Here’s a talk with Tejasvi Bhat, MBA candidate at Cambridge Judge who works in the health care industry. Thank you Tejasvi sharing your thoughts and experiences with us!
This interview is the latest in an Accepted.com blog series featuring interviews with current MBA students, offering readers a behind-the-scenes look at top MBA programs. We hope to offer you a candid picture of student life, and what you should consider as you prepare your MBA application.
Accepted: First, some basics: Where are you from? Where and what did you study as an undergrad? How many years of work experience do you have?
Tejasvi: My name is Tejasvi Bhat and I am from Bangalore, India. I am an Industrial Engineer by qualification and went to R.V College of Engineering in Bangalore. I came into the MBA with 4.5 years of experience. I initially started off as derivatives trader focusing on American and European equity markets. After that I made quite a career change by starting to work with my parents at our pharmaceutical family business. I did that for 3 years before starting my MBA at Cambridge.
Accepted: Which other programs did you consider when applying to b-school? Why did you choose Judge?
Tejasvi: I was mainly looking at one year MBAs and hence applied to Cambridge and ISB in India. The only two year MBA I looked at seriously was Dartmouth Tuck. Judge was one of the main targets for me because of three points.
1. Class size. Now that I am here I know it is just perfect in the sense that it’s not too big for you to get lost in or too small to hinder the networking opportunities and diversity.
2. The academic structure that involves two live consulting projects with real clients is very helpful especially if you are looking at a career in consulting.
3. Final point is that Judge is part of the wider University of Cambridge which is simply amazing. I believed it would be a much better experience and that’s how it turned out to be. There are so many events and activities here that I would never have been able to enjoy at any other major MBA other than maybe Oxford. Your network is not just the MBA students. Your network is the whole of the university which includes students doing medical, engineering, arts, etc. It is also a great place for entrepreneurs with so many groups and activities like Enterprise Tuesday targeted at helping ideas grow into businesses.
Accepted: If you could change one thing about Judge, what would it be?
Tejasvi: I am enjoying my time here so much that I want to contradict my initial point of how I was looking at one year MBAs and say I wish I had more time here in Cambridge. But on a serious note, I think the one thing I would change would be to make the careers team more active in areas other than consulting and banking. For someone considering a career in the health care industry, not many companies come to campus. This does not mean you don't have support in applying to these jobs. You can still find a number of jobs on the online careers portal and apply through the portal. But it always helps to meet the recruiters face to face before applying. We do know why this happens. It’s just that because of the class size, companies looking for a few applicants don't come on campus. That I guess is the flip side of having a small class.
Accepted: What is your favorite class so far?
Tejasvi: My two favorite classes so far have been Strategy and Marketing. They are taught by two of the most witty and intelligent lecturers I have seen.
Accepted: Do you plan on staying in the UK after you graduate or returning to India to work?
Tejasvi: Immediately after graduation, I am not looking to go back to India. I am not particularly keen on a location and am open to moving depending on the jobs I get.
Accepted: What role (if any) has Judge played in helping you secure a job/internship?
Tejasvi: In terms of finding jobs and internships to apply to, Judge has a very good careers portal and also has tie ups with a few job sites targeted at MBA students where you can search. For help in applying, we regularly have workshops on cover letters and CV writing. We also have 1 on 1 sessions with industry experts who come to Judge every week and help you with your application.
Accepted: Can you share some application tips for our b-school applicants who are applying to Judge?
Tejasvi: Collaboration is not just a buzz word at Judge. I think the admissions team keeps this in mind when they are looking at applications. They take a lot of care in making sure that the class is filled with people who are good team players. This is very important keeping in mind the two live projects that you do as a team. It’s not like in other schools where you do a few assignments with you team and your can somehow push along by not being a team player. These are projects with client interaction and it’s the image of the school at stake.
And with regards to the application itself, it’s important that it tells a story. There has to be some connection with your work experience, the MBA and your future plans. Make sure there is a coherent logic that goes through all three of them. The Cambridge MBA is not the best fit for everyone and you need to do a lot of research and show why you are looking at Cambridge MBA and not Insead or LBS. These are schools with a very different setup and culture. If you submit similar and generic applications to them you are not going to have much success.
For one-on-one guidance on the Cambridge Judge application, please see our Cambridge Judge Business School packages. For specific advice on how to create the best application for Judge, see the Cambridge Judge B-School Zone.
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This article originally appeared on the Accepted Admissions Consulting Blog, the official blog of Accepted.com.
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