A formal qualification in management is gradually becoming an essential pre-requisite for career entry just like in engineering and medicine. An MBA is the most sought - after business programme in the world. MBAs can specialise not only in Business Management and Industrial Administration but also in other areas such as Healthcare, Administration of public Enterprises, Computer Management, Labour Management, Rural Management, Financial portfolio Management, Personnel Management etc.
 
Management is all about controlling & co-ordinating the work of other people in the organisation. The manager administers the resources at his disposal in such a way as to maximise efficiency and increase output. The field offers specialisation in various branches of business like personnel, Production, Finance, Marketing, Operational Research, Planning, Construction etc.

The basic idea should be to first find your area of interest and then find the MBA institute that offers the specialised courses. Some of the MBA majors you can opt for are:

MBA in Accounting
MBA in Co-operative Management
MBA in Criminal Justice
MBA in e-Business
MBA in Education
MBA in Engineering
MBA in Entrepreneurship
MBA in Executive
MBA in Finance
MBA in General Management
MBA in Global Management
MBA in Health Care
MBA in Hospitality and Tourism
MBA in Human Resources
MBA in Information Systems
MBA in Industrial Management
MBA in Leadership
MBA in Logistics
MBA in Knowledge Management
MBA in Marketing
MBA in Media
MBA in Non-profit and Government
MBA in Organisational
MBA in Project Management
MBA in Real Estate
MBA in Sport Management
MBA in Supply Chain Management
MBA in Technology Management
MBA in Telecommunications

Then there are lots of Executive MBAs and EDPs equivalent to MBA programmes offered by different Universities as part of Professional Requirements. It revolutionised the Management education and many governments across the world have started management education en-masse.
Then started the ranking of the Business Schools where right from HBS of USA to Oxford of UK, IIM of India to NUS of Singapore all are ranked by various stakeholders on number of factors like, Placement record of students, Ambience, Infrastructure Facilities, Specialisations offered, Faculty holding Ph.D. / Doctorate, Research Publications by Faculty, Alumni contributions, System of students evaluations, students opting for entrepreneurship path, and so on and so forth.
Now-a-days, in India, any one and every degree holder wants to pursue MBA for several pre-conceived reason/s. There are Scientists, Doctors, Pharmacists, Artists, Engineers, Entrepreneurs, and Politicians, everyone.
How to decide specialisation?
First and foremost important thing is that there is no compartment in management and there are no demarcation lines in the management education. Hence, still if needed you must take guidance from experts. Why? The reasons are here:
h At the top of the hierarchy you must know all the functions of management.

h There are cases when many have worked across the functions due to sheer need of the organisation in the highly competitive market.

h For a Leader or a Manager, unless he knows the business he cannot be successful.

Hence, few experts claim that, these specialisations are just for the sake of getting a formidable degree/ diploma.
 Factors deciding specialisation of MBA/ Management Education:
* Aptitude
* Passion
* Interest
* Motive and Aim and Purpose of choosing this kind of career
* Emotional Intelligence
* Intelligent Quotient
* Stamina
* Tolerance
* Background
* Vision of life
* Mission of work
Let us know some fundamentals on how the specialisations were selected till date. New comers can make a difference if they wish.

Who can go for Finance specialisation?

h If you are B.Com. M. Com. or have some business background or have knack to solve some mathematical problems at faster speed.
h Those who like to sit at one place and work
h Those who have passion for Accounting and Finances, and who have passion of stock market, etc.
Who can go for Marketing?
h Those who like to convince people, build contacts, like to see business grow, like to be always well-dressed and those who like glam-sham.
h Those who like Market Research, Selling activities, go to places, like to talk with different customers and make them happy, those who like to serve people, etc.
Who can go for HRM?

h Who like to deal with people
h Solve people’s problems
h Like to build relationships for company
h Like to believe in people’s abilities
h Like to value their own people as an asset
h Like to prove humanity and human being are the best part of business dealings
h Knows how to use talent of talented people

Who can go for International Business?

h Those who like multiple cultures in the world.
h Like dealing with foreigners.
h Like to travel and go to places with time-  bound work.
h Who don’t have complaints about any food, or any place to live in comfort?
h Those who can learn new things faster, including new languages and business etiquette.
h Those who know international trade practices and understand various organisations in-depth.

Who should go for Information /Computer and Technology specialisation?

h Those who love technology and are conversant with the way they work.
h Those who like to deal with technology.
h Those who like to work in Artificial world than the Real world.
h Those who can tolerate more technology than humans and like to work in isolation for some time.
h Those who can solve technological problems.
h Those who have some technical background like BCA, BE, or having some family business in the field of technology, those who have been exposed to technology.

