M M Bagali, Research paper, MBA Faculty, HRM, HR, HRD, PhD in HR and Management......

Int. J. Mgmt Res. & Bus. Strat. 2014
Chaitra Shetty et al., 2014
PERSPECTIVE ON CAREER RELATED DECISIONS
OF MANAGEMENT STUDENTS: A MODEL OF
PSYCHOLOGICAL COUNSELING
Chaitra Shetty1*, M M Bagali2 and P V Shree Krishna3
*Corresponding Author: Chaitra Shetty chaitrashetty2007@gmail.com
Changing pace of management education and demand for talented employees has made the
students focus on career planning wisely. Thoughtful Career Decision making is important to
make career related choices such as which training or educational program to pursue, which
occupational field to enter or whether to change occupation or to be an entrepreneur. The factors
that influences Career Decision making include one's aptitude, interests and ambitions, cultural,
family influences, economic considerations, friends advice, educational resources and college
support. Choosing a career is one of the most crucial decisions people make in life. Career
decision making process should not be delayed as, an individual may land up in career that
does not fit with ones' values, interests, personal attributes, skills or ones’ goal. It also calls for
developing one's competency at each stage of career/life, so as to get ready to take up the
future challenges. Counseling towards career related decisions facilitates students personal
and interpersonal functioning with a focus on emotional, social, vocational, educational front.
Career counseling influences on the brand image of the management school, develops value
proposition and management commitment. Further, transitions in technology, education,
demographics have made the management students to reconsider their value proposition and
meet rapidly changing job market. The paper highlights the importance of Psychological
counseling for students and a strong need to set-up an exclusive Psychological Counseling
Centre. It draws up a model, addressing student's career need and how psychological counseling
at right time would be handy for students per se.
Keywords: Career, Counseling, Management, B-school, Assessment centre
This article can be downloaded from http://www.ijmrbs.com/currentissue.php
156
INTRODUCTION
Industrial globalization has promulgated the
outlook of employment opportunities in the 21st
century. Rising expectation of the qualitative job
1 Department of Management Sciences, Jain University, Bangalore.
2 Head, Research in Management, Jain University, Bangalore.
3 CERSSE, Jain University, Bangalore.
ISSN 2319-345X www.ijmrbs.com
Vol. 3, No. 3, July 2014
© 2014 IJMRBS. All Rights Reserved
seekers in the job market by the employers has
forced the student fraternity to forecast their
career, accept challenges, develop skills,
competencies and acquire knowledge. Shukla
(2013) opines owing to the globalization,

Int. J. Mgmt Res. Bus. Strat. 2014 Chaitra Shetty et al., 2014
157
privatization and liberalization lot of changes are
noticed in the functioning of industries. Naturally
industries across the world are required to have
the manpower with multi-skills rather than simply
knowledge oriented. Right Decision related to
career is a long process which comprises of
variety of factors that influences a student to make
a career choice. The decision making
methodology of a student may be through reading,
listening or by seeing and interaction per se. The
influential factors for decision making in
management education related courses includes
Professors, career advisory, student placement
cell, interaction with external guests or faculty,
parents and so on. Brown (2004) stated that the
conditions that stimulate students’ development
of wisdom are: (a) orientation to learning, (b)
experiences, (c) interactions with others, and (d)
environment. The current study focuses on
developing a psychological counseling model
which interconnects the students and the
counseling centre of a Management institute. The
preposition in the paper strongly feels the support
at an institutional level, to mentor and guide
students at their crucial stage of career choice
during the last year of higher education.
As per special issue of Business World June
2011 edition, “India’s best B-schools 2011 - BW
Survey”, there are approximately 3,900 B-schools
in the country and they have a capacity of about
400,000 students a year. However, jobs created
by the corporate sector today are just for 100,000
students a year. So, where do the remaining
300,000 students go? What about their career if
they are left with one year of job search, than they
have to join the numbers which are added again
in next year? With the rising number of B-schools,
the quality education imparted by the B-schools
is the challenge that needs to be addressed. The
increasing demands of the job market,
performance at the workplace, job commitment,
job satisfaction, handling professional challenges
with work-life balance, has led individuals to re-think
if they have opted for a right career. ‘Career’
according to Oxford Dictionary means - “an
occupation undertaken for a significant period of
a person’s life and with opportunities for
progress”. When an individual aspires for a career
which he want to achieve, then he explores about
the career he is interested and can develop the
necessary skill required to choose that career.
Career decision making revolves on choosing a
right career path. This surely requires a clear de-markation
between many aspects such as
passion for a Career, financial prospects in a
career, satisfaction level and skills to opt for
particular career, competency towards a
particular career choice and so on.
If there is a clear vision by oneself, equally
supported by guidance from experienced,
knowledgeable-family members, mentors,
academic counselors or expert in the particular
field, provided the career choice is identified early
can lead to self-satisfying career in the future.
Whether management education is already
chosen by a student by choice or by force, the
interest in the areas of management career can
be identified, and the skills can be acquired
towards achieving it with the help of Assessment
Centre that can be established by B-schools.
Literature says that, less than 10% of B-schools
have the concept of Assessment centre, while

