Xoogler's journey in the B School

Many people have been constantly asking me if it was a right decision to leave Google and join MBA. The count of such people was low when I have just joined IIMB because only doubt they had in mind was if I wasn't happy at Google; some where like what more do you expect than Google - it has an excellent work and culture. But as the economy plunged into recession and it started effecting job markets everywhere not even sparing the best B schools across the globe, the count of such people increased. Even when I wasn't thinking about this at all, they were constantly questioning me and trying to make me realise that this was the biggest mistake in my life till now.

I don't know if this was a right decision or wrong. As Steve Jobs say: "you can only connect the dots looking backwards". I am still only half a MBA and I had spent only one year at Google. So, at both the places I dont think results should be used for comparison. I won't like to see it from the point that I became a team lead in Google in just 6 months but wasn't one of the toppers in MBA.

If, any day I have to compare between these two places, I can just compare the experiences there and even then I would never say that one was much better/worse than other. Both the places had their own pros and cons. They were similar in many aspects - I had to meet deadlines at both the places, both the places gave me ample freedom to do what I want. If Google gave me 20%, IIMB gave me choice of electives and obviously all the time after the classes to do what I want.

Both gave me ample opportunities to learn. I learnt a lot about the corporate culture and one of the best at Google. I learnt how to behave professionally, how to conduct meetings, how to orgnaise and prioritise my tasks, how to do the perfect time management, how to meet my deadlines, how to work in a team, how to motivate my team, how to achieve the desired results and most importantly how to play foosball. I guess after coming to IIMB, these learnings continued and actually took the next bigger step. All these professional learnings were honed more when I was working as a member of the placement team and was interacting with companies. I learnt more and more about team work and time management when I was working in so many teams to complete my projects along with managing the studies and placecom tasks.

Both the places gave me an exposure to the outer world with small international stints. Its a different learning experience all together to go outside and work with people of different culture but similar objectives. Also, its much more exciting and you really enjoy a lot visiting so many places in such a short time. Not to forget both the places gave me many friends and contacts which will always be helpful to me wherever I go.

I have never limited my learning at IIMB to only academics and I think that was only possible because I came after a little industry experience which taught me that all these things do not matter in the long term. Because of this I was able to focus on other things which I liked doing. I was able to analyse the long term benefits of many things which were not giving me any short term benefits at IIMB. I am glad that I didn't lose the motive with which I entered into IIM.

I am no financial expert and I dont know when this recession will end and I dont even want to take any guess or make any hypothesis here. I would not mind if I get a lesser paying job from IIM. I never came here with the astronomical figures in mind. I came here to achieve my long term goals. Since, I would be achieving them in long term only, they are insulated from the recessions of the world. So again I wont like to compare these places with their end results in the short term but definitely I would like to cherish the experiences that I have gained here.

As somebody has rightly said, "Enjoy the journey, enjoy every moment, and quit worrying about winning and losing." So, I strive to enjoy the journey and not the destination.