How to prepare a career blueprint?

An ancient Indian sage whilst teaching archery put a wooden bird as the target and asked his disciples to describe what they saw. The first one said, “I see trees, branches, leaves, the sky and the bird’s eye.” The sage asked him to wait, and fired the same question to the second disciple. He said, “I just see the bird’s eye”. “Very good, shoot,” the sage said. The arrow went straight and hit the bird’s eye.
unless we focus we cannot achieve our goals. Never confuse goals with dreams and wishes. Goals give you direction, dedication, determination, discipline and deadlines. Goals have an action plan.

Time is precious and if you are an MBA aspirant, it is about time you learnt to maximise the time on hand. You have around nine months with you, and all you need is a diligent studying period of four hours a day. This is the time when along with sharpening your concepts and developing the knack for maximising your score at the written exam, you must focus on enhancing your market value.

Some of the top B-Schools in the country, the likes of Indian Institute of Foreign Trade and Indian Business Academy, have work experience as an eligibility criterion for their entrance exam. Holding a part-time position or even a full-time position in an industry of your choice would aid you in developing a deeper understanding of the use of management in that field. Hands on experience gives you a practical perspective of such managerial concepts as maximising use of available resources, dealing with your colleagues and seniors, handling tricky situations, etc.

The motivation to succeed comes from the burning desire to achieve a purpose.

A job helps in maturing you as an individual. It enhances your thinking capacity and develops your time management skills. Colleagues who are MBAs would also most likely surround you, thereby giving you a different view to MBA as a career option and the learning curve of being one. You would by the end of a quarter realise how much you have gained. Confidence, ability to rationalise, disciplining yourself, using your talent to make higher gains are just some of the traits that are invariably developed during a work experience.

However, one thing you must keep in mind is that while money is an important criterion for taking up an employment, it should not be the sole factor for taking up an offer. Opportunities are hard to come by and for you to be successful in life; you need to make the right choices. If you wish to be a winner, take up challenges as where incentives are higher, there is higher motivation, better performance and a sweeter victory.

Make sure you have the conviction to emerge a winner whatever your goal may be. Conviction leads to commitment, accepting greater responsibilities and putting in hard work. Hard work always pays.

The average person puts only 25% of his energy and ability into his work. The world takes off its hat to those who put in more than 50% of their capacity, and stands on its head for those few and far between souls who devote 100%. – Andrew Carnegie

Along with putting in hard work, this is also the time to develop a hobby, in case you don’t already have one. Hobbies indicate that you have a multi-faceted personality and learn from means other than mere textbooks. Introspect and develop a hobby whether it is music or team games. If it is something that involves group activities so much the better for that will help you in becoming a team player and management is all about team work. Should you be a person who has been an active pursuer of some form of art, then make sure you gain insights on the history, different forms, famous personalities in that field, future possibilities to perpetuate that art form etc.

Use this time to transform your weaknesses into strengths. Develop the right kind of habits, for they go a long way in shaping your character. It is the seemingly inconsequential small steps you take everyday that lead you on to the goal you want to reach one day.