Ask Fortuna Admissions

Thank you for joining us today Emma and Brittany

Thank you everyone for your questions. Make sure you sign up for a free consult on our website -- we hope to speak to you again soon!  https://fortunaadmissions.com/free_consult/ 

Any email id?

Thanks everybody, great to have your questions. Look forward to speaking again

Hi, see the link here to contact us (it’s free!): https://fortunaadmissions.com/free_consult/

Nikhil I’d have appreciated had you not pinned your message. Chat is almost non functional for me. Chat box is unresponsive

Can you send me a PM about what is non functional?

Now, we are Live with a Student Panel, Join us at the following link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuBQcQgsotE

Hi, profile background :-

28 year Old Female IT professional

10th (high school):- 67.33%
12th (high school):-76.31%
Undergraduate in Computer science & Engineering :- 71.36 %

Full time work ex:- 7 years ; In multinational Tech industry, including 3 years international Exp.


Extra curricular:- Worked with NGO for weekend Teaching in nearby villages,
Organised Science fairs for the students of the same school,
Raised funds of school kit distribution and Location Anchor for gift distributions
Participated in corporate tournaments as volleyball team player. Won various trophies.
College Extra curricular :- NCC(National Cadet Corps) Cadet for 2 years
volleyball player(College team) -participated in various matches Inter/Intra colleges
various participation in other activities- Dance, sketching, Debates

Gmat score target :-730-740

Post MBA goal- Move my career into Consulting/ Product management.

How should I choose the right business school for me and What are my chances to get into top school.

Unable to scroll up

background: indian female

undergrad and gmat: 8.5-9.2 from top10 commerce and management colleges in india, gmat to be taken (aiming for 750)

internships: 1st one was as a summer intern or a networking solutions company. i was in the accounting dept where i handled the books of accounts
2nd - content writer for a digital marketing company, worked as a team leader for teh content writing interns. worked on many projects as the lead from teh content team.
3rd - human resource intern for a consulting startup firm. ended up becoming a team leader for the hr interns as well. was in charge of diversity and inclusion and worked on recruitment and talent solutions
4th- research intern for the department of promotion of industry and internal trade, ministry of commerce, government of india. internship not yet completed.

ec's: national level swimmer
college basketball team
treasurer of the college's debating society
lead guitarist for the college rock band
trekker (completed 4 high altitude (15000ft+) treks and many adventure sports) volunteer for children's summer adventure camp

community service: 60 hours community service through college
social volunteer for an ngo centered around women safety and empowerment
volunteered for a student run organization to help covid struck families during the second wave

post mba goals: return to work for the financial services industry in big4/8 for a few years and then start my own hedge fund. hoping to network with alumni and fellow students during mba to help me gather knowledge and experience to achieve this goal

will be applying in 2022 to: hbs 2+2, cbs, wharton, booth, kellogg, mit and darden

do you think i stand a chance ? im not even sure if i should bother applying. do the lack of brands in my internship harm my applications and will receiving and accepting an offer from big 4/8 before application submission help me in that regard?

thank you so so much in advance

Posted from my mobile device

Hi anusharajjj123,

Thanks for your inquiry.

Wow you've done some amazing things in university and lots of community work which the top US schools will love. Also the national level swimmer is impressive. Just curious if you won anything?

In terms of working experience so do you not have any yet? the 2+ 2 program could be an option at this stage for you but it would be too soon to apply to regular full time for wharton and the other schools you mention. They value work experience and you need at least 2 or 3 years to stand a chance. Average is closer to 5 or 6. Would you consider waiting?
and no, smaller brands won't hurt your profile at all - sometimes that can be a plus as they don't want a class full of people from just some of the big brands. Diversity is key.

We at Fortuna would have to do a more full assessment to see which schools might be a good fit for you so you might want to consider signing up for a 30 minute (Free) consultation. https://fortunaadmissions.com/free_consult/ It will be super helpful for you to see if you should apply or wait a few year. We would need to see your CV and talk out your path and experience a bit to get a clearer picture.
But great academics overall and especially if you get that desired 750 gmat!

