The Hindu Business Line : To bell the CAT

For an aspirant to the Indian Institutes of Management the most authentic guidance can come from someone who has already cracked the CAT. While most graduates of top management institutes seek to "encash" their degrees for cushy jobs, Vivek Tuteja, an IIM-A, 2004 batch MBA, chose to teach the ropes to starry-eyed youth who come to him with just one dream — cracking the CAT.

But when you meet him for the first time, don't be surprised if he takes an hour, almost trying to dissuade you from joining a coaching class for the CAT. "It's crazy, I get calls enquiring about coaching for CAT 2007. In India, too much of importance has been attached to `degrees' rather than `education.' Today, none of the mushrooming MBA schools can guarantee a relevant job for their graduates. Why invest so much time and effort in a degree?" asks Tuteja.

In the '70s, an average qualified commerce graduate was able to find a good job on his merit. In the '80s, an engineering graduate was worth the engineering tag. In the '90s, an MBA was a respected professional and seen as a high-flier. But not any more. "A degree in India is more important than the learning associated with it. In industrial terms, a degree is the product and learning/education is not even a by-product, but the residue," he says. Professional and technical education in India is not governed by a demand-supply gap. It is a common phenomenon for a civil engineer to end up working in a software company because he was never serious about civil engineering; he took it simply because other courses were not available. "This frivolity attached to technical and professional education has a multiplier effect. These people in turn hurt the chances of serious candidates pursuing a career in their technical field."

But what prompted Tuteja to get into `management coaching', as the nearly Rs 500-crore industry is known? Interestingly, Tuteja was in the business before he joined IIM-A. As a student preparing for MBA entrance exams, he joined Excel Tutorline Ltd, a well-known coaching institute. Tuteja was responsible for turning around the Vidhyanagar (Anand) centre of Excel, something that gave him the confidence that he could be a serious player in the field. Soon, he realised his dream when he himself joined IIM-A's post-graduate programme. After graduating, he joined a media house and was part of the team that charted the course of that company's foray into TV. But he soon realised his heart was in management education and he teamed up with a friend to set up Endeavor in April 2005.

In just one year, Endeavor has carved a niche for itself as a coaching institute with a good success ratio in CAT. Endeavor plans a gradual spread to other important centres.

"It might sound ironical, but I refuse a large number of candidates. It's like kicking your own business, but we are clear we will take only those students who are genuinely interested in pursuing a management degree." Tuteja says Endeavor is swimming against the tide, but feels his approach is more sustainable. While it means he may not be able to trade his Suzuki Fiero for a Honda City for a couple of years more, Tuteja is confident he would have played some role in preventing MBAs from working as call centre executives.

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