Ask MBA Crystal Ball

Here's my post from another forum, but thought the topic might be relevant to the folks out here as well.


Hey Rish,

I'm not sure if this response falls does justice to your request for a 'proper reply', but I'll take a shot.

Leaving a stable job in pursuit of better opportunities has its risks. Job hunting overseas can be a truly humbling experience. Most guys who think they are studs back home get the shock of their lives when they learn that career planning in the UK/US schools doesn't work in the same way as in Indian b-schools.

So start working on it early, preferably before you leave the safe shores of your matrubhoomi. It's an ocean out there (roles, fields, industries, companies) and without a direction, it can become pretty confusing. So when you are working on your essays, don't just create a story that sounds impressive to the Adcoms. Use it to achieve a better idea of what you can and cannot do once you are in phoren-land.

The same basic principles of independent research, networking, enthusiasm, tenacity, focus, people skills (more than technical skills) apply.

No one has a crystal clear roadmap in place, but you can improve your odds of success by planning well. Learn to interview well. Be aware of how b-school and post-MBA interviews go. Get in touch with those who've been there, done that. Get tips on what worked for them even if their situation/background wasn't similar to yours.

The best swimmers can get swallowed by the fury of a turbulent sea, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't learn to swim before you take the plunge.

Hi Sameer,
Its crowded on BW forums, and this forum provides me a greater range of smileys. So I thought will post my query here.
I have been closely following your posts and advise on both BW and gmatclub. I think your advice has been super.

Its always better to stand on the shoulder of giant people to see farther than your average Munna goes a saying. I would like to stand on you.

I have my profile here. I would like to see where I fit.
M/26
Acads
10th 91%
12th 88%
Engg: First class, Mechanical Engg, REC Nagpur (It got rechristened to NIT after I joined).

GMAT: (this one is a dampener)
1st attempt : 620 (V29, Q47) Nov 2008 AWA 5.5
2nd attempt: 700 (V37/80% , Q 48/82%ile) AWA , Last week

Workex: Total (5 years as on Aug 2! Not counting the time I learnt hotwiring Autorickshaws)

- Started off as a Operations Management trainee with Cummins Diesel. Worked for 6 months
- Joined a very large fortune 500 company dealing in container shipping/logistics/Ports and terminals as a candidate in their very special (!!) program. Was recruited as one of 300 candidates from 84 countries (from a pool of 100,000 applicants).As the program wanted us to be trained in many facets of the business, we had many job roles in a span of over 2 years
- Worked in equipment operations, handling vessel releases of some of the largest container vessels calling India. Shipping Line division (11 months)
- Moved to Cochin and worked in their logistics wing, Sales and co-ordination, (8.5 months)
- Moved to Tuticorin, Key client Management (Clients handled included biggies like Walmart, Ikea, GAP etc.) (9 months)
- Moved to Bangalore, to ramp up the customer service desk, as I had some prior knowledge in systems and procedures. Successfully completed the program. Promoted and Managed a small team of 5 for a couple of months. (about 7 months)

- After program was over, was free to choose some postings. Decided to work for the ports biz. Quit the Shipping line, moved to another group entity which handled ports and terminals, Worked as Assistant Manager Projects for a few months in a 2 member team. Oversaw various projects (120 Million $ overall value) like delivery and commissioning of various cranes , container yard development, fuel pumps etc. Vey short time, very steep learning curve as we had some issues with delivery and were fighting battles with insurance. Exposure to contract negotiations (3 months)
- CEO of the older terminal shifted to a new terminal . Role was extremely challenging, He invited me to join, I moved over. Got a salary and job grade hike in the midst of a glaring recession. Moved to marketing and sales. Steep learning curve. Role was that of a wheeler dealer. From making new tariffs, to fixing contracts, to preparing budgets, to contract negotiation. Still doing it and liking it.

International experience:
- As a part of the program mentioned earlier, was trained in Copenhagen by CBS(Copenhagen Biz school) faculty and other professionals in 2 week modules carried out every 6 months. Therotical classroom training in Economics, Operations, Terminal operations, Logistics and other practical classes in negotiation skills, project management etc.
- Have had a vessel tour on board a container ship for a week, (Some middle east ports)

This is again a weak point as I skipped some overseas opportunities for better local action by joining ports and terminals. No real work experience abroad, only training modules etcetera.

