MANAGEMENT APTITUDE AND SKILLS TEST (MAST)

INTRODUCTION

Management Aptitude and Skills Test (MAST) is organised by All India Management Association (AIMA) for the graduates who are aspiring for the management courses. MAST is a computer based test which evaluates the basic skills required to become an effective manager and to become successful in corporate world. The objective of MAST is to identify potential managers who are capable of making a difference in the management of the organisation and create path that is good not only for them, but also for the society. MAST will be conducted for the first time on 20th February 2011 in major cities across India.

MAST would be beneficial for both the students and the recruiters. Through the test, the students will understand their requisite managerial skill set. It also evaluate their employability skills, support them in making right career choice and also reaching out to the recruiters at pan India level. 

Leading organisations recruit suitable candidates from across the B Schools which is a huge challenge in terms of time and money. Management Aptitude and Skills Test is designed in a special way, keeping the current industry trends and practices which would assist the recruitment process more smooth and efficient. Though the MAST, the corporate can gain the best for hiring of young fresh management talents. Deloitte, Dabur, Metlife India, Idea Cellular, Camlin Ltd., Alembic Ltd., HLL, Pfizer, Parle, PWC India, Mcafee, Nokia, Lenovo, JM Financial, Reliance Industries, Suzlon and TATA Communications are some of the major recruiters, who are willing to avail the services of MAST.

ELIGIBILITY

The minimum qualification for appearing in MAST is 2 year full time or 3 years part time Master of Business Administration (MBA)/ Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) or equivalent degree/ diploma in management from a recognized University or Institute. There is no minimum percentage requirement for taking up the test. Final year students are also eligible. Those who have passed the examination through 3 year distance learning programmes can also apply. The courses/ programmes having duration less than 2 year are not eligible.

There is no age bar. Job experience is not necessary.

EXAMINATION

Management Aptitude and Skills Test is a computer-based objective type test which evaluates some major tasks of the candidates like critical thinking; cross-functional competence; communication skills; key personality traits and cultural awareness; competence in their discipline and technological competence. The 2 hours 30 minutes MAST test is divided into three main sections namely - General Aptitude; Domain Knowledge and Psychometric or Personality Assessment. 

General Aptitude 
General ability test is designed to assess logical reasoning or thinking performance of the candidate. It also evaluates numerical ability, managerial ability, reasoning and English language. It consists of multiple choice questions and are administered under exam condition. Test result will be compared to that of a control group, so that judgments can be made about candidate's abilities.

Domain Knowledge
Domain knowledge test is designed to evaluate the knowledge of candidate in the area of specialization during their 2 year Management Programme. The assessment is done to understand student's ability to apply management practices in real life situations. The section includes multiple choice questions as well as case study based multiple choice questions in the areas of finance, human resource (HR), Information Technology (IT), International Business, Marketing and Operations. 

Psychometric or Personality Assessment
Personality assessments is used to assess a candidate's abilities, personality, motivation, values and interests under standardized conditions in line with a particular role. This helps the recruiter build an overall profile of the candidate and understand how the candidate would fit within their workplace. Personality traits that are most commonly held in high demand by recruiters would be tested. Traits like leadership quality, decision making ability, team work, adaptability, stress management, initiator, ethical values, negotiation skills and stability skills are evaluated.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE

Candidates can register for MAST online at the AIMA website www.aima-ind.org along with the demand draft of a requisite amount in favour of "All India Management Association" Payable at New Delhi from any Bank. The demand draft / credit card must be ready before filling up the registration form.

On successful submission of online registration form, an auto-generated registration number is allotted to the candidate which will appear on print version of the registration form. This registration number has to be retained to use for :
i) Downloading of the candidates admit card
ii) Reprint of candidates registration form
iii) All future correspondences.

All provisionally registered candidates can download their admit card from AIMA website fifteen days before the date of test. No separate special card is issued. Also, activation of a test centre depends upon the minimum no of registration.

Test Centers

The test will be conducted in the major cities like Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi and NCR, Dehradun, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai and Patna. The number of cities can be more depending upon the student registration.

The score card is also put on the AIMA website and the candidates can download his /her score card with his registration form number and roll no.

The validity of MAST score is only for one year. 

The details provided by the candidate in the registration form and the score details based on the test will be furnished to potential recruiters.