MBA as a post-graduation option has secured a safe and reputed place in the Indian academic scenario. There is a large surge of applications of candidates for the limited seats in the traditional two-year MBA programs all across the country. However, from the past few years; have seen a mood shift of aspirants from the traditional two years full-time MBA to other variants of Management programmes and 1-year MBA for executive have become an exciting prospect for them.
When you thought of what to do to move forward, you choose a better course from all types of MBA program. Pursuing an MBA course leads to more successful and advance in career. Before taking admission to any institution or any course, you should think whether it is really worth the time and effort and satisfy the expected ROI of MBA Programme.
The spectrum of aspirants has also seen a change with professionals joining the list along with normal graduate students. Professionals normally look forward to boosting their careers rather than kick-starting it and 1-year MBA is a much better option for that approach.
One year MBA program in India, as evident from the name itself, is scheduled for a shorter duration in comparison with other traditional programs. However, there are other more prominent differences that separate the one year MBA from the 2 Year Regular MBA courses which include factors like work experience requirement, compressed curriculum, learning experience, peer group and many more. Admission in traditional courses solely depends on results of examinations like CAT, MAT, CMAT, GMAT etc.
The shorter duration of the program does not comply with any gentle curriculum for the candidates, rather rigorous and intensive than a traditional two-year MBA, as it needs to complete in for around 12 months. As candidates taking up this course are usually professionals who are familiar with a corporate set-up and professional work environments, therefore, participants start at a higher base compared to freshers who have to start from the scratch. The programmes are designed accordingly keeping this work experience in mind and fully leverage it.
READ Too: What Do Business Schools Look For In MBA Applicants?
Why 1-Year MBA program?
In recent years, the number of professionals significantly increased who are looking to acquire business skills to give their career a boost after having some work experience. A one-year MBA makes more sense for those who love their field that they are already in and want to fast-track their career growth in the shortest possible time. Also, it is a good option for professionals who are experiencing a decline in their career or feel like they have hit a dead-end in their current work profile and without the scope of any growth.
For those who wish to complete their MBA within a year and get back into the job market, a one-year MBA program would be ideal. A more intensive, condensed option, better suited to those who have a clearer idea of their desired outcomes. There might be a greater focus on real-life projects and simulations. This is a format with more functionally-confident candidates enrolling slightly later in their career. The living cost incurred for a one-year course would also be lower than a two-year MBA program.
Evolution of 1-Year MBA in India
The one year format is well established globally, especially in Europe, where many top B-schools offer it. Previously, most Indian B-schools offered only a two year MBA programme aimed at fresh graduates, but in the last two decades, as the applicant base has experienced a shift from fresh graduates to working professionals re-evaluating their career graphs, there has been introductory shift towards one year format with schools like Great Lakes and ISB offering it as their flagship full-time programmes for candidates with prior work experience.
The one year executive MBA equips the candidates with necessary skills, confidence and gives them much needed exposure. The candidates get to experience action learning projects, team activities, volunteering opportunities and outdoor exposure visits apart from usual classroom time.
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Pros and Cons of a 1-Year MBA in India
The duration of the 1-year MBA is the most obvious and prominent pro of enrolling in this course. It acts as the perfect option for working professionals as they can move back to their respective career paths quickly. Also, the fees for the course is relatively lower and the return of investment of MBA and opportunities that the professionals get after the course completely justifies their investment of time and capital.
For a lot of people, this is extremely important not just from a career perspective but also for personal reasons where a commitment to being away in school for two years is simply not feasible. A class of One year MBA programmes typically comprises of professionals coming with experience in diverse industries and roles. This significantly enhances the quality of learning experience within and beyond the classrooms since people can relate the business concepts to their personal real-life experience. Similarly, it provides a great opportunity for creating a network of friends, acquaintances and allies across industries.
This course, however, has a flip side too as everything usually has. The main con of this course is that one year seems to be too compact and compressed for students to feasibly learn everything about MBA and this concern has been raised by many professors too. There is usually no exposure to the corporate world like summer internships during the course of the program due to the compactness and time limitation.
In many cases, it is also seen that employers usually give preference to the traditional two-year MBA graduates as they feel they have in-depth knowledge. Also, there are fewer amounts of placement opportunities for one year PGP courses compared to a two-year MBA course. However, this is expected to reduce with the growing popularity and awareness about this relatively recent course in India.
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Executive 1-Year MBA in India
The trends in the education sector have changed tremendously in the past few years & the one year MBA has gradually taken the priority place amongst the individuals. This trend is only expected to rise in the coming days as well. Below is a list of some reputed business schools of India who offer One-year MBA program for Executives that have consistently featured on the Global MBA Rankings list.
Eligibility Criteria and the Selection Criteria
The Eligibility criteria and the selection criteria are almost similar in all prominent business school like IIMs with some minor specific requirements. Candidate needs to be an Executive with a bachelor’s degree or equivalent in any discipline, must have more at least 2 years of post qualification managerial/professional experience (Minimum years of years may vary from Institute to Institutes), and a valid GMAT score (taken within the specified limit as declared by the respective B-School).
Selection of a candidate is based on his/her Professional Experience, Academic record, GMAT score, Personal interviews, Relevance and pertinence of the candidate’s Statement of Purpose and the quality of professional recommendations submitted by the candidate. Some of the top grade Indian institutes offering one year executive MBA are listed below.
- IIM Ahmedabad PGPX
- ISB PGPM– Hyderabad
- IIM Bangalore EPGP
- IIM Calcutta PGPex
- XLRI PGDM (General Management)
- SP Jain (General Management) – Mumbai
- IIM Lucknow (IPMX)
- Great Lakes Institute – Chennai/Gurgaon
- MDI NMP – Gurgaon
- SOIL BLP – Gurgaon
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