158
rest has never heard of such concept and
practice. When a student is at the first year of
academic program in the Management institute
interest towards a particular area has to be
identified early and planned so that extra input is
received and the student can be prepared to face
the job market so that readiness of students is
more with proper planning. As Career indecision
disrupts the career development process,
Individualized approach to career guidance and
counseling is expected in Management institutes.
It is crucial to help students foresee themselves
and be better decision makers to be future leaders
and Managers who will be able to influence the
organization they work in and in turn the society.
The entire idea of the paper is to try and
understand the importance of Psychological
counseling for better decision making and career
choice, per se, and how such counseling centre
can be established in B-schools. The advantage
of having an assessment centre, mentoring
modules and guidance for students at early stage
of higher education would lead to better results in
addressing the under and un-employment issues.
Few researchers like Simmering et al. (1995),
Lowe and Simons (1997), Anakwe, Hall and
Susan Schor (1999), Honeycutt, Jr. and Thelen
(2003), Boswell et al. (2003), Malgwi et al. (2005),
Ozbilgin et al. (2005), Schlee, et al. (2007),
Tanova et al. (2008), Lin Mei Tan and Laswad
(2009), Chuang et al. (2009), Jordaan C Smithard
and Burger (2009), Heiko Haase (2011) have
contributed to career choice related decisions of
students at Undergraduate level and Post
Graduate level in the West. Very few studies on
Career related decisions of Management
students in India like study of Tanuja Agarwala
(2008), Lakhwinder Singh Kang and Surinder
Sharma (2010 ), Anubha Singh and Mihir Dash
(2010), Martina R Noronha (2011), have been
reported.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Few studies have been examined in relation to
the importance of Psychological Counseling.
From time to time, Researchers have tried to
focus and identify the importance of students’
career development and mentoring of students.
The focus of studies has always been to look at
the right model for students’ career choice and
career decision making.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
• To understand the most reliable source of
career choice of management students;
• To analyze the need of counseling towards
career decision making;
• To develop a psychological counseling model
addressing career issues.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
• Are students certain about their career choice
and career aspiration during the commencement
of the management program?
• Is counseling centre at management colleges
crucial in understanding and deciding about
career choice and career aspiration?
• How important is Psychological counseling
related to career and what can be done through
Psychological Intervention?
HYPOTHESIS
• Students are uncertain about their career
choice and career aspiration during the
commencement of Management degree.

