Should I quit my job to prepare for CAT?

One question that a person is often faced with during their preparations for the CAT exam is whether it
is reasonable to quit their job for preparations. A lot of aspirants who are working in the industry usually
find it difficult to balance their hectic job with preparations.

Ofcourse, there is a huge premium on acquiring an MBA degree from a prestigious institute. However,
here are a few things that you must consider before you take the plunge:

1. Be Prepared to face this question in Interviews

You might be faced with this question a number of times in your interview. Some institutes such as IIM-
A specifically ask this question to the candidates they shortlist in their Stage II – Do you have a break in
your careeer? And, if YES, please explain.

Though this question has been tackled successfully by aspirants in the past and might not be detrimental
to your selection in the IIMs, however, be ready with a solid reason.

2. How Does it affect your candidature to get into an IIM

Every IIM has a separate selection criteria. Colleges such as IIM Bangalore give weightage to work-
experience right from the shortlisting stage, in which case one would be at a position of disadvantage
as compared to other candidates. However, if you have already accumulated, say 24+ months of work-
experience, you would not lose out on the points.

But, it might be difficult to convince the panelists in the stage II as sometimes consider it to be signal of
poor time management.

3. How Quitting your Job affects your profile when you join a B-school

If you have been successful in crossing the chasm, there is another round of interview which will present
itself in form of Summer Internship Interview soon after you join the B-school.

If you want prefer a role in Operations or Consulting, it is NOT advisable to quit your job as recruiters
from these firms prefer candidates with relevant work experience.

However, Marketing firms on the other hand have a strong preference for freshers or those with
relevant work experience. Whereas, for Finance, your graduation discipline, your professional
credentials such as CA, CFA, and FRM matter along with any relevant work experience.

4. When does Quitting make sense?

All said and done, there might be circumstances where quitting your job might seem as one’s only saving
grace. If you are starting your preparations late with a 10-12 hours job, it certainly becomes difficult to
navigate.

If you are a professional with 30-36 months of experience and are looking to change your field, you
might consider this option. In this scenario you might be desperate to join a B-school immideatly and
might look at this as your last CAT attempt.

5. Is there any best time to Quit?

One important factor to keep in mind is the timing. For a beginner, 6 months of rigorous prepration is
enough to crack the exam.

You should ideally not quit anytime before August, otherwise you would be faced with a huge gap in
your career. If you are an aspirant stuck in the range of 80-85 percentile, you would need that extra
push. However, it is very important to maintain discipline and utilize this time efficiently.

Everyone has a unique background and aspirants, and you should examine it closely before taking the
tough call. In case, you decide you quit your job, you should look at other avenues to build your profile
to compensate for any gaps that might arise in your profile.