ISB applicants 2014 - Ask GyanOne

Hi GyanOne,

Please let me know my chances at ISB and other Asian bschools (If I may ask that here)

Work Ex till date
- Close to 6 years in marketing research and analytics. Worked with several clients in diverse industries across the world.
- Leading a team of 4 to manage various projects and clients independently

Acads

Class 12 - 86% CBSE
Class 10 - 89% CBSE
GMAT - 740 (Verbal 42, Quant 49)

ECAs
- Involved in Placement Community in college
- Various awards and recognition certificates in current company
- Photography (have done diploma in photography and organized a few charity shows)

Thanks in advance.

Hi Ktarun579,

Thanks for posting. Your overall profile is very good and you should definitely proceed with applying to ISB this year. Some of the other schools that you can look at in Asia are the IIM experienced-intake programs and NUS/Nanyang (Singapore).

In terms of work experience, you are well-placed with 6+ years in a business-centric function. If you have worked in quasi-consulting assignments in addition to traditional business research projects, do highlight that as well. You seem to have some leadership experience as well and you should be sure to make a mention of that.

In terms of acads and GMAT score, you are quite well-placed.

Under ECA, you need to bring out stronger elements under Placement involvement (what did you achieve - just participation is not enough) and go deeper into the kind of awards you have got. Remember that professional recognitions and team awards received at work are all professional and you cannot use those under ECA. The photography aspect looks quite interesting and you should focus more on that as it will help to differentiate you more.

Feel free to come back with follow-up questions on this.

Thanks GyanOne. That is motivating. Will get started with my ISB application first week of June, will get back with further questions then

Hi GyanOne,

Please evaluate my profile for ISB.

GMAT: 680
Acads: Btech from Jadavpur University, GPA: 7.2
Work experience: 4 years in a public sector organization, with good leadership experience (led team of 4 for various assignments across India)
ECA: Active member of Toastmasters, NGO experience (helping special children with their studies on weekends), Won a few debate competitions in college.

Would want to move out of public sector and join a private company with a management role post MBA. Please let me know my chances. Do I need to retake the GMAT?

Thanks for the help in advance. Please let me know of any other information that you need.

Hi Abhi,

We will need more information to help you out here - what does the organization that you work for do? Also, what is your specific role all about and what have you spent the last four years on?

From the information that you have provided, your profile seems to be around average. Public sector experience is a differentiator, and if you have got some solid professional achievements, this should stand you in good stead. You have led teams, and this leadership experience will definitely count. In case you have worked on some projects or processes that have been innovative or brought greater efficiency to your organization (there is sometimes more scope to do that in public sector organizations, though less authority), you should be sure to mention those in essay 1. See https://www.gyanone.com/isb-essays-2014-15/ for a detailed analysis of the ISB essays 2014.

In terms of academics, your GPA is decent but not outstanding. Your GMAT score is significantly below ISB's average. While there are people who make it to ISB every year with similar scores, we would recommend a GMAT retake to take your score over 700.

Looking at ECA, we do not see any out of the ordinary experience or achievements there either. How long have you been associated with the NGO and what are the initiatives you have been a part of? College debate competitions may not count for much unless these were consistent and at some major level. Could your provide more context around these?

In terms of switching to the private sector, an MBA will certainly help you do that. Every year, we work with a number of clients from the public sector and see them get into great private sector roles post-ISB, in companies ranging from consulting firms to consumer goods majors (HUL et al) and even large conglomerates (Aditya Birla group, for instance).

Hi,

I just want to know about recommendation letters. How should I get them? It should be from organisation you worked.
As there are some people who worked with me and than they left the company as the project is finished.

In that case can I produce recommendation letter from them, Or is it specific that I should get the recommendation letter from the employees who are still working with my previous company.

Hi Manu,

The general principle that should be followed with respect to letters of recommendation is that your recommender should have had a chance to work with you and observe you over a significant length of time (at least an year, though more is recommended). Further, you should try and get recommendations from people who have worked with you more recently (if possible, over the last 1-2 years, but not further back than 3 years). This is because it is people who have worked more recently with you who will be able to provide a better assessment of your current capabilities.

It is not a problem if the person you are thinking of approaching for a recommendation meets these criteria but is no longer part of your current organization.

Hope this clarifies. Please feel free to ask further if anything is not clear.

Also go through the section on recommendations in this article: How to improve your profile for MBA admissions

Thanks for insights into recos. I would request you to evaluate my profile for ISB.

GMAT: 700 / IR: 5 / AWA: 4
10th / 12th marks: 79% / 85%
Graduation: Btech from State level college in Chennai / 67%
Work experience: 4.5 years in Public power sector company. Works involves travel to remote areas in India.

Extra curriculars are limited to tech competition prizes in college.

I am really keen on cracking ISB this year, as would not be able to do so next year, due to some personal commitments.

Please let me know in case you need any further information.