S.No. Author/Title/Journal Paper Outcome Gaps
159
Osipow H S (1999), “Assessing Career
Indecision”, Journal of Vocational
Behavior, Vol.55, No.1, pp.147–154.
Brown C S (2004), “Where This Path
May Lead: Understanding Career
Decision-Making for Post college”, Life
Journal of College Student Development,
Vol. 45, No.4, pp.375-390.
Agarwala T (2008), “Factors
influencing career choice of
management students in India”, Career
Development International, Vol.13, No.
4, pp.362 – 376.
Rubin S R and Dierdorff C E (2009),
“How Relevant Is the MBA? Assessing
the Alignment of Required Curricula
and Required Managerial Competencies”
Academy of Management Learning
Education, Vol. 8, No.2, pp.208–224.
Othman H N and Ishak B S (2009),
“Attitude Towards Choosing a Career
in Entrepreneurship”, European Journal
of Social Sciences, Vol. 10, No .3, pp.
419-436.
Kang S L and Sharma S (2010),
“Management Education in Punjab:
A Perceptive Study of MBA Alumni”,
The IUP Journal of Management
Research, Vol. 48, No.2, IX, pp.37-50.
Kumar S and Dash K M (2011),
“Management Education in India:
Trends, Issues and Implications”,
Research Journal of International Studies,
Issue 18, pp.16-26.
Dupre C and Williams K (2011),
”Undergraduate Perceptions of
Employer Expectations” , Journal of
Career and Technical Education, Vol. 26,
No.1, pp. 8 -19.
Hirschi A (2012), “The Career
Resources Model: An Integrative
Framework for Career Counselors”,
British Journal of Guidance Counseling,
Vol. 40, No.4, pp.369-383.
Originally focused on the problem of career
decision making of students the issue now
encompasses a broad life spectrum because of
the increased frequency of events that require
people to revise their career decisions over their
life span. Instead of facing the need to make a
career decision only during late adolescence
and early adulthood (if that was ever really the
case) revised career plans seem to be needed at
a variety of life transitions.
A student’s postgraduate decision-making
process can be influenced by a variety of people
and experiences within the academic
community and beyond.
“Skills, competencies, and abilities” was the most
important factor and “father” was the most
significant individual influencing the career
choice of Indian management students. The
predominant cultural value was collectivism,
although the students demonstrated
individualist tendencies in some contexts.
Findings further indicate that institutional
factors such as media rankings and mission
orientation have no effect on the alignment of
MBA curricula with critical managerial
competencies.
Research findings show that anattitude based
on an internal locus of control, monetary value,
and autonomy had a significant impact on
choosing entrepreneurship as a career choice.
Although management education in India has
grown at a very rapid pace, it is not sufficient to
meet the needs of the Indian economy. In
addition to the insufficient number of
management institutes, the Quality Management
Education being imparted by a majority of the
business schools is not up to the mark.
Management education need to be holistic,
targeted and customized with aim to remove
the gap that exist between industry
requirements and academic curriculum
focusing on attitude, corporate awareness,
grooming and developing managerialskills.
This research serves as a reminder to institutions
of higher education to remember students’
desire for career preparedness in their
extracurricular and academic offerings, so these
institutions can not only help students find
jobs after graduation but to also prepare them—
and help them see the value of career-related
skills—so they might find long-term career
success.
The paper proposes four critical career resources
which are essential for career development in
the modern context: human capital resources,
social resources, psychological resources, and
identity resources. Implications of this
framework for counseling practice are presented.
Emphasis in counseling can be
placed on helping individuals
acquire the skills needed to
progress further in their career
decision status. Paper paves way
for counseling applications to help
in better decision making.
Felt the need of deeper
understanding of career decision
making among students.
As skills, competencies and
abilities are important , the
utilization of those could be
emphasized from the beginning of
Management program.
Lack of practical training and
psychological counseling, relevant
curriculum is required. All these
are lagging to develop better
managerial competencies.
Attitude can predict career choice
in this field through aspiration
levelamong graduates. It is clear
that attitude plays an important
role in motivating an individual’s
career choice behavior.
Analysis of requirement of value
proposition to students from
Management institutes.
Skills possessed by the students
and the requirement of finishing
schools through survey of
Management students.
Lack of career related skills
imparted by educational
institutions.
Development of resources as
specified need to be incorporated
by career counselors.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
10.