ECs:

School:
State level:
Science quiz , ranked 1, ranked within top 5 in other quizzes conducted by KQA
Best nature exhibit award in state level philately exhibition.
Secretary of various clubs like science club, nature club etc.

Interschool:
Many awards in cultural events

UG:

National Level:
- Winner of an an event called brainstorm (puzzle solving) thrice conducted at our college tech fest
- Numerous quizzes and other events
- Unreal tournament was suddenly the best thing since butter naan and I ended up winning some gaming contests as well.

Others
- Student council leader as Cultural Secretary. Appointment defied convention wherein student council members were final year students, I was in my third year when I was appointed.
- President of Karnataka association
- Represented college upto university level in ball badminton
- Won some awards for best article in the college magazine (AWA scores do not reflect my talents! Or maybe they do...)

Others
- Worked with a NGO at Tuticorin, organising donations for an orphanage
- I have purchased an ancient Yezdi Roadking and restoring it part by part. Does it count?
- Photography is another hobby.

To sum it all up, I have identified my weaknesses
- Modest GMAT score
- Do not have conventional international workex

I am targeting the following,
- Tepper
- Cornell, Johnson
- INSEAD
- Sloan (Chulla... thats all .. I have been told not to apply but will try!)
- RSM
- Cambridge, Judge
- Oxford, Said

What I want to be once I graduate:
- I will take an entrepreneurial path. All my biz plans includes tapping into the container biz market and providing value added services. (very broadly). To give fundae, it includes live container tracking services, analytics on intermodal movement etc. There is a good market in India and other developing countries. Another concept which is still in ideation is ‘virtual container yards’ etc.
- I gave sustainability a serious thought and even worked on calculating carbon advantage of our port over others, but I realised my hypocrisy when I realised Yezdi’s and sustainability do not go well together!
Await your feedback on my profile. Schools with SCM as a core will work. I am seriously looking at MLOG program and Broad college(MSU) as well.

Guruji, need your margadarshan

Thanks.

Ciao,
SO I gave the GMAT today and scored 690. The first thing I did after that was reach out to Sameer. I've been on this forum a bunch of times, but didn't register. This is my first post and the reason is because of the conversation I had with Sameer. I dropped him an email and within 10 minutes we were talking on the phone. That was a pleasant surprise!

As someone else also stated, he's candid. He has had enough conversations with students to quickly be able to assess who is at what level. Even though my score is average for a top B-School, I am hopeful that with his able assistance, I might be able to get into one of them...

Obviously people here already realize how valuable his insights might prove out to be. All of us are within a hypothetical range of 18-20. There aren't too many basic facts that change from applicant to applicant. Kind of similar to the fact that different B-School applications share about 70% of their content. Any help that makes us improve our applications with a viewpoint that an adcom member might have, is priceless.

I hope to be able to use your services soon.

-Raj

Thanks, Tanvi. Aapke khule dil ki taareef ne hame khush kar diya.

Ouch! I'm sure there's a compliment hidden in there somewhere. Only a matter of finding out where.

Hi Sameer,

Thanks for the wishes man...!!!

Yeah Im planning to get into the application mood...As you know i belong the IT Male Group, Im looking for some good B schools which accept young applicants(3yrs WE). Here's brief about me:

Area's of interest: General Management and Consulting.
GMAT: 700
Toefl: 97

Age: 24

Degree: Btech in Electronics and Instrumentation [cgp 3.5/4.0]
In india 's No1 Private Engineering College

High school : 98.3% [100 percent in math in both years ]

Work : -SAP Business Intelligence Consultant for the past 2 years in India top Software firm.

-Worked on Business processes like Order to Cash, Procure to Pay , Supply Chain management and Inventory Management.
-Represented my company in a leadership training program in MIT [ cambridge ].Was the first Individual from my company to do so. [Total employees = 200,000] was the youngest and the first TCS employee to havegot selected for it.
-Team Lead for a 5 member group.[ After just 1 year of technical exp I was promoted to this position --a very rare occurence in this indusrty]

Co-Curricular:
-Member of TCS Maitree - an inititative to help the poor sections of Indian society
-Member of KVCP for the past 7 years - a government initaitive to help the street children of Andhra pradesh[ its a kind family initiative ...all of us do participate in it]
-The first TCS'er to join the Lead India program where the youth of our country join hands to encourage the people of India to use their voting rights -during the elections]
-Held many cordinator and leadership roles in my college which actually spurred me to consider a management job.[I feel I can perform better in this area.]



