Are you aspiring to be a manager and want to enroll into management studies to increase your chances to boost your career? If yes, then you are probably looking out for an opportunity to get a degree from a top B-school and ready to spend a lot of time and money for it. You might have started taking practice exams, having mock interviews and joining coaching classes to get selected in the best B-schools. However, the real confusion lies in choosing Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) from IIMs or MBA from a recognized university. If you visit MET’s guide on PGDM or check details of MBA programs, you will understand that both are not same. Thus, to know which the best one to build the career is, you have to know their differences first.
Curriculum- Finer Points of Difference
Definitely, you will notice huge similarities between the curriculum of a PGDM course and an MBA course, but there is a difference. PGDM is more industry oriented and focus more on developing soft skills. On the other hand, MBA focuses more on the management theories and judges in terms of examination. Thus, PGDM is more driven towards the job market.
University Affiliation
If you have chosen MBA, it has to be university affiliated, which means no management institute can offer MBA degree if it is not affiliated to a university. Even, IIMs cannot offer MBA degree courses, as they are autonomous and not affiliated to any university.
Flexibility Factor
Curriculum of a university affiliated institute and an autonomous institute is different in terms of flexibility. As the autonomous institutes do not follow the standards of any university, they retain flexibility in the courses, which changes according to the business environment and trends. Thus, pursuing a PGDM course gives you more exposure to the industry, whereas changing the MBA curriculum takes time to meet the university guidelines. Therefore, PGDM candidates have an edge for building career.
Affordability Factor
In terms of cost, PGDM courses are expensive in comparison to the MBA courses. As the MBA courses maintain similar industry standard, these are more affordable.
Skill Development
If you enroll into an MBA, the course will provide you with the knowledge of the industry and develop the technical skills. On the other hand, if you choose PGDM, the course will prepare you for the senior level positions and focus more on a corporate career that is strong. The focus of PGDM courses lies more on the management’s various challenging areas. Therefore, PGDM courses are more career-oriented.
Choosing Reputed Institution
The debate about which one is better between MBA and PGDM is not important though. What matters most is the institution that you choose for studying. A reputed institution of management studies builds the students’ knowledge and skills to increase their employability. Thus, you have to choose an institute that increases employment chances and offers decent placements.
There is a misconception among many students that PGDM courses are not valuable as MBA courses. What matters most is becoming more aware of the syllabus and getting conscious about the institute offering better employment chances. Many working professionals who want to increase their career prospects want to enroll in a management course. They can join part time programs, but again such programs must be focused on increasing employability. For details, you can check bubblews.com tips on studying part time MBA.
In this blog author aims to guide people with the career prospective of MBA and PGDM programs
Posts by SpeakBindas Editorial Team.