Thanks and all the best,

thank you so much for your response,

I won a bronze once at the national swim meet but that's about it unfortunately.
yes, I do not have any full time work experience as I started my final year of undergraduation around 3 weeks ago. I do plan on applying to a relatively broader set of business schools in 3 years once I gain the work experience. I'm so sorry for not being accurate, when I mentioned Wharton, CBS, booth, etc I meant the deferral programs for college seniors. i.e wharton moelis access program, booth future scholar program etc.
I hear that the schools are more selective about future access programs compared to the tradition programs, so what would you say my odds at these programs would be ? and apart from nailing GMAT, is there anything you think I should to make my application more attractive?

Posted from my mobile device

Hi,

I would like to get my profile evaluated and receive suggestions for B-schools that I should target.

I am a 32yr old Indian Male, Commerce graduate, working in Trade Finance at a mid-sized Public Sector Bank in India.

Education:
B Com - 66%
Masters in Financial Services - 6.08/8.0
Certifications:
Certified Associate if Indian Institute of Bankers
Diploma in Treasury, Investment and Risk Management
GMAT:
Yet to write (official GMAT mocks ranging from 660 to 710)

Work Experience:
8 years in commercial banking with exposure to numerous verticals and with clients ranging from small farmers in rural areas to mid- and large corporates in metropolitan cities.

Senior Manager
- Currently working as in-charge of Trade Finance Department
- Contributed 40% of total branch income in F.Y. 2020-21, through Trade Finance operations
- Managed a team of 4-5 people in this period

Manager
- Worked as Branch Manager with a team of 4 people and handled a wide range of portfolios including deposits, retail loans, agricultural loans and small business loans
- Reduced non-performing assets (NPAs) of my branch from 10% to 2% of total loans
- Moved to Mumbai and was introduced to Trade Finance – gained experience working with large and mid-corporates

Assistant Manager
- Joined as Probationary Officer and worked at various locations in multiple roles including Deposits, ATM Management, Cash Management and Jewel Loans
- Was one of the first people in my batch to be selected as Branch Manager and was given charge of a new branch with a team of 3 people

Assistant Manager – Claims (Legal) - worked for 6 months in an Insurance company prior to banking experience
- Managed Motor Accident Claims with responsibilities including managing panel lawyers, local claim investigators, preparing defence for cases and negotiating with claimants for out of court settlements.


Extra Curriculars:
- Conducting Tree-plantation drives and organizing free basic health check-up camps as part of Bank's CSR activities
- Pursuing hobbies in photography and fountain pens

Post MBA Goals:
I hope to stay in the financial services sector and pursue banking after MBA. I am not sure if I will get many opportunities in commercial banking after MBA or even if it would be a suitable choice. I am open to switching jobs but would aim to pursue something finance related.

I am concerned about my relatively low GMAT score. I am aiming for 700+ and will be writing my GMAT in 2 weeks.
In my opinion, UK and European b-schools would be a better fit given my age and target GMAT score. I would like to get some suggestions about which schools I can target. Also, will Canada be a good option for me?

Thanks in advance for your help

Regards,
Aayush

Stats: 3.72 Biology GPA, 164V 163Q GRE. White male.

Work experience: 1 year at an environmental non-profit, 3.5 years working in energy and sustainability for the state government, and 10 months by June 2022 (term appointment) teaching environmental science to underprivileged kids at a public charter school. I would be applying R1, so a couple of months into teaching.

Volunteering: 1.5 years of volunteering (2 at matriculation) to get kids and their families outdoors fishing at weekly events. Promoted a year into leading boat tours of the river as a paid role. This experience with kids is why I think I got the teaching role. All the people I work with here would be great recommenders.

Schools: I applied last Fall and got into all of the T20 schools I applied to, and one T15. Rejected at 2 other T15s and left on Fuqua WL until last week. I was hoping to target Darden and Yale, but I was wondering if I look like I could get Kellogg.