.Also I do have a recommendation letter from one of the MIT lecturers on my skills. [very well written 7 page report which explains all the positive qualities of mine].How helpfull will that prove to be??

The reason why I am opting for a mba is to change my career to mangement consulting . Thats what interest me .working with clients in real time and giving them solutions to better themselves. Moreover I want to have the experince in working crosss cultural teams which I cant do in my present job.

Pls provide your valuable feedback and the possible schools I should be looking into!!!

MCB is indeed a great way to start your application process. Sameer and team have really helped me in thinking in the right direction for soul searching....I am on a much clearer line of thinking than I was when I started myself. A sure recommendation for any lost MBA applicant soul.

Thanks for the kind-words, Arora sahab.

[Self-talk triggered by a sad realisation: I don't yet figure in the 'God's-gift-to-mba-aspirants' category. Damn! Need to work harder]

Ironduke:

Will your breathing and heart-rate get back to normal if I share with you a little secret? Your extra-curriculars sound better than mine.

An executive position doesn't necessarily convey credibility. Compare two profiles:

- the politician with the 'official' portfolio who's not done anything worth talking about with the money/power at his disposal

- a small grassroots social worker engaged with a small NGO as a volunteer with no money and no designation, who's been putting a few hours a week in a cause that genuinely motivates her

Time for you to get judgemental (and senti) now and tell me. What appeals to you more - designation or intent?

Of course, with the right designation and the right intent, the scale of impact can be tremendous. Coming back to your profile, all I'm assuming right now is that you haven't had an opportunity to do that yet.

Hello Sameer

I would really appreciate if you could take some time and evaluate my profile. I am planning to apply for the Fall 2011 session

Age: 29
Nationality: Indian Male
B.Tech from private school in Electronics and Communication - Avg 68%
M.S. in Electrical Engineering from USA (avg school - in top 50) - GPA - 3.72/4.0 (A's in all but 1 class)
Was a Reseach Assistant during MS, worked on a project for NASA (thesis project), wrote and presented papers in conferences.

GMAT: 640 (Q46, V31) waiting on AWA

Work Exp:5 years (as of Sept 2010) in US on H1B Visa
Working in an Avionics company (Pretty big name in avionics) in a team that builds GPS receivers for commercial aircrafts, my profile is completely NON Software, I work at the black box level on the System development life cycle. Basically working with customers, FAA to get requirements at high level, break them into SW and HW functionalities,work on design strategies, integration etc. For the last 2 years I have taken up a leadership role as in Project Management, no direct reportees but am responsible for projects (upto 5M US$).

Extra Curr:
Play racquet ball, softball, golf cricket etc.
Participated in a few debates and plays at school level and undergrad level. During Graduation volunteered with the Indian Student Association. Volunteered on and off with the university to help out local community, one specific case was the major Florida hurricane in 2004.
At work, I have been working with the Diversity Employee network (Asian network) as a volunteer (no important/lead role in committees). Also volunteer at events organized by the company/department again one case was helping out local community during the devastating Iowa Floods of 2008. I also helped out in creating an official cricket league within our company.
All in all, I have only been volunteering ocassionaly, have never been in a leadership role.

Short Term Goal:
I want to get in Strategy and Business development role in avionics industry in asia pacific reason. Avionics industry is growing in Europe/Asia region with lot of avionics companies opening up facilities in there (specially India, Singapore etc). I want to get into the strategy development role in such company.

Long Term Goal:
I want to open up my own business in avionics in India (not too sure what right now) but in the same industry specially because it is still developing and has lot of scope.

My Questions are:
1) I know I have a very weak GMAT (and not so good Extra Curriculars) but I have heard that schools considers low GMAT for people with different profiles/work ex, Will my profile/industry experience be considered “Different” and that different that it can offset the low GMAT?
2) I am thinking about taking GMAT again but not too sure if I will be able to take it before the deadlines, so in case I am not able to take it again, With this GMAT do I even stand a chance ?
3) I was thinking of applying to some schools in US and some in Europe/Asia region like INSEAD, ISB (I am more inclined towards ISB as avionics industry is growing in india and there are lot more strategy and business development roles there, also eventually I want to open up something in india and a good network would be very helpful). What do you think my chances are at ISB ? (am thinking Round 2, I don't have my essays done yet)
Also, What schools would you recommend I should aim at with this profile (if I am not able to retake the GMAT)?

