[rohitshine]

hey guys,
check this article out and is there any thruth in this??

The MBA Bandwagon - The Truth is out ... here!

- Kasyapa Das
Another acade-mic year has begun. Thousands of young people are embarking on that two year long journey, at the end of which they hope is- the golden pot. This article is about them and for them. About how all of them have had their expectations raised, and how many of them could see their dreams come crashing down.

“Fresh MBAs earn Rs.24 lakh salary” screamed the headline in a daily. “Average salary at IIMs is over 5 lakh rupees” tells you another magazine. “100% placements” assures yet another college brochure.

There is truth in all of them. But the hidden manipulations rarely come to the fore.
1. Take 24 lakhs for example. The fine print will tell you that the figure is arrived at by multiplying the dollar salary of a foreign placement by the current exchange rate. But folks, there is something called the standard of living differential. eg. One dollar equals Rs 44 but that’s also how much the cheapest cup of coffee costs in the U.S. If the same “24 lakhs dollar” salary were to be converted using purchasing power parity, it would be closer to Rs 6 lakhs per annum.

2. Now take this figure 6 lakhs, which a company would claim to be its starting salary. It means 50,000 rupees every month, right? Wrong. Salaries quoted in presentation talks and magazine articles should never be taken at face value, because they represent what is euphemistically termed as “cost to company”. This could include some/all of the following:
# the cash component of your salary.
# the rental value of the chummery (shared) accommodation that you get.
# interest rate on the deposit that is paid for your flat, and the allocated cost of tyrefurnishings therein.
#company’s contribution towards your provident fund.
# your contribution towards PF
# ... and of course, the taxes that you have to pay.
What this means is that at the end of the first month, your pay-slip will have a figure just over Rs 20,000. That is, 40% of the “cost to company”.

3. Now let us look at this animal called ‘average salary of the batch’. It could contain all the manipulations that you can think of. Dollar salaries multiplied by 44 rupees. One time sign-on bonus included in the annual salaries. Salaries of students entering at the lateral (higher) level (due to prior experience). And thus you arrive at an average figure that only a handful of students would be earning.
Very few institutes give out details of salary ranges. Because it would give the true picture. And thus, affect their ranking in the surveys carried out by all and sundry.

At this point, let me tell you something that probably no magazine has ever told you, something about how much an MBA could be actually earning.
If you are an entry level MBA from a prestigious institute, placed in India, your monthly take home (in addition to shared accommodation) could be in range Rs.10000 to 20000; with a high probability that it would be under 15000. And if you are not from the ‘top few’ institutes, maybe you would have been earning as much if you had taken up that job after engineering.
Most first year students feel let-down when they see their seniors’ placements. The implications are severe.
Many of them give up - lose enthusiasm and somehow manage to finish, saying that it does not make much of a difference anyway. A few take up the challenge - in a fiercely competitive manner (for those elusive plum placements) - usually defeating the purpose of the management programme.
The very fact that most news reports about MBAs (including this) only talk about placements and salaries, confirms the general idea that : MBA = High Salary. How many articles have you read about the B-school curriculum? How many dreamy-eyed, prospective MBAs know what it takes to get through the 2 year programme? How many people (including MBA students) know what the B-school graduates are actually doing in the corporate world? It is a glaring case of withholding information and/or misrepresentation of facts. Until the media and other interested parties do not seek the real picture and disseminate such information, regrets like, “I don’t know what I am doing here” will continue to be heard in the corridors of B-schools.
Ed’s note: It has been JAM’s endeavour over the last 4 years to enlighten junta on what lies behind the glamour and hype of India’s Most Wanted 3 letter qualification. And we shall continue to do so. If u have any queries or doubts, do get in touch with us!

[shubham]

oooh...scared me buddy..guess JAM is the source right???

[Silken_Touch]

yaar, this is really discouraging. I am kinda thinking that I should more stress on my job interviews than I previously thought.

