6 ways to get your teen involved in studies.

Education is the cornerstone of human development. Unfortunately for most teenagers, attending college is more about hanging out with friends than acing mid term papers. So how do you get your teens to take studies seriously? It’s not as hard as you think. Follow these simple steps to encourage your kids to take studying seriously.

1. Keep the channels of communication open

It often happens that parents are so busy with house and work related matters, that they have no time to talk to their children. Make it a point to discuss about school. What classes is he/she taking, what does your teen think of the teacher and/or ask if your teen feels he/she is learning anything. This helps you get an idea as to where your kid stands.

2. Set clear goals

Encourage your kids to discover what they love. Spend some time with them and discuss their interests. Share articles and clippings about their career interests with them. Tell him/her what grades you are expecting. Don’t pressure your kid with the weight of your expectations, instead set a grade after discussion with him/her so you can come to an agreeable result. Set consequences for poor grades as well as rewards for good grades. Keep your expectations in line with what your teen feels he/she can do.

3. Make resources available

Resources are important for high school students. It is absolutely essential that your kid has facilities like the internet, library card etc. Students in the modern age use the internet to complete their homework and to research about new topics, so make sure they have whatever they need to accomplish their goals

4. Get Involved

Show support for your teen’s school by regularly attending parent teacher meetings. Be respectful to your teens teachers but don’t be afraid to ask them the tough questions. Also while teaching your child values is your duty as a parent, you should also support him/her when they are in the right. Be an advocate for your kids and trust them when necessary.

5. Create an atmosphere of learning

Remember all human beings learn something new every day of their lives. Create an atmosphere and culture that promotes learning. Encourage your children to take part in elocution competitions, dance classes, piano lessons etc. This will teach your child that learning is an ongoing process and one that can be a lot of fun. Also promote the habit of reading. Gift your child a book on his birthday and ask him to finish reading it. Build his interests in reading as it helps a lot in building communication skills.

6. Reward your teens for their efforts

Reward your child for his/her positive efforts.  The reward can be anything but the child should feel like he/she has achieved something. For instance, tell your child that he can go out and meet his friends if he finishes his homework or alternatively you can gift him something that he’s wanted from a long time.

Getting your teens to study is no easy task. It does take time and effort, but it should become part of a daily routine that both you and your teen can enjoy more than dread.

Entrepreneurship: The essentials for success!

In August this year, a young programmer named Patrick McConlogue decided to conduct an experiment. He approached a homeless man on the street and gave him two choices, either to accept his donation of $100 or to accept his offer to learn how to code. The homeless man in question, Leo Grand took him up on his offer to learn coding. For the next couple of weeks McConlogue would spend an hour or so with Leo teaching him coding basics, providing him with the books to study and even giving him his old laptop. Today a smiling and proud McConlogue stands beside his protege Leo at the launch of his  first app, ‘Trees for Cars’ on the iStore and Play Store. The app works by calculating the amount of carbon dioxide saved by car pooling and has already received rave reviews on the web. But what makes this story extra special is the fact that until a few months ago, Leo was just a homeless man with no prospects. All it took was the right kind of motivation powered by knowledge and support for Leo to rise above his situation and make his own destiny.

Leo’s story is the quintessential example of the maxim, “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”. The truth is we are all entrepreneurs, the difference being that a few among us have learned to catch their own fish while the rest of us still depend on someone to catch their fish.

Take the example of Arunachalam Muruganantham. He hailed from a small town in rural Coimbatore. His family was poor and largely lived an agrarian life. He noticed that his wife would use rags instead of sanitary pads to control her menstrual cycle since the family couldn’t afford to buy pads. He became obsessed with trying to understand how to develop a low cost sanitary pad which could benefit not only his wife but his entire village, and that’s exactly what he did. Day and night he would experiment to try to make a napkin until one day he successfully developed a prototype. Now all he needed was to test it. He would go around the village asking women to try it on, but everyone ridiculed him and called him mad. He finally tested his invention on himself by using animal blood. In time he was able to create a machine that could develop low cost disposable sanitary napkins. Today his invention has saved the lives of many women in rural India and has provided them with suitable employment in his factories.

The moral of the story is that to become an entrepreneur one must forego ones sense of shame and must be relentless in getting to the bottom of the problem, no matter what. Entrepreneurs are those who see an opportunity or a need and try to fill or bridge that gap by developing a solution.