Thanks, I really appreciate your time and effort.

Motteboss:


@BB: Are you listening, sir? I think we might have just cracked the secret here. More power to the GC smiley collection


Muchas gracias.


I see that the spirit of Gokulashtami is already in the air (Mach gaya shor saari nagari re...Any Amitabh fans out there?)

Just one request, though, Motteboss. Take off your footwear before you climb. The last guy who tried the stunt was wearing track spikes (yup, the ones used for track and field events) and my shoulders still hurt.


Baalak, thy diligently cultivated skill with the written word is thy brahmastra. Wield it well in thy quest for success.

Considering you've already experienced the MCB's legendary chhatra-chhaaya offline, would you be kind enough to share your feedback on the margadarshan you've received.

Articulate as ever, Shri Raj. Good luck with your apps.

Hi All,

I would like to give feedback on the MBACRYSTALBALL process.
- Sameer guruji is very kind and patient. After you give a feedback form and have a small telephonic Q&A session, you get the mystical MCB report in a day (or two). Some say Djinns from Tirunelveli make it, some say a pdf creator running on infinite monkey theorem and others cite a BPO in Gurgaon. I say, the origin does not matter, but the content is usually well organised and relevant.
- Going by the feedback time which is super fast, I will go with the Djinns of Tirunelveli.
- There is a feedback session after the report is created. This is truly paisa vasool. The secrets of the adcoms are passed on in true Guru Shishya parampara from Sameers mouth to our ears. Questions are answered patiently and great feedback on all points are covered.
- I think the report pays for itself (or more) because the money you save in just 1 application, for a program which is not a great fit, is almost what it costs for this report. And the suggestions from Sameer are usually helpful in considering some B schools which you never though would be a great fit..

MCB report is truly worthwhile. Just go for it, I say...!

Hi Kalyan,

Considering you've mentioned MIT twice in our post, I'm guessing you view it as a trump card (and it could be if you are able to address the points below). So let's focus on that.




The 'Before' part
If you are mentioning the size of the company to put your selection in context, then you are implicitly saying, all 200K employees were potential candidates for this program. If that is correct, what was the selection criteria for this? Aapki kameez doosro ki kameez se safed kaise?

The 'After' part
What happened after you came back from the program? Did you get a chance to use that training in your day-to-day responsibilities? What was the outcome? Apart from the envious stares from the remaining 199,999 employees (and Z-level security), what else did you gain after coming back?

A training program by itself does not tell me much. It was an opportunity that you got (earned?). What did you do with it?

A B-school seat at a top MBA program would be very similar. Adcoms will select you over several qualified competitors in the hope that you'd use the opportunity to do some good for yourself, for the institution and other stakeholders (your employer, community etc). They could use your MIT experience to judge what you'd do if you are given another opportunity for world-class training and access to the best resources.



7 page report!!! Are you sure it was a recommendation and not a khufiya case study ('Inside the mind of an Indian genius') that he plans to use in his classrooms? Or are you talking about one of those standardised personality evaluation reports (like Myers-Briggs Type Indicator)? What does he talk about in it?

Fire on, Kalyan-bhai.

[MG: Do you want to take on Kalyan's query on Management Consulting?]

Thanks Sameer.
Kalyan, your profile does put you in a competitive pool. Having said that, you do have elements that can set you apart. The transition from IT to consulting is a bit on the rarer side. Having said that, there are definite pluses in your profile, the lesser years of experience being one in this case.

But for consulting, you need one clear spike at the time of applying for a job. But given the fact that you have an IT background, adcom would want to see elements of this even at the time of applying for a b-school. So, if you can really prove your mettle in either acads or ECs so far, in addition to a stellar work-ex, you got a decent shot at it. For your case, just a stellar performance at work may not suffice unless you can really create a very compelling story on why you as an IT applicant has done which only a very handful of candidates would have accomplished. And here, this needs to be communicated in a very non-IT kind of language so that you can counter the prejduice that prevails.

Hope this helps! Cheers!

Schools do give weightage to profiles that are different, but the bhaav that your application will get will also be driven by the degree and scope of that hat-ke factor.

