Thank you for sharing your profile @sb05 ! 8 years in technology with team-lead experience, a strong undergraduate GPA (8.2 CGPA from a reputable program), recent prestigious company awards, and strategic coursework (IIM Kozhikode certificate) give you both depth and leadership signals that top European MBAs prize. With a focused story (why MBA now > product/strategy general management > 3-5 year plan), strong recommenders, and deliberate school-specific essays, you should be competitive at LBS, INSEAD, HEC, Imperial, and NUS with a great GMAT/GRE score. Your chances at SDA Bocconi can also be good. (SDA favors diverse cohorts and earlier-career entrants).

Strengths:
Depth + seniority: 8 years in IT Services and currently Team Lead / Custom Engineering Specialist gives you strong leadership + technical product credibility. That seniority aligns well with European schools whose average work experience ranges from ~4–6+ years. Two 2025 awards (Multi Skilled Champion, North Star Pinnacle) = current, externally validated impact, use them as proof of influence and excellence. IIM Kozhikode Strategic Management certificate signals seriousness and academic preparedness for MBA coursework. Enactus certificate, Model UN, and civic programs are useful for essays on leadership, global mindset, and social impact. Your profile helps with diversity goals.

Things to tighten: Clear post-MBA path, pick a focused 2-year post-MBA goal (like Product Manager at a Tier-1 tech company in Europe / Head of Product at a scale-up / Strategy role in a tech consultancy), and a 5-year plan linking MBA to your long-term goals. Adcoms want clarity. You can take a look at this blog on How to bring collinearity in your post-MBA goals? Concrete, measurable impact stories transform bullets into 3-4 STAR stories with numbers (revenue/efficiency/user impact, team size you led, delivery timelines improved, major client wins). These feed essays, CV, and interviews. School-by-school ‘why X’ — for each target, list 2–3 concrete resources you’ll use (courses, professors, labs, clubs, London/Paris/Singapore recruiting networks). Specificity matters. Given your leadership awards and team-lead role, create examples of influence without authority, scaling processes, product decisions, and people leadership.

Your main risk is an unclear post-MBA plan and any weak storytelling around why now and why this school; fix those, and your admit chances can rise materially. Recent GMAC/industry reports suggest European and Asian programs are growing and more competitive, but they still value the profile elements you have (work experience and leadership). You can take a look at this blog on How to bring collinearity in your post-MBA goals? and How to frame practical Post MBA Goals Essays.

Network well and try to have meaningful conversations with the target school's (students + recent alumni), ask 3 practical questions: which classes/clubs most helped them get into PM/strategy roles, how they used school career services, and one concrete tip for your application. Use one concrete quote or insight in your “Why X” essays. Attend school webinars / local events and send a one-line “thank you / interest” email to admissions with one learning point. Do not over-communicate. Find alumni from your firm at target schools and ask about recruiting paths into product/strategy roles.

For Essays, use a short bridge from your technical/product background > gap (people leadership, broad strategy, commercial ownership) > MBA as the tool. For INSEAD/HEC: emphasize international mobility and cohort diversity. For LBS/Imperial: emphasize London/UK tech ecosystems & recruiting.

LORs: ask recommenders to quantify outcomes (team size, revenue impact, time saved, client satisfaction) and to compare you to peers (example, “top 5% of managers I’ve worked with”).

Questions for you:
1) Do you have a GMAT/GRE mock score? What is your target score?
2) Which exact product/engineering accomplishments can you quantify (metrics, team sizes, revenue/cost/time impact)?
3) Which one or two schools are the absolute “must-get” admits vs. “nice to have”?
4) Do you have any startup / side-project (MVP, user metrics) you want to mention in essays?

This YouTube video on INSEAD might give you some insights.

We would love to learn more about your academic background, extracurricular activities, professional experiences, and personal journey so we can offer a more tailored assessment of your profile and evaluate your chances at your target schools more accurately. Feel free to book a profile evaluation session.

Cheers!
Shantanu Sharma, INSEAD Alumnus
Founder and Admissions Consultant, MBA and Beyond