How to Calculate Work Experience for CAT 2025: Criteria, Points & IIM Weightage

How to Calculate Work Experience for CAT 2025: Criteria, Points & IIM Weightage

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How to Calculate Work Experience For CAT 2025 - CAT work experience 2025 is calculated as the sum of the days worked till July 31, 2025 (-minus) number of days of breaks. The CAT work experience 2025 tab automatically calculates the CAT 2025 work experience of the candidate by counting the days between July 31, 2025, and the day they have joined the industry after completing their graduation. Once the IIM work experience 2026 is calculated in days, the work ex is then converted into months. Based on the CAT form work experience 2025 details, IIM work experience points will be given to the candidates for the IIM selection 2025. However, it is important to note that for the CAT work experience calculation, only the full-time work experience after graduation is considered. The last date for CAt 2025 registartion is September 13, 2025.

CAT Work Experience Criteria 2025: Detailed Breakdown

  • Full-time experience only: In the CAT form work experience tab, only full-time work experience must be entered.
  • No Part-time Work Ex: Part-time/project/internship pre-graduation work experience will not be counted as the CAT work experience 2025.
  • CAT form work experience end date 2025: The CAT 2025 work experience will be counted till July 31, 2025.
  • Chronological order: CAT form work experience has to be filled in chronological order, where the latest job of the candidates will be the first, and the first work experience will be the last.
  • Different IIM Work Experience Weightage: IIM work experience criteria for BLACKI is 0-10%. On the other hand, Baby IIMs and New IIMs give 10-20% weightage to the work experience criterion for CAT 2025.
  • No Mandatory Requirement: There is no mandatory CAT work experience for the CAT 2025 applicants. However, IIM work experience points can determine the IIM selection in 2025.

How to Calculate Work Experience For CAT 2025

How to Calculate Work Experience for CAT 2025: Criteria, Points & IIM Weightage
How to Calculate Work Experience for CAT 2025

The CAT 2025 work experience calculation is done in several steps.

  1. Once the candidates have filled out the work experience in the CAT 2025 application from, it starts calculating the CAT work experience automatically.
  2. If the candidate is still working, then the CAT work experience is calculated from the day of joining till July 31, 2025.
  3. Candidates can put in multiple CAT-form work experiences in chronological order. CAT 2025 work experience will be counted as the sum of all the work experience till July 31, 2025.
  4. If there is any break between the CAT work experiences, that needs to be put in the number of days.
  5. Finally, the work experience for CAT 2025 will be calculated by adding the total number of days and converting them into months.

CAT Work Experience 2025 Calculation

CAT 2025 work experience = sum of the days worked till July 31, 2025 - number of days of breaks

CAT Work Experience Points 2025

IIM work experience criteria for BLACKI range between 0-10%. On the other hand, Baby IIMs and New IIMs give 10-20% weightage to the CAT work experience criteria. The weightage of the CAT form work experience differs across the different IIMs. Here is the complete breakdown of the credit points given to the candidates for their work experience during the IIM Selection 2025.

Top IIMs in India 2025

IIMs Credit Point on the Work Experience

IIM Calcutta

8%

IIM Ahmedabad

Less Than 12 months : 0
>=12 and <=36 months : {0.2 * (number of months of work experience – 11)}
>36 months: 5

IIM Bangalore

5% (IIM Bangalore Final Selection)
10 % (IIM Bangalore Pre-PI Shortlisting)

IIM Kozhikode

5%

IIM Lucknow

5%

IIM Indore

0%

IIM Mumbai

Less Than 12 months : 0
>=12 and <=36 months : {0.2 * (number of months of work experience – 11)}
>36 months: 5

IIM Raipur

15%

IIM Ranchi

0 to ≤ 12 Months = 0
> 12 Months to ≤ 24 Months = 5
> 24 Months to ≤ 60 Months = 7
> 60 Months to ≤ 72 Months = 5
> 72 Months = 0

IIM Udaipur

9%

IIM Kashipur

12

IIM Shillong

Less than 12 months = 0

12 months to less than 18 months 8

18 months to less than 24 months = 12
24 months to less than 30 months = 14
30 months to less than 36 months = 10
36 months to less than 42 months = 6

42 months to less than 48 months = 2

48 months or more = 0

IIM Vizag

10

IIM Trichy

10

IIM Nagpur

Less than 6 months = 0
6<=x<12 = 5
12<=x<18 = 9
18<=x<=24 = 10
25<=x<30 = 7
30<=x<36 = 3
x>=36 = 0

IIM Bodhgaya

16%

IIM Jammu

x< = 12 = 0
12 - 18 = 4
18 - 24 = 7
24 - 36 = 10
36 - 48 = 7
48 -60 = 4

IIM Amritsar

15%

IIM Sambalpur

15%

IIM Sirmur

20%

Is work experience necessary for CAT?