Other specialisations like, Hospital Management, Retail Management, Entrepreneurship,  etc:
You need to know what you are going to study and where you are going to implement and what career option you are going for. What is the aim of doing that specialisation? It must not be short-term to get an immediate job. It must have long-term vision as well. Remember organisations expect all its employees to be entrepreneurs, hence at the end of the day, Entrepreneurship skills have become a must for all the MBA graduates. Remember, not failure but short aim is crime, hence, gather as many skills as you can and become as much dexterous as you can.
MBA / PGDM Degree Career Scope
MBA degree provides you with innumerable career opportunities in various fields. It is especially beneficial to get jobs in high level positions such as managerial and executive level jobs.
The job prospects for an MBA student is probably better than for any other career. Most companies today recruit business graduates with an MBA qualification as they have the necessary knowledge and skills for the job ahead of them. Fresh Management graduates are usually recruited on-campus. Corporate organisations, multi-nationals, foreign banks, foreign financial institutions, and others attempt to woo students from the top management schools with lucrative job offers. Most of the major business schools have also initiated career placement schemes for the benefit of graduating alumni and possibly the best way of judging an institute is by the companies that visit for campus placements.
Industrial houses, manufacturing companies, business corporations, multinational companies, export or trading companies, banks and financial institutions, marketing organisations and public sector enterprises mostly recruit MBAs for all their management positions. After an initial period of training in an organisation, the newly qualified MBAs join as executive or assistant managers. Larger development agencies/ non-governmental organisations, and international agencies like the World Bank, UNICEF and other UN bodies, OXFAM, also prefer to recruit MBAs.
In recent years, MBA graduates are also looking at entrepreneurial ventures, some even giving up lucrative job offers to chart their own business path. Some, after gaining some experience choose to venture into consultancy services planning marketing strategy, providing technological or other expertise, or services to other organisations. In other words, MBAs can work anywhere, and rise to whatever level they are capable of.

While there are many students who aspire to get into management, it is important to keep in mind that all are not necessarily suited for a career in management. Managers require to have High IQ, strong analytical skills, ability to quickly grasp changing business acumen; some entrepreneurial flair, decisiveness and high motivation and achievement orientation. Managers are team leaders, and at all levels must enthuse subordinates into carrying out tasks in a way that they themselves would wish to have done them. They are also expected to ensure that operations run smoothly in their particular field or department. Communication is also one of the most important aspects of management as managers spend 70% of their time talking to people.

There is moreover a lot of scope and promise in the future with the Indian economy growing at such a fast pace, and new areas like retail, lifestyle, housing, real estate among others facing a shortage of qualified managers.

India’s MBA graduates face bleak job prospects

When the MBA students at India’s top business schools began their studies their future was full of promise as companies tripped over each other to lure graduates. But 24 months of study and a financial meltdown later, prospects are glum for the estimated 120,000 business school graduates who will enter the job market by early 2010, after their final exams.

Nowadays, jobs for graduates are drying up as India’s economy feels the pinch of the global recession. A survey by global staffing-services firm Manpower Inc says Indian firms are likely to slow their hiring to a 3-year low in the first three months of 2009; further evidence the global economic slowdown was taking its toll.

In India, management and information technology campuses are usually abuzz of activity from November as employers recruit students preparing for their finals. “Fearing a volatile environment and fast changing business scenario, many companies have not decided on their numbers to recruit,” placement adviser at the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, a government-run business school in Delhi said.

Fearing the usual route to a comfortable career may not deliver; students are uploading resumes on online job portals or are approaching employment agencies, while others scale back their salary expectations.

DREAMS SHATTERED

Some 290,000 candidates took the admission test to the top business schools in India in November 2008, compared to 230,000 in 2007, Indian media reports said. They were competing for just 1,700 places at the seven IIMs, the country’s top management institutes.

Like all good gurus, teachers and academic staff are advising students not to panic and to bow down to some serious work with the hope, the economy would change for the better by the time they get their degrees. “It’s the best time to study,” thus, you must try to groom yourselves accordingly as this could be your last time to know yourself and do the needful.

Finally, you are the best judge of yourself. Hence, invest your life, skills, and work at proper place/s to get what you want from the most precious life.

ELIGIBILITY
The minimum requirements for almost all institutes to seek admission to their Master’s Degree / Post-Graduate Diploma in Management are :  
· A Bachelor’s Degree (or equivalent) in any discipline, with at least 50% aggregate marks (45% for reserved categories) OR   

· Appearing at the final-year examination of minimum three years’ duration, leading to an award of a Bachelor’s Degree, in any discipline of a statutory university in India (so recognised by the Association of Indian Universities) OR   

Note: Some institutes also require that applicants have 50% at 10th and/or 12th level. Some also have higher eligibility percentages (55-60%) at graduation level.

WRITTEN TEST 

The first phase of selection of candidates for admission to the Masters / Post-Graduate Diploma in Management is on the basis of their performance in a Written Test. This seeks to test the aptitude of the candidates in four major areas - Verbal Ability, Reading Comprehension, Quantitative Ability and Business Data Interpretation. 

Some institutes also ask Business and General Awareness questions while some may include an essay writing section.

Group Discussion & Interview

After the entrance exam every institute shortlists candidates for qualitative assessment which mainly includes two stages: 

· Group Discussion 
· Personal Interview
- IIM Bangalore also has a test on essay writing. 
- SP Jain Mumbai has a Group Interview. 
- XLRI Jamshedpur only has an Interview and no GD. 
- FMS Delhi also has an extempore speech as part of the selection process. 
Leadership abilities, good grasp, analytical thought process, communication skills and other personality attributes are assessed via this stage of selection. 
Final selection is based on assessment based on marks in the written exam, the Group Discussions and Personal Interview. Work experience is given additional weightage at most of the institutes. 
Main Examinations for Admissions to Indian
B-schools

· Common Admission Test (CAT)
· Common Entrance Test (CET)
· Joint Management Entrance Test (JMET)
· Management Aptitude Test (MAT)
· Xavier Admission Test (XAT)
· AIMS Test for Management Admissions (ATMA)

Entrance Examination for Admissions into MBA colleges of AP

  ·   Integrated Common Entrance Test (ICET)