B-schools participated in the Survey
160
• Reinforcement obtained from B-schools has
a significant influence on career related
decision making of management students.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
AND SAMPLING
AIMA (2011) ** Report has come out with B-School
ranking on all India level. The sample
comprises of all the second year Management
students, in IV Semester. The B-level ranked B-schools
with full time courses located in
Bangalore as per survey reports of AIMA with
reference year 2011 are considered for the
sample. For the present study, this ranking will
be the base for selecting the B-schools. Business
schools in South India have been placed in five
categories-SL, A1, A2, A3 and A4. Samples of
seven B-schools which approximate a sample
size of 350 students are considered for this study.
The survey questionnaire as shown in Annexure
I comprising of 20 questions on a five point likert
scale, viz., strongly agree, agree, can’t say,
disagree, strongly disagree. Among them,
Management colleges selected and participated
in the survey with categories is as shown
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
• The study is limited to students of Management
Institutions at Bangalore;
• The school ranked for the year 2011 by All India
Management Association (AIMA);
• Focus in the area of career choice and career
aspiration and need for Psychological
counseling; and
• To focus in developing a model addressing
career issues.
METHOD OF DATA
COLLECTION
Primary Data
The questionnaire was framed intending to know
the students decision making competency, to
analyze the influencing agent for decision making
towards career choice and career aspiration, to
find if students are satisfied on the skills and
Name of the Institute Category
Kristu Jayanthi College of Management and Technology A2
Indian Academy School of Management Studies A2
Acharya Bangalore B-School(Abbs) A3
The Oxford College of Business Management A3
Surana College Centre for Post Graduate Studies A4
Sita Devi Ratanchand Nahar Adarsh college A4
RV Institute of Management A4
B-Schools Frequency Percent Cumulative
Percent
Acharya Bangalore 23 6.5 6.8
B-school
Indian Academy 26 7.4 16.3
School of Management
Kristu Jayanti College 68 19.4 34.6
RVIM 62 17.7 53.0
SRN Adarsh College 48 13.7 67.2
Surana College PG Centre 38 10.9 78.4
The Oxford College 73 20.9 100.0
of Business Management
Total 338 96.6
Missing Values 12 3.4
Total 350 100.0
Note: ** Special Supplement Indian Management-October 2011 “The Class of 2011”, AIMA, India.

161
knowledge gained when in B-school, and need
of up gradation of skills in terms of career
development. With this in view, the respondents
chosen for Survey Questionnaire were students
of II Year Management students so that at the end
of the IV Semester they would be in a position to
decide better. [Two semesters comprises one
year].
Analysis and Interpretations
Based on the responses received, Simple
percentage, Ratio, Descriptive Statistics and
inferential statistics have been applied in the study
to draw inferences and test hypothesis.
Depending on the data obtained a psychological
model is developed related to career decision
making, and how the intervention of psychology
and psychological counseling would support and
help students for better choice, per se.
Data Analysis
A question on decision making of career choice
was posed. Out of 350 respondents 80% of the
respondents said that their decision making on
career choice was better after they gained entry
into the management program as shown in Table
1, which supports the first assumption.
The probing of need of finishing school for
competency development was put to test.
The question was asked with the objective of
finding, if the students were satisfied with the skills
acquired, was the necessary input required to
develop their personality development, facing
interview, career development and knowledge on
career prospects obtained at B-school. From the
responses received from Table 2, it shows that
70.6% of the students agree that they require a
finishing school to hone their skills, and 23.4% of
the students are indecisive if they require a
finishing school or not? This shows that the
decision making ability of the students is
reasonably poor among the B-school students.
Only a minimal of 6% of the students do not
support the requirement of finishing school.
The students were asked on the importance
of counseling centre in career decision making.
The output obtained from the survey is
represented as shown in Table 3.
The output obtained from the survey as in Table
3 depicts that 58.3% of the students feel that
counseling session organized by the college to
assess their abilities, skills and competency has
helped them to decide their career. Further, 16%
of the students are indecisive and 25.4% of the
students say they have not been benefitted by
the counseling session. Though marginally
students agree that they have been benefited by
B-schools counseling centre/placement centre,
it does not satisfy the second hypothesis
completely, which says that Reinforcement
obtained from B-schools has a significant
influence on career related decision making of
management students. These findings also
suggest that the B-schools and placement/
assessment centre can be more full-fledged so
that students rely more on them for discussion
on career related challenges.
However, from the overall study it seems that
students need to build up the skill on decision
making area which is crucial for the future
managers and though they have gained some
knowledge towards their career choice and
career aspiration after entry into B-schools, there
is a requirement of honing their skills and
competency. These responses support the
second assumptions and drive the importance
of psychological counseling.

