How to choose an MBA Specialisation?

After three terms of whirlwind introductions to more than 30 subjects that make up a management course and summer training in the corporate world, you are expected to make the mother of all decisions – which discipline to specialize in:

The traditional streams: Marketing, Finance, HR, and Operations

The newer streams: Systems, Telecom, E-business, and Foreign Trade

There are many ways to select a specialisation, but given below are a few standard methods to choose from:- Internal and External Specialization Finder

The  Internal  Specialisation  Finder   uses  two  methods:

1)The Great Passion Method:

As the name suggests, this is all about identifying the subject(s) that you simply love. And how do you figure out the subjects that you love? You do so by asking yourself three simple questions:

a. Is this a subject for which I have done more reading than what is required for my course? 

b. Am I consistently amongst the top ten percentile for these subjects? 

c. Am I consistently aware of what is happening in the corporate world in this area of specialization? 

2)The  Deep  Hatred  Method:

This method tries to choose your specialisation using a “not this” method. Here you ask yourself the questions:

a. Which are the subjects that I would gladly not attend a single class of? 

b. Which are the subjects in which, I receive my lowest grade point average? 

c. Which subjects do I have absolutely no clue about inspite of attending lectures? 

Even if a subject fits in as the reply for one question, you know that the subject is not the one to specialise in.

However, while choosing either one of the Internal Specialisation Find methods, you should be aware that the professor who teaches you that subject could be biassing your answer. As students we tend to like and take interest in the subjects whose professors we like!

The  External  Specialisation  Finder   also  has  two  methods:

1)The  Statistical  Method:

This method requires the student to undertake some serious research and answer a few questions such as:

a. Campus  recruitment  oriented: 

* Which were the companies that came for campus recruitment?

* What were the kind of students they picked up, which specialisation?

* What  specialisation  had  the  easiest  placement?

* Which specialisation got the higher average pay packet?

b. Corporate  rung  climbing  oriented: 

* What were the specialisations of the CEOs of the top ten companies?

* Who gets a better pay packet? The marketing person, the finance person…?

* Who has a better chance to rise more rapidly up the corporate ladder?

* Who has a greater demand in terms of number of job offers?

Once you have appropriate answers for all these questions, you can choose the specialisation that offers the best prospects. However, one should be aware, that every five years or so, this trend undergoes a change.

2)The  Value  Method:

In this method, you select the specialisation, for which everyone around you feels that you are a wiz at! As you go through your MBA, you will find that your classmates, juniors and seniors, tend to slot you depending on their perception of your greatest value. For example, juniors will come to you for guidance for a particular subject, or seniors will make you in-charge of a particular activity related to a specialisation. But beware, this selection depends upon an external worldview and is not your own. So it may not always be as fulfilling!

Hope my reader comes out with a best solution to his dilemma!!!

Thanks for reading !!!