I want to make a decision based on what is actually good for my career and not just because I have already invested so much time in CA.

I've been looking at quite a few ISB profiles recently, and something I've noticed is that candidates often spend way too much time worrying about their GMAT/GRE score and not enough time thinking about the application as a whole.
Three things I'd be particularly careful about:

1. Treating the application like a checklist
Good academics + decent GMAT + good company ≠ automatically a strong application.
ISB is trying to understand the person behind those numbers career progression, choices, impact, leadership, and what you actually want to do after the MBA.

2. Writing an achievement dump
A lot of essays end up becoming:
I did X. Then I did Y. Then I achieved Z.
The problem is that achievements without context don't necessarily tell the admissions committee much about you.
The more interesting question is: Why did you make those choices, and what did they change?

3. Waiting until the deadline to think about LORs and essays
This one is underrated.
Your recommenders need time to think of meaningful examples. Your essays need time to go through multiple iterations. And your career story usually doesn't become clear in one sitting.
If you're targeting this year's intake, I'd rather have a candidate start early with an imperfect draft than start three weeks before the deadline with a blank document.

What's the part of the ISB application you're currently most unsure about profile, essays, LORs, test score, or school selection?

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Hi everyone,

I recently completed my PGDM in Finance and I’m currently looking for entry-level finance roles in India.

I’d really appreciate advice from people who have recently gone through the same process and managed to land a job as a fresher.

What actually worked for you?

- Which job portals worked best?

- Did referrals make a major difference?

- Which skills or certifications helped you get shortlisted?

- How did you approach recruiters or hiring managers?

- Were there any specific strategies that helped you get more interviews?

I’m particularly looking at roles such as Financial Analyst, FP&A, Risk/Credit Analyst, Financial Modelling, or similar entry-level finance roles.

If you recently got your first job after an MBA, I’d genuinely appreciate you sharing what you did, what didn’t work, and what you would recommend to someone starting the search now.

Also, if anyone here works in a company that is currently hiring MBA Finance freshers and is comfortable referring, I’d be grateful if you could share the opportunity or let me know.

Thanks in advance! Any genuine advice or experience would be really helpful.

Most of you will start or might have already started the 1st sem of B-School and probably the summer placement process. Due to this we recently conducted an AMA session with Shobhit, ISB alum who works with L'Oreal. We tried to answer as many questions as possible and there was one common question which was asked the most, " How can I get my dream job with low acads?"

Trying to answer this in detail here :

1. Stop chasing companies. Chase problems.

Don't say, I want McKinsey. Say, I want to solve business strategy problems.
Companies change. Roles don't.

The more clearly you understand the job itself, the easier it becomes to prepare for it.

2. Reverse engineer the person who gets selected.

Take the last 10 people who got your dream role.

Ask:

What internships did they do?
What competitions did they win?
What certifications do they have?
What clubs were they part of?
What projects are on their resume?
How do they answer interview questions?

3. Most students prepare for interviews.

The smart ones prepare for resume points.

A good interview cannot save a weak resume.

But a strong resume gives interviewers something interesting to discuss.

Every semester should end with new resume bullets.

4. Your CGPA matters...

...until it doesn't.

If you have an 8.5 CGPA, great.

If you have a 6.5 CGPA but you've built products, led teams, won competitions, completed internships and have interesting stories, many recruiters will remember you more.

Academics open some doors.

Your overall profile opens many more.

What if my academics are poor?

Don't waste energy wishing they were better.

Ask, What can I add that recruiters cannot ignore?

Examples:

National-level case competition
Internship
Live consulting project
Research paper
Leadership position
Startup experience
Analytics portfolio
Industry certification

A weak area is difficult to erase.

But it can be outweighed.

5. Become known for one thing.

Every campus has people known as

the finance person
the marketing person
the analytics person
the operations person

Generalists often become forgettable.

Build a reputation before placements begin.

6. Every conversation is a mini interview.

Faculty.

Alumni.

Guest speakers.

Seniors.

HR during pre-placement talks.

The MBA world is surprisingly small.

People remember students who ask thoughtful questions.

