The Management Aptitude Skills Test conducted by AIMA is a new ray of hope for management graduates

Abhishek Kumar from Gaya, Bihar is a happy man today. Much to his delight, he has joined TCIL as a marketing officer at a salary of `18,000 per month. An MBA graduate from an institute in Varanasi, Kumar was only able to prove his mettle when he decided to take the Management Apti-tude and Skills Test and score a good percentile. He got three job offers within weeks.
Popularly known as MAST and conducted by the All India Management Associa-tion (AIMA), this is a screening test to spot talented and job-ready management graduates. “The test opens new avenues for all management graduates who are from the not-so-well known institutes and colleges. I could not have dreamt of getting an offer like this at the start of my career. It is a good platform for graduates like me coming from smaller cities,” says Kumar.
The test is the product of a joint research conducted by AIMA, an apex body of management in the country, and the Indian Market Research Bureau, which showed that despite the large number of management graduates passing out annually, most of them were not appropriately placed. 
Says Rekha Sethi, director general, AIMA, “With this test, we have taken up the task of bridging the gap between academic education and the industry. The 2,000 plus management institutes are churning out over 3,00,000 students every year. Most of these schools do not necessarily have the bandwidth or the access to attract pan-India recruiters to screen their students. Students struggle to understand which job would best fit their unique managerial skill sets and aptitude.”
Adding credibility to the novel initiative is the support it enjoys with some of the leading companies like J.K. Cements, ITC Lifestyle, Larsen & Toubro, MoserBaer India, Nokia, Britannia, Fabindia and Mother Diary. “The test caters to the specific needs of the industry and provides them with direct access to students. It is not possible for any recruiter to visit all business school campuses. Moreover, it is developed in a way that is a secure and standardised common measurement yardstick with which to assess candidates from across business schools in India. It evaluates a student’s important skills sets in a structured way and makes the recruitment process efficient,” says Saugata Mitra, chief people officer at Mother Dairy.
The test is divided into three main sections — psychometric assessment, general aptitude and domain knowledge — to assess skills like critical thinking, communication skills and competence in discipline. While management students understand their requisite managerial skill sets, corporates too gain access to the best possible talent in a cost-effective way.
“The best thing about MAST is that it provides the student with a level playing field irrespective of the geographical location of the B-schools. It opens doors for students and supports them in reaching out to recruiters at a pan-India level. Thanks to it, I am now employed with Mother Dairy,” says Deepak Kumar Nanda who completed his management degree from Bhubaneswar.
AIMA may conduct this test twice a year in the near future. The next MAST is scheduled to be held on September 23 this year. “We are happy with the response. We look forward to more recruiters endorsing MAST and integrating it with their recruitment process so that more students like Kumar can realise their goals,” says Sethi.