A professional degree is no guarantee for plump job...but counselling is on hand

Aarti Kumar (not the real name), a Mumbai-based MBA graduate is in a dilemma. With no job or positive feelers from any prospective employers, the 24-year-old doesn’t know whether to go ahead for further studies or take up whatever lands on her plate.

In a slightly different situation is Manish Desai, a second year MBA student specialising in marketing. The 27-year old from Delhi thinks he made the wrong choice by choosing marketing, despite having been strongly inclined towards HR. Desai was told by his seniors that marketing had better prospects in terms of pay. “I now feel I would have enjoyed more had I taken HR,” he laments.

Like Kumar and Desai, several students end up making the wrong choices based on advices by friends and seniors - on the institute, specialisation or options when jobs are hard to get.
A December 2009 survey of first-year MBA students showed that 50% were not happy with their course and the institute.

However, help and guidance is on hand.

Minglebox.com, the brainchild of three IIT/IIM alumni, aims to put to solve queries, apprehensions, anxieties and worries of students.

Kavita Iyer, CEO, Minglebox, says, once students get registered and provide basic information, counselors assist them in making the right choices. About 4 million students doing MBA, engineering, and other courses from 290 cities and towns in India, currently use the counseling services of Minglebox. Iyer says the aim is to reach out to 15-20 million.

There is a pressing need for counselling, especially for students from smaller towns with little exposure to the challenges of the MBA course, says Nishant Saxena, guest lecturer at IIM Lucknow. “Several small-town students have no idea about the MBA curriculum, placements, how to select the right college etc.”

Counselling and guidance also help hone skills of students, says Deepak Kaistha, director and managing partner, Planman HR.
The career objectives of students and their aspirations have to be mapped with what the course can provide, says Madan Padaki, co-founder and CEO of Bangalore-based skills assessment company MeritTrac.

Iyer says concerns amongst students are high during entry exams. “Students are in a maze hunting for the right mock tests, e-tests etc. After the entry exams, most students get average scores and then struggle to choose institutes that match the scores.” Minglebox also has institutes reaching out to alumni to know about job openings, internships, which can benefit students.