The IIM work experience weightage can differ from 0-20% based on various IIMS. So, if you are wondering whether work experience is necessary for CAT or not, you should know that CAT work experience is not a mandatory criterion as per the CAT 2025 notification.

However, candidates having CAT work experience would get additional IIM work experience points based on the number of days they have worked a full-time job after their graduation. In previous years IIM Lucknow freshers percentage was 35.24% while 30% of the IIM Indore batch size consisted of freshers.

In the last few years, Baby IIMs MBA admissions witnessed around 40-70% of the students with 0 work experience get into MBA courses. So if you have no work experience for CAT, you might have a chance to get into Baby IIMs.

However, CAT work experience provides an edge to get into prominent IIMs like IIM Calcutta, IIM Ahmedabad, and IIM Indore etc. In the previous year, IIM Calcutta admitted 70% students with more than 12 months of work experience. Similarly, in 2025, 73% of the IIM Bangalore PGP students had the IIM work experience of more than 12 months.

Hence, though CAT work experience is not mandatory to apply for IIMs or top B-Schools, IIM work experience plays a significant role in getting into the top. Freshers or Candidates with 0 work experience can apply for the CAT. However, if the candidates have any work experience, they should fill out the CAT form for work experience 2025.

Minimum Work Experience For CAT 2025

There is no minimum work experience for CAT 2025. Freshers or candidates with 0 work experience can apply for CAT 2025. However, ideal work experience for IIMs is between 12-36 months to get into the top IIMs in India. From the above discussion, it became evident that having IIM work experience for the CAT provides the CAT 2025 aspirants an upper hand, as CAT work experience weightage is given during the IIM interview 2026 or the IIM selection process. Now, as IIM work experience weightage varies according to IIMs, here is the minimum CAT work experience table for IIMs for which they can get work experience points in the IIM selection process.

IIMs in India 2025

Minimum CAT work experience to get IIM work experience points for different IIMs

IIM Calcutta

Between 6 to 24 months
Minimum Points : (Months/3)

IIM Ahmedabad

Between 12 to 36 months
Minimum Points : {0.2 * (number of months of work experience – 11)}

IIM Bangalore

Between 0 to 36 months
Minimum Points: 10x/36
(x = months)

IIM Kozhikode

More than 6 Months
Minimum Points: 0.017

IIM Mumbai

Between 12 to 36 months
Minimum Points: {0.2 * (number of months of work experience – 10)}

IIM Lucknow

More than 6 months

Minimum points = min {(x-24)8.50, 10}

IIM Ranchi

Between 12 Months to 24 Months

Minimum Points = 5

IIM Shillong

12 months to less than 18 months
Minimum Points = 8

IIM Nagpur

Between 6 to 12 months
Minimum Points= 5

IIM Jammu

Between 12 to 8 months

Minimum Points 4

Is 6 months work experience enough for IIM ?

If 6 months of work experience is enough for IIM depends on the IIMs. Candidates with 6 months of CAT work experience would get 2 points in IIM Calcutta admission criteria, while in IIM Kozhikode, only if candidates have work experience of atleast more than 6 months, they would get 0.017. In the case of IIM Bangalore, candidates with 6 months of CAT work ex would get less than 0.5 per cent of marks. So, looking at the scenarios, 6 months of work experience might not be enough for IIM BLACKI. However, 6 months of experience can also play a role in the overall CAT profile of the candidates, where IIM work experience criteria can be anything between 10-20%.

Is apprenticeship considered as work experience in CAT 2025?

No apprenticeship is not considered as work experience in CAT 2025. Only the work experience which is gained after the completion of graduation will be considered at the CAT 2025 work experience. It must be noted that CAT work experience would only be counted till July 31, 2025, for IIM admission 2026.

