The days have long gone when an honors degree from a good university could guarantee you the job you want.

The world’s leading, and most popular, business qualification, is the Master of Business Administration, or MBA as we know it. A generalist qualification designed to equip students with an understanding of all the major functions of a business, in some industries the MBA is now not so much a desirable attribute, but an essential qualification. The MBA degree opens up worlds of opportunity for its bearers. Many business positions require an MBA for advancement. For example, investment banking and management consulting firms hire large classes of newly minted MBAs each year at six-figure salaries into the “associate” level — those without MBAs generally don’t advance past the “analyst” level. At major consumer products companies like Procter & Gamble, Kraft and Colgate-Palmolive, MBAs are hired as “assistant brand managers” into the brand management department — those without MBAs are generally not eligible for the department. And it is from this function that these companies’ senior executives are generally drawn.

The MBA Studies format is demanding whether you choose full time or part time. A solid preparation to each class session and class participation is strategically important as amazing amount of material is covered during each day. Teaching sessions are extremely interactive; the diversified work experience and creativity are highly valued during in-class discussions. Professional and active attitude are expected as well within teamwork sessions. For the same reasons the MBA Programme is hands-on and well in touch with the real business world. All these add to the value and quality of the Programme. And this is why it is important to try to grab the experience others are offering; equally crucial is to forward your work experience to others. Your time spent at an MBA School will become your competitive advantage strategically and in financial terms, sooner or later.

Undertaking an MBA course is a large commitment both in terms of time (full-time programmes run for one or two years) and money. Therefore, before selecting an MBA programme, it is important to ask yourself why you are pursuing the qualification in the first place.

The MBA is a challenging study program for the following reasons:

• There is a great deal of interesting material to absorb
• An intense study format
• An experienced and international body of motivated MBA students

Although numerous B school rankings may be published every year, it rarely if ever alters the recruiter’s pecking order. For ‘class’ or the jobs requiring brainwork, it’s a select few institutes. For ‘mass’ or the groundwork jobs, it’s down the B school ladder. And how low down this ladder a company will go depends on how many fresher it requires.

With so many new sectors opening up — retail, insurance, BPO, telecom — it would seem the job pie has grown exponentially. True, except that B school you graduate from often still determines whether you eat your slice at the chairman’s table. Many companies follow differential recruitment policies. Better salary, designation and job profiles are offered to the more premium grads.

But, in an ironic twist, one man’s Cat can be another’s Dog. Several reputed companies — especially Indian ones — prefer to recruit from less elite campuses. These MBAs, they believe, work harder to prove themselves and are far more loyal to the organization.

It’s a different thing that, given half the chance, the same MBAs would jump to join the very MNCs that won’t touch them. Anyways, what you really learn during your MBA studies is time management and prioritizing. What you should know already before coming to study an MBA, is that quality is strategically important in business life and beyond.