Should I quit my job to prepare for CAT?

Should I quit my job to prepare for CAT? This is one of the questions that I am frequently asked, especially for those who had an underwhelming performance on the CAT exam last year or for those who are desperate to crack this year’s CAT. Is it wise to quit my job to focus on CAT preparation? Will quitting my job negatively impact my profile? How can I effectively prepare for CAT if I am working long hours? These are common concerns among aspirants, as obtaining a degree from a prestigious college and securing a successful career are highly valued.

Many individuals find themselves in this situation before, particularly when they set their sights on entering the prestigious IITs for the first time. For most of my colleagues, the answer to quitting their job is a simple “no.” However, I believe that under certain circumstances, quitting your job might be the best option, provided that you leave at the right time and do more than just prepare for the CAT exam. If you do decide to quit, be prepared to face questions about your decision in every interview that you attend.

Before anything else, it’s important to understand that if you do quit your job, you will have to answer the question of why you did so in every interview. You may face follow-up questions such as whether you quit solely to prepare for the CAT exam, implying that you are not capable of multitasking. It’s worth noting that many of our students have work experience, so it is not accurate to assume that they had easy jobs that allowed them to solely focus on preparation. In fact, some institutes, like IIM-A, even include this question in the form they send to shortlisted candidates for the WAT-PI round. Therefore, it is crucial to be well-prepared to tackle these questions during interviews.

Now, let’s examine how quitting your job could affect your profile in terms of getting into an IIM. First, consider the quantitative perspective. Some colleges, such as IIM-B, give weightage to work experience during the shortlisting process. If this applies to your target institute, quitting your job could result in losing valuable points, requiring you to achieve a higher score on the Should I quit my job to prepare for CAT- exam to secure a shortlist compared to if you had continued working. However, this quantitative effect is negligible for candidates with more than 30-36 months of work experience, as the points for work experience are capped after a certain threshold.

On the other hand, quitting your job can also be viewed from a qualitative perspective during interviews. Panelists often assume that all MBA aspirants are solely motivated by making more money and have a disdain for engineering. Therefore, when they encounter candidates who have voluntarily quit promising professional opportunities, they may hold a less favorable opinion and expect these candidates to justify their decision.

In terms of the roles offered at top b-schools, candidates are usually categorized into two groups – regular and lateral placements. Lateral placements are for individuals with a certain amount of work experience, typically falling within the 20-24 months range. Some domains, such as operations and IT consulting, strongly prefer candidates with relevant work experience. However, roles in marketing and HR generally do not require work experience, with recruiters often favoring freshers or those with highly relevant work experience.

For finance roles, factors such as your graduation discipline, the reputation of your college, and professional certifications hold more weight than work experience. Consulting roles, on the other hand, prioritize the brand value of your previous organization. Freshers from prestigious institutes like IITs and NITs or those with excellent academic and extracurricular achievements also have a high chance of being shortlisted for consulting roles.

In conclusion, if you are considering quitting your job to prepare for CAT, it is generally recommended to do so after obtaining around 24 months of work experience. This allows you to maintain a strong profile and increases your chances of securing a place in an Indian b-school. However, quitting before this timeframe may be justified if you have a clear intention of switching industries and domains. Ultimately, it is crucial to carefully consider the impact quitting will have on your profile and the specific requirements of your target b-schools.