Dear sir,

Requesting my profile evaluation for HEC Paris, INSEAD and ISB Hyderabad

I am working as Resource and MIS manager for one Business Unit of L&T Construction. My responsibilities include deployment and management of workforce of 490 staff and all machines available in 16 projects, along with MIS for complete business unit of 13,500 Cr. I have 4 years of experience in total (last 3 years in same position and first year as planning engineer of Delhi Metro project). I do not have any international experience but i have 3 international projects under me.
Academics - 7.34 GPA in Civil Engineering from NIT Hamirpur(Himachal Pradesh), 93.4% in 12th and 10.0 CGPA in 10th standard
GMAT score - 680 (Q48, V35, IR5, AWA4)

Extra curricular- I was heavily involved in all committees in my college and held many postions in college committees ( College fest Joint secretary, placement representative, Civil Society Joint secretary).Few awards in some competitions (debates and technical competitions). Also i participated in various olympiads during school time.

Hobbies - i like watching hollywood movies and english series. (I am guzzler of movies and series)

Posted from my mobile device

Profile Evaluation Please

About Me:

Indian Male
Engineer (BTECH - CSE- VIT University, Vellore, India)
Age - 25
Current situation - Was recently promoted and transferred from Cisco India to Europe Headquarters at Cisco Poland. ( in June 2021)

A seasoned professional with expertise in Design, Support, Consultation, and Implementation of Cybersecurity technologies.
Proven track record of advocating for Customer Success and aligning customer business goals with cost-effective technology solutions.
I often like to optimize and fix problems that others won't or can't.


Gmat Details

GMAT 2 - 720 ( Q49,V40, IR-2,AWA-6)
GMAT 1 - 680 (Q49, V34, IR-5, AWA-5)

Target Schools -:

• Harvard Business School
• Stanford GSB
• Wharton
• INSEAD
• Chicago Booth
• London Business School
• Kellogg
• NYU Stern,
• UC Berkeley Haas
• Michigan Ross

Education summary

B.Tech- Computer Science &Engineering (2014-2018)
CGPA - 9.01/10 (Among top 10% within a batch of 800 students)
VIT UNIVERSITY VELLORE , India --- Ranked 9th Best University In India



12th Standard - 92.8% - Apeejay School Saket, New Delhi, India
10th Standard - 8.8/10 CGPA - Apeejay School Saket, New Delhi, India



Work History summary

Customer Success Specialist (CSS) - Cyber Security|Cisco Poland
Krakow , Poland - August 2021 - Current


• Maintained customer satisfaction with forward-thinking strategies focused on addressing customer needs and resolving concerns.
• Owing to my success in the previous role as Technical Consultant, I was promoted and transferred to Cisco Europe as a CSS to manage major clients in Europe and Americas Region. Youngest member in a team of 14 senior CSS.
• Leveraged sales expertise to promote products and capitalized on upsell opportunities.
• Developed community reputation through commitment to customer satisfaction and strong client relationships.
• Collected customer feedback and made process changes to exceed customer satisfaction goals.
• Regularly exceeded daily sales and product add-on quotas.
• Evaluated account and service histories to identify trends, using data to mitigate future issues.
• Liaised with customers, management and sales team to better understand customer needs and recommend appropriate solutions.
• Cultivated customer loyalty, promoted repeat customers and improved sales.


Sr.Technical Consulting Engineer|Cisco India
Bengaluru , Karnataka - August 2018 - July 2021

