Posts under the ‘What Every MBA Should Know’ category

Michigan Tech’s MBA admissions team is hosting a webinar to help you BEAT the GMAT on February 9, 2011. Learn more and sign up today.

Change is imminent. Technology and the workplace aren’t the only things that are changing. The GMAT, the test that evaluates how prepared a potential candidate is to be admitted into MBA school is changing as well.

In June 2012 the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) will officially implement a new section, integrated reasoning, into the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT). The upgrades to the test are part of the continuous improvement process of the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), owners of the exam.

The changing business environment is being impacted by technology and is creating an information rich environment. The GMAT test upgrades are designed to prepare candidates for the changing workplace that is more complex and information driven.

Test Changes

The current GMAT test consists of a quantitative, verbal, and two analytical writing sections. However, on the new version of the exam, one of the writing sections will be replaced with the integrated reasoning section.

• Changes take place in June 2012 for the 2013-2014 class.
• Replaces one of the essays and part of the analytical writing section
• The scale (200-800) remains constant.
• The length of the GMAT exam (3.5 hours) remains constant
• The new integrated reasoning section of the test is 30 minutes

The changes are in alignment with the changing workplace and should give candidates a prospective of what they are preparing themselves for in the world of management.

Michigan Tech’s MBA admissions team is hosting a webinar to help you BEAT the GMAT on February 9, 2011. Learn more and sign up today.

Most established business schools recognize the GMAT test as the top indicator of success for graduate school candidates. The Tech MBA Online Admissions Team has put together a list of tools to help prepare candidates for the GMAT test and to help them get the most out of your study time. There are many resources that you can use to prepare for the test including: practice exams, iPhone apps, self-study books, and informative blogs. Try not to limit yourself to using just one or two, instead explore all of the options for GMAT preparation.

Upcoming Webinar: Beat the GMAT – February 9, 2010 at 2pm EST hosted by the Tech MBA Online program.

GMAT Prep Resources

Blogs

1. The Official GMAT Site: The official GMAT resource website. The website provides information about testing centers, books, and other resources. Test Centers: There are 400 test centers that are generally open 6-days a week. You can to to MBA.com to access the list of test centers to identify a location close to you.

2. Graduate Management Admission Council: The GMAC is the organization that is responsible for the GMAT test. This website is a great resource for testing trends, data, scores and updates to the GMAT assessment test.

3. BeattheGMAT.com:  Beat the GMAT is an online community that empowers people to learn, share, teach, and support each other through the MBA admission process.

Practice Tests

4. Free Veritas Prep GMAT Practice Test:  The Veritas Prep GMAT Simulator™ allows you to practice for the exam under realistic conditions. It is a computer-adaptive test (CAT), just like the real GMAT exam, and delivers questions of varying difficulty based on your performance – as you answer questions correctly, you receive more difficult questions.

5. Prepare for the GMAT Exam:  MBA.com provides a list of resources to prepare for the GMAT test: free software, test prep checklist and analytical writing Assessment.

6. Kaplan 20-Minute Workout (GMAT): A short GMAT test prep exercise by Kaplan that allows you to test yourself and compare your scores to other test takers that day.

iPhone Apps

7. Veritas GMAT Practice Quiz (Free) iPhone App:  – The Veritas Prep GMAT Practice Quiz iPhone App lets you practice all five GMAT question types and do it on your own terms with multiple customization features.

8. Beat the GMAT Flash Cards:  – A free set of nearly 300 GMAT Flashcards, covering math and verbal concepts. This popular flashcards set has been downloaded over 100,000 times.

Books

9. The Official Guide for GMAT Review (Hard Copy) – The Official Guide for GMAT Review (12th Edition) is published by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC).

10. The Official Guide for GMAT Review (Kindle Edition): The Official Guide for GMAT Review (12th Edition) is published by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) is delivered wirelessly for those to need to study on the go.

Videos
11. Grockit TV GMAT Test Prep (YouTube): Grockit video courses are free to watch in YouTube. The short videos give provide valuable incite about typical GMAT questions.

Next Generation GMAT: Note if you are considering the GMAT, the test format is changing in 2012: All the resources listed above are designed for the current test structure. (Link to article about new testing format)

There are many reasons an engineer can benefit from pursuing an MBA and should consider it if their career goals extend beyond their current cubicle. The engineering discipline provides a great infrastructure upon which a successful career in the corporate world can be built. An MBA builds upon an engineering foundation and provides engineers with tools they can use to round out the way they think about and approach the world of business and management in their current, and future, organizations.

For an in-depth look of why engineers should consider an MBA, sign up for our free webinar on Tuesday, October 12th at 7pm EST.

This blog post focuses on four main reasons that the combination of engineering and an MBA makes sense: (1) developing business communication skills, (2) seeing the big picture, (3) rounding out your skill set, and (4) soft-skill development.

