Amit’s e-world

This post is the same as what I had written in Pagalguy, a few weeks back.

UK will be transitioning from HSMP to a new points-based tier system sometime in mid-2007 which will enable UK to do away with multiple schemes such as SEGS and HSMP and bring them under one umbrella. Recently, in November 2006, there were a set of changes announced to HSMP which I think, is to align the HSMP to the new Tier-based scheme so that people who qualify for HSMP from now on, do not get disqualified by the new system. Interestingly, the MBA provision was kept intact, which means that MBA from top-50 schools would get 75 points to qualify for HSMP. MBAs would however need to also qualify the English language criteria - which can be proved either by your IELTS scores or by submitting a proof (as prescribed in the HSMP guidance) that certifies that you completed your undergraduate education in English (post-graduate qualification in English is not acceptable as it is a shorter duration course). These changes are in line with the proposed features of the new points-based Tier system. A parallel development has been that AMBA has made a press release to announce that the UK Govt will be withdrawing the Top-50 list in mid 2007.
Association of MBAs

This has caused some anxiety among current and future students who find the withdrawal of the list as a negative development (not my personal opinion). However the article above and the new tier-based system proposal both mention of an MBA provision amendment and I think it augurs well for all accredited schools, not just the Top-50. However, until the Tier-based system is out, it will be difficult to say with certainty what will happen. The way I am reading it is as follows:

If the UK Govt made changes to HSMP in Nov 2006 and did not alter the full points criteria for MBA, it surely would not roll out another policy in mid-2007 totally disregarding this segment. However, the fact that they will now be withdrawing the top-50 list means that they probably would be offering equal benefits to all MBAs (from Univs with some kind of accreditation, etc.) This inclusion of all schools may force the Govt to reduce the points awarded, but this is just a hypothesis and a worst-case scenario. I would urge you to read this document and take a calculated decision based on your own assessment of the developments rather than hearsay.

Home Office | A points based system: Making migration work for Britain

The future situation does not really look bleak to me. There is a mention of including post-graduates in Tier 1: Post Study category.

I think what has got most people uncomfortable is the change… its human.

I picked this topic as I can sense a growing career-related anxiety of people around me. Not to say that I am not anxious, but the recruitment process and prospects are very much in line with what I expected, before I came to this program. So, I am doing things the way they are supposed to be done in such an environment - be it through networking, be it by being in touch with alumni. Unlike in India, jobs will not come in a silver plate here. Not that they came in India as well. I had read some ISB blogs last year, and was rather surprised to see so much anxiety in people there, when the whole country knew that ISB would have 100% placement, just as it had for all the previous years of its’ existence.

There are certain additional hurdles that one faces in UK as an international student. First, if you not a native English speaker, perhaps this is not the language in which you can succintly articulate your most abstract feelings. Sometimes, this can come out in interviews and be rather unfairly be looked upon as inappropriate English skills. Second, employers here do have a lot of options in terms of people they could employ than employers do in India. India is a growing economy, while UK is a mature one. Therefore, there is a tendency that all factors being equal, they may prefer someone who has UK experience. It is a very understandable phenomenon, isn’t it?

As far as the company presentations go, there are quite a few companies that have already been on campus and some more to come. Though most of them have restricted to presentations and introducing their application channels, JnJ, Deloitte and ATK have gone beyond that to consider on-campus interviews. There will be more such interview-cum-presentations in the SoM Careers Fair on 16th March. But, let me be honest here. It is not too easy to get into these companies if you were not confident that you can make it to such companies even without the MBA. The point I am trying to make here is that if you always had difficulty in getting the jobs you wanted before the MBA, you will have difficulty here as well, unless you are able to learn about your past mistakes and improve. SoM does provide you enough opportunities to help you realise your strengths and weaknesses through CV building sessions, 360-degree feedback sessions, stock-taking workshops, mock interviews, etc. I strongly believe that people who would take all these exercises in the right spirit, will benefit the most in their job hunt.