• Worked for Network Security team in the Customer Experience Org.
• Collaborated with Cisco Clients, assisted in troubleshooting, design configurations, and escalation problem management.
• Worked with over 70+ key client accounts in EMEA and APAC region in the field of Financial services, Health care, Government, Manufacturing and retail, IT, Intelligence services etc.
• Supported complex network infrastructure responsible for critical business processes.
• Liaised with Engineering units in product innovation for security org based on feedback from customers and field implementations.
• Developed and contributed to internal and external knowledge bases.
• Instrumental member of the team responsible for deploying world's largest identity-based Firewall solution (Reliance Jio) which helped secure a deal of $10M in future projects with Reliance Jio.
• Led an initiative (Security Health Check) in collaboration with Cisco Sales team which doubled the sales of license for cisco security product portfolio. Trained over 300+ Cisco partners and Customers in APAC region. As a direct result of these trainings, Feature adoption increased by 60% which led to subscription license sale increase by ~40%.
• Was the Escalation lead engineer to retrieve and recover over 1000+ HDFC ATM's across India that went out of service because of network outage and compromised vulnerabilities in 2019. Managed a team of 4 engineers to help retrieve their network.
• Played a key role in bringing the Security Experience Center (Executive Briefing Centre dedicated to Security with direct impact on Security Sales) to life in partnership with Security Business Group, GSSO, Security & Trust Organization.
• Architect for DevNet skill ramp up in APJC Customer Experience theatre that resulted in over 1000 certifications, multiple innovation and automation projects within the Center. As a result, I was awarded for my contributions in University Recruitments and Cisco Ideathon.
• Youngest employee in India Security team to be promoted twice within a span of 3 years with a gross salary hike of ~60%.
• Trained over 100 engineers in CCNA certification, DevNet certification, and Security concepts across multiple bootcamps
• Delivered multiple sessions on IoT, Cybersecurity, Cryptography etc at multiple forums including Seccon APJC/EMEA/AMER (Industry Wide Security Conferences), ACM winter school, and colleges. The average attendance for each of the session varied from 250-500 People.
• Part of the core team for EMEAR SecCon 2020 (Cisco's flagship annual security conference) and a distinguished presenter at Seccon APJC/EMEA/AMER on topics related to CyberSecurity.
• Instrumental in streamlining and reviewing hiring process for security TAC engineers.
• Selected to be the one of the 5 Security Engineers from Cisco India Security team to be a point of contact and key member for supporting Tokyo Olympics (2020-2021) . Responsible for ensuring smooth functioning of cisco security network.
• Played a key role in the hiring and technical ramping up of two recently opened Cisco Theatres in Australia and Mexico. Still continue to be a point of escalation for these theatres.


Network Engineer Intern|Cisco India
Bengaluru , Karnataka - January 2018 - July 2018

• Among 15 students selected from a batch of 2500 of students in my college. (top 1%)
• Underwent comprehensive network and cyber security related trainings.
• Successfully completed several industry wide certifications in the field of network and cyber security. The certifications have a success rate of less than 3%. ( CCNA, CCNA-Security , CCNP- Security)
• Led a team project (team of 3) under the guidance of my mentor at Cisco. Project dealt in creating a bot for secure log analyzer and upgrade assistant for cisco products. The project was internal to Cisco and aimed at effectively managing the resources within cisco teams and bringing security to forefront of company's flagship products.
• As the leader of the team, I pitched our project in an internal hackathon conducted for all the interns by senior Cisco Leadership. The project was a resounding success and our team won the "The innovation hackathon". We were awarded the first prize.
• Actively involved in CSR activities and a core member of Early In Career - community in Cisco.


Awards And Achievements

• Speaker at SECCON AMR + EMEAR Security Conferences (2020)
Had the chance to present at SecCon EMEAR and SecCon AMR on the
topic "Cisco Threat Response - Next-Gen Threat Intelligence” and "Newest disruption in the identity Security". The sessions were attended by over 500+ customers and partners .
• Cisco - Customer Champion Award (2019)
Received the award twice in Q1 and Q2 FY-2019 at Cisco Systems for
brilliant customer service and exemplary attitude.
• Cisco - Customer Excellence Award (2019)
For Outstanding performance and contribution to CX APJC - Q3- FY19 to customer experience.
• Host , Cisco worldwide events - Connected Recognition (2019)
Hosted Women of Impact (WOI) worldwide event and multiple Security
All-hands events.
• Best Speaker Award - Toastmasters International - VIT chapter (2016)
Received the Best speaker award as a part of Toastmasters VIT Chapter

Key Achievements
• Led an initiative (Security Health Check) in collaboration with Cisco Sales team which doubled the sales of license for cisco security product portfolio. Trained over 300+ Cisco partners and Customers in APAC region. As a direct result of these trainings, Feature adoption increased by 60% which led to subscription license sale increase by ~40%.
• Architect for DevNet skill ramp up in APJC Customer Experience theatre that resulted in over 1000 certifications, multiple innovation and automation projects within the Center. As a result, I was awarded for my contributions in University Recruitments and Cisco Hackathon.
• Selected to be the one of the 5 Security Engineers from Cisco India Security team to be a point of contact and key member for supporting Tokyo Olympics (2020-2021) . Responsible for ensuring smooth functioning of cisco security network.
• Instrumental member of the team responsible for deploying world's largest identity-based Firewall solution (Reliance Jio) which helped secure a deal of $10M in future projects with Reliance Jio.

