Are you joining MBA without any work experience? Build your profile with these tricks to get your dream job!

Looking for a job soon after an MBA can be hard. But it’s also very exciting after you get your dream job as you have got for what you’ve been working hard and it is FINALLY paying off!

Getting your dream job demands you to cross many hurdles, one being, possession of work experience. The entire set of MBA freshers when put into the market may not have the required work experience demanded by corporate giants. In this article, we take a deep dive into the difficulties freshers face during placements and how they can beat the odds to secure a dream company/role.

What is the current scenario?

Joining B-School is no doubt a battle, but the larger battle lies ahead when companies approach campuses for summer placements. Big companies tend to invariably ignore the profiles of the freshers for a simple reason- absence of work experience. It is important to note that companies coming to B-schools for placements come for management roles and not technical roles. Also, B-school students having prior work experience generally come from technical backgrounds. Hence, despite having work experience, such students may not have a real edge over freshers who directly come from colleges. The primary concern that lies here is how freshers can overcome the disadvantage of not having any work experience and secure a dream offer during summers and finals.

Bit-by-bit for MBA freshers

Step 1: Deciding your area of interest early

Once you receive the admission offer from a b-school, your journey to a dream job begins. The first thing you must do before starting the classes is to identify your area of interest. This is the most crucial step in the journey of your dream role. Once you have identified that you want to build your career in Marketing or Finance or HR or Operations, you are ready to jump on to the next.

Step 2: Building your network wisely

Network expansion helps you learn from experiences. After you have identified your area of interest, you should expand your network on LinkedIn and other similar platforms. Try to follow/connect with as many industry experts as possible. For example, if your interest is marketing, then follow/connect with marketing managers, marketing heads, digital marketing heads, and similar people on LinkedIn. If you love finance, then follow/connect with Finance Managers, Credit Analysts, Financial analysts etc. The insights shared by them helps in keeping track of latest happenings.

Step 3: Trainings through online courses

If you are a marketing enthusiast, then opt for courses like Digital marketing, social media marketing, SEO, google ads, etc. Finance people can do courses on Financial modelling, Investment banking, Financial Analysis, etc. Apart from doing a few of these courses, one must do a course on MS Excel and MS PowerPoint irrespective of the area of interest. That’s it! You are ready for the next step. To complete the above courses, you should not take more than one month. If possible, start doing the courses before your classes start. 

Step 4: Hunting for Live Projects before summers

By the time you finish these courses, you will have enough content to write about in your CV. Remember that companies will start coming for summer placements from the 2nd trimester onwards. So, once you start your classes, you have only about three months at maximum to prepare for your summers. Once you start your classes at B-School and finish some online courses, it’s time to hunt for live projects/virtual internships. Try to get a live project for 4 to 8 weeks in the area of your interest. Marketing guys can look for live projects/virtual internships in digital marketing, content marketing, growth marketing, social media marketing etc. Finance guys can go for live projects in equity research, credit analysis, financial statement analysis, etc. You can find plenty of such opportunities on LinkedIn, Internshala and other similar platforms. By the time you will finish this live project, companies will start coming for summer placements. This live project experience, along with online courses, will give you so much to talk about in the interview.

Step 5: Hunting for Live Projects before finals

If you follow the above process properly, you will definitely land a good role for your summer internship. Put your best in your summer internship and learn as much as you can during those two months. When you come back from your internship, you will have about four months before the final placements begin. You must utilize this time to gain some more practical knowledge. Again, start hunting for live project/virtual internships for 4 to 6 weeks. If possible, try to go for a different role this time but in the same domain. For example, if you have done your summer internship in digital marketing and your first live project in content writing, then try to do this new live project in growth marketing. This will give a great variety to your profile.

That’s it! You are ready for your final placements. Guess what? If you follow the above process sincerely, you will have the edge over other students. You will have an equal chance of converting your dream company/role as your fellow experienced guys.

Note: Apart from the above steps, you must also work on your communication skills continuously to get the best results.

All the best!

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