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  • Online CAT : Do’s and Don’ts

    The most obvious aspect of the ‘Online CAT’ that concerns students is the emphasis on the word ‘Online’ rather than the the word CAT. Well, the answer is to keep things simple and not to worry about the ‘Online’ format, instead concentrate on the ‘content’ of the paper.

    CAT is more a test of elimination than a test of selection. The successful candidates often attribute their success to their approach — a poised and calm mind, avoid errors and do not fall into the traps that the exam often surprises you with. This article will address the common errors that students make in the run-up to CAT.

    Error#1: Preparing only for select topics

    One of the serious flaws in the approach over the years has been to narrow down the syllabus and prepare only for select topics based on questions that have appeared in the past few years of CAT. CAT has been an extremely unpredictable examination and is known to spring a surprise every year. There is a high probability that topics or areas that have not had much of a weightage in recent years might make a comeback. Therefore it is in the best interest of students to prepare for all topics.

    Error#2: Speculating on the composition of the paper

    CAT is known to ask questions from a wide assortment of test areas and therefore there is no point speculating as to what might happen this year. The IIMs have hinted that there will be ‘around’ 60 Qs across three sections: Verbal, Quantitative and Logic & Data Interpretation in CAT2010.

    Error#3: Overdose of mocks

    Most students believe that the best way to prepare is to take as many mocks as possible. Repeated mock tests only highlight the same weaknesses and if students are not analysing their mistakes and rectifying them, then there will not be any major improvement in their performance. Therefore, a thorough analysis of every mock test will yield far better results than taking a large number of such tests.

    Error#4: Missing out on items to be carried to the examination centre

    This year, students should carry their Admit Card, the CAT Voucher, a Valid Photo identity (any among Driver’s License, Passport, PAN Card, Voter ID, College ID, Employee Identification Card or a notarised affidavit with photo, signature, date of birth and residential address) and a valid document as proof in case the student belongs to the SC/ST categories.

    Error#5: Blind guessing

    It is has been observed in ‘experimental’ conditions that blind guessing almost always leads to a negative/low score, therefore avoid blind-guessing and marking answers indiscriminately. However, if you are able to eliminate two/three choices (out of the four or five) on proper reasoning, then, it is not advisable to leave out the question even if you do not know how to solve it.

    Error#6: Unequal distribution of time across sections

    The IIMs calls only those students who manage to clear the cut-offs in each section of CAT and also the overall cut-off. To meet this objective it is imperative that you spend equal amounts of time across all three sections to give yourself enough opportunity to clear the cut-off in every section.

    Error#7: Not having a buffer time

    This year the exam will be for 135 minutes and a good time allocation strategy would be 40 minutes across three sections with 15 minutes of buffer time. The buffer is required to cushion against bad performance in any one section or to tackle a section that is exceptionally difficult, or one where the student is not confident of clearing the cut-offs.

    Error#8: Targeting a specific number of Qs to clear cut-offs

    Targeting a pre-set number of questions to clear the cut-offs is not a great strategy, as the cut-offs are a function of the difficulty level of the section and the paper. Hence, one can decide to attempt a certain number of questions during the exam but not before.

    (The author, Sai Kumar, is director of TIME Mumbai, a coaching centre for MBA aspirants)

    Source: Business Standard

  • AP tech graduates find no takers!

    AP tech graduates find no takers!

    A recent study has revealed that only 10 per cent of the state’s engineering graduates are ‘actually employable.’ The major ‘skill gap’ has been blamed for the poor state of affairs. While about one lakh technical graduates (the most in India) pass out of Andhra Pradesh’s engineering colleges every year, most of them are not even “employable”.

    While the national employability average is 25 per cent, a recent Nasscom McKinsey study has revealed that only around 10 per cent of the state’s fresh engineering graduates are “actually employable”.

    Even the state government has officially admitted that less than 10 per cent engineering graduates produced in the state are employable.

    It did so in the form of a government order (GO RT No.499) issued in July this year while constituting a high-level committee to suggest measures to improve the situation.

    Companies, however, are forced to recruit these
    “unemployable graduates” due to severe shortage of a qualified technical workforce. According to Nasscom, an average company invests 16 weeks to train these graduates in areas such as technical skills, soft skills, company orientation and process-specific domain skills. As a result, the training cost of tech companies has risen steadily in the last few years. Continuing to recruit a trainable pool, however, is not a sustainable option going forward.

    Similarly most IT-BPO companies also spend a significant amount training new recruits. In fact, the amount spent on training new recruits is equivalent to 2 per cent of industry revenues.

    The Nasscom survey points to the major skill gap that exists among engineering graduates and makes a strong case for the government and engineering colleges to focus more on
    employability and quality.

    Academics say that the Nasscom findings shows that the faculty and deans of every college have to closely interact with employers to design education programmes that respond to the specific skill demands of the employers.

    Senior professors also say the root of the problem lies in the “low-qualifying marks” in Eamcet prescribed by the state government to make students eligible for admissions into engineering colleges.

    Thus even below-average students are getting admissions in engineering colleges due to the huge availability of seats and this was making all the difference to the employability of students.

    Securing just 25 per cent marks in Eamcet is enough to get a seat in an engineering college given that the state has 2.8 lakh seats in about 700 colleges. This year, nearly a lakh of seats went empty due to poor response from students.

    A student from general category need to score just 40 marks out of 160 in Eamcet and for SC and ST students, even “zero marks”
    will fetch a seat as there are no qualifying marks for them.

    “In these circumstances, how can we expect students with poor subject knowledge till 10+2 to understand and learn engineering in colleges? How can we expect them to have reasonable soft skills which make them employable? Unless the qualifying marks are raised in Eamcet, we cannot expect better results in the future,” said Prof. V.V.S. Murthy, principal of KVSR Engineering College.

    Academics also say this is a short-sighted view and are worried about the employability factor. “The minimum marks required to enter engineering colleges should be left to universities and not to the government. If politicians take decisions on education, it will not benefit the system,” said Prof B.
    Shanmugam, the academic head of an engineering college.

    Source: DC

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