Table 1: Decision Making Towards Career Choice
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Valid Strongly Disagree 3 .9 .9 .9
Disagree 18 5.1 5.1 6.0
Can’t say 49 14.0 14.0 20.0
Agree 167 47.7 47.7 67.7
Strongly Agree 113 32.3 32.3 100.0
Total 350 100.0 100.0
Table 2: Need of Finishing School
Valid Strongly Disagree 4 1.1 1.1 1.1
Disagree 17 4.9 4.9 6.0
Can't say 82 23.4 23.4 29.4
Agree 188 53.7 53.7 83.1
Strongly Agree 59 16.9 16.9 100.0
Total 350 100.0 100.0
Table 3:Counseling Session to Assess Abilities, Skills and Competency
Valid Strongly Disagree 29 8.3 8.3 8.3
Disagree 60 17.1 17.1 25.4
Can't say 56 16.0 16.0 41.4
Agree 162 46.3 46.3 87.7
Strongly Agree 43 12.3 12.3 100.0
Total 350 100.0 100.0
162
IMPORTANCE OF
PSYCHOLOGICAL
INTERVENTION
Psychology is the science of mind and study of
behavioral characteristics of an individual or
group. Various branches of psychology include
Clinical Psychology, Child Psychology, Social
Psychology, Educational Psychology and so on.
Applied psychology paves way for Educational,
environmental, Occupational psychology which
results in career development, training,
assessment, evaluation of individuals or groups.

163
Career counseling helps the student to know
the career path so that the student can make a
choice as well as develop competency towards
the career choice made. With this in view, if a
Psychological model is set up in each college
through Assessment centre, it would channelize
the students to foresee a better career. An attempt
towards depicting a psychological model to be
set up in every B-school through a full fledged
assessment centre is as shown in Figure 1.
STEP 1: FIRST YEAR
MANAGEMENT STUDENTS
The target group of this model is 1st year
Management students as the focus on career
related decisions and it is advisable to begin in
the 1st year after commencement of Management
program, so that early decision making can be
done. Before meeting the career Counselor at
the assessment centre, a student should first do
an introspection of themselves by answering self
directed questions as mentioned here. Basically
self evaluation is done by answering all the W’s
and H’s (as shown in Box 1).
STEP 2: ASSESSMENT
ABOUT FUTURE CAREER
When the student has done the self-evaluation,
assessment about future career can be planned
with the help of career counselor in the
assessment centre of the B-school. The
counselor needs to counsel, mentor the student
and analyze the following needs. A SWOT
analysis would be preferred.
Need Analysis
The counselor is required to find the need of the
student to work in a particular field of interest by
considering the interest, aptitude, skills,
knowledge, personality, communication and so
Figure 1: Psychological Model with Respect to Career Related Decision
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3
Step 4 Step 5 Step 6

