Hello Kate,
Thanks for your advice.
mbaMissionKate wrote:
Hello there!
Thanks for sharing your profile. I think you're making a smart call to retake the GMAT. Don't get me wrong, a 710 is a great score, but coming from your demographic I think any boost you can get there will help you.
Yes, hopefully I can improve on 710, get something above 740 at least.
mbaMissionKate wrote:
Your work experience (at least the few lines you wrote!) seem fairly typical (again, given your demographic), so I'd love to know more about the roles you've played, the successes you've had, and how you stand apart from your peers. What would your colleagues and superiors say about you? They must think highly of you if they put you as point of contact for a complex project. Perhaps you can also use your work with the NGO you mention to demonstrate your non-technical leadership - is there more you can do there? Take on a bigger role? Initiate a new project? Just some food for thought! The sports you played won't make a huge difference but could help to make you a more well-rounded candidate and at the very least they are interesting fun facts (By the way, I played badminton too, though definitely not at the national level
).
At my workplace, earlier, I used to work as part of a team, although not in any leadership capacity. I had ownership of a module/functionality and responsibility for the same was placed on my shoulders. Over time, I transitioned to a project where I was the sole lead (and my manager who made critical decisions based on the information I provided to him on the project). Although this does not demonstrate leadership over peers, I feel I can leverage this role to demonstrate leadership and responsibility in handling a project, more or less, on my own. The reference letter would have to be from my immediate superior, and I imagine he is happy with my performance so far.
I did have a leadership role at the NGO, where I had to lead about 15 volunteers on a project. That was a good experience. I can continue to build on that.
Well, if fate permits, we can have a casual game of badminton next year (I'm really testing my fate with this statement
)
mbaMissionKate wrote:
The other thing to consider is the story you tell around your career goals. Partly because transitioning from Tech to Finance can be tough. It's great you have the CFA 1 but I'm not sure that's enough from an employer's perspective. You mention Consulting, so perhaps explore Technology Consulting as a mid-term goal? Or maybe a "less technical" role for a Tech company that might allow you to gain some more exposure to things like Finance?
I understand that the transition to Finance is extremely difficult. To be on the safe side, I'd like to target a college that is favoured by Finance as well as Technology Consulting firms. If I manage to get an internship in a Finance role, well and good. Else I'll have the Tech Consulting role to fall back on. Eventually, if at all possible, I'll transition to a semi-finance role from there.
mbaMissionKate wrote:
As for target schools, Stern and Booth are going to be tough / stretches. McCombs feels like a better fit and they have a great reputation in both Tech and Finance. To advise on other schools, I'd really want to know more about your goals and values. Feel free to take a read through our free guide to selecting target programs here -
https://info.mbamission.com/Selecting-Yo ... ram-E-Book. But I'd be looking for schools in the 10-30 range, assuming you're focusing on US programs.
Good luck and keep us posted if we can help!
McCombs is on my list, though it seems like a hard buy with 710. Maybe if my score improves I'll have a better shot at it? Considering the above, any other programs you can recommend? I liked the guide, but I was planning on taking that approach after I had narrowed down the list of programs a bit. Once I have 10 schools or so to pick from, I can research them in detailed and limit the applications to 5 or so.
Yes, just the US programs.
Appreciate your help in this regard.
Thanks,
Pranav