So, how do we sow the seeds of entrepreneurship amongst the youth of today? It can be done through a problem solving approach of education rather than a test based system for grading intelligence. Entrepreneurs have a keen sense of their surroundings and look to use their skills to seal a demand in the market. In this regard, entrepreneurs must,

1. Have a keen understanding of the environment and market forces

2. Have the knowledge to foresee a demand or a need in the market.

3. Have the potential to meet this need with suitable solutions.

Students of this generation are the kinds that like to take charge of their life. Many are attracted to the prospect of entrepreneurship as it gives them the freedom to run their own life and work for themselves, but entrepreneurship is a lot more challenging than that. To become an entrepreneur one must not only take risks but must do so, smartly, thinking 5 steps ahead. It isn’t difficult to succeed in today’s business environment, however one would need to find where the next big opportunity lies and bet big on it.

In the next section, we will cover the traits of a successful entrepreneur and how gaining a sound business sense is the first step on your journey to being an entrepreneur.

What’s in the name? Why everything of course!

A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet, contended the Bard of Avon. Unfortunately though, this isn’t the case with a degree like an MBA from a college of a somewhat questionable reputation. Shardul Memon, a vocational guidance counselor from Delhi says, “the reputation of an institution should be checked beforehand, its accreditations and affiliations thoroughly vetted by a student desirous of seeking admission in it. There are so many fly-by-night institutions that spring up all over the country, that promise students a novel MBA degree and overnight sometimes they shut shop, or in some cases get derecognised by the relevant government body which results in embarrassment to the student and fiscal consequences for his/her parents.”

The sad fact is that in a country of the size of India, there are several colleges that are not recognised by the relevant authorities. Says a government official on condition anonymity, “there are so many cities in this country, and so many localities and areas that have so many colleges, that investigating them all is a nigh impossible kind of scene for all involved. The MBA course is one of the most popular courses in the country and therefore makes it a lucrative draw for touts and fraudsters. We do everything in our power to prevent this from happening, but there isn’t we can definitively to prevent the abuse of students’ trust.”

What are the questions you need to ask before enrolling into a college?

There are quite a few things you need to consider before enrolling into a college for an MBA programme. For starters, you need to whet the college’s affiliations by browsing the internet and asking to view the certifications claimed on the website. Secondly, peruse the archived editions of newspapers of the past year and check to see if there is any negative stories about the college you’re considering. Thirdly contact a friend or significant other who has gone to that college and ask them about the reputation of the institution. Meet with professors and academics and confirm the same from them. Making an informed choice will empower you to make the right choice.

Here’s what could happen if you do not check the reputation of a B-school!

26 year old Vasant Kamat shares his story, “I was very keen on pursuing an MBA in Marketing. I enrolled into a course at this college. I did not think it necessary to check the reputation of the course or the faculty. A few months into the course and we started having issues with the faculty. Then one day our dean went missing. Soon we started having fewer and fewer lectures on a daily basis, until one day a circular signed by our dean, in absentia was put up on the notice board, informing us that the course had been suspended indefinitely. When we took offence to this, we were threatened with suspension. We were told to come after a few days to collect our fees, and when we returned to do the same on the set date the building was deserted. If only I had checked the reputation of the college beforehand I would have been saved the blushes. My friends who graduated from the institution in the past years had it a lot worse than me, their degrees were derecognised and some of them even lost their jobs.”

The value of an MBA in the job market can certainly not be discounted. The lure of an MBA often blinds people to doing a little bit of due diligence before seeking admission. It is not uncommon for hundreds of people like Vasant not to check the reputation of a college that seems credible enough to offer an MBA.

Industry insiders say that placements are the basis on which students should judge the reputation of the college they are seeking to get into. Says a senior manager with an executive search firm, “when one does an MBA from a reputed college, chances are that the existing hierarchy of a company have also passed out from the same college. There exists an affinity of sorts between alumni of the same college and this is often a factor that colleges build upon to boost their placement cells and add more credibility to their institution.”

A renowned college makes all the difference to an MBA graduate

An MBA is one of the most widely sought after degree amongst postgraduate students. And why shouldn’t it be? It gives an individual all the skills and insight needed to forward their careers in the right path. Research indicates that MBA grads advance faster in their careers as against non-MBA, or postgraduates with a lesser degree or diploma. Little wonder then that not just fresh graduates, but also professionals with a few years experience as well are opting for an MBA, albeit an executive MBA, these days. In the recent past we have considered several pros and cons of an MBA, and this post focuses on another aspect of an MBA that is often ignored. That aspect of course, is the reputation of a college from which a student completes, his or her MBA from.

Why should I consider the reputation of the college/institution?

Excellent question. To understand the importance of a college’s reputation, here’s an analogy. Let’s say someone in your family needs a life saving surgery. Will you go with the first surgeon you find? Or will you thoroughly research a list of surgeons, and only then decide the professional that you will trust with your loved one’s health? We believe your answer will be the latter. The same is true with the reputation of an institution a student chooses to pursue an MBA from.

