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Sunday, February 05, 2006

KOSMIX VS GOOGLE

Finally, Google has competition. Kosmix is all set to challenge Google. The most interesting part is that Indian brains are behind this project. Good luck, Anand and Venky, wish you all the best for this ambitious project.

So guys, let me get back to our discussion on MBA. "Which school to choose?" - this is normally the most difficult question for an MBA aspirant. Well, the decision strictly depends on the individual.

Most of the information on B-Schools is available on the net. So, I will not go on to describe the strengths and weaknesses of universities. However the following questions may help you in your decision.

1) Where do you enjoy living - India or abroad? Before answering this question, you must have experienced both. Where do you want to be especially when you are down?
2) What are your strengths? Do they get the perfect "fitment" with the B-school curriculum and environment you have chosen?
3) If you have chosen a foreign B-school, then how long are you planning to stay abroad? If it happens that you need to stay more than what you have planned before joining the B-School, then will it affect your life in a major way?
4) What kind of contacts do you want to gain? How are these contacts going to help you in your choice of work environment? Can you maintain these contacts once you are out of B-School?
5) How ambitious you are? (Ask this question again and again. A really difficult question).
6) How is your family life getting affected if you join the particular B-school? Is the career of your spouse getting seriously affected by your decision?
7) What kind of back-up plans you have in case you are going for B-schools abroad? Have you done enough research on things like work permit and visa.
8) Is the B-school rated high in the place where you intend to spend the biggest chunk of your life?
9) How important is family for you? For instance if the choice is between a very high paying job which involves remaining away from family for weeks and an average paying job which gives you sufficient time to be with your family, then which one will you choose?
10) Where will you like your kids to grow up? (It is not that easy to migrate countries especially from western to eastern when kids are used to the western culture).
11) If you are more biased towards a foreign school-How amiable is the work culture of the domain you have chosen? If you have worked abroad for years, then there is a chance that your contacts are mostly in western countries. In such a case, if you want to relocate back to India, can you find a suitable job? In such a case your competitors will be mostly successful Indians who are used to Indianised way of business. In other words, is ur job domain really global enough to take you to any role in any country you choose to.

Why I wrote the last point is because I have seen the difficulties people face while relocating back to India.

Saying all this, I will not overestimate the role of an MBA in one's career. It again comes back to your workplace. Your B-school can only teach you but it cannot make you famous. Only when you become famous (using all your skills and abilities), they will say Mr.X is from XXX School. And this is how a XXX gains its reputation.

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