The Hindu Business Line : Back to school

The party is over. It is time to say your farewells, conclude the celebrations and get ready for what could potentially be the two most important years of your life. Yes, I am referring to the beginning of your management education.

As a student of management (albeit 25 years ago) and as a visiting faculty at one management institute or the other, I have a few thoughts for your consideration in the last few days before you commence the rigour of academics again.

You are the brand

I teach brand management. I understand, appreciate and impart the value of brands (at times to the point of boredom) to those whom I come into contact with. And yet I never cease to be amazed at the intensity of the brand fixation that today's youngsters have when it comes to educational institutions. (I should know as my two children are testimony to this). And yet, in all fairness, I must say that neither was I, nor any of my classmates an exception to this.

We were in IIM Bangalore but secretly yearned to be at Ahmedabad or Calcutta. Whichever school you are admitted to, there will always be another school, either here or abroad, that will be better. Or you will imagine it to be better. This clearly is the power of that institution's brand. Never lose sight of one important fact; each and every one of us has the capability to be a brand. If today IIM Bangalore is a far stronger brand than it was in 1980, it is simply because several people who passed through the portals of the institution have made it what it is. So accept your institution quickly and without reservation. A few years from now, your institute will not matter. It is only your ability that will matter. And you will make your institute better known.

Not just another two-year course

Another common failing (forgive me if that is too strong a word) of young students, particularly freshers, is the tendency to peg management education as just any other two-year post-graduate programme. So commerce graduates view it as 3+2 and engineers as 4+2. People like me, who went to management school after working for some time, are unlikely to make this mistake.

Be clear about one thing. These two years can and should be like no other. If properly handled, they have the capability to transform your life, dramatically improve your exposure and outlook and make you a mature individual from an anxious and yet ambitious young adult that you probably are now. But for that to happen you must begin with the right attitude. And that attitude is not about beating the system or finding suckers to do your group projects, but to go to school with a mind willing to learn, adapt and change. For the better.

It's not just about a job

As soon as today's kids (forgive the expression) are in management school, they learn one important concept. That is called RoI or Return on Investment (Never mind the fact that the investment is made by doting parents who are hardly thinking about it.)

So the job, the starting salary, the future raises, the stock options, the bonuses tend to become "top of mind" (Another expression that some of us pick up). Yes, we can't blame the MTV generation for this. After all, they were reared on Maggi 2-minute noodles and Bru instant by us, the filter coffee generation. Can you blame them for their "get rich quick tendencies"? And yet, the reality is that getting a job is not really a problem. The problem is deciding what you want for a career. And that is the rub.

A career is long term. A job is what you take up in 2009. Sadly many of you (i.e. the class of 2009 - as you will be referred to) will work for another 35 years at least. (What a depressing thought!) And that's the reality. Don't let your concerns on immediate returns lead you to a career you will subsequently hate.

Do your homework. Talk to seniors, professors, visiting faculty. Remember it's your career. No one will be as concerned about your career as yourself. But the key word is "career" not "placement".

Choose your industry with care. The economy is booming. Most institutes have 100 per cent placement.

But take care lest you end up as a statistic. Start now. Do research. Try to understand what you want, before you rush in.

Do you like what you are doing?

One of the key reasons why people go to business school is to succeed. And yet one can go into a tizzy by chasing shadows or the wrong symbols of success.

Whilst there are different interpretations of success, I feel that one thing crucial to success is to enjoy your work.

Remember most of your day you will be preparing to go to work, commuting to work, actually working, returning from work, discussing it with your girlfriend... yes our lives revolve around work.

Should it not be interesting?

As Bob Dylan said: "A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do."

I am sure all of you will be extremely successful in your careers.

(Ramanujam Sridhar is the CEO of brand-comm and the author of the book, One land one billion minds. Feedback can be mailed to sridhar@brand-comm.com)

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