7. Network without asking for referrals.

Instead ask, What surprised you most after joining this role?
If you were in my position today, what would you do differently?

People enjoy sharing experiences.

Few enjoy being asked for favors by strangers.

8. Your internship is a three-month interview.

Many PPOs are decided long before the final presentation.

Be reliable.

Meet deadlines.

Ask good questions.

Take ownership.

People hire colleagues they'd like to work with.

What if I have no work experience?

Then create experience.

Recruiters value demonstrated responsibility.

Examples:

Freelance projects
NGO work
College festivals
Consulting projects
Startup internships
Personal business
Research assistantships
Student council
Building an app
Running a newsletter
Content creation
Event management

The question isn't

Did you have a salary?

It's

Did someone trust you with responsibility?

9. Depth beats quantity.

Ten average internships don't impress.

One internship where you owned a meaningful project often does.

10. Case competitions are underrated.

Many students discover consulting, marketing or product management through competitions.

Even if you don't win, you learn structured thinking, teamwork and presentation.

Those skills appear everywhere.

11. Build stories.

Interviewers don't remember facts.

They remember stories.

Instead of saying, I have leadership skills.

Tell the story of the event that almost failed, the conflict you resolved, or the impossible deadline you met.

Stories are proof.

Use STAR methodology or Simon Sinek's Golden Circle or TBT's Christmas Tree.

12. Don't optimize only for Day Zero.

Students obsess over Day Zero companies.

Five years later, very few careers look exactly as they imagined.

Think about where you'll be after your second or third job.

Sometimes the best first role isn't the most glamorous one.

13. Luck exists.

Preparation increases the number of lucky moments.

Maybe the interviewer likes your project.

Maybe someone from your hometown interviews you.

Maybe your internship mentor recommends you.

You can't control luck.

You can control how often you're ready when it appears.

If I had to summarize everything in one line:

Your dream company doesn't hire your marksheet.

It hires the version of you that has consistently built skills, solved problems, taken responsibility, and can convince another human being that you'll make their team better.

And if your academics or lack of work experience aren't ideal, don't let them become your identity. Treat them as constraints, not conclusions. The strongest MBA profiles are rarely perfect, they're simply difficult to ignore because they've accumulated enough evidence that they can perform.

I am in first year MBA college.

The registrations for SIP has started.

I know it depends on shortlist but I want a SIP buddy who I can reach out to and vice versa.

Mainly looking to get into Consulting (Big4, accenture strategy, Kearney , A&M, Vector etc.) , Product Management (Any sector really : big tech, Qcom , Ecom, retail, FMCG, Travel, etc) or FMCG (Category Management, Ops/SCM)

What kind of profile will they look for?

Profile : 8/9/8 pre MBA,

~7.2-7.4 CGPA in MBA (top 50% probably around 7.6-7.7).

Workex : ~4 years (Tech, non SDE)

1 national case comp win (non corporate) .

Have 2 big brand names in CV (1 from work ex)

SIP sector : FMCG ops (Tier 2 or tier 3, not sure about company's brand perception).

I don't have any family pressure like 12lpa or you aren't my son type

Tbh if I get a job I'll be first one to work in organized sector, I don't have anyone who can actually guide me and tbh I was really happy a for getting in this college a couple of days back

Then I came to this sub after a random google search and it's depressing

What type of roles should I focus on and what skills I need to gain to get placed

Well this is how I felt after being here https://www.reddit.com/r/MBAIndia/s/IRXcYY1CAt

By seeing the whistleblower and many other posts of ragging, inhumane induction culture of top tier B-schools, am now in the utmost shock!. I am not able to digest this things because,

1. raised in a family full of love, am a little emotional towards people(both positive and negative). I will not tolerate any kind of ragging like situation in B-schools(sidha 1 lafa maar dunga).

2. my undergrad was from an NIT, and the seniors there were very helpful. Had not seen any kind of ragging culture yet. So am little bit intimidated too.

What is the truth? Is the culture of B-schools is this much toxic?

Personally, i prefer my mental peace more than anything in this world. And would not tolerate even an inch for it.

Please give the actual reality of the ground.🙏🏻