Things you should do before MBA starts

Currently studying in MDI Gurgaon ‘28 batch. Placed for SIP very early on. I had time to kill so I thought I’d share stuff which will help people in the long term for when they actually join college and sit for SIPs.

1. Do some professional certifications (not the ones on Coursera or udemy) so you can add them on your CV. Most of you will struggle to fill in your CV if you’re not an overachiever. NISM, six sigma, powerbi etc.

2. Find some good internships, because some companies look at internships rather than full time workex for selection. (Don’t ask me why, idk). It also looks good on your resume.
   For freshers, this is a must. Have at least 2 solid internships under your belt. Kind of a non-negotiable.

3. Read and understand the compendiums from a good college like FMS or IIM A. Focus on marketing, consulting and finance. Do product management and operations if you’re interested.
   This is really going to help you for MBA and SIP interviews. These compendiums and casebooks are like 2yr MBA courses condensed into small knowledge capsules.
   Also make a habit of reading newspaper daily. (I’m guessing most of you are already doing that though).
   They don’t ask current affairs for SIP personal interviews but it helps for group discussion rounds.

4. Start collecting proof for everything that you plan to add to your CV. Be it any competition you have won, club you were part of, academic achievement etc.
   if you are currently working, maintain good relations with your manager because he will be approving your workex pointers. Start preparing all the different quantifiable points that you have done so far. Record stories in a diary so you can recall them later on.
   You can do this later on as well after joining college, but better to avoid that stress.

5. Start learning how case competitions work. If you are in a tier 2-3 college, it will be your best shot to secure a good internship.
   For tier-1 colleges, you will be registering for 30-40 case comps in the first 3 months of college, so there is a very good shot of converting at least one. I know people from my college who had their lives sorted because they locked in for a case competition and made it to the end to secure internships.
   There are some case comps which happen before college starts, don’t miss out on those because that is when the competition is the least.
   I personally didn’t focus on case comps and still got placed pretty easily, so I won’t say it’s mandatory.

I can’t share too much about how MDI is currently doing in terms of SIPs, as my placecom won’t like that information being shared online. All I can say is that we are doing pretty good this year, despite all the negative PR happening on social media.

Feel free to ask any other questions that you might have regarding CAT, interviews, colleges, SIPs etc. I won’t be able to answer questions which give away my identity for obvious reasons.