4+ Years Work Ex. What Specialization in PGP ?

[sisyphean]

Hi,
Many of us (admits to IIMs) with 'significant' work ex ( something like 3.5 - 4+ years) are from IT industry. Realistically speaking it may not be easy to shift over to Investment Banking/consultancy/Finance now even if our interests lie there.
But meanwhile we also wouldn't want to be just a Project Manager or something similar after doing our MBA from the IIMs.
What specializations (like Systems/Strategy/Finance ?? etc) could be done in each of the IIMs (A/B/C) so as to leverage our IT workex.

This topic was also echoed by Saurabh Singhal in another thread, but that thread got drowned in the A vs B vs C discussion and did not dwell on this issue. Hence this new thread. I paste here his post again for reference.

***********************
Saurabh's post in making a choice IIM A/B/C

Is there anything like leveraging my IT experience after my MBA ?? what I do not understand is how is this experience going to help me in any way after doing MBA...till now I have been involved at the lowest level of being a software engineer, worrying bout coding, technology and petty deadlines and deliverables...now as far as my understanding goes an MBA would mean I would be having a totally different set of responsibilities? regarding management, managing finances, managing sales figures or marketing....so how does an IT specialization or an IT experience help me ??? what kind of job roles do I get as an IT pro after I do my MBA from say IIM-A ??? if it means that I am just getting promoted to a project manager level or an exalted programmer level then I would have a definite NO NO for such a career....I would personally like to join some investment bank and specialize in finance.....so now is this decision of any sense ?? cant I do a mix and match kind of degree with one major as IT and other as strategy or finance or marketing for that matter.....

For me my IT experience is not something which is for keeps or something which I cherish, if that would have been the case I would have gone for a technical specialization to leverage it further...so then how do we define an IT experience as being relevant to a management career......but if it means being at a sales position r a corporate policy making in an IT company , then isn't it same as being in any other organization with the same kinds job profile.....
The question here is , that it is difficult to make the choice .....to IT or not to IT........after all MBA is all bout management, marketing and Financial management...so what does an MBA with IT specialization or IT focus mean...how different will I be from my current position in IT vis-à-vis position after I do an IT specialization....

regarding specialising in Finance etc.....I would definitely like to work for an International/investment bank, and even if that means making a fresh start its ok as long as it interests me......and if at all they take me and fine me suitable for such an opening.......this brings up one more question, how will the prospective employees look at me if at all I do not mark my desire to quit IT and join an investment bank for example.........ppl do make a career move from IT to a different sector, but tell me one thing, even if they would have chosen to go back to an IT firm, how would and MBA and there prior experience help them in any way ?????

***********************

[sivarka]

ppl do make a career move from IT to a different sector, but tell me one thing, even if they would have chosen to go back to an IT firm, how would and MBA and there prior experience help them in any way ?????

I too had such questions in me. Well, some of the roles for such a person, that come to my mind are:-

1. Business Analyst
2. Pre-sales
3. Product Realisation, Program Management.
4. Merger and Acquision
5. Techno-marketting, Marketting
6. Business Development

Don't ask me what people do in these roles!

<request others to add to this list, so that we could pool in a broader perspective>
If anyone could brief the function of each of such designation, I hope that can add
more value to this discussion...

~Siva

[MavericK]

And I thought that specializations are based on your interests and CGs

[zacuza]

even i hav had this dbt for quite sumtime now

is it realistically possible for people with considerable work-ex(maybe even 2+) to shift to IB/Consulting roles(ofcourse assuming they manage to be in the top 10/20) - r there lateral recruitments in the above areas if a guy has significant yrs of IT experience

i find a lot many infy/wipro guys in this forum going back to their old firms for summers/jobs - i know pay is not the only criteria - but frankly speaking is there any considerable increase in their pay(for ex. a guy already drawing around 6) - ofcourse role & the type of work is the main key - but what i mean is wud such systems recruiters coming to bschools be open minded enugh to pay as per the guy's standards or do these so called standard co.s have a standard pay packet irrespective of their profile(in this case i'm talking only abt sysytems co.s like wipro/infy/ibm,etc)!