How IIM Work experience checked ?

IIM check the CAT work experience of the management aspirants via any or more than any of the following means. IIM check the CAT work experience of the management aspirants via

Salary Slips

Bank statements

Income tax return

DIPP certificate of

Checking with the HR of the

  1. Salary Slips
  2. Bank statements
  3. Income tax return
  4. DIPP certificate of recognition
  5. Checking with the HR of the

CAT work experience end date 2025

CAT from work experience, end date is July 31, 2025. Therefore, students filling out the CAT form for work experience should count their IIM exam work experience till July 31, 2025. Once the candidate fills the CAT form work ex. till the CAT work experience end date, the CAT application work experience tab will automatically calculate the number of days for the CAT work experience 2025. Candidates can fill out multiple CAT forms work experience in a single application, but the CAT exam work experience will only be counted till July 31, 2025. Moreover, the CAT exam work experience needs to be filled in chronological order, as mentioned earlier, where the latest CAT exam work experience will be the first.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: Which IIM has the lowest fees?
A:

IIM Sirmaur, IIM Amritsar, and IIM Bodh Gaya have the lowest fees as compared to other IIMs. 

Q: What is the CAT work experience end date?
A:

The CAT work experience end date is July 31, 2025.

Q: How much work experience is ideal for a CAT?
A:

Looking at the trends, anything between 12-24 months of work experience is ideal for CAT.

Q: How is work experience verified in CAT?
A:

The work experience is verified through the pertinent documents in CAT 

Q: Does a CAT consider work experience?
A:

Yes. CAT considers work experience.

Q: How to enter work experience in the CAT form?
A:

The work experience in the CAT form will be entered after filling in the previous two sections. Personal details and the academic section. 

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Questions related to CAT

On Question asked by student community

Have a question related to CAT ?

Hello dear candidate,

Yes, you have a very good chance of getting a BPT seat with 488 out of 600 and TS EAMCET rank of 14,000 under the ST category.

As the cut off of BPT for ST category students are generally between 25,000 to 45,000 ranks, depending upon the college and you have TS EAMCET rank of 14,000.

Thank you.

If you got 802 marks in Telangana Intermediate and belong to the ST category, you have a fair chance to get admission in a BPT course in 2025, but it depends on the college and cut-off. Most BPT colleges in Telangana ask for 12th marks in Physics, Chemistry, and Biology, and some also use the TS EAMCET rank for admission. The cut-off for ST students is usually lower than for general students, but it changes every year. It is better to check the previous year’s cut-offs of the colleges you want to apply to.

Hello, Getting shortlisted for IIM Lucknow or IIT Bombay (SJMSOM) with your profile is challenging, primarily due to your 58% in Class 10th, which significantly impacts the composite score calculation for both institutes. While your 98 percentile CAT score is excellent, and your 24 months of work experience, B.Com (Hons) background (providing academic diversity, especially for IIM-L), and KVS National player status are valuable additions, top IIMs and IITs heavily weigh consistent academic performance. Your 74% in 12th is also on the lower side. IIM Lucknow places substantial weight on 10th and 12th marks, making a call quite difficult despite your strengths. You likely have a relatively better, though still uncertain, chance at IIT Bombay, as their weighting might be slightly less penalizing for past academics compared to IIM-L, and your high CAT score is a major factor. However, the low 10th score remains a significant hurdle for both prestigious institutions.

I hope you found this information helpful and for study related queries you can ask in careers360 app, Have a great day and!

Hey,

You already have a strong profile with the score of 58% in Class 10, 74% in Class 12, and 80% in graduation, but admission in IIT Bombay, Shailesh J Mehta School of Management is quite competitive, especially if you are in general category because the cutoff for general goes to 98.5-99%. Your CAT percentage is impressive but your 10th marks might reduce your score during the shortlisting process. If you perform well in Written Ability Test and Personal Interview, and present your commerce background you still stand a fair chance. But it would also be wise if you have some backups like MDI Gurugram, IMT Ghaziabad, IMI Delhi, where your marks and profile will fit well in their selection range.

HELLO,

I am providing you the link below through which you will be able to download the previous 10 years CAT question papers

Here is the link :- CAT Previous year Question papers

Hope this Helps!