Cracking CAT 2011: Tips from Shashwath Rao VGSoM IIT Kharagpur Student

^-A ⁺A

In conversation with Shashwath Rao VGSoM IIT Kharagpur Student

Oct 20,2011

Shashwath R Rao, who is pursuing PGDM from Vinod Gupta School of Management (VGSoM), IIT Kharagpur, was uncertain about his career goals before he joined Infosys. After working at Infosys, Shashwath realized the importance of an MBA degree to grow his career.

As a part of the MBA insider series, CoolAvenues is providing a detailed know-how about the admission at VGSoM IIT Kharagpur- preparations, Written Test, Group Discussions, Personal Interview and much more.

Q. Can you tell us something about yourself and your pre-MBA qualifications and work-experience?
I was born in Bangalore and have travelled all around India during schooling owing to dad’s transferable job. I completed my 10th & 12th in Kendriya Vidyalaya Delhi and Lucknow respectively. I am an Electronics graduate from VTU, Karnataka and worked with Infosys Limited for 20 months. Love sports, adventure and travelling!

Q. So when did you decide to go for MBA and what was the driving force behind to take this decision?
Had a flair for Mathematics right from my schooling days and was very good at quantitative aptitude as well. Took up CAT soon after my graduation but my verbal ability score let me down. Having worked for Infosys Limited for a year, I realized the importance of a managerial degree that would open up new avenues and provide me the flexibility to choose a field of my choice.

Q. Tell us about the company you were employed in, your work profile, area of work.

Area of work - Retail and Insurance domains at Infosys Limited from Dec ’09 to July ‘11

• Worked as a Java developer for Allstate Insurance Company, USA. The scope of my work involved coordinating with onsite and offshore leads in elucidating business requirements, interacting with technical architects and business analysts in finalizing requirements, and developing and testing the application before delivering it to clients.
• Was a part of the application support team for a top US retailer, Sears holdings corporation, and gained a great deal of experience in code review and testing of software applications.

Q. Has Work experience been helpful for you to understand the curriculum in a better way?
It has, certainly been helpful! I can, now, understand and relate to the subjects in a better way.

Q. Will an MBA degree add on to your existing career plan or did you decide to switch/start a career in management?
Most of us fresh from a graduate degree don’t quite have a clear-cut career plan! Infosys, to be honest, just happened! I realized the importance of a managerial degree and became more focused once I joined Infosys.

Q. Has your expectations being met by the curriculum or you feel it could have been better?

We at VGSoM, have a curriculum that is quite vast and covers every discipline including finance, marketing, operations and so on. It is highly imperative for a budding manager from a particular discipline to know the nitty-gritty of other disciplines as well.

2- Case Study, Interview tips by VGSoM IIT Kharagpur student

3- Life at VGSoM IIT Kharagpur

Concluded.

.