Community Service and Volunteering

• Ardent champion of Women Inclusion at Work Places. Acted as the co-lead of APJC centers for Women Of Impact (WOI) chapter at Cisco. Conducted and hosted several events, workshops and skill based trainings for Women in Cisco to help in their career development.

• Led an initiative along with Cisco Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) team at Cisco to architect a career development plan for early in career women at Cisco to provide them guidance and mentorship. We assigned Cisco Women Leaders (with 10+ years of work exp) as mentors who helped newcomers in transitioning into the professional world and guided them to excel in their roles. The program had an immense impact and we observed exceptional women participation in multiple projects happening across APJC centers.

• Led an initiative along with Cisco CSR team to conduct 1 hour resume building training and Q&A sessions for students across 20 universities in Southern India during pandemic times to assist them in securing jobs during the ongoing Covid Pandemic.

Entrepreneurial Journey

FREELANCING ( Mar'20 - 21)

• Started undertaking freelance projects related to Cyber and Network Security, Cloud migrations, Network Design and Implementation. Worked with over 10+ key clients from multiple geographic locations in a span of 1 year and logged in 1500+ hours of work-time.Some notable clients include - UCS HealthCare, Airtel Communication, Indian Army, Vizodo Technologies, etc.
• Leveraged my Technical skills along with Project Management expertise to meet all the deliverables in time and enhance customer experience.
• Went the extra-mile to enhance customer satisfaction by delivering trainings to internal client teams for a proper knowledge transfer.
• Liaised with client internal teams to better understand customer needs and recommend appropriate solutions.
• Earned a net revenue of $50K from all the freelancing projects with possible future contracts worth $100K.
• Top-Rated freelancer on Upwork platform for the year 2020.

NetVolte Technologies LLP. - Founder (May'20 - Present)

• NetVolte Technologies LLP. is a global technical consulting company which aims to provide and supply of information technology solutions including end-to-end solutions, systems integration and development of software and hardware, networking and consulting services to clients all across the globe.
• As the founder of Netvolte and given my extensive experience in Networking and Security, my objective is to introduce an affordable and reliable way to secure our client's network and capitalize on the power of open source tools to provide more customized solutions catered to the needs of the customers.
• Built the company from the start-up stages; capitalized financial requirements through a combination of bootstrapping, limited partnerships, and borrowings. Total investment to start the company - $1000.
• Responsible for managing day to day operations of the organization.
• Managing key functions: Business Development, Sales and Marketing.
• Oversaw and actively contributed with fellow partners in areas like Technical support, Accounting , HR etc.
• Onboarded 5 of my previous freelance clients accounts in the organization and also onboarded 3 new clients within a span of 3 months in APAC region.
• In the process on onboarding 2 new clients from EMEAR region with contracts worth $30K.
• Responsible for hiring, onboarding , supervision and training of 3 employees with full employee retention.
• Conceptualized and formulated a proper onboarding plan for new employees and temporary workers.
• Responsible for managing a team of 7 freelancers which were hired on per-project basis.
• Earned a Gross revenue of - $60K within a span of 3 months. Gross Profit - 59K.
• Responsible for further growth of the organization.

Post MBA goals -:

I want to move into my startup full-time and leaverage the experience and network that i built over the course of my MBA to expand my business globally while keeping technology and customer success at the forefront.

Questions I have -:

1. Is my profile good enough for the colleges i'm targetting ?
It will be of immense help to me if you can categorize the schools above as
1) Not possible, forget about it!
2) Good Chance
3) Not at all easy but can be given a shot

2. I'm targetting round 2, hence i want to know whether the colleges usually have rolling admissions for R2 in which case i'll have to hurry up and apply , or can i apply till the deadline is there?

3. Is my GMAT score good enough, or should i retake it? I somehow tanked my IR (Score - 2) , is that going to be a detterant in my applications?

4. Is my profile good enough to get decent scholarships?

5. Since currently i just have 3 years of work experience and by the time i join MBA it'll be 4 yrs, should i wait for another year and then apply, or this is a good time to apply?

