Preparations for the MBA
Well I was pleasantly surprised to see the amount of preparation done by the Cambridge MBA admissions committee even before we start the course, and the opportunity to get to know my fellow MBAers on-line is great cos already I know who I’ll be studying with. (at least by name.) Ofcourse when I see their profiles I feel a bit intimidated, cos most of them have been working in major multi nationals for many years compared to my 2 years in a local Telco…
My future batch mates sound pretty cool. We’ve even discussed about meeting informally before the course officially starts on the 18th Sep 2006 and about Pub Nights and Salsa Nights! I’m really starting to look forward to meeting all these people from so many different countries and backgrounds. I guess the fact that I’ll be leaving behind everything I know for years hasn’t really sunk in yet… (or maybe I’m just over dramatizing things, after all with the advances of technology and software like Skype, I am not only able to talk to but also see my friends and family from across the world :0) )
Another group that has got kick-started is the JBS (Judge Business School) Careers team who are already getting us to read and think about the kind of career that we’d like to do after the MBA. I’m totally clueless here. One of the reasons that I wanted to do an MBA was because it would open up so many doors for me…
To give us insight into our likes and dislikes as well as strengths and weaknesses, the JBS Careers team had given us access to CareerLeader®, a comprehensive business career development tool (as they called it!). I found it’s assessment of me pretty thought provoking… The accuracy of career leader is ofcourse questionable, considering that there are questions which ask me to identify my own strengths and weaknesses. (Usually we all tend to see our selves as better than we actually are and don’t always see all the weaknesses in us)
According to CareerLeader I have core elements of business work
· Counseling and Mentoring
· Theory Development and Conceptual Thinking
You are strongly interested in Counseling and Mentoring, one of the elemental activities in business work. You enjoy developing relationships -- and people -- and view this activity as an integral part of business work. A strong interest in Counseling and Mentoring is often expressed through a desire to manage groups and lead teams. The emphasis is more on the "people management" side of things than on managing processes, projects, or strategy.
You also have a notable level of interest in Theory Development and Conceptual Thinking, one of the fundamental activities in business work. Whether as a business professional or aspiring businessperson, you enjoy solving business problems through conceptual approaches, exploring abstract ideas and the "what ifs" of a business or industry, and considering broad economic and social trends.
The jobs suggested were, Management Consultancy, HRM, and Non Profit Sector. Hmmm funnily enough it didn’t mention anything about engineering or technology. I Wonder whether that’s cos the tool doesn’t work properly or cos I’m not a techie at heart…
Anyway I have been interested in Management Consultancy for some time now and would love to get into that sector after the MBA. One thing with Sri Lanka is that usually we’re not exposed to careers paths such as these and everyone is expected to fit into ‘doctor’, ‘engineer’, ‘accountant’ or ‘lawyer’ roles and if you’ve chosen one you’re not supposed to change it. So if I venture into a non techie field it would be considered a waste of my education. I don’t see it that way cos I believe that even if I don’t use the techie knowledge directly the analytical skills that I learnt will not go wasted. I’m looking forward to trying out unconventional fields.
My future batch mates sound pretty cool. We’ve even discussed about meeting informally before the course officially starts on the 18th Sep 2006 and about Pub Nights and Salsa Nights! I’m really starting to look forward to meeting all these people from so many different countries and backgrounds. I guess the fact that I’ll be leaving behind everything I know for years hasn’t really sunk in yet… (or maybe I’m just over dramatizing things, after all with the advances of technology and software like Skype, I am not only able to talk to but also see my friends and family from across the world :0) )
Another group that has got kick-started is the JBS (Judge Business School) Careers team who are already getting us to read and think about the kind of career that we’d like to do after the MBA. I’m totally clueless here. One of the reasons that I wanted to do an MBA was because it would open up so many doors for me…
To give us insight into our likes and dislikes as well as strengths and weaknesses, the JBS Careers team had given us access to CareerLeader®, a comprehensive business career development tool (as they called it!). I found it’s assessment of me pretty thought provoking… The accuracy of career leader is ofcourse questionable, considering that there are questions which ask me to identify my own strengths and weaknesses. (Usually we all tend to see our selves as better than we actually are and don’t always see all the weaknesses in us)
According to CareerLeader I have core elements of business work
· Counseling and Mentoring
· Theory Development and Conceptual Thinking
You are strongly interested in Counseling and Mentoring, one of the elemental activities in business work. You enjoy developing relationships -- and people -- and view this activity as an integral part of business work. A strong interest in Counseling and Mentoring is often expressed through a desire to manage groups and lead teams. The emphasis is more on the "people management" side of things than on managing processes, projects, or strategy.
You also have a notable level of interest in Theory Development and Conceptual Thinking, one of the fundamental activities in business work. Whether as a business professional or aspiring businessperson, you enjoy solving business problems through conceptual approaches, exploring abstract ideas and the "what ifs" of a business or industry, and considering broad economic and social trends.
The jobs suggested were, Management Consultancy, HRM, and Non Profit Sector. Hmmm funnily enough it didn’t mention anything about engineering or technology. I Wonder whether that’s cos the tool doesn’t work properly or cos I’m not a techie at heart…
Anyway I have been interested in Management Consultancy for some time now and would love to get into that sector after the MBA. One thing with Sri Lanka is that usually we’re not exposed to careers paths such as these and everyone is expected to fit into ‘doctor’, ‘engineer’, ‘accountant’ or ‘lawyer’ roles and if you’ve chosen one you’re not supposed to change it. So if I venture into a non techie field it would be considered a waste of my education. I don’t see it that way cos I believe that even if I don’t use the techie knowledge directly the analytical skills that I learnt will not go wasted. I’m looking forward to trying out unconventional fields.
Labels: Cambridge, finding my self
posted by Roshanthi at 7:30 am
3 Comments:
Hello Smiley ~~ What an exciting time you have ahead of you. I hope you really enjoy your studies and making lots of new friends. Thanks for your comments. I liked The White Lies story too.
Take care, Have a nice day, Merle.
I'm all a-quiver for you... and for me! Although your undertaking, academically, is far more... well... simply MORE, I find it kinda neat that we're venturing down a similar path of new unknowns!
I trust we'll keep each other company on our academic journey.
Speaking of communication tools like SKYPE, email me - perhaps we can connect by VOIP in some fashion?
Merle:Thanks for your good wishes
Turtle Guy:I'm all excited for both of us too :0)
It's cool that we're both going back to uni after sometime, even though across the world...
It'll be fun to compare stories.
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