Six GMAT attempts, four at CAT, 10 years at Maruti Suzuki — How Dwibesh Nath got admission at IIM-Ahmedabad

Maruti Suzuki — my first real-world classroom

While preparing for IIM Ahmedabad, he was working as a Supply Chain Manager at Maruti Suzuki. “I come from a mechanical engineering background and got placed in Maruti Suzuki, however, I was representing a team from Maruti in Toyota. That job helped me learn a lot,” he told indianexpress.com.

This international exposure turned out to be a little more helpful for Dwibesh who studied in an Odia-medium school till Class 10 and switched to an English-medium institute in Class 11. He believes his Odia-medium schooling also became a hurdle in his management entrance test preparation.

“I did not find any relevant reference books in my language that could help me in CAT or GMAT preparation. Therefore, I slowly started learning the basics of English through ‘Wren & Martin’ as I knew that language was my biggest roadblock,” he said.

‘Do not follow the crowd’

Nath also steered clear of the coaching centres, and unlike the common perception that coaching classes are needed to crack the management entrance exam, he advises future aspirants to concentrate on self-study.

“I tried coaching classes and different methods, but it was not helping. I soon realised that following the masses will not help as my background is different from the rest. In the old ways of preparation, I was looking at questions/answers or articles and thinking that this is how grammar has to be formed, but my basics were not clear. So, I tried a different approach of first understanding the basics, and then focusing on answering questions,” Dwibesh explained.

Not ABC, only IIM-Ahmedabad

When it comes to IIMs, a lot of students prefer to secure a seat in either IIM Ahmedabad, Bangalore or Calcutta. Nath, too, secured seats in IIM Bangalore and Calcutta along with some foreign universities. However, his eyes were set on IIM-A.

Dwibesh Nath at IIM Ahmedabad

“It’s only been a few months in IIM-A but I have already learnt so much from this institute, therefore, coming here has been worth it. This institute provides you with opportunities to meet and talk to some of the experts in their fields. The professors here are working on real-life projects related to G20 or the new education policy etc. They are bringing solutions to some real-life problems, and that kind of exposure is what has helped me grow exponentially,” Nath said.

He also added that even though he worked in the automobile industry for 10 years, he is yet to learn about that industry. “I can also use my experiences as case studies and put those learning to use in other problems,” Nath added.

Another reason to chose IIM-A was the success stories of the alumni network that assured him that he will be able to kickstart his life in the corporate world once again after this course, despite the ongoing layoff wave around the world.

Nath explains that his experience at IIM-A is teaching him new skills, be it academic or non-academic. “Due to this experience, I have become so resilient and confident that I know that even if I face any failure, I will be able to gather my learnings out of it and use them to my advantage in my next try,” he said.

The process of getting into IIM-A has built a risk-taking attitude inside him, he claims, which helps him turn his failures into positive lessons. “I am not bothered by the news of layoffs across the globe. IIM-A has given me the skills which can even help me set up my own company in the future if needed.”

Another major learning from IIM-A for Nath is that pressure adds to your capabilities, and it shouldn’t scare you. Giving a hypothetical situation of a CEO, Nath explains that “you will be asked to take tough decisions in a high-pressure environment, and these courses prepare you for that.”

His advice to fellow aspirants is not to complain, and instead focus on seizing the opportunity. A believer in ‘what matters is how you perceive the challenges’, Nath advises IIM aspirants to not worry about past experiences and instead use those experiences to their benefit and not to follow the crowd.