Dos and Don’ts

Dos and Don’ts

Few do's and don'ts at ISB:

Dos
1) Make a sincere effort to network. Now “networking” is a very fancy word, but if you ask me it just means knowing people. To quantify, make sure you know atleast 300 out of 400 ppl in the batch well enough to write them a mail in future asking for any kind of help—and they should be able to reach you as well. My greatest takeaway from Bschool is the network. People are going to different companies, different countries and you shall know a person every where—isnt that amazing? Also, spare no effort to reach out to alumni. It’s a small but growing community.
2) Focus on learning. Many of us will get lost in the mad rush to complete assignments, group work or prepare for a never ending barrage of exams. It is important to keep the bigger picture in mind. Learn the concepts—core subjects should become a part of your basic thinking where as the electives you take should help you build upon these.
3) If you are an entrepreneur or plan to start something on your own soon after ISB, come prepared with some kind of plan. You will receive excellent support at ISB and this can be used as a good ground to reach out to VCs, get funding and bounce your idea across to experts.
4) Try and use the LRC to the maximum. There are some amazing books and material in there. Although it is easier said that done in view of the coursework, I would still recommend spending time in LRC out of the course work.
5) Choose your reps very carefully. The Graduate student board would represent you in every aspect of life here at ISB. Moreover, the GSB office bearers in key positions and professional club presidents get a lot of personal mileage as holding these positions is viewed as a leadership trait. Ensure that whoever you are electing deserves it and would do the job well enough so as to not disappoint you.
6) ISB has excellent recreational facilities. Make sure you use the rec center to the maximum.

Don’ts

1) Don’t fight for every mark or class participation point. At certain times during our year here, it got really ugly. Blame it on the batch or the general impression passed on to us that grades make or break your career post ISB. This year there is more than enough evidence that grades don’t matter that much. In any case, I believe that a grade based on 6 weeks of classes and two exams says very little about your abilities. So don’t bother too much and concentrate on learning.
2) Don’t get influenced by hypes and hooplas. There are careers out of consulting and I banking that value an MBA.( I have nothing against either consulting or I banking). Some people tend to believe that just because they cannot get into consulting or I banking, they are doomed. This is not the case. Come prepared with a strong backup if you are gunning for these.
3) It is ok to be “not focused”. A lot of people would tend to disagree but my belief is that too much focus is a recipe for disaster. One can approach first four terms with open mind and decide at the end of it what you want to specialize in. Similarly one should rank the jobs he/she wants in the order or priority and prepare accordingly. However, it is important to know intuitively what is most important to you—Money/role/company/location or a combination of these.
4) Make love not war! Never pick up a fight or bad mouth any of your batch mates. As I mentioned upfront, this is your most important asset out of Bschool so take care of all your batchmates.

A lot of people have been asking on yahoo group as to what they should do in the buildup to ISB. Here are my suggestions in the order of preference

Eat, sleep, drink, make merry, meet friends, and spend time with spouse /significant other

Keep working as long as you can. Idle mind is devil’s workshop.

Read books you have wanted to read since long but could not

Make trips to places you have wanted to visit

Revise concepts in Statistics, accounting etc

Cheers.