Status Update !

The course is to commence from 12 June and 10 June would be my last with my organization. Thereafter, a quick 22 hour train would land me to my dream destination, Jamshedpur. With couple of days left for the course to commence, this is what I am doing nowadays -
1. Reading up on different blogs hows life in different b-schools is and what can I expect in next one year.. less sleep, limited holidays, surprise quizzes, competitive batches to list few of scary things :-(
2. Making sure my 'Gurgaon' relieving is on track... that my house loan has sufficent number of cheques to keep my balance in low, my passport is in order, my medical etc policies are paid for !!!
3. Interacting with new friends that I have made up over last one month. These friends are my fellow GMPians who would be my company for next one year now :-). My orkut, google groups have got a fresh breeze of life again !
4. Writing a blog. :-) With one previous attempt at blog not a very successful one, I hope this one continues for atleast one year and captures the GMP life 'thru my eyes'.

By the way, if you were surprised by the title of this post, blame it on the agenda of my weekly meeting with my US Project Manager. I hope to coin a better term as I progress in the year ! :-)

Why did I chose GMP?

There are quite a few reasons. Here are some of them-
1. One year course- For working executives like me, this ensures quick return to the industry.
2. Peer learning- The batch has people from diverse sectors with varied experience. The current batch has people from sectors such as IT, Telecom, Banking, Retail, Manufacturing, Defence with experience ranging from 5 to 20 years. Lots of the students bring in considerable international experience.
3. Excellent Faculty- XLRI has full time faculty thats unparallelled in Indian schools.
4. XLRI brand name- XLRI has been ranked as the best private college in India across multiple surveys conducted. Overall, it stands as 4th best school in India.
5. Placements- The course offers lateral placements with students being placed in plum roles. Last year' average was 17.8 L.

To start with - About the Course

Most of the lines below has been picked from XL website and typically talk about the course in general. Good way to start the blog. Isnt it ??? :-)

GMP (General Management Programme) is a one year full time resedential programme of the prestigious XLRI. The Institute awards the Executive Postgraduate Diploma In General Management to the participants who successfully complete all the requirements of this programme.

The programme consists of Core & Optional courses specially designed for fast track executives with work experience. They provide the essentials of management education with the flexibility of individual exploration in their chosen area of interest. The entire programme spans for more than 1000 contact hours in class spread over four terms.

The programme incorporates a group project which will be based on live problems from the industry and involves an important part of the learning process.

An international project is also part of the course which exposes the participants to international perspective of business, so that the participants can effectively function in an environment different from their “home culture”.