You've highlighted the fact that you have nothing to do with software (by this I'm guessing you mean 'not into coding'). But the same sentence has SDLC jumping out of the page. If you fit somewhere into the SDLC process, I'm not sure you can completely blank out the IT association.

My point is, that effort is not even needed. You don't have to go out of your way to hide that fact or sound apologetic about it. You are at the cutting edge of technology dude. Be proud of what you are doing and highlight what you do in the industry and why is it special. Just belonging to an under-or-over-represented industry doesn't make your profile good or bad.

What the rest of us do isn't rocket science. You are right in the middle of it, literally. There's plenty you can write that can get the reader excited. Avionics, black-box, NASA! Do you see the goose bumps on my hand?

Moving on to the next question. And I'm keeping the top schools in mind when I say this. I don't think your profile is radically different to make Adcoms ignore the GMAT score. The product you work on is ultimately an IT/technology application within a niche industry. With the current score, I'd skip INSEAD and ISB.

Either get closer to the median scores of the top schools or choose schools where your current score will not be a big liability.

Let me know which side you are inclined towards and we'll make the discussion more specific.

Hi Sameer,

Please evaluate my profile.

I want to work in the field of finance. So, I am looking at a degree in MS(Finance) or MBA(Finance) in the US.

Constraints: Max expenditure for tuition fee is 35 lakhs. So if the tuition fee is above this amount, please suggest colleges that provide scholarships or other aid options.

My GMAT score is 750 (Q50 V41) , AWA - 5

Profile
3 years Experience in one of the top MNC company in India
Worked as an R and D intern in an non-profit organisation

Acads :
Class X- 92 % , Class XII - 95 %
B.Tech from NIT Warangal( Top 10 Tech school in India) -- CGPA -8.61/10
Institute Merit Scholarship for the freshman year
AIEEE rank of 170 ( out of 4,00,000 applicants).
EAMCET rank of 91 ( out of 1,00,000 applicants)

ECs:
Active member of the Volunteers group at my present company
Volleyball player. Represented the company at various corporate events
One of the coordinators for the tech fest of NIT Warangal
Additional Secretary, ECE Association, NIT Warangal
Joint Secretary, IEEE Student Branch, NIT Warangal
Won prizes in various paper presentation contests in various colleges including IIT Roorkee, Osmania University
Conducted a mock AIEEE exam for AIEEE aspirants in Hyderabad

Hi Samir,

Thank you for inviting me in this forum. A number of positive feedbacks as well as your style of giving suggestions in humorous way were really a treat for me to read. Now would like to have some similar kind of suggestions for me as well.

Here goes my profile:

X ICSE : 90 %
XII ISC: 86.3%
BE (2007) VTU(Bangalore) : 76.03%
GMAT Scor: 690 (V:35, Q:48) AWA : 5.0

Professional Experience: 2yrs 11 months experience in a leading Telecom Company. Have 6months onsite experience in China. After 6 month of telecom software development, I joined the presales team to demonstrate my project for some of the leading Indian Telecom Operators. After that I have led a team of 10 members for the deployment of my project. Currently I am leading another team(which i have set up by taking interview, trained and mentored) for Managed Service project in the client side (a leading telecom operator). My responsibility is customer interaction, leading team and providing solution to client and client relation management.

By April 2011 I will be having an experience of 3.5 years.

Awards : 1. Table Tennis 2. Distinction Awards in College 3. Best Contributor Award from both my employer and Client(almost 5)

EC: Played Table Tennis in state level and have been captain in the school team. Have taught poor people in my locality during my school days and still continue whenever I get time.

Post MBA Goals: To stay in Telecom Industry and to know know more in depth business knowledge. Would like to intoduce few good business practices in my family business as well..Further I would like to start off a telecom consultancy.


I have already applied for ISB and will be applying for NUS and Nanyang.

Please give your comments on my profile and my chances to crack ISB. I also want to know whether in ISB, I will be considered in the IT pool of candidates. And last of all, is my score on the lower side taking into consideration my entire profile?

As far as your question regarding my selecting only Singapore schools are concerned, I am open for US and Internation B-Schools as well. But am facing a dilemma in shotlisting them with based on my profile( acads+GMAT+work-ex).

Would appreciate if you can help me in selecting US and European B-Schools.

Regards.