Thinking of Quitting your Job for CAT Preparation? Consider the following Aspects!

Despite being an aptitude exam, CAT preparation can be quite demanding. Competition for the top b-schools in India is tough with over two lakh aspirants appearing for the exam every year to take admission in MBA and PGDM courses. Dedication is the only way crack CAT which brings us to the question whether or not you should quit your job to prepare for CAT.

Before understanding the answer to the question, you must understand that CAT is an elimination round for admission to MBA colleges in India. It is to select only the students who have the best score and a commendable academic background. The rest of the students are eliminated. In this scenario, work experience can play an important role. Which brings us to the answer to the question – No, ideally you should not quit your job in order to prepare for CAT. Check out the reasons below:

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Disadvantages of quitting job and preparing for CAT:

• Negative impact of preparation gaps: If you are aware with the selection procedure of the top business schools, you must be knowing that most of the institutes are highly demanding when it comes to the proficiency of candidates. In this scenario, a gap in your resume for the preparation of CAT will not look so good. Also, weightage is given to the duration of work experience at the time of selection.
• Additional pressure: Quitting job and preparing for CAT puts a lot of pressure on you in terms of performance. Not only are you expected to work harder to achieve your goals but also required to get good colleges as you have limited options in front of you.

Here’s why you should reconsider keeping your job:

• It keeps you disciplined: Having a fixed occupation keeps you in a tight schedule and you are more active and punctual. It also helps you to arrange your time proportionately and keep fixed time slots for preparation.
• It gives you confidence: Having a job boosts up your confidence and helps you in maintaining an equilibrium. You learn a lot of important things while working including networking and presentation skills that are valued in an aspiring manager.
• It’s an alternative to looking forward to after CAT: Having a backup is a wise option. Many professionals keep attempting Cat with their job to apply for colleges only after they secure their best score. You can always look forward to your job and move on with your work if you don’t achieve the desired score in CAT and apply again for the next session.

CAT Preparation – How to slot studies and job together:

It is true that preparing for CAT alongside a permanent job is tough but it is not impossible. With a dedicated preparation of 6 to 7 months and 3 to 4 hours of study every day can work the miracle for you. However, experts often say that it is not the time of study that a student should target on rather focus should be on the score that the student wants to achieve.

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At the end, it's your call!

Figure out the colleges you want to apply for and their score that you need to achieve for these colleges. Plan your study schedule according to the score you are targeting. You can consider quitting if you are not able to cut out enough time to achieve your target score and think that you can do better without a job.