6. What more I can do to strenghten my profile so that my chances of making to top 5 US B-Schools increase?

Hi Team,

I'd really appreciate if you could evaluate my profile -:


About Me:

Indian Male
Enigneer (BTECH CSE)
Age - 25
Current situation - Was recently promoted and transferred from Cisco India to Europe Headquarters at Cisco Poland.

A seasoned professional with expertise in Design, Support, Consultation, and Implementation of Cybersecurity technologies.
Proven track record of advocating for Customer Success and aligning customer business goals with cost-effective technology solutions.
I often like to optimize and fix problems that others won't or can't.


Gmat Details

GMAT 2 - 720 ( Q49,V40, IR-2,AWA-6)
GMAT 1 - 680 (Q49, V34, IR-5, AWA-5)

Target Schools -:

• Harvard Business School
• Stanford GSB
• Wharton
• INSEAD
• Chicago Booth
• London Business School
• Kellogg
• NYU Stern,
• UC Berkeley Haas
• Michigan Ross

Education summary

B.Tech- Computer Science &Engineering (2014-2018)
CGPA - 9.01/10 (Among top 10% within a batch of 800 students)
VIT UNIVERSITY VELLORE , India --- Ranked 9th Best University In India



12th Standard - 92.8% - Apeejay School Saket, New Delhi, India
10th Standard - 8.8/10 CGPA - Apeejay School Saket, New Delhi, India



Work History summary

Customer Success Specialist (CSS) - Cyber Security|Cisco Poland
Krakow , Poland - August 2021 - Current


• Maintained customer satisfaction with forward-thinking strategies focused on addressing customer needs and resolving concerns.
• Owing to my success in the previous role as Technical Consultant, I was promoted and transferred to Cisco Europe as a CSS to manage major clients in Europe and Americas Region. Youngest member in a team of 14 senior CSS.
• Leveraged sales expertise to promote products and capitalized on upsell opportunities.
• Developed community reputation through commitment to customer satisfaction and strong client relationships.
• Collected customer feedback and made process changes to exceed customer satisfaction goals.
• Regularly exceeded daily sales and product add-on quotas.
• Evaluated account and service histories to identify trends, using data to mitigate future issues.
• Liaised with customers, management and sales team to better understand customer needs and recommend appropriate solutions.
• Cultivated customer loyalty, promoted repeat customers and improved sales.


Sr.Technical Consulting Engineer|Cisco India
Bengaluru , Karnataka - August 2018 - July 2021

• Worked for Network Security team in the Customer Experience Org.
• Collaborated with Cisco Clients, assisted in troubleshooting, design configurations, and escalation problem management.
• Worked with over 70+ key client accounts in EMEA and APAC region in the field of Financial services, Health care, Government, Manufacturing and retail, IT, Intelligence services etc.
• Supported complex network infrastructure responsible for critical business processes.
• Liaised with Engineering units in product innovation for security org based on feedback from customers and field implementations.
• Developed and contributed to internal and external knowledge bases.
• Instrumental member of the team responsible for deploying world's largest identity-based Firewall solution (Reliance Jio) which helped secure a deal of $10M in future projects with Reliance Jio.
• Led an initiative (Security Health Check) in collaboration with Cisco Sales team which doubled the sales of license for cisco security product portfolio. Trained over 300+ Cisco partners and Customers in APAC region. As a direct result of these trainings, Feature adoption increased by 60% which led to subscription license sale increase by ~40%.
• Was the Escalation lead engineer to retrieve and recover over 1000+ HDFC ATM's across India that went out of service because of network outage and compromised vulnerabilities in 2019. Managed a team of 4 engineers to help retrieve their network.
• Played a key role in bringing the Security Experience Center (Executive Briefing Centre dedicated to Security with direct impact on Security Sales) to life in partnership with Security Business Group, GSSO, Security & Trust Organization.
• Architect for DevNet skill ramp up in APJC Customer Experience theatre that resulted in over 1000 certifications, multiple innovation and automation projects within the Center. As a result, I was awarded for my contributions in University Recruitments and Cisco Ideathon.
• Youngest employee in India Security team to be promoted twice within a span of 3 years with a gross salary hike of ~60%.
• Trained over 100 engineers in CCNA certification, DevNet certification, and Security concepts across multiple bootcamps
• Delivered multiple sessions on IoT, Cybersecurity, Cryptography etc at multiple forums including Seccon APJC/EMEA/AMER (Industry Wide Security Conferences), ACM winter school, and colleges. The average attendance for each of the session varied from 250-500 People.
• Part of the core team for EMEAR SecCon 2020 (Cisco's flagship annual security conference) and a distinguished presenter at Seccon APJC/EMEA/AMER on topics related to CyberSecurity.
• Instrumental in streamlining and reviewing hiring process for security TAC engineers.
• Selected to be the one of the 5 Security Engineers from Cisco India Security team to be a point of contact and key member for supporting Tokyo Olympics (2020-2021) . Responsible for ensuring smooth functioning of cisco security network.
• Played a key role in the hiring and technical ramping up of two recently opened Cisco Theatres in Australia and Mexico. Still continue to be a point of escalation for these theatres.


