Rohit Sarda had it quite good. An IIM Bangalore alumnus, Sarda quit his cushy post in a leading IT company to set up his own business ? Designer Home, a one-stop complete home solutions shop in Calcutta. ?I was doing quite well, but I wanted to create something that would last beyond me,? said Sarda.

Swati Singh, a graduate in Nautical Science, had joined the merchant navy on the navigational side to become the first-ever woman officer in the merchant navy. But she subsequently took a year off and enrolled with International School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, from where she majored in finance. This May, she will join the global real estate giant Tishman Speyer.

?This is more of a leadership programme, where I?ll have more of a general management role with a finance flavour. Exactly what I am looking for,? said Singh.

The two aren?t isolated cases. An increasing number of professionals are opting for paradigm career shift, a phenomenon ISB has been witnessing for the past few years.

The trend is not surprising in the least, India Inc. being on a roll now. With sectors opening up one after another, the sensex on a bull run and globocorps in an investment overdrive, the sky is the limit for career-shift options.

Testifies Anindya Maity, who has joined automobile major Tata Motors as manager (manufacturing and auto planning), after serving a premier shipping organisation for over 12 years. He was chief engineer when he left the job.

?I wasn?t too satisfied with my job, having realised that the progress was quite slow in shipping. I wanted to get into the commercial aspects, especially finance and operations,? recalled Maity.

Employers, too, are happy to take in such professionals, provided they have the right focus. ?Most of them are self-starters and goal-oriented. They have diverse skills to offer. Career-changers, however, should also be ready for an interim period of frustration and uncertainty,? pointed out Kiran Saxena, recruitment manager with a renowned headhunting group in Mumbai.

Coming forward are B-schools to help professionals undergo mid-career shift. Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, for instance, has introduced a postgraduate programme for executives with at least five years? full-time work experience. Besides, management curriculum is being constantly revised to keep it in tune with the changing demands of the industry.

?MBAs today are huge windows of opportunity, especially when you consider India?s growing economy. It allows the student to leverage his strengths alongside industry demands and conditions,? said Anup Sinha, dean of programme initiatives, IIM Calcutta.

An MBA from a reputed B-school gives the student the self-confidence to explore career options and take the right decision, he added.