Why executives are heading back to the classroom

Rupesh Bisht's career had been moving on a steady pace but that wasn't enough. There was always a feeling of wanting to move faster in life, to do better. "I wanted to jump to the next orbit," he says. At many points in his career he met people who had done their management programmes from reputed institutes drawing more and with a better portfolio when he had more years of experience.

The disparity was not because he wasn't a good performer; he was always a good worker, but it was because he had started from scratch as a frontline sales person, while the management degree holders usually got a head start as management trainees. That made all the difference. "I realised that I had to bridge the gap."

Rupesh started working straight after his postgraduate diploma in management from an institute in Meerut. "I didn't know much about rankings then." His first job was with Gujarat Ambuja Cements, where he was part of the sales management. He got a good break with Titan Industries as a sales officer. He oversaw the distribution network of Sonata in western Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. After three years, he was given the task of setting up the sales and distribution network in Rajasthan.

It was an enormous responsibility -- the challenges helped him grow, however his profile did not change substantially. When he joined ICICI Lombard he felt that it was time he considered doing an MBA from a good institute. "I was also getting married then, I had responsibilities and if I had to reach the CFO, CEO, COO level I had to act fast."

Going to the United States was his first choice, but since he got married he wanted to do a course he could finish in one year. The UK also seemed a good option, but the cost of living was high. Studying in India was another option. The choice was between Indian School of Business (ISB) or IIM. Rupesh got through ISB. Applying to business schools took a year but when he finally arrived at the ISB campus he was relieved.

"It's a big risk leaving a job, after all. And when one leaves the security of a job not knowing what the future has in store, it can be a little unnerving." But there was no doubt that the course would improve his prospects considerably.

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Salaries are a good indication of the benefits of doing a management course. Remuneration goes up from anywhere between 50 to 250 per cent," says Rupesh who got placed with radio channel Big FM straight after doing a postgraduate programme in management from ISB.

He is the integrated sales head for Delhi. His current profile is concept selling to top corporates in the country, providing brand solutions for both above-the-line and below-the-line. "The profile is very exciting and gives me tremendous exposure."

But what has really changed in the course of the one year study is his approach to issues. "Now, I look at issues, problems from a different perspective, and that makes all the difference."

It was seeking this kind of difference that Chetna Khanna quit afaqs!, an online media company, to enrol in a two-year, full-time management programme at Management Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon (Haryana).

When she joined work she had no specific plans, no five-years-from-now approach. "To be honest, I was a little clueless." She was part of the sales and marketing division. As she found out more about the online medium, she began enjoying her work. "I did everything under the sun, from promoting the medium to ideating on the ad campaigns to following up on business proposals."

This kind of work exposed her to the corporate world and the way things functioned. And soon from a marketing executive she became assistant manager, sales and marketing. "That was very encouraging because there was always a nagging thought that I was a plain graduate with no higher qualification."

But on occasions when she interacted with clients, she felt the need for refining her methods of dealing and approaching matters. "For one, I never paid attention to what I wore." And now when she looks back, as the head, sales and marketing, afaqs! and The Brand Reporter, Mumbai, she reflects: "I was a bit carefree about many things back then."

Chetna describes her time at MDI as the best time of her life. Suddenly, she became aware of many things. "For example, the very art of written communication, which is critical in any business, has to be approached in a certain manner. There are key words that can make or break a communication," she says as she replies to an e-mail or phonecall. On the whole, Chetna says she's more confident in dealing with senior people in large organisations. Now, Chetna heads an entire team in Mumbai and for most part she's mentoring people and ideating on projects. However, the unusual thing is that after the completion of her management course, she decided to go back to the same organisation.

"Well, I had a couple of plum offers from FMCG companies. I cracked the first round of P&G (10 from some 100 plus students)." But she did not pursue her application after that. "There was a comfort level with afaqs! And I know I can grow faster there!"

Vishal Sampat had started his career as a journalist and often ended up doing a lot of research work for his stories, "more than what I should have" he says laughing. In the course of his two years of journalism, Vishal wrote many cover stories, reviewed ad campaigns and media innovations, interacted with the top-notch people in the advertising and the media industry. "I enjoyed every moment of it, and since I had just started out, meeting senior people, veterans in the industry, gave me tremendous exposure."

Even though journalism gave him exposure to the advertising industry -- which he's passionate about -- he felt the need to upgrade his qualifications. He came into journalism after doing a Bachelor's in Business Management.

"I had always wanted to be associated with the advertising industry but writing about the industry as a journalist interested me more at that point." But he missed the operational side of working in the advertising industry. Besides, it was time he brushed up his management concepts, and confronted his weakness.

"Finance and accounts were my weak points," he says. Something he realised when he interacted with media planners and buyers for his articles. "I felt that it was a drawback as a journalist not to know about numbers." Though Vishal had toyed with the idea of doing a part-time executive management programme, he strongly felt that it was time to go back to school as a full-time student.

Vishal got through a two-year, full-time MBA course at the Indian Education Society's Management College and Research Centre (IES MCRC) in Mumbai. He cleared the Maharashtra Common Entrance Test.

But what he was being taught he could immediately connect with his work experiences.

"I understood better." He's of the view that an MBA or an MCA should be done only after having acquired two or three years of work experience. "It's pointless otherwise."

Vishal got placed with Synovate, a market research company that came to his institute on campus placement. There was a slight change in his career track, although he continued to focus on advertising, he felt the need to get into research as it was one of the most technical parts of a brand manager's job.

The first physical sign of doing a higher degree was the package. "It went up considerably. Now you don't expect me to share that with you," he quips. But he puts his growth in perspective. "If I had continued working, I would not have had the jump in my career as I have now by doing a postgraduate degree."

Some months back he changed his job. He's now with Millward Brown, a marketing research company that specialises in advertising and brands. Besides moving up the ladder faster, doing a course after some years of work experience gives you a lot of confidence. "It is difficult to articulate how, but I definitely make decisions faster and that is because I am more confident about myself."