Salary levels before IIM's

[grabel]

hi
i have posted this before in some other thread, but my question didnt receive any attention.

Can you tell me some figure of salary at which one should not go to IIM's!! I know atleast a couple of guys who left IIM's after getting selected for a job.There are jobs for fresh engineers from 4 to 6 lacs per annum (Adobe, Microsoft, TI, Cadence, Mentor ,HPCL, Tata motors, HLL, ITC, Nokia etc etc).

Are IIM's too good to leave any job u have? or is there a benchmark of salary, if u are below this then its good to go....otherwise not??
what do you think??? (especially those who are already in IIM's )

One can see from the placement statistics of IIM's that, there are people who get jobs as low as 3 or 3.5 lacs per annum(mebbe 3.75 or 4) . Not everyone gets those flashy high paying jobs..

grabel

[Garuda]

Its a personal call buddy. If you think an IIM education is gonna benefit ur career in the long run then go for it, immediate salary that u get after graduating may not be too high with respect to ur present salary, but in the long run it might be very useful.Better take your own decision regarding such issues cos u'll receive very conflictin advices if u ask everyone.

[G O V A R]

There are too many intangibles involved, and to take a decision based on salary alone would be doing injustice.

However, to answer ur question, I know atleast two people here in IIMI who were earning 6 to 6.5 L. There are people with 6 yrs experience in very decent companies. I myself was earning quite a lot before coming here.

So, its all in ur mind.

[CATveteran]

I agree with both govar and garuda...well one more thing u want to see here is that what kind of work u want to do....salary after a certain time is not the only criteria.....
Since most of the high payers are software companies and since i was also working for a software major...it depends on what u like to do...taking a personal call ...if u love coding(or the work u do in your company) and would always want to do that...why do an MBA...
So man take your call....as people have already mentioned there are people in all IIM's who have left lucrative jobs to allign MBA with there long term goals...
Happy thinking

[ketanm]

Hi!!

I think there is no such "cut-off", as to below such salary one shud go to IIMs and above that you should not.....the moot point is why you want to do an MBA....if it is simply about money then I think there are other ways to earn more than what an MBA will give you ....so its not about salary but its about how an MBA can boost or support the aims/goals of your life.....

When i was returning to India, I met a IIM-A passout guy, who is currently working in Jhonson & Jhonson in Gurgaon....we had a good chat over many bottles of beer (sometime they do serve you good beer on the flight ) and his take was that after 1-2 years salary does not matter but what matters is the work you are doing and how that aligns with your aim in life ......when you enter IIMs you should be looking forward to learning and growing rather than worrying over pay packages....since that is what helps you in the long run...

Regards
Ketan

[grabel]

You guys mean to say that money does not mean anything? That is strange!!

If that had been the case with majority, then these MBA institues wont be flaunting the salary package's being offered to their students. This might not be the case with every college, but even in CAT Bulletin 2004, IIMA,IIMB and IIMI has openly flaunted the salary figures. Mebbe you guys are not that money minded, but offcourse most the guys are lured by money. This is not the case with Indian Bschools only. Even at the international Bschool website one can locate the various statistics about the last year's placements and jobs and I am sure the most of the guys who go to such websites will look into such details.

Guys, an MBA is not a basic education needed to earn livelihood. It is an investment of time and money which a person makes in his career. Everyone does investments just to get returns.

I agree with CATveteran that if you hate your current job, then MBA is a good option. But not most of us hate our jobs. We dont love them either. We think that if doing an MBA will fetch more returns in terms of money and job profile then we should go for it. Similarly govar too is correct in the sense that he and a couple of other guys have left very good jobs to get into IIM. This is exactly what I am asking for. What made them switch their jobs. and suppose ( just assume for a while ) a guy earning 6 lacs lands up with the job of 4.5 lacs after getting an MBA then ??
6 lacs x 2 years = 12 lacs . Add 4 lacs of expenditure which u will do in IIM. So in all one has to invest 16 lacs of money and two most productive years of his life to get a pay which is less than what he was earning before.

Again, contrary to the view of ketanm, one cannot exclude money from the long term goal of his life. Most of the junta here would like to rich and successful in life on economic front and family front.

I guess such we are supposed to say such goody goody things in interview when asked why do we want to an MBA

Obviously there cannot be a hard boundary between to go and not to go, but there can always be a soft border between the two...

What do you think??
PG you must be having lots of friends/acquintances who are MBA's. What is your view in this regard???

regards
grabel

[grabel]

PG/anil/ghulam/PG alumini..where are you all??...i m waiting for your replies...please tell me what do you think abt it

[RahulSharma]

Money makes difference.

I understand fully well that even if I go into a top B-school, I may end up getting a salary which is quite similar to what I'm earning right now.
But my career will get fillip if I'm a IIM passout. Plus, I can explore to leave IT for more lucrative dollar options of Finance.

I too know people who left their jobs for B-schools and at end got almost the same salaries as it were before. And I also know people who were earning 5 lacs(3 year work ex in IT company), took finance(IIM A)and got placed into HSBC London.

I have another strong reason to go into B-school. The reason is growth - as an individual. I believe the peer interaction and faculty guidance would make me a better and stronger person. Two years in a B-school and I may be a changed(for good) man.

[pagalguy]

A pretty good post there grabel. If you are just 21, I seriously do appreciate your lines of thinking. Most importantly because you brought up one issue , no one ever really replies to or acknowledges - Opportunity Cost.

A lot of people tend to forget that an MBA is just that. A Master's Degree that is. A career move etc etc .. Admitted they are right, but again most people in India go for an MBA degree before being 23/24. I was reading a transcript of a US bschool admission director where she explicitly stated " We don't assume students know why they want an MBA when they are 24 years old" . It got me thinking and I did realize that it was true to a very great extent.

I have hardcore softies who suddenly want to do IB or Corporate Finance. Fair enough, it is not for me to comment on what they wish to do - but looking back, I can't help but see that most of the motivations are not interest based - but are based on perception.

Also add the fact that Bschools education are CHEAP in India. Yes, cheap. Not value for money - Point blank Cheap, where an entire 2 year education can be completed for the price of one years salary - provided the guy is around 24/25 and it becomes a different ball game. One which cannot be compared to similar bschools abroad, where people end up paying their bschooling debts for a decade or so.

Add to the fray - freshers. No real opportunity cost mismatch. Its just a degree. 2 more years.

[RahulSharma]

If I have to put into few words then...
Good money, better recognition, and not happy with the current job.

I asked a senior professor at MDI...
Sir, there is one point I wanted to share with you. My interaction with students who wrote CAT made me feel that people opt for management not as a career but as a mean to make money. This is infact can be said even of top IIMs. Don't you think this will lead to erosion of management studies? And the good things that we talk of like ethics and morals would be a mask and not the reality.

His reply was...
On ethics and values debate there is a context. In any society we have organisations on the spectrum. I do not think in terms of Mask. It is a person organisation fit issue. Also it is and individual and socital value issue.