One month into M.B.A and the applications for all the committees started opening, I knew which committees I didn’t want, but I was not sure on what I wanted, I applied for several committees and got selected in one, a year ago I was at the other side of the table and I deeply pondered over why I got rejected by a few committees, but after sitting on the other end of the table and interviewing candidates for my committee I now know that it is one of the most random processes.
For all of you who have made into committees, congratulations, for those of you who have not, there is nothing to worry about, and I am going to tell you why.
A very wise professor in XLRI has a theory. After XAT, if we take all the eligible candidates and have a running contest and select the first 360 candidates it wouldn’t make much of a difference from the current pool, except maybe a stronger sports team.
The same goes for committee selections as well. In the three to four days that selection happens, it is actually not a selection process taking place, but rather a rejection process. It is all a matter of how things work out for you that day, I remember I was really tired when I had attended the interviews for committee selections in my first year, I tried not to show it, but it became evident in a few of the interviews, when I dint make it, the feedback I got was I lacked energy. While interviewing candidates this was one reason why we rejected a lot of candidates, maybe it was simply not their day.
Past track record, is one of the other reasons why people get rejected, if I hadn’t learnt skill “x” in my under-grad a b-school will hardly provide me with the opportunity to learn it now. It will prefer those with skill “x”, the simple reason being that a senior doesn’t have time to invest in training candidates.
Word of Mouth publicity, some juniors form connections even before they join campus, networking works wonders, there is a theory in several subjects I study that the human mind prefers the familiar over the unfamiliar. So if I have heard the name of “ Z “ several times, then in a pool of names I prefer “Z”, several times this happens without me being aware of it, but it might also be a conscious thing. Similarly, if I have heard negative Word of Mouth about “Y”, I become cautious.
There have been several people who have not been a part of any committee but have managed to turn things around because their passion is not determined by designations and titles and there is an equal number who have had the opportunity to be a part of a committee but have restricted themselves to the designation.
In hindsight, it is a way to gain experience and get closer to who you actually are, and just that.
Comments