Developing Business Communication Skills – In business there is a common language that is necessary to communicate with professionals in marketing, finance, and accounting. This language is oftentimes quite different than what is used in most engineering-related work situations. To advance into the world of management an engineer has to become comfortable existing and communicating outside of their core engineering responsibilities. Through the process of getting an MBA, your classes, team projects, and case studies in class familiarize you with what you can expect to encounter in the business world.

Seeking the Big Picture – For an engineer that thinks in terms of ‘the big picture,’ the MBA can bring the world into focus. An MBA exposes engineers to concepts and business-related topics they normally don’t learn about in engineering school. As a person, an employee, an engineer we don’t know what we don’t know, so exposure to the world of possibilities is important.

Rounding out your Skill Set – In an engineering role the scope of your responsibility might center on core engineering related content only. However, companies are being forced to do more with less. The average employee now finds themselves in a position where it is in their best interest to add more value to their skill set. An engineer’s ability to operate in cross-functional ways increases their value as an employee significantly.

Soft-Skill Development – Soft-skills are more important than ever. An MBA program helps engineers develop their soft-skills. The difference between one employee advancing or not can often times be traced back to soft-skill development. Developing skills in this area enables an engineer to better communicate their ideas and integrate their passion into what they do. An increased personal investment in work projects leads to a deeper level of commitment and creativity in the business environment.

The bottom line is that the company you work for, or that you want to work for, is going to require you to do more with less and to creatively bring your ideas to the table. An engineer with an MBA will have a whole new world of opportunities because they are equipped with the ability to broaden their worldview about how the world of business operates.

For an in-depth look of why engineers should consider an MBA, sign up for our free webinar on Tuesday, October 12th at 7pm EST.

Perception management involves actively performing (or not performing) a set of activities and behaviors in order to thoughtfully and deliberately manage how other people perceive you. These activities and behaviors are in areas like verbal and non-verbal communication, work environment, volunteerism, and image. In today’s blog, I’m going to talk about image.

 People make up their minds about you within the first few seconds of meeting you. The only thing under your control at that point is your appearance. A positive impression will create a halo effect, positively coloring a person’s feelings about you for the next several minutes. If you begin with a negative impression, it will be very hard to change. But it doesn’t end with first impressions. People are confirming or revising their opinion about you every time they meet you. While having a solid, established, positive reputation can smooth over a few faux pas, perception management can let you save that for when you really need it.

I grew up with a casual approach to dressing. Most days, I wore jeans and a flannel shirt, and that’s still my preference. However, I have slowly and reluctantly come to the conclusion that I have to pay more attention to my attire, everyday and everywhere. Whether I’m at work, at the store, volunteering at soccer, or at church, I run into people that I know and meet new people. If I want them to see me as a savvy business professional, I have to “act” the part by dressing like a savvy business professional.

If you think that how people dress doesn’t make a difference, consider how dress is viewed in our society. A future MBA student was telling me about the game show “Cash Cab.” If the contestant needs help, they are allowed to ask a person on the street (a street shout-out), in which case, the contestant usually looks for a man in a suit. Why? “…because they think he’ll be Ivy League educated.” (greenbaypressgazette.com) People wearing a suit are simply assumed to be educated professionals.

This doesn’t mean you have to wear a suit everyday, but a little attention to your appearance will go a long way for perception management. Upgrade from jeans and a t-shirt to khakis and a polo. Save your sneakers for the gym, and buy yourself some nice leather shoes. Looking good doesn’t mean you have to be uncomfortable.

Dress like you are going to meet the most influential person in your life. You just might.

Does a high IQ help you be successful in life? Not always. In fact, I’ve seen intelligent people sometimes avoid challenging tasks they don’t excel in because they are afraid of looking dumb. There’s been some debate about whether universities should base admission decisions on high GMAT scores and GPAs for MBA programs, because some of these students want to stick to the status quo; they’re afraid to take risks because they are comfortable with their success and the formula they use to achieve it. Entrepreneurial thinking requires risk-taking and the possibility of failure.

What can you do to maximize your potential for success? There is a strong relationship between EQ (emotional intelligence) and success, and EQ is something you can change significantly. EQ is an awareness and management of your own feeling and reactions, the feelings of the individuals around you, and group processes. The first step in developing EQ is focusing on the idea that you do, indeed, have a choice. Human beings alone on this planet have the power to reinvent themselves. You get to choose how you want to be. In order to begin an EQ journey, you first have to believe that you can make this choice. The subsequent journey is slow, arduous, exhilarating, frustrating, fulfilling, fraught with setbacks, and ultimately rewarding.

A good place to start your EQ adventure is by reading The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. I’ll tell you more about the 7 Habits book in future blogs.

In our MBA program, we provide our students with a series of workshops in Intellectual Entrepreneurship (turning knowledge into action) where we outfit them for a successful EQ quest.