164
on. This stage calls for “Aptitude assessment” in
the trust area.
Focus Analysis
The focus of the student and the clarity towards
particular field of interest need to be discovered
by the counselor by counseling sessions. After
understanding and assessing the future
aspiration, the goal can be set.
Goal Analysis
Considering the future requirements, objectives
can be set to the student and a blue print of how
the mission to reach the vision with set objective
is focused can be strategically mapped.
STEP 3: QUESTIONNAIRE
FOR ASSESSMENT
Questionnaire comprising of psychological, social,
economic, intellectual, personality career choice
need may be framed. This could have closed or
open ended questions (as shown in Box 2).
STEP 4: SET ASSESSMENT
CENTRE
Each management college requires a full-fledged
Counseling/assessment centre, as brain
storming of the students is required before one
chooses the specialization and career. The
Box 1: Self Evaluation Question
• Why did I opt for Management program?
• Which is my area of interest / which field interests me the most?
• What are the arenas in job market that interests me?
• Which is the suitable specialization to opt?
• How to develop my knowledge?
• What skills I possess, What skills I need, What skills I should develop;
• Where do I see myself in future?
• How do I have a Dash Board for next two years and what that Dash Board would contain? Which of the competencies are required
in that dash board? Dash board as shown in Annexure II.
Box 2: Assessment Parameter
• Working in team interest me the most Yes/No
• Numbers does not interest me Yes/No
• I get nervous in public Yes/No
• I do not like to work under others Yes/No
• Travelling tires me. Yes/No
• My interest towards____________ specialization is because____________________.
• The opportunities I foresee in the career of my choice is
a) High earnings
b) Work-life balance
c) Contribution to society
d) Self development
e) Others. If others specify________________.
• I am passionate about
• I dislike to do
• I go extra mile to work, if __________________ is in the work

165
assessment centre should comprise a team of
qualified career counselors so that the interest of
the student is honed and innate capability of the
student is identified and guided in opting a right
career.
STEP 5: COMPETENCY
ASSESSMENT
Based on the questionnaire and oral interaction
with the student, the competency level of each
student is classified under low/moderate/high
depending on the career choice made. A SWOT
analysis is done based on the responses
received.
STEP 6: CAREER ADVICE
The Career Counselor/ psychological counseling
needs to be done based on the assessment in
understanding and analyzing capabilities and
suggesting on improving self-knowledge, creating
awareness about the decided career, mentoring
students by interconnecting their interest, career
decision, future opportunities available for the
decided specialization and the like. If required
counselor can recommend experts in particular
field and have a one to one session to help the
student to attain a better future.
IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
Career is multifaceted and plays a vital role in
each individual’s life. Career planning and
exploration of career should begin at an early
stage. The complexity of choosing a career is
experienced by every individual especially during
schooling and collegiate level. Choosing a degree,
opting for a specialization degree, career decision
making may involve self or external influences.
Infact, employability is that one foresees after the
completion of the degree chosen. In every step
that the student takes a choice is involved. The
path chosen estimates the students’ career
growth.
The present study highlights two aspects:
· Potential management students in analyzing,
identifying their skills, capabilities towards
determining their career with introspection of
self or through seeking external help.
· Career counselors/Academic Counselors in
providing a well planned, well organized tailor
made career guidance service to cater to each
college or the student.
ROLE OF B-SCHOOL
Management institutes are growing exponentially
year after year. The study tries to focus on the
quality of education imparted by these
Management institutes. The need is to identify the
requirements of the industry and bridge the gap
that persists between the supply of aspirants
having particular skills and the need of skills in
the industry. The B-school plays a vital role and it
is important that each B-school builds its value
proposition and create a self brand image by
developing exhaustive programs which can help
the students to be placed in the industries with
the help of team of professionals from Industry
and Corporate through assessment/ Counseling
Centre set up in each Institution with a unique
objective to achieve. B-schools should ensure
that syllabus change should be taken care in
shorter durations by approaching the concerned
body/board of education. Concept of Finishing
school can be developed in B-schools on a larger
canvas. A dialogue and interaction under the
banner of Industry-Institute is the need of the hour.
Role of Faculty
Faculties should equip themselves apart from the