[MavericK]

If you are an entry level MBA from a prestigious institute, placed in India, your monthly take home (in addition to shared accommodation) could be in range Rs.10000 to 20000; with a high probability that it would be under 15000. And if you are not from the ‘top few’ institutes, maybe you would have been earning as much if you had taken up that job after engineering.

well is this really the thruth..err truth
but then WHO CARES!!!!!!!!

yaar, this is really discouraging. I am kinda thinking that I should more stress on my job interviews than I previously thought.

oooh...scared me buddy..guess JAM is the source right???

well looking at the post, the first thing that comes to my mind is the basic qn tat the Panel's gonna ask "why do u want to do an MBA?"
and then whats the answer???
all cooked up answers saying so and so IIM is the best blah blah blah...else others come up with equally answers that...i always wanted to stay in the corporate world,wanna lead a bunch of bozos working under me and blah blah...
but then the basic qns are...
1. is MBA all about 6-figure salaries??
2. are u gonna do an MBA only to have 25 Credit cards once u pass out!!
3. are u wondering over the point that...if my engg degree and my mba degree gonna get me the same dough..then why the hell shud i go around with an MBA degree?

well i wud say...if u thinking in the same lines as discussed above..then dont go in for an MBA...( err..nothing personal wrt any member in this forum..this is me talkin in general)

Many of them give up - lose enthusiasm and somehow manage to finish, saying that it does not make much of a difference anyway. A few take up the challenge - in a fiercely competitive manner (for those elusive plum placements) - usually defeating the purpose of the management programme.

and why does this happen???
the main reason being lots of the ppl who join a B-School just dont know what lies ahead during the 2-yrs in a B-School...like i wud say just dont go in for an MBA only because u r good at aptitude tests or u r good at solving Summers' Puzzles...

well lemme give u an example..
this guy Harish V, an ECE student in my college,passed out in 2002,was damn good in Tech and always dreamt of an MS degree from some good-ol univ in the US...and then a CL Schol-test swallows him and this guy gets 100% schol for the MBA course..he goes ahead...gets calls from 5 IIMs (IIMB dint call freshers in 2001) and finally got into IIML...b4 that he was placed in Infosys..so this lucky guy finally reaches IIML..and 1 month after he joins..he quits IIML and joins Infosys !! his reason for quitting IIML..he dint like what they taught out there...quite a valid reason and now he's happily coding in Infy,Bang...well how many such cases do we find??? and what was the reason for this guy joining IIML and leaving it after a month of so-called horrible life!!!

b4 i go ahead..ppl do check this thread
http://www.pagalguy.com/cat/viewtopic.php?t=321

well have lots more to write...b4 that ppl do pitch in ur views!!!

[ankita]

i think MBA has been glamourized a lot...
we people should be aware of the realities also......or should i say the harsh realitites also...

[MavericK]

Originally Posted by ankita

i think MBA has been glamourized a lot...
we people should be aware of the realities also......or should i say the harsh realitites also...

and what are they????

[MavericK]

and before we go ahead...
try answering this simple question...

Why do you want to go in for an MBA Degree???

[ankita]

i believe it is being made some thing more than what it is

[Silken_Touch]

If you want an honest opinion:
1) Nothing Better to do after CSE (Know nothing about Computers)
2) Money Money Money. (people here get 20-25 k. Hopefully, people from IIM-A get more)
3) Fame. Mera bete ka dost maneger babu hai!
Lekin of course, I am not saing all this crap in the interview. Anyone has anything interesting to say in the interview?

[manduks]

Hi all,
I completely agree with the avg. salary figure that b-schools put out! This is a joke played on us. What they should put out is a median figure or better still the range of salaries. But this is easier said than done, since the value of a b-school is not by what it teaches, but the salary it gets you on graduating. Even though the article posted makes us all wonder about the real value of an MBA, we should consider the following w.r.t salaries:

1) Cost to company (CTC) is the most popular method of paying out salaries these days. Most companies ask you for your CTC at job interviews and not the take home salary.

2) The HR manager always gives the break up of the salary package in the offer letter. They could give you a consolidated amount (50k per month if you earn 6lakhs per annum) but then your tax outgo would be higher. No one wants to pay more taxes.

3) No matter what you earn, you have to pay taxes. Whether it is 6 lakhs or 1 crore or 100 crore. Unless you are earning below 70k per annum. Income tax is the tax on your income.

4) One of the component of the salaries is the company and employee contribution to PF. This is still your money, which you can take anytime. No one else has any right to it.

If you are really smart, you should ask the HR manager the break up of the package, what your take home would be etc. MBA's are supposed to be smart, so begin with the interview.

A b-school may get you your first job, but it is your performance that either makes you grow in your job or to a better job with another company.

Manu