In these changing times, companies will now be looking for people who can take on more responsibilities. Hence, it is important to upskill and be relevant, says Dr Sandeep Pachpande
In these fast changing times, there is a dire need for students or working executives to choose the right PGDM/executive MBA (ex-MBA) course that will help them in enhancing their career prospects. These courses provide enormous career opportunities in the corporate world. In an era of constantly emerging trends and rapidly changing business dynamics, there's a need for upgrading and sharpening of skills to stay relevant. Companies in every industry are exploring fresh ways to develop business leaders to expand and grow their organizations.
The PGDM/ex-MBA courses help groom students in multi facets of business. It introduces young minds on the intricacies of management; inter personal skills, presentation skills and also social etiquette which are so important in today's business environment where we consider, the world to be a global village. Students doing such courses have a brighter chance of being picked up from MNC's and large corporate houses, as they generally scout for students passing out from such educational institutes.
A PGDM and ex-MBA course widens the horizon of a professional providing him with an array of career options to choose in whichever field he desires to enter. The advantages for students are multi-fold and multi-dimensional.
One of the most important benefits of taking up these courses is that it makes you corporate-ready. It becomes difficult to enter the corporate world without having management education. In every PGDM course, be it Marketing Management or International Business, you learn about other business spheres as well, like human resource management, finance, marketing, entrepreneurship, statistics, economics, etc. This helps in grooming and preparing the professional to become corporate ready and pursuing a rich and rewarding career.
On the other hand, we have seen a trend wherein working executives find themselves in need of upgrading their skill sets to stay relevant in the business. With advances in technology, it's easy to find yourself falling behind. Hence, it is necessary to analyse your skills and areas that need development and then look for programs that match your skill needs.
Whether it is negotiation, finance, technology or HR, making sure the program is relevant to what you want to learn is vital. Today, various business schools offer executive education alongside standard MBA, undergraduate and postgraduate degrees and many of them are accredited by professional organisations. Most of the business schools across India offer a wide range of courses for executive students. They are designed to enable you to choose from options that best suit your requirements.
Professional development becomes necessary to familiarise with strategic thinking and making an effort to stand out. This is where executive education comes into play. In simple words, if your employer wants you to take on bigger responsibilities, they may sponsor you to take a course in management or leadership or even from other institutes offering the same. And these courses prepare you for a new role in a variety of competencies for a new role. But with the abundance of custom-designed executive education programme, the trick is in choosing the right option.
Achieving a higher level of executive education need not be an all-or-nothing scenario. Several top tier schools offer a range of options from online courses to open-enrollment classes. Understanding which format suits you the best is the key. Open enrollment programs bring leaders and professionals from different companies together to take classes and custom programs.
This helps the professionals to gain new perspectives on strategic problems such as changing dynamics, more demanding customers or new competitors. After short-listing of programs suitable for your role, it is a necessity to do thorough homework on program structure, background, school's pedagogical approach and classroom experience most resonate with you.
Finally, before choosing the right course, the student should check if the educational institute has a trusted legacy. Also, tie-ups with reputed organisations that provide cutting edge certification for enhanced skills, will lead to better employability. Executive education is a credential that is carried with you for the rest of your career and the program's reputation holds the key.
The writer is Chairman, ASM Group of Institutes
