Sky rocketing salaries have made management an enviable career option as graduates from all fields put in their best efforts to crack exams like CAT and MAT

Graduates in the fields of engineering, medicine, architecture and communication are making a beeline to secure a seat in the top business school of India, proving management to be a stalwart among various professions. Hefty salary packages and executive job profiles are also adding to the cause. But in order to reach the top of the ladder, clearing the Common Admission Test (CAT) with a relatively high percentile is important.

The test has a set pattern but predicting the number of questions is difficult. The exam assesses students on their aptitude in quantitative analysis (QA), data interpretation (DI), and verbal ability (VA). Generally, one third of the paper is based on VA. DI requires minimal number crunching skills and quantitative section requires knowledge of arithmetic.

Himanshu Rai, CAT Convener 2010 says, "Thorough analysis of your strengths and weaknesses, along with a wide range of reading including newspapers, practicing in real test conditions and most importantly being calm and holding your nerves under all conditions are the key components of doing well during the test."

Students can give different types of management entrances. Symbiosis National Aptitude Test (SNAP), Management Aptitude Test (MAT) or exams conducted by institutes such as Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) or Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) and Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA) are some of them. Some business schools also take GMAT scores into consideration which are also acceptable in international management schools.

The pattern of CAT has somewhat become similar to the GMAT. Tests are now being conducted on an online mode through Computer Based Testing (CBT). "CBTs are the same as paper tests except that moving from one question to another, all it takes are computer key strokes. It may take more time for those without computer keyboard practice. So you need to practice computer based tests to get up to speed with the format," says Ganesh N. Prabhu, professor, Corporate Strategy and Policy, Indian Institute of Management at Bangalore.