Are Aptitude Tests Necessary For Management Industry Aspirants?

“Why do I have to study quantitative aptitude to get admission to a management programme? I don’t have to solve sums in my office.” This question must have crossed your mind once while planning your future as an aspiring management trainee.Do you think what is taught in the curriculum is of any use during your career? Read this article to know more about the need for certain aptitude tests during the selection process.

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MBA qualification continues to be the hottest choice for students from all domains. Preparation for the entrance exams of this coveted career can be an overwhelming journey with varied sections and varied difficulty levels. Each entrance stresses more on testing a different aptitude of the applicant but it tests students from all disciplines at the same level. Is this unified assessment parameter just? Why are management aspirants tested only on specific skills or aptitudes?

In this article, we have analysed the supposed reason for these testing parameters. We have also asked a few questions from the respondents working in different industries who have gone through similar selection processes. Let’s discover if they agree or disagree with this litmus test or not.

Entrance exams for Bschools mainly have five major sections- Quantitative Aptitude(QA), LR-DI( Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation), VA-RC (Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension), DM(Decision Making), and General Awareness. We will analyse here how and where and if these aptitudes are later useful in corporate life.

Management entrance exams usually test you on quantitative aptitude which is a common section in tests such as CAT, XAT,NMAT, and IIFT among others. Apart from this management aspirants are tested on logical reasoning and data interpretation, verbal ability, decision making and general knowledge.

However, high scores in these tests does not ensure a comfortable managerial journey. Gitika Kumari, a graduate of IIM Udaipur now working as a management trainee for ACC Limited does not consider QA and LR-DI as the only parameters of effective management. She argues that they might help students to get into a good college but it does not have much to do with the real world skills required in corporate. “Communication and management of people play a major role in being a good manager in the real world,” she says.

She further adds that basic knowledge of maths along with other subjects may be needed to develop an understanding of running of business and a sense of number crunching. In her opinion however, “A lot of people with low QA and LR can also be great at managing business.”

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Personal Interview: Questions Beyond Academic Profile

During the interview process for admission to a Bschool, the panel asks a lot of questions that fall beyond the academic profile of the student. For instance, they might ask how you would handle a difficult team member or manage a tight deadline. When you respond, mention qualities like patience, adaptability, and resilience – all of which are important in the corporate world. Your personal interview during admissions is basically a selection of candidates who not only excel academically but also bring valuable human skills to the classroom.

The panel may inquire about family members or favourite hobbies during the selection process too. It is just to get an overview of the candidate’s personality beyond their academic knowledge. This gives the panel an insight into your value system, and sense of responsibility during the discussion.

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Do Bschools Teach Management Skills?

The preparation of the entrance exams itself is a test of performing well while managing stress. Ananya Ambashtha, a student of Xavier Institute of Social Service(XISS), Ranchi who is working as an Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) Consultant at Oracle considers the pressure at a corporate job is still at a better level than the exam level. According to Ambashtha, there are only a few target-oriented jobs in the management sector which are even more challenging than the entrance exam because of the stringent deadlines.

Stress during this phase also guides future managers to manage time and schedule tasks as per priority. Life at a management college is filled with back-to-back submissions, presentations, projects, quizzes, and tests which is like a warm-up for target-oriented jobs like sales.

A management school not only introduces aspiring managers to theoretical concepts of managing a business but also develops the soft skills needed for it. Pushpa Kumari, lead associate, human resources at R1 RCM who completed her management studies from Savitribai Phule Pune University asserts that B school plays an important role in developing managerial skills. “The training at a Bschool helps aspiring managers understand real-time situations,” she says. She adds that candidates also pick up qualities such as critical thinking, analytical reasoning etc while training.

How Is An MBA Relevant To Your Corporate Journey?

The experience during an MBA also makes great relevance to your corporate journey. Analysis of data is one crucial aspect of the managerial curriculum. This skill later plays an instrumental role in making many strategic decisions. Mohit Kathoke, a student of the Institute of Management Technology, (IMT) Nagpur working as a Capital Market and BFSI Senior Consultant at Accenture emphasises the importance of his finance lectures in his current job profile. “The ability to analyse financial data has helped me make financial decisions like investment in stocks and bonds,” says Kathoke.

Another example is of Veshali Wanchoo, management graduate from MES's Institute of Management & Career Courses (IMCC) Pune, now working as a Talent Acquisition Manager at Wipro. Wanchoo says that her entire work is around data. She uses data to prepare for future trends that can be predicted from data analysis. She further uses data to study what went well and what went wrong. She believes that the next course of action and filtration of anomalies can be only data and data analysis.

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While aptitude tests form a base of understanding business transactions attributes like communication and adaptability are vital in the business realm. Business schools cultivate holistic individuals who can navigate complexities, ensuring success in dynamic professional landscapes.