Of late, a lot of aggrieved students have been citing the lack of work authorisation as an impediment to getting the right jobs. All I can say from what I have seen so far, is that this is hardly the case. All the companies that have come to campus so far have in principle agreed to provide conditional offers to all candidates without work authorisation at the point of application.

For those of you who are planning to come here, I will not sugar-coat the fact that getting jobs in UK is not as easy as in India. However, if you are confident of your abilities, I would recommend that you do come here. In an era of globalisation, an international managerial / consulting experience apart from being rewarding will always look impressive on your CV.

Meanwhile, a quick personal update. My stalemate with Accenture over my contractual obligations has ended with the IDC leadership team deciding to waive off all my dues. Perhaps this has opened the doors for me to apply to Accenture UK now.

While Term 1 was about important management concepts and useful building blocks, Term 2 is a more application-oriented term, with subjects such as supply chain management, strategy, macroeconomics, business law, financial management, managing IT and people management. The focus on our post-MBA careers is going to increase in this new term. Some serious on-campus interviewing is going to happen in the next 45 days with JnJ, Deloitte and AT Kearney coming on campus.

Meanwhile, Term 1 results are also out. I think the hallmark of successful groups (learning teams) is that the sum of the joint effort of the group is greater than the individual parts themselves. In my case, I have scored much better in the group assessments than in my individual ones. This is true for most of us in our last learning team. This puts a quantitave confirmation of the fact that we were a successful group. Our Term 1 learning team is going to meet some time this month to follow-up on the stock taking sessions that we had last month.

Here are some key developments that have been and will be taking place shortly:

1. Cranfield’s dream run in the AT Kearney Global Prize came to an end with Chicago GSB taking the global crown.

2. The MBA band is gearing up for a fund-raising event shortly. We will now know whether people really liked us & would want to pay to hear us.

3. The week starting 22nd Jan has been marked as International week. The Indian community is thinking of an appropriate way of representing the Indian culture to an international audience. Suggestions welcome !!!

4. We are making choices for our Term 3 and Term 4 electives (themes) now.

5. A two-day Leadership assessment centre workshop based on the 360-degree feedback exercise will be run in the second week of February.

6. And lastly, I am eagerly looking forward to spend my two-week Easter vacation back home in Mumbai.

On the grand Christmas bash at Cranfield CMDC - termed by many as the poshest place on campus, the MBA band made its first live performance and enthralled the audience. Singing to a crowd of 120+ MBAs, partners, faculty and grad admin, were John, Sats, Mike and yours truly with Tobi behind the drums, Robin, James and Steve with guitars (or maybe violins - pardon my ignorance of musical instruments), and Anouk with the piano. Of course, we had some very able chorus singers as well in Oge and Abisola. Sean was our star guitarist and to acknowledge his stature, James named our group as "The Oligopolists".

Mike made a rocking start with "Let it be" and amazed the audience with a very neat & passionate job. Not to forget, the band was flawless throughout the show. I was the next to go and Mike took on the guitar for my song "Last Christmas". It was heartening to see people come on the floor during the song. Sats was the next to go with "All I need for Christmas is you" and would have given Mariah Carrey a run for her money. Fortunately for some of us singers, we had the band to cover up some of singing faux-pas unlike for her as she was singing only on a guitar being played by James. Then we had a customised MBA song "We are all crap" by John with Steve playing the guitar. Despite an initial handshaking problem between the two, they agreed on the right note in front of a forgiving (& spell bound) audience.

The best moment of the band came after the finale song "So here it is Merry Christmas" with John being the lead male singer and Sats being the lead female singer. Everybody joined in this song. The crowd couldn’t get enough of our voice and we had a repeat request for that song, which we were more than happy to honour. Surely, it is a day that won’t easily be forgotten either by us on stage or (hopefully) by our lovely audience.

Here are some pics:

The toil before the glory

The C-day