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Over the years of its existence, IIM-A has maintained its record of 100 percent placement despite many of its students having no prior work experience. Says Prof. Rekha Jain of the IIM-A, "Leading corporations from across the world, both in the public and private sector, have picked up our students."

Such 100 percent placement dispels the notion of the importance of work experience prior to a management degree.

But as mentioned earlier, there are several aspects to this debate. And one of these aspects is the value of work experience. Every time you make a resume, what is the one aspect that you highlight - work experience obviously - and that too in a field relevant to your career goals.

Says Vikram S. of a prestigious placement agency, "Work experience matters and there is no two ways about that. Take for example, any prestigious MNC that is in the middle of their appraisals and promotion. You have a senior management post that has just opened up and you have two candidates. One with 12 years of experience but no fancy MBA degree and another with an MBA degree but fewer years of experience. You tell me what decision a sensible HR department would make." Experience is counted!

Prof. Sreenath of Bangalore Institute of Management says, "It's always advisable to do an MBA after a year or two of work experience. Work experience adds a lot of real value to an MBA programme as you can apply or translate your experience into your academic situation. It will also bring in that excitement quotient in your learning. You, therefore, will definitely have an edge over people without any work experience in your MBA programme."

Prospects Of Studying Abroad

Dr. Pramod Batra, former GM, Escorts Group, secured his MBA degree from Minnesota, US, in 1959. He says, "The ideal way is to get some work experience. It gives one more maturity and a prudent approach to a working lifestyle, much before one joins a B-school. This makes education more meaningful."

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* Contributed by -
Oumkar Umesh,
Senior Correspondent - The Observer of Management,
Vol. 1 Issue 4 April 2006,
(With inputs from Prithvi Singh).