The Road Ahead..

More than 10 years ago I joined College of Engineering, Trivandrum with the simple dream of getting a decent job as soon as I graduated. At that point in time, becoming capable of fetching my family three square meals a day was more important than anything else. Engineering looked promising in terms of getting a job (a campus placement), and Electronics or Computer Science at CET was what most students (not all) with good entrance exam scores (ranks) opted, So did I. I hadn't heard of any student who had opted for Mechanical, Civil or Architecture inspite of getting a rank that would have qualified him/her for Electronics or Comp Sci (Ofcouse there are exceptions and I later came to know a few). I didn't have any worries about choosing a subject - all I wanted was a job at the end of four years to head off the financial disaster that stared my family in the face. That was more than a decade ago and since then life has come a long way. I am happy that I could achieve my dream inspite of running into a tempest following the 2001 economic recession and 9/11 fallout.

Presently, I am preparing for GMAT and dreaming of joining a Top Tier B-school. But unlike what I did 10 years back, I spend time thinking and discussing about what an MBA could help me achieve, where,what and how I should study, What my focii should be, What I should target to achieve in the next 10 years, What kind of companies I should aim to work for after my MBA, Where I should take my career..etc.

Today I had a very enlightning and fruitful discussion with Himanshu Joshi (First Year student at IIM-A ) who is currently in New York city for an intership with the famed BCG (The Boston Consulting Group). Thanks to my friend Saurabh Jindal, another first year IIM - A student, for the introduction. I wanted to know in detail about the life in a consulting company. I was curious about the kind of problems consultants work on, the variety of challenges they tackle, their growth, remuneration, career options and above all what they learn in B-Schools that opens the doors of great companies like BCG or McKinsey.

I have posted the salient points of our discussion here. Thank You Himanshu for your time and effort.