Network Engineer Intern|Cisco India
Bengaluru , Karnataka - January 2018 - July 2018

• Among 15 students selected from a batch of 2500 of students in my college. (top 1%)
• Underwent comprehensive network and cyber security related trainings.
• Successfully completed several industry wide certifications in the field of network and cyber security. The certifications have a success rate of less than 3%. ( CCNA, CCNA-Security , CCNP- Security)
• Led a team project (team of 3) under the guidance of my mentor at Cisco. Project dealt in creating a bot for secure log analyzer and upgrade assistant for cisco products. The project was internal to Cisco and aimed at effectively managing the resources within cisco teams and bringing security to forefront of company's flagship products.
• As the leader of the team, I pitched our project in an internal hackathon conducted for all the interns by senior Cisco Leadership. The project was a resounding success and our team won the "The innovation hackathon". We were awarded the first prize.
• Actively involved in CSR activities and a core member of Early In Career - community in Cisco.


Awards And Achievements

• Speaker at SECCON AMR + EMEAR Security Conferences (2020)
Had the chance to present at SecCon EMEAR and SecCon AMR on the
topic "Cisco Threat Response - Next-Gen Threat Intelligence” and "Newest disruption in the identity Security". The sessions were attended by over 500+ customers and partners .
• Cisco - Customer Champion Award (2019)
Received the award twice in Q1 and Q2 FY-2019 at Cisco Systems for
brilliant customer service and exemplary attitude.
• Cisco - Customer Excellence Award (2019)
For Outstanding performance and contribution to CX APJC - Q3- FY19 to customer experience.
• Host , Cisco worldwide events - Connected Recognition (2019)
Hosted Women of Impact (WOI) worldwide event and multiple Security
All-hands events.
• Best Speaker Award - Toastmasters International - VIT chapter (2016)
Received the Best speaker award as a part of Toastmasters VIT Chapter

Key Achievements
• Led an initiative (Security Health Check) in collaboration with Cisco Sales team which doubled the sales of license for cisco security product portfolio. Trained over 300+ Cisco partners and Customers in APAC region. As a direct result of these trainings, Feature adoption increased by 60% which led to subscription license sale increase by ~40%.
• Architect for DevNet skill ramp up in APJC Customer Experience theatre that resulted in over 1000 certifications, multiple innovation and automation projects within the Center. As a result, I was awarded for my contributions in University Recruitments and Cisco Hackathon.
• Selected to be the one of the 5 Security Engineers from Cisco India Security team to be a point of contact and key member for supporting Tokyo Olympics (2020-2021) . Responsible for ensuring smooth functioning of cisco security network.
• Instrumental member of the team responsible for deploying world's largest identity-based Firewall solution (Reliance Jio) which helped secure a deal of $10M in future projects with Reliance Jio.

Community Service and Volunteering

• Ardent champion of Women Inclusion at Work Places. Acted as the co-lead of APJC centers for Women Of Impact (WOI) chapter at Cisco. Conducted and hosted several events, workshops and skill based trainings for Women in Cisco to help in their career development.

• Led an initiative along with Cisco Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) team at Cisco to architect a career development plan for early in career women at Cisco to provide them guidance and mentorship. We assigned Cisco Women Leaders (with 10+ years of work exp) as mentors who helped newcomers in transitioning into the professional world and guided them to excel in their roles. The program had an immense impact and we observed exceptional women participation in multiple projects happening across APJC centers.