Affects Career Trajectory: The institute’s reputation will often determine a student’s career trajectory. Quite simply because, in case of an excellent college, it alumni will already have ascended the corporate ladder and would prefer working with others from their alma mater as opposed to another college of a lesser stature.

Industry Perception: Another important aspect about the reputation of a college is the perception it carries in the industry. A college with a proven track record of producing, excellent managers, will definitely be perceived as that of a higher calibre. Needless to say then, the name of one’s college could come in pretty handy when giving an interview in the near future!

Quality of Faculty: A college’s reputation often times decides the quality of the faculty it attracts. Says Suman Rangachari, visiting faculty with a reputed college, and brand manager with an FMCG company, “the reason I chose to be established with this particular institution, is simply because of the fantastic reputation it has in the market. Besides their facilities and the rest of the faculty really add value in many ways to the lives of their students and in many ways to my career as well!” This sentiment is also echoed by Afzal Jamadar, a first year MBA student, “the kind of people who come here to teach is fantastic, the only reason these professional powerhouses decide to devote their time to students in this college is the reputation the college enjoys.

Educational Tie-ups: Reputed colleges often have international and intranational educational tie-ups with institutions across the board. Many reputed MBA colleges have entire modules that are formulated by universities abroad, some even offer accredited and recognised MBA degrees from foreign universities, at a much lower rate, thus eliminating the need to go abroad.

Better infrastructure: Reputed MBA institutions have top notch facilities in terms of well-equipped libraries, computer labs, reference materials and other important facilities that are a huge help to its students. Besides for an MBA institution to be accredited it must pass through a pretty intensive screening process to get a certificate in the first place.

Choosing the best course to fit your career goals.

Education in the modern era is an ever evolving entity. With more and more courses on offer, it is never too late to update oneself and take up a course that will help one further one’s career in the long run.

A Masters in BusinessAdministration (MBA) degree is a great way to gain a holistic understanding of business and explore the possibilities the arena has to offer.

That being said however, one must remember that an even an MBA today isn’t a generic, broad based course, it is for all intents and purposes a course designed to go into far reaching specifics of almost every conceivable ‘specializationary’ niche a business may have. Therefore one must thoroughly research, evaluate and then and only then decide the course, the institution and the specialisation they want to opt for.

Educate your way to success!

The following is a comprehensive list of things one needs to do before deciding the course they want to take up.

1. Always choose an institute of repute: The reputation of an MBA institution should be one’s prime consideration when choosing an institution to pursue the course from. While this seems like common sense advice, it needs to be followed to a tee. Always check the credentials, the faculty’s reputation, the list of courses and co-curricular activities offered and the perception of the institution in the market. A good institution will always have an excellent placement cell, critical for a student hoping to be placed off campus.

2. Full time or Part Time? A new trend is the emergence of part time MBA as a viable and sensible bet for those who want to ‘earn while they learn’. Most of the premier institutions in thecountry offer a part time MBA these days. The question though is more about the flexibility of the curriculum, as against the ‘full student experience’. Remember, the primary target audience for Part time MBA is working professionals who seek to upgrade their skill set and knowledge base.

3. Getting the right focus: Richard Branson admits that he knew he wanted to be an entrepreneur at a very early age, as do many successful businesspeople in every sector of the economy. Some people, it seems, know what they want to do almost from a young age and cannot wait to start doing it. If you know your strengths, whether it be in entrepreneurship, finance or general management, and more importantly, you want to build on them, doing an MBA is an excellent means of achieving your goal.

4. Return on Investment: Let’s face it, an MBA is a far expensive course and calculating one’s return on investment is critical. How to enhance the return on investment of an MBA is the million-dollar question among most MBA students. Fortunately, the return on investment is indeed rapid for the vast majority of graduates, with the average return being three to six years. An MBA graduate is more likely to see advancement in both career prospects and remuneration almost twice as fast of a non-MBA.

5. Faculty matters: Once you’ve decided on an MBA programme you should look into the background of its faculty. Good-quality education depends primarily on the calibre of the university’s faculty members. Most top business schools boast a ‘team’ of world-renowned professors with diverse interests and expertise. Their faculty is very much a part of the real-life business world and will bring a range of important and useful topics to the classroom – from accounting to strategic management. Visiting the websites and accessing the faculty section of the website should bring to light the profiles of both the visiting and permanent faculty.

Following these easy steps will enable you have a better understanding of the kind of college, course and career prospects you can have.