MBA after B.Tech Mechanical and job experience

An MBA aspirant asked this question: I have completed B.Tech Mechanical Engineering in 2004 in full time from one of the JNTU affiliated colleges. Currently I am working for a Project Management consultancy which is an MNC as Asst. Manager – (MEP services) Project execution. Now I want to do MBA. Kindly tell me what is the procedure for doing MBA? Which Exam I have to appear for? Whether distance education is best or full time education. Which are the best colleges or Universities for doing MBA? What is the specialization related to my job experience? Kindly suggest me.

Here comes answer to this question: You have now 4+ years of experience which is good base for you to pursue MBA program. There are definitive advantages with Full-Time Regular MBA and also Part-Time. While your earning potential for 1- 2 years should be looked at as Investment along with additional investment in the regular college and if you can afford and if you don’t have a financial constraint at this point of time ( The more years generally its difficult due to the other commitments for family etc.,). You can pursue the distance education provided you don’t want to have strain on your financials and if you have a scope to grow within the organization with that additional Degree. This may be 2-3 years depending on the University/ Institute.

The other alternative is to do an Executive MBA program which would have evening classes on regular basis and generally these are of 3 years. For admission into the International and some of the national schools like ISB would require GMAT as a base for admission. For most of the India business schools follow the MAT (Management Aptitude Test) by AIMA, CAT (conducted by IIM’s). In some cases the universities have their own common tests… In case of the Local Universities – the state level common entrance tests are there for admission (ICET at AP). You have to choose the test based on the college that you want to choose.

Most of the Good Management colleges help the students to build the capabilities to manage Businesses; hence a specialization should be purely your personal Interest. Ultimately you need to manage business than just a function unlike in your current job after your MBA. However your outlook of learning different things than what you learned would be of help in expanding your learning horizon. (Example. Your expertise is currently into Project Management, planning etc., it may be helpful coupled with Finance or HR instead of doing a Production Management as specialization). However you would pickup the specialization based on your exposure in the first year of your school where you would get an understanding of the subjects and your interest in them. Specialization would also depend on the individual skills that you posses which are of importance to explore yourself and excel in your future assignments.