Campus Placements : Ensure You Don't Remain Unplaced

Expectation Management 13

INDUSTRY BYTE

Education is definitely important in today’s world,

but job experience is more important. An MBA

degree is not enough; you need to know the busi-

ness and understand the customer thoroughly.

–Ankita Shreeram,

Journalist and Travel Blogger,

www.trailstainedfingers.com

5

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B. Job Prole

The second most prominent reason for people to apply for a man-

agement degree is the quest for a job that is more exciting than the

current one they are in. Till this point, their expectations sound valid

and well deserved! What takes it overboard is a deadly combination

5

“The key is to always develop local talent wherever you go”, Ascent, The Times of India, June 24,

2015.

Figure 1.2 Race track

Starting

Point

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

1 2 3 4 5

6 7

8

Finish

Line

H

21 3 4 5 6 7 8

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14 CAMPUS PLACEMENTS: Ensure You Don’t Remain Unplaced

of expecting an industry as well as a vertical shift in the same move!

Over the years we have observed that hardly eight to ten percent stu-

dents manage this shift of industry as well as vertical.

While students look at the tuition cost as well as various other cost

implications like opportunity cost, loss of designation or seniority in

previous organization etc., they end up calculating the return on invest-

ment (ROI) from the first day after stepping out of college. On the other

hand, they may land into a situation they may not have even imagined in

their wildest dreams. In the case of students who switch their industry

as well as vertical, they may not have any relevant experience to the new

industry/vertical they are trying to switch over to. Hence, the recruiter

may be willing to oer them a job that is way lower in designation and

responsibilities and half of what they were being paid for earlier. In

such situations, the student may face the loss of designation, salary, and

earning during the course, and to top it all, an added burden of paying

the instalments of the education loan he or she might have taken.

For example, a successful mariner aiming at financial controller’s

job (immediately after a one-year course, or in some cases even a

part-time, distance learning, crash course of 6–8 months) with the

logic that, “I have already invested a good 6/8/12/15 months in the

pursuit of required skill sets, AND I have 6–8 years of prior work

experience, AND last but not the least, I was already drawing dollar

salaries. How does one expect me to join a lower cadre in the new

career, that too at a lesser salary than I was drawing earlier and after

investing a huge amount of money for this course! On top of it, there

is an opportunity cost of not earning my last year’s salary that further

adds to my overall investment. So the hiring company should consider

my previous work experience as well as last drawn salary and give me

‘X’ amount more than my peers (so what if they have 2–3 years of

relevant prior experience; it is still less than my overall 6–8 years of

non-relevant experience).” Figure 1.3 illustrates this possible situation

where a person may land into a loss-making career switch by entering

a completely non-related field.

What the students do not factor in is the preference for a company

to ‘relevant’ prior work experience or demonstrated capabilities of

specific skill sets that they look for in a particular role. Some students

M01_Campus Placements_C01.indd 14 8/29/2016 5:42:02 PM

Expectation Management 15

think that having some prior experience, irrespective of its relevance

to the dream role, justifies their expectation to be oered a better

package or a role that demands years of hard work and consistent

performance. The examples given below will explain the discussion

further.

As it is evident from Figures 1.4 and 1.5, the jobs of a chef and

a surgeon are dierent, though, both of them deal with sharp-edged

Figure 1.3 Challenges in switching career to a non-related eld

1) Lower salary than before

2) Lower designation

3) Added burden of education loan

4) Loss of earning against last year

Job in Non-related Field

1) Higher salary

2) Higher designation

3) Promotion and increment opportunities

4) Additional investment in cost of course

Previous Job

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