i'm looking at a bschool mainly for the learnings + brand name too and ofcourse change in work profile - so i'm just curious to know the difference in profile of these guys in infy(just 'cos they r the primary systems recruiter i know of in many bschools) - i'm sure guys working there already wud be knowing some of these business analysts working in their team/company - might hav been a source of motivation too
if existing developers too say after a few yrs of experience hav the same option of becoming a business analyst/project manager or whatever is the name of the post that one gets after the pgdbm during the placements, then what stands these bschool guys apart - ihav heard a lot abt the long run career path & ofcourse faster way towards the top stuff. but in reality do u guys hav any short term examples of a guy after an mba(ofcourse an experienced guy) getting back to the same firm at a higher level than what he wud hav been if he had shifted from a techie to busines analyst path. Yeah - again ofcourse assuming that teh guy is really good and puts in effort at bschool & not just 'cos he passed out from a good bschool - working hard shud be the motto anyday and i'm talking abt such guys only !

wud really be useful if someone - current/past students/alumni/bschool aspirants/developers/anybody cud provide info on these
thanks

Anand

[sisyphean]

Originally Posted by Maverick

And I thought that specializations are based on your interests and CGs

Yes, definitely the 'interests' aspect is always there. But we are also trying to figure out whether it is realistically possible to chalk out a path which will go well with our workex. Like for example suppose you have work ex in say C++/Unix and all that stuff and you are 'interested' in doing Finance in your MBA but the prospective Banking companies think that you would be a misfit to them because you are already moulded to another industry, then that would be slightly tricky, isn't it.

The idea here is to generate more inputs and discussion on the question of " Background/Field of workex - Interests - Specialization during MBA - Possible avenues after graduation " .

Also we need to look into details of specializations such as Strategy/ System so as to see what they entail exactly. Are they offered everywhere? What is the typical job description if you specialize in these fields? etc

[sivarka]

A business analyst, pre-sales person or a techno-marketting guy could take
up that route from being a techie without an MBA also! But, when you are
out of a [highlight=crimson:e1e3a55cde]GOOD[/highlight:e1e3a55cde] B-School you also get poped up with lot's of management fundas and better exposure because of the interaction with the
faculties, class-mates, etc.

The market perspective, better resource management skills, out-of the box thinking,
etc are inspired by the formal business education. When all this are applied to your
work you have better [highlight=crimson:e1e3a55cde]CHANCES [/highlight:e1e3a55cde]to go up than a person without the MBA tag!

So finally the ball is in ur court

[zacuza]

hey sivarka

yeah we all know abt the great - life enriching chances at good bschools & that the 2 yrs r fully worth it - and i am not here to discuss y an mba or y not - i personally feel that an mba wud be a real learning expereince+good growth opportunity/chance as u put it - but that does not stop us from discussing/knowing abt the reality/prior experiences right ? atleast helps shed off any hype/false glamorous expectations associated - and sorry for deviating from the main topic - but this qn is pertinent even for guys like me with 2+ yrs of IT experience

[sivarka]

Originally Posted by zacuza

if existing developers too say after a few yrs of experience hav the same option of becoming a business analyst/project manager or whatever is the name of the post that one gets after the pgdbm during the placements, then what stands these bschool guys apart
Anand

My previous thread was answer to this

[coolnehaa]

An excellent Thread !
The question that arouse after reading this thread is ....
Does the Brand name of B-SCHOOL really matter if you do it from an ok-do-ok college ???like say a PG from Thakur of IES(if you guys are aware about these colleges in Mumbai)
Do they ..if you have decent experience .....and its just a matter of learning that matter when u want to move ahead in Corporate field....
Only thing that will hamper is intial Pay package...what say
ur views on this ....
plz reply