Post-MBA Job Options in IT Industry

Have been wanting to post this information for a while now. This was information, which I unashamedly admit, I did not have fully have with me, before going to do my MBA from ISB-Hyderabad. Note that, your Pre-MBA experience does play a big role, in what kind of job you get.

I have listed below the job descriptions of some of the typical roles on offer in the IT industry, post-MBA(Especially applicable in the Indian context. Moreso, holds true for the folks with 7-10 years Pre-MBA work experience. However, even the others can benefit from the same):-

(i)IT Frontline Sales/Business Development Roles, for Indian IT Services companies like Infosys, Wipro, iGate etc (Hunting, Farming, and Mining Roles) - Please refer to my previous blog specifically dedicated to these job types, for more details.
--> Roles would 90% of the times be foreign based, or sometimes need you to be posted in India to cater to the local markets
--> Note that some Tier-1 companies offer a "Business Development Manager" role. From what I have seen that, these are Pre-Sales roles with a different name which offer an average salary. Some of the offshore roles provided by Tier-2 and Tier-3 companies are actual frontline sales roles, and pay decently well.
--> Expected Salary ranges: For foreign based roles, please refer to my earlier blog. For India based roles (mostly in Tier-2 and Tier-3 companies), it could be anywhere in the Rs 15-25 Lakh per annum range (Depends a lot on your Pre-MBA experience, your B-School etc)

(ii)IT Pre-Sales / Back-End support for Frontline Sales teams, in Indian IT Services companies:- Very minimal benefits for the folks in the 7-10 years work experience bracket, as far as Pre-MBA experience is concerned. Works best for folks with <5 years of work experience, and also maybe having been part of the 2 Year Full-Time MBA course from the IIMs etc
--> Expected Salary ranges: Mostly offshore based roles (very few are foreign based roles). Range is Rs 4-14 Lakhs per annum (Again, depends a lot on your Pre-MBA experience, your B-School etc)

(iii)IT Business Development Jobs for Product Companies like Microsoft etc, targetting sales for these companies'products in the Indian market:-
--> Expected Salary ranges: Range is Rs 12-18 Lakhs per annum

(iv) Product Manager Roles with companies like Cisco, Yahoo!, Computer Associates(CA), Google etc:- You are accountable for the performance of the particular product in the market (You act as a glue between the Sales and Production units of the company). High-paying jobs. Very few vacancies. Pretty difficult to crack the interviews (Google interview process is one, which is really tough)
--> Expected Salary ranges: Ranging from Rs 16 Lakhs per annum (Cisco) to Rs 30 Lakhs per annum (Google)

(v)Leading role with the IT Outsourcing/Procurement division of companies like British Petroleum(BP) etc:- Leverage all that you studied in most of your MBA courses, to help chalk out IT outsourcing strategy of the company. Play a key role in contract negotiations etc.
-->Expected Salary ranges:- GBP 50-60K per annum, US Dollar 100K-140K per annum

(vi)Program Manager with any IT company:- Some Product companies use this as another name for the role described earlier as "Product Manager". However, 9 times out of 10, this designation describes a role in the Indian IT Services Cos, where the person (a)does the day-to-day interfacing with the technical managers in the client org, on behalf of the project delivery teams in his/her own company, (b)provides critical help to the frontlines sales teams. Role could be offshore or onsite.
-->Expected Salary ranges: Do not Know

(vii)Project Management Office (PMO) Roles:- Work to ensure that the different projects/programs in a business division adhere to processes, do not overrun allocated budgets, and are in line with the division's business goals.
-->Expected Salary range in India:- Rs 17-20 Lakhs per annum

(viii)High-End IT Strategy Consultancy:- Very few roles, with companies like Booz, Allen, & Hamilton(BAH). Advisory to companies on how to structure their IT strategies.
-->Expected Salary range: Good salaries. Do not know, actual numeric values.


(IX) Managerial Roles in BPO/KPO industry
--> Expected Salary Ranges: Rs 15-19 lakhs per annum.

(x) Roles in Finance/Investment industry, where primary job is to track IT stocks. Do not have much information.

Hope this note, helps folks who are planning to do an MBA or are doing an MBA currently.

Invite readers of the blog with relevant experience, to add their valuable comments, to bolster the strength and usefulness of the information in this blog entry.