• Led an initiative along with Cisco CSR team to conduct 1 hour resume building training and Q&A sessions for students across 20 universities in Southern India during pandemic times to assist them in securing jobs during the ongoing Covid Pandemic.

Entrepreneurial Journey

FREELANCING ( Mar'20 - 21)

• Started undertaking freelance projects related to Cyber and Network Security, Cloud migrations, Network Design and Implementation. Worked with over 10+ key clients from multiple geographic locations in a span of 1 year and logged in 1500+ hours of work-time.Some notable clients include - UCS HealthCare, Airtel Communication, Indian Army, Vizodo Technologies, etc.
• Leveraged my Technical skills along with Project Management expertise to meet all the deliverables in time and enhance customer experience.
• Went the extra-mile to enhance customer satisfaction by delivering trainings to internal client teams for a proper knowledge transfer.
• Liaised with client internal teams to better understand customer needs and recommend appropriate solutions.
• Earned a net revenue of $50K from all the freelancing projects with possible future contracts worth $100K.
• Top-Rated freelancer on Upwork platform for the year 2020.

NetVolte Technologies LLP. - Founder (May'20 - Present)

• NetVolte Technologies LLP. is a global technical consulting company which aims to provide and supply of information technology solutions including end-to-end solutions, systems integration and development of software and hardware, networking and consulting services to clients all across the globe.
• As the founder of Netvolte and given my extensive experience in Networking and Security, my objective is to introduce an affordable and reliable way to secure our client's network and capitalize on the power of open source tools to provide more customized solutions catered to the needs of the customers.
• Built the company from the start-up stages; capitalized financial requirements through a combination of bootstrapping, limited partnerships, and borrowings. Total investment to start the company - $1000.
• Responsible for managing day to day operations of the organization.
• Managing key functions: Business Development, Sales and Marketing.
• Oversaw and actively contributed with fellow partners in areas like Technical support, Accounting , HR etc.
• Onboarded 5 of my previous freelance clients accounts in the organization and also onboarded 3 new clients within a span of 3 months in APAC region.
• In the process on onboarding 2 new clients from EMEAR region with contracts worth $30K.
• Responsible for hiring, onboarding , supervision and training of 3 employees with full employee retention.
• Conceptualized and formulated a proper onboarding plan for new employees and temporary workers.
• Responsible for managing a team of 7 freelancers which were hired on per-project basis.
• Earned a Gross revenue of - $60K within a span of 3 months. Gross Profit - 59K.
• Responsible for further growth of the organization.

Post MBA goals -:

I want to move into my startup full-time and leaverage the experience and network that i built over the course of my MBA to expand my business globally while keeping technology and customer success at the forefront.

Questions I have -:

1. Is my profile good enough for the colleges i'm targetting ?
It will be of immense help to me if you can categorize the schools above as
1) Not possible, forget about it!
2) Good Chance
3) Not at all easy but can be given a shot

2. I'm targetting round 2, hence i want to know whether the colleges usually have rolling admissions for R2 in which case i'll have to hurry up and apply , or can i apply till the deadline is there?

3. Is my GMAT score good enough, or should i retake it? I somehow tanked my IR (Score - 2) , is that going to be a detterant in my applications?

4. Is my profile good enough to get decent scholarships?

5. Since currently i just have 3 years of work experience and by the time i join MBA it'll be 4 yrs, should i wait for another year and then apply, or this is a good time to apply?

6. What more I can do to strenghten my profile so that my chances of making to top 5 US B-Schools increase?



Thanks and Regards
Yash Kejariwal

Indian male engineer, Gmat 650, 12yrs WE(first 3 as lecturer in engineering college, next 8 in core psu mechanical maintenance management)


Keen for European mba in hope to Relocate.

Acads are mixed bag, stories can be made.

What colleges are my best shot (safe shot to secure ranked colleges).

Mannheim, rotterdam, Warwick, alliance etc is what I came to know a bit about but don't know enough.

I already have an offer from. Top 5 colleges of India. If there's any safe ranked college then I may leave this admission or else I'll. Pay their fee.

Please respond ASAP.

Posted from my mobile device