Every year almost three lakh candidates appear for Common Admission Test (CAT) for securing a seat for Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and other premier institutes but post-exam, every candidate's world revolves around just a number called percentile

The decisions made post-exam can sometimes shape a candidate's career more than the difference between 97 and 99 percentiles. Finance educator Aswini Bajaj, who scored 97 percentile in CAT, often saw people taking the wrong career call. When Bajaj appeared for CAT, he was also preparing for professional courses and had CA Final examinations in front of him. He took a realistic look at the things he could manage and decided not to take up MBA. The decision to go for MBA required lot of investment in terms of time and money. And for Bajaj, it did not add up. He went on to teach finance and valuation at more than 200 institutions including more than 40 IIMs and IITs giving him an insight into the career of students appearing for these exams.

 

The Biggest Mistake: Waiting for Results Before Making a Plan

 

One of the most common mistake MBA aspirants make is to postpone important career decisions till their CAT results are out. Candidates only decide on joining a certain college, getting some work experience or preparing for a re-attempt only to see their results. But in the meanwhile, emotions of disappointment, anxiety and the fear of 'wasting another year' can cloud a candidate's judgment.A more practical approach is to decide which options are viable before the results are declared. Aspirants should ask themselves whether they will re-attempt or not, whether they will consider colleges other than their favourites or whether gaining some work experience will be a better option.

Having this clarity before results are announced can help candidates take decisions based on long-term career goals rather than the immediate disappointment of not making it to one's dream college.

 

Don't Be Misled by Average Placement Packages

 

Another common mistake in the realm of placements is to believe the hype around the average salary package.The headline average salary package can be quite misleading. Few stellar domestic or international salaries can take the average package to a glorious height even though the majority may pocket far less cash.

 

This is why aspirants should take a good look at the median package, the middle-most number of the batch, half the students earn more than the median and half less than the median.

Quartile data can give an interesting insight too since it breaks the data into four, showing how much a student falls in the first, second, third or the fourth level of the batch. This will help the students know whether the successful placements are spread out across the sections or are restricted to a section of high scorers. Same logic applies while a candidate goes through summer internship stipends and the final placement reports.

 

A Good Percentile Does Not Guarantee Admission

 

Many aspirants wrongly assume that a good percentile is enough to get them into a good business school. In reality, a good percentile opens the door but personal interviews, written ability tests, academic consistency, diversity factors and work experience can play a bigger role in the final selection.

 

Candidates should view interviews as an opportunity even if they do not end up joining an institute. Interviews give you a good idea about the expectations from competitive B-schools and also gives a fair idea of where you stand in comparison to other aspirants

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Work Experience Can Strengthen Both Your Profile and Confidence

 

For a candidate looking forward to another shot at CAT, work-experience can be more useful than another year of preparing for the exam. Professional exposure can strengthen a candidate's profile, boost confidence and also give clarity to career goals. Students with a good work experience tend to bring a lot of maturity to business schools and get a chance to network with professionals at the workplace. The key, however, is not to get stuck in the rat race of gaining work experience but to simultaneously keep working on the MBA goals. Instead of preparing for a re-attempt again and again, aspirants should go out there, work, build skills and come back to CAT with a stronger profile.

 

Choose the Right College, Not Just the Highest-Ranked One

 

An MBA is not all about sitting in a classroom and listening to a professor but also about clubs, committees, competitions, live projects, leadership, teamwork, communication, decision-making and public speaking.These opportunities can vary from one institution to another.Thus, while taking admission, these factors should also be kept in mind apart from placement percentages and rank of the institution.

 

For MBA aspirants, the time post-exam can be as crucial as the time spent in preparation. Candidates with similar percentiles can have very different results depending on their interview performance, work experience, profile strength and choice of institution.

There is no single valid path after CAT but the smarter move is to make decisions, scrutinise placement data, prepare for interviews and build work-experience wherever applicable since in an MBA and a long-term career, these choices may matter far more than a two percent difference in one's CAT score.