Thanks

Hi ISBAspirant2014,

Here is our assessment of your profile:

In terms of academics, you are just about a bit above average. 67% is short of distinction, and you are not from top tier engineering colleges like the IITs or the NITs. A GMAT score of 700 is decent, especially given the fact that you come from the public sector with ~5 years of experience.

In terms of diversity, your work in a public sector company together with the fact that you travel to remote areas will lend diversity to your profile for sure. Your stories there will be very important to your overall candidature and your differentiation will come from there.

Your ECA may not be an issue by itself, but your overall profile will depend on the awards/recognitions/achievements you have. We do not have enough information on that based on what you have posted.

(This is for YLP)
GMAT: 780(Q51 V47) / IR: 7 / AWA: 5.5
10th / 12th marks: 95% / 93%
Graduation: Btech IIT Roorkee / 8.5/10
Extracurriculars- Campus Debating Club founding member, Secretary Media and Publishing Club(Headed the club, oversaw a structural revamp during tenure)

How do you think I would measure up in the YLP pool?

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Hello Friend,

Please provide me profile evaluation :

GMAT Score : 690 (Q46, V 38, IR 1 ( this came as a shocker to me, never scored this low even in mocks !!! AWA : awaited )

10th : 86.5% (Maharashtra State Board)
12th : 84.5 % (Maharashtra State Board)
BE Mechanical Engg from VIT, Pune. Aggregate of four years : 60.21 %
WE : 53 months.
First 32 months with a Tata group company in auto component manufacturing industry. I was in Strategic Sourcing function. It was a techno-commercial job which involved managing complete supply chain of auto components (annual volume : 2 Lakhs unit) from India to a Europe. "New Product Development" was a significant part of my job. Have actually worked on shop-floor of many small Indian manufacturers (who were my suppliers) and have very good knowledge of various manufacturing and quality processes.
Since last 21 months I have been working with a Godrej group company. Here the role is more commercial however the job is more strategic because of very high scales of operation. Responsible for total commodity purchases (metals, polymers and chemicals) worth Rs 400 Crs (that's a huge buy-value for a guy with mere 4.5 years of experience). Job also involves significant monitoring of global economic events which affect Indian Rupee and global commodities prices. New product development remains the same.

EC :
1. (I am not sure whether this will be considered under EC) : Since last 2 and half years, I have been a very active stock market trader (events oriented trading in options). Learnt about all trading instruments (cash and derivatives) on my own. Have done significant study of various technical indicators and chart reading techniques. This is my biggest passion. Recently I have started an offline forum to educate people about stock market and various instruments available to them. This is purely educational forum. Soon will be launching my own website to take forward on a bigger scale (I don't intend to make money on it though).
2. I have been playing guitar since last 7 years. Have participated in couple of shows with a small band. Used to teach guitar to beginners (almost for 6 moths). Completed grade 1 exam of Trinity School of Music, London. Free-lance guitarist since last 4 years.
3. Represented my company in "Tata Business Leadership Award" in year 2012. Our team was selected in top 8 from Western Zone.
4. Couple of awards for outstanding contributions to New Product Development.
5. Won a national level technical event during graduation. This was related to developing an innovative product with maximum number of energy conversions.
6. Won many state level competitive exams securing ranks in top 10 at district level (school level achievements).

I have already had a counselling call with ISB team. I was worried about my low IR score. However, the guy said ISB wont consider IR score hence I need not worry about it. However, I am still anxious since the score is least possible you could get in IR...

Your valuable feedback will highly be appreciated.

Regards,
Vaibhav

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Hi Vaibhav,

Apologies for the delay here. Somehow this slipped off the radar.

In terms of your profile, here is our assessment:
You seem to be pretty solid when it comes to your professional experience and your initiatives and achievements at work. Your S2C experience at Tata is noteworthy. At Godrej too, you demonstrate significant responsibility, good business exposure, and strong overall performance. Some such roles are similar to what quite a few MBA graduates (including ISB graduates) get into through after rotations in leadership programs for firms like Godrej and Airtel.

Your extra-curricular achievements are good as well. The stock trading example is more of an activity at the moment, not really an EC achievement, though the next steps you define for that seem interesting. The guitar perspective seems great too. Please note that points 3 and 4 under EC aren't EC achievements or activities but instead professional achievement and so should be slotted as such. Point 6 is fine, but a bit dated by now.

Overall, the only slight question mark on your profile seems to be your GMAT score. Although it is certainly not an application-killer, if you could raise it by a further 20-30 points through a retake you will further enhance your chances. On IR, different schools view it differently, and we do not see the IR score yet being a factor large enough to influence an application decision. In case there was something unusual that happened which caused you to get this low an IR score, you may mention it in your ISB optional essay.

Hope this helps. Feel free to come back with follow-up questions on this.

Hi Hari,

You are certainly well set for ISB YLP. After our initial conversation on email around your candidature at ISB, hope you have created a firm plan for YLP and other similar programs. How are you doing and how are the applications shaping up?

Do feel free to come back with queries either here or on email.

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