166
textbook knowledge and emphasize the students
towards understanding of concepts and gain
practical exposure, help to gain research aptitude
towards the options available in the industry to
embrace the career of their choice by developing
required skills. There is a need to customization
in all the fields. As the industry demands specific
skill set faculties too should be well equip
themselves. This can be done through association
with professional bodies such as: CII/FICCI/
NHRD/SHRM/NASSCOM and the like.
Role of Placement Centre
Planned and organized career guidance
programs and services are crucial so that self
improvement, career development will inturn
foster employability of young generation. A
knowledge based pool of citizens would develop
self as well as society. Placement Centre/
assessment centre in colleges can be a catalyst
in shaping and bridging the gap between
academics and industry. The current study
focuses and encourages each college to set up
a full fledged Assessment centre so that
challenges of students are addressed in a
systematic and proficient manner.
Role of Corporate
If every B-school adopts a methodology which is
in line with the corporate requirement through
assessment centers, the corporate would require
investing less on the training costs. The corporate
bodies can tie-up with the institutions and guide
the institutes on the skill set requirements and
when approached by B-schools so that qualitative
pool of candidates is developed at B-school.
Sector wise connect and network would be an
add-on advantage.
Policy Implication for B-School
B-school plays a vital role in shaping the future of
Management students. The hindrances that
students face in decision making, self realization
about their area of interest, future prospects about
career avenues available and information required
for career exploration can be addressed by
assessment centre that can be set up in B-school.
The Assessment Centre can help
students for better decision making. B-schools
can encourage students to opt a more practical
oriented summer internship program.
The Assessment Centre should aid the
students in identifying the competency in a student
and further guide; motivate to choose a suitable
specialization/career based on the competency
level. The B-school should initiate more industry
visits and encourage more practical oriented
interactions. B-schools should identify corporate
professionals according to the competency and
career interest of students and develop corporate
mentor-student development program in career
exploration process. A bunch of students can be
assigned to a corporate mentor for understanding
corporate-industry relevant skills needed, and
honing them over a period of time.
Research Implication for B-School
The B-schools can develop a self-evaluation
procedure and audit internal performance of
students, lecturers, syllabus, and methodology
of teaching through the assessment centre.
Analyze and review more practical oriented
curriculum, survey on the preparedness towards
job readiness of students, Identification of skills
and honing of skills through Corporate-academic
interaction and collaboration and the like.
FUTURE RESEARCH
The study helps the future researchers to
interconnect students, lecturers, parents,
external agencies in developing modules for

167
career decision making, along with career
guidance Psychologist for better quality of life, per
se. Current study paves way for future
researchers and academicians to develop a
career related curriculum so that it can be
incorporated in the Management schools.
Since, academic inputs in the area of Finance/
Marketing/HR have been the concentration of
most B-schools, a series of life skills and career
competency skills needs to be addressed on a
larger scale. Incorporating this into the main
stream of academic program calls for a relook of
management education methodology. Further
work can focus on how it can be made as part of
integral to the main stream of management
program.
CONCLUSION
Management education has changed drastically
with the advent of new B-schools. The qualitative
pool of students has to be produced at the
collegiate level so that right channel for career
decision making is done at this level. The current
study focuses on setting up a full-fledged
assessment centre so that the students’ career
interest, choice, Career aspiration, Career
exploration, Career motives, attitude towards a
particular career is assessed and in return it
benefits the student to make a better Career
decision making, helps in image building of the
B-school and helps the corporate to reduce
training costs and the society in general.
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ANNEXURE I
Questionnaire
PART-A
NAME : Mr. / Ms.
170
YEAR OF BIRTH :
MARITAL STATUS : Single Married
PRESENT COLLEGE/INSTITUTION :
SPECIALIZATION (MBA) :
BACHELOR’S DEGREE :
NO OF YEARS OF WORK EXPERIENCE :
E-MAIL ID :
PART-B
Each question of enquiry is offered with 5 point scale namely Strongly Agree, Agree, Can’t say Disagree and Strongly Disagree. Please
mark option of your choice in the space provided with a tick mark.
S No Area Of Enquiry Strongly Agree Can’t Disagree Strongly
Agree Say Disagree
1 My admission to Management program was by:
A) Choice
B) Force
C) No options left
2 After gaining adequate knowledge on career
prospects available I joined management program
3 My vision towards career path is very clear
4 My career aspiration to join sector and industry
of my choice began:
A) Before the commencement of management program
B) During the commencement of management program
5 I am satisfied with my personal competency level before joining
management program
6 My academic performance influences my career prospects
7 Available careers in the specialization of my choice has been
explored explicitly

