Today, I completed my annual ritual of submitting the CAT application seeking admission to the II of M's. As I stood in the queue at the Post Office for the speed post(trust me, there was one for a change!), I noticed that 5 CAT applications were submitted amongst the 8 persons in the queue. A CAT question with a statement of the sort like, "At most, 62.5% of the population in Bangalore gives the CAT examination in 2008". Typical sort of statements filled with at most's and at least's (punctuated by words that sometimes make me wonder when they were added to the dictionary) that are intended at bamboozling the candidate rather than provoke thinking of any sort.
Let me make a comparison here. Avani Avittam, this is the annual ceremony where brahmins change the 'sacred thread' or poonal. This happens once a year and brahmins congregate in small numbers world over to perform the "ritual" irrespective of whether they have been regular or not in performing the prayers that have be performed after having adorned the thread. See a similarity? I do! I do! The CAT exam, "candidates" congregate at centers across the country, irrespective of whether or not they have prepared or not, oh and did I mention, its once a year!
There was some talk recently that they IIMs wanted to make the CAT online, at the click of a mouse (he he he, forgive for that!). I'm not sure if thats ever possible considering the logistics of having over 1.5 lac people accessing simultaneously. Just imagine the investment needed, the bandwidth. If they do manage to make it online, the speed of the candidate will not be the only speed that matters. I doubt if that is possible in the next 5 or 10 years even, unless the bandwidth and internet capabilities grow enormously (which I'm sure will happen) and the number of candidates does not increase at the rate at which it has increased in the last 3 years, which I doubt is going to be the case, considering that in India, we have universities churning out engineers like mass production of ball-point pens. So, just not happening mate!
While I was in college, I felt only freshers should be given a chance at CAT. Being the hypocrite with "work-ex", I wish the freshers were banned. Eh, what the hell man, I do not have any intent of being politically right. Why should freshers be allowed (Think I'll take that separately, though I cant leave the curses out), Let them go and feel the real world of management, schedules, time lines and what not.
Anyways, to sort of set the icing on the cake, the exam itself is not an exercise to "identify" the manager in a person. Thats about as true as being able to spot a wart on an ants left butt. Considering that over a lac of people give the exam every year for a few thousand seats, this is the best way to eliminate people. Why change a system when it serves the purpose?
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4 comments:
well hello.. firstly.. WHOA!! i agree on the cat being like avani avatam.. too good!! i could not find a better comparision myself.. n WOLA.. see, freshers stand as much as a chance as u do(me being one myself), its better if we're trained in combat before we face the real world.. admit it, if u can crack the cat as a freshers, that shows u're a good manager cuz firstly its the toughest exam i can think of nad it does require soooooooo much self discpline.. so no use crying that "freshers" r not ready for it, cuz WE ARE!!
Hello Shruthi,
Thanks for your comment. I do not deny that it is one of the toughest exams to crack. Though, you have to accept that this is something you have to practice, almost get habituated in order to crack. A managerial job is a lot different from what one can expect and its not just discipline that counts but several real time factors like the ability to be proactive, take and deny responsibility etc etc. Freshers are in no way ready for it. Its not possible to know unless you "experience" it for yourself.
But do hope you don't need to experience it right away, because its not a nice feel to try "Belling the CAT" two many times(pun intended!). All the very best for the exam!
But a survey from companies, of how useful iim freshers are to the company, 3 yrs down the line after graduation, could reveal interesting facts for your argument.
As you mentioned CAT definitely doesn't judge on all paramaterss, neither does GRE or GMAT . For eg , Scoring a centum in maths is not a primary concern to someone who is interested in the field of marketing. But i cant think of a better way of screening mob with such a wide background.
A reality show like apprentice or be the next harsha bhogle is a more practical test of your future interests.
hey nice one....keep them coming!
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