Manager
Joined: 03 Aug 2011
Posts: 191
Given Kudos: 12
Location: United States
Concentration: General Management, Entrepreneurship
GPA: 3.38
WE:Engineering (Computer Software)
Would really appreciate a profile evaluation
[#permalink]
06 Jul 2012, 19:20
Asian Male
Age 30
Undergraduate: Computer Science and Engineering at UC Davis
GPA: overall 3.38, engineering weighted, ~3.6
GMAT: 750, q49, v44.
W.E.:
1 summer doing test automation for a search engine startup
1 year at a data networking startup doing QA.
7 years (and still) at another data networking company (rather large and well known silicon valley company) doing test automation
I am currently at the senior software engineer level. Although I have no direct reports, I was designated by my manager to be the technical lead for over half of the offshore component of our team and I lead this team in various software development tasks and have been doing so for about 3 years. This leadership position is not an official management position although the tasks are very management oriented.
I guess my biggest weakness would be that I have had only one official promotion (to the senior software engineer level) although I have had other performance related accolades like merit increases (of a size unprecedented for the team) and an official monetary award given by the company.
As for work achievements, I designed, lead, and helped develop the first company-wide web application for managing test automation. This application has now become a standard part of process at the company. Also a year ago, I came up with a new innovative tool to aid in the software development cycle. The tool's popularity was such that it soon became a requirement by the program manager for all engineers to use during that project. Since its creation, it has been a part of every major software release of my company -- I suppose this would be the innovation I can take credit for with the most impact on the company process.
Extracurriculars:
- I've been a natural bodybuilder and fitness enthusiast for over 15 years. I am planning my first competition to be in October, however, many of the schools I plan to apply to will have application deadlines prior to the competition.
- I am a member of toastmasters (less than a year)
- I was a member of Tau Beta Pi honor society when I was in college
- Although probably not relevant at this point, I was captain of the wrestling team in high school and I was a varsity letter in 3 sports.
Side business:
- I ran an ebay business while balancing a full-time job for 2 years. This business grossed around 20k a month, and although the margins were not great, I really had the best time of my life playing business man (or perhaps pretending). I ended the business because the margins became so slim and considering the amount of time I spent (building a website, packing/shipping everything myself, handling customer calls) I could not justify it anymore, but I suppose you can say it planted a seed in me because it created more questions about business process, etc. than I had before I started.
Recommendations:
For the part-time programs I plan to get my direct supervisor, and I suspect a decent to good letter of recommendation, though in terms of writing ability I don't think it will be stellar.
I have a choice between two for the second letter:
- A team supervisor, who, although is technically in my team, reports to our director (my manager's manager). I know schools persuade you to not have team members or co-workers, but he plays a supervisory role and technically he is at the same level as my manager.
- a previous manager at the same company. He was my direct supervisor the first 3.5 years I was at my current job.
as for schools, i don't have a final list yet, but I plan to create one with all the schools I have at least a 50% chance of getting into..
(1). haas part-time program is my ideal program
(2). ucla andersen part-time program
(3). Sloan full time
(4). columbia full time
(5). yale full time
(6). kellogg full time
any other schools you might think I have a good shot at I'd love to put there since I wnat to build a list with reasonable schools