Rajeev Parashar, a quality assurance engineer in an IT company in Bangalore, appeared for the Common Admission Test (CAT) last year but couldn’t make it to any of the premier Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs). Soon after, the slowdown hit the job market in India too, which has made him defer his plan of taking the exam.
Parashar is simply a case in point. There are many such young professionals who have decided to hold on to their jobs rather than appear for the CAT exam. The figures tell the story. The estimated number of CAT applications was 230,000 in 2007 which rose to 290,000 in 2008. Due to errors in application forms, some were rejected and the final number of accepted registrations in 2008 came to 276,000. However this year, the total number of accepted CAT registrations has come down to 241,000 — a 12 per cent drop over the previous year.
Although work experience is not mandatory for the two-year Post Graduate Programme (PGP), many people prefer to work in the industry for a couple of years before appearing for CAT. While the percentage varies across each IIM, on an average, nearly 55-60 per cent of students in a selected batch come with some work experience.
Hyderabad-based Triumphant Institute of Management Education (TIME), which offers coaching for CAT, notes the number of aspirants has fallen in line with all economic indicators like recruitments and placements. Another cause for worry is the fee. While the IIMs offer need-based financial assistance, there is still some worry about repaying bank loans at a time when there is uncertainity on pay packages offered during final placement. At IIM Ahmedabad for instance, the institute announced in March this year that fees for the first year, from the 2010-12 batch, would be increased to Rs 6 lakh from Rs 5.5 lakh and in the second year to Rs 6.5 lakh from Rs 6 lakh.
“Recruitments are down and hence, people’s desire to spend money on their future through CAT is also less because the total cost of taking the CAT and paying fee in a management institute almost comes to Rs 20-25 lakh. Moreover, the expectations from return on this investment — which is higher salaries — is also down right now and this is related to the overall economy,” says Manek N Daruvala, Founder, Director, TIME.
Ajay Arora, director of a coaching institute in Bangalore feels that with companies trimming positions, employees worked over-time to ensure their jobs were safe leaving them with very less time to prepare for the exam. There’s also a shadow over IT companies recruiting this year, leading employees to holding on to the jobs.
This has prompted some candidates not to appear for the exam despite having registered. “We have seen years where nearly 10 per cent candidates who registered for the exam did not take it. Reasons could be lack of preparation, parental pressure to fill up the form, etc. We could see a similar trend this year,” says Arora
Another worrisome factor for CAT aspirants has been the exam’s transition to a computer-based test. Sameer Pujar, a Bangalore-based IT employee has made up his mind to skip the exam this year. “In spite of the test comprising merely objective questions, the change in format has made me apprehensive. I decided it was better to wait and see how my friends and colleagues fare. I will continue working,” he says.
The CAT is scheduled between November 28 and December 7 this year in 32 cities in the country through 105 computer-based testing centres for entry to seven IIMs and over 150 other business schools.
Additional reporting by Kirtika Suneja in Delhi and Kalpana Pathak in Mumbai
