varunj
Hi Sameer,
Greetings of the day !
Please evaluate my profile as well and give me an honest advice on the B-schools that I intend to target.
I want to bulid a career in Marketing and Brand Management.
GMAT : Yet to give (Actually I wish to persue MBA next year i.e. 2011)
Total Work Exp: 3 years
Work Domain :1) I have worked for 3 years in a Taiwan based MNC(IT Hardware Industry) in a Marketing/Brand Mgmt profile
2) Currently I am working as Marketing Manger in an Indian MNC (IT Hardware Industry).
Gender - Male
Age - 25 years
Nationality - Indian
Current Job Profile :
Handling a pool of IT Hardware Brands and Product management
Be the face of the brand at trade and Media facing events and managing the PR/Marcomm
ATL and BTL activities for the brands and participating in various trade/Road Shows
Managing the LFR(Large Format Retail) accouts for various Brands
Supporting the commercial team to activate growth drivers
Training internal team on category and brand, as well as generating market for upcoming technology
Education Details :
B.E. in Electronics & Telecom from Mumbai University, 2007 Passout with 72%
XII-71%
X-82.3%
ECs:
Appeared on TV news Channel for giving Product Reviews
Memeber of IEEE in College and event coordinator for the IEEE festival in College
Did active work for raising Funds for the under privillaged children
Won awards for academic excellence
Won prizes for Debates/GD at College Level
Certificate of appreciation from previous employer
Arranged alot of Media meets and press conferences
I have managed a gamut of Road shows/below the line marketing activities
AIM: I wish to target the Indian B schools Like ISB and Great Lakes. I want to build a career in Brand Management/Product Marketing and Consulting. I want to get into a strategy/policy making role.
My queries:
• Looking at my profile, how much I need to get in GMAT to secure a call from ISB and Great Lakes
• What kind of profiles would I get after graduating from these schools
• On which aspect I need to work, so as to ensure a call from the above mentioned schools
• Is it good to target only Indian B schools as I do not have much awareness of International B school
• Can you suggest good B- schools outside India, for Marketing and Brand Mgmt
• How much Scholarship/financial aid can I get from the International B schools
• Any other valuable tip
Anxiously looking forward to your reply!
Thanks a Bunch !!
Regards,
Varun
Varun sir,
Sab kushal mangal, I hope.
If you are targeting programs starting in 2011, the countdown has already begun. Considering that you are still at a very early point in the thinking process, you've got a lot of catching up to do. I'm working with people who started on their essays almost 2 months back. Many of them have been hit hard by last year's woes - recession, uncertain economy, extremely competitive application process.
Don't assume you have a lot of time on hand. It would've been good to get done with the GMAT early on, so you could've started thinking about a whole lot of other questions that follow. Roll up your sleeves my friend and get cracking.
Will move on to your profile now:
Though are also an IT/Indian/Male, you have a slight advantage over the others from the same pool because of your Hardware and Marketing combo background.
Also, why restrict yourself to one country? When you are targeting a global degree, why not consider global schools? The process and requirements for most top schools are similar and you can always take the incremental effort required to apply to these schools.
• Looking at my profile, how much I need to get in GMAT to secure a call from ISB and Great LakesConsidering the lower age & experience, I'd say a 730+ would be good. Combined with your BE performance, a strong GMAT score will nip any intellectual capability concerns in the bud.
• What kind of profiles would I get after graduating from these schools
You are already strong in the Marketing/PR domain. So you could target roles where you can use this experience. If you intend to stick to the technology industry, it'll be easier for you to convince potential employers about the value you'd bring to their organisation right from day one. Your learning curve will be rapid. However, if you plan to move into another industry (manufacturing or service industry, for instance), your efforts will go up.
• On which aspect I need to work, so as to ensure a call from the above mentioned schoolsYour post (the job profile section) covers what someone in your role is
expected to do, not what you
actually did. If you can confidently say that you were able to go beyond what the job description entailed, and provide concrete examples (e.g. what did all those trade shows and PR events translate into isn't clear). In your essays, Adcoms will want to know what you, as an individual, did to help make a sustainable impact on your organisation. Choose your examples well and display the excellent quality of work you've done in those 3 years.
• Is it good to target only Indian B schools as I do not have much awareness of International B schoolAnswered this earlier. Unless you have personal issues that stop you from exploring options abroad, do go ahead and spread your net wider.
• Can you suggest good B- schools outside India, for Marketing and Brand MgmtThere are many that specialise in Marketing in its broad sense and several that offer you to the option of specialising in 'Product Management'. I'd need to know what your GMAT score is to recommend schools that fit your profile. Come back here when you have a firm score and we'll take this up again.
• How much Scholarship/financial aid can I get from the International B schools If you are targeting the top schools, free funding is hard to come by. Lower ranked schools can offer you financial aid, schols or other options (GA, TA, RA work on-campus) to bring your overall cost down
• Any other valuable tipYes. The Ambani brothers have patched up. Shares prices expected to go up. Buy and hold.
Hope to hear from you again, buddy, when you have your impressive GMAT score. You might want to start the essay work in parallel.
Good luck for the test.