Questionnaire
S No Area Of Enquiry Strongly Agree Can’t Disagree Strongly
171
Agree Say Disagree
8 The decision on choosing of my specialization changed
gradually in the course of my study
9 I am unaware of the diverse job opportunities available in the
corporate
10 The summer internship has helped me to analyze the career path
chosen by me
11 Regular assessment of my skills, abilities is done with the help
of guidance available at my B-school
12 College placement cell/counseling centre has helped and mentored
me in assessing my abilities/skills before choosing specialization
13 Career Exploration was conducted by my friend and myself
after commencement of management program
14 I am confident to enter corporate world after the completion
of management program
15 Decision making towards career choice is better in me at
the end of management program than at the commencement
of management program
16 I have undergone a counseling session organized by the
college to assess my abilities, skills and competency which
has helped me to decide my career
17 I am confident about my competency by the end of
management program than at the beginning
18 Curriculum in management program has made me to
acquire skills, knowledge and ability for pursuing my career choice
19 I sense a need of finishing school by the end of management
program to hone my skills
20 The most reliable source to discuss on career aspiration and
career choice are (Assign priority ranking for the following)
A) Faculty members
B) Peer group
C) Placements
D) Outside agencies
E) B-School
F) Family

ANNEXURE II
Dash Board For Development Of Competency At Each Stage For Management Students
Competency I Term II Term III Term IV Term
Ability to handle stress Uncertainty **
172
Accountability *
Accounting and sound finance knowledge ****
Adaptability *
Analytical ability *** ****
Basic mathematic skills ** ***
Being politically savvy *
Business acumen *
Business communications **
Conflict Management ***
Creative thinking **
Crisis management ** *** ****
Customer management techniques * ***
Dealing with ambiguity * **
Decision making ability *** ****
Etiquette Mannerisms *
Facility Management * **
Documentation practices * **
How to set up a department ** ***
Interpersonal skills * ** ***
Recruiting ability *
Reporting ability *
Judgmental ability * ** *** ****
Judicial management of resources * ** ***
Knowledge of labor law Legal issues ** ****
Leadership ability *
Management of workplace diversity ** ***
Market analysis Reading * ** ***
Negotiation skills * ** ***
Oral and Written communication skills ***
Planning and Organizing ability * ** *** ****
Presentation skills * ***
Problem-solving skills ** *** ***

ANNEXURE II
Dash Board For Development Of Competency At Each Stage For Management Students
Competency I Term II Term III Term IV Term
Project management * ** *** ****
Quality Knowledge * ** ***
173
Research skill *
Risk Management ** *** ****
Six Sigma *
Social diversity *
Strategic thinking ability * ** *** ****
Supply chain Management * ** ***
Team Group dynamics issues *
Time Management *
Understanding of cultural sensitivity *
Note: * Essential skills required; ** Desired skills required; *** Mandatory skills required; **** Core competency required.

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