IIM Profile Evaluation - Tools for B-School Profile Evaluation

Hi Chahalsuri

- Your GMAT score is excellent and should itself give you a solid chance at your target schools. Academics are ok.
- ECA seems fine, and career goals are in line with your experience
- Overall, well set to apply. If you so prefer, you can also look at other top options in the region (NUS/NTU).

Hi reviewers - I would greatly appreciate a brief feedback on my profile and its suitability for IIMA PGPX program

Graduation – BE, PESIT, Bengaluru (2014). CGPA – 9.00/10 (Mechanical)
MS, Arizona State University (2016), GPA - 3.7/4.0 (Mechanical)
XII – 92%
X- 97%.

GMAT - 710 (Q49, V38)
Work-ex - 5 yrs

Target Schools - 1yr MBA at IIM A/B; ISB

Post MBA goals – Short term Goal – Strategy roles at large organizations
Long term – Lead a highly specialized organization dealing with frontier technologies.

Trainings/Certifications:
Certification and course work in production engineering, energy economics and complex systems

Leadership - Technical committee (project) lead at a top American energy industry association serving on a voluntary basis; leading a roadmapping effort on a key industry technology transition initiative that impacts the American Gas industry.

Principal Engineer (2018- present) at an energy R&D organization in USA
-Identified key early stage technologies that were promising to enhance safety and reliability of gas operations, and reduce environmental impact of natural gas.
-Created portfolio of early stage technologies, consisting of 4-5 key solutions, through collaboration work with universities, manufacturers and tech developers.
- Led efforts to obtain funding for the portfolio of technologies by pitching ideas to various industry funding agencies. Convinced the investors of the potential benefits of technologies and communicated the progress with them periodically. Have raised money in excess of >$1m to fund technology development. One of technologies has been proved to be successful and is getting commercialized.
- Led and managed several high value technical consulting projects advising gas utilities in their product/technology upgrade programs. Advised a large utility in their asset upgrade program that positively impacted thousands of connections.
- Consulted the contracts department in handling large change orders arising after project execution
-Handled client review meetings and obtained critical clearances
- Advised proposal department in preparing proposal to research grant RFPs.

Associate Engineer (2016-2018)-at an energy R&D organization in USA
-Identified key research areas and developed technical capabilities thus expanding ambit of department’s services and offerings- this created an additional annual inflow of up to $150,000 worth quick turn- around projects.
-Developed solutions to analyze complex natural gas asset integrity problems

Extra-curriculars:
Proof read research thesis documents of MS and PhD students (on request)
Advise/Contribute to alma mater university in creating internship and research programs,
Interest in Decision theory, Probability, causal reasoning, statistics, philosophy.

Achievement Award: Karnataka Governor award- Bharat scouts; PTW-Sweden- Internship grant;

Posting on behalf of the student

Name/username: Pratiksha Parate
Age : 27
Country/Location : India/Gurgaon
Under-Graduate School : B. Tech. Chemical, LIT Nagpur
Under-Graduate GPA: 72%
GMAT/GRE Test scores: 630
Total Work Experience : 68 months
Pre-MBA Industry : Engineering, Procurement and Construction (Oil & Gas)
Target industry post-MBA: E-commerce, Consulting, Construction
Brief about Work Experience : I worked as a Process Engineer for 3+ years in Fluor Corporation and then 2+ years in Mcdermott International. As a Process Engineer, I was involved in designing new processes and equipment used in refineries or revamping the existing one to convert raw material into finished goods.
What is your relation to the Recommenders?(Manager. client etc): Team lead
Volunteering/Extra-curriculars: Toastmaster, Global Women’s network Committee member in previous organization.
International Experience : None
Scholarship Given? : NA
The motivation for MBA and why Now brief? : I am looking for Industry switch
Short-Term Goal : Consultant / Product Manager
Long-Term Goal : May be start my own venture
Questions in the interview:

1. Why is your GMAT score is low?
2. Why is your academic graph is consistently going downwards?
3. Gave a mathematical equation and asked to plot the graph and explain what it indicates
4. Some question on Simple interest and compound interest
5. What is GDP? How it is calculated? Impact of COVID on GDP?
6. Tell us something about your organization and role.
7. Share an incident where you showed your leadership skills.
8. Why toastmasters is called as toastmasters?
9. What is your salary expectations post MBA? Is it reasonable?
10. Some questions on my chemical engineering background eg. What is entropy?
11. Any questions?

Did you use the help of an MBA Consultant? : No
Any comments, feelings, advice to share?: Believe in yourself and stay focused

Hi all,

Please help to evaluate my profile. I am confused about what needs to be done to improve my profile.

I am aiming for IIMA PGPX.

10th - 94.5%
12th - 95%
Bachelor's degree - 88.7% ( Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Tamilnadu)

Work ex - I have 4 years of experience in IT industry(Standard Chartered GBS) as a software developer. After 2 years of experience, got promoted to senior developer. I have managed projects end to end.

GMAT - in preparation stage ,Hoping to get 700+

Extracurricular - I have interest in music and learning it as well.but did not have any significant achievement. Have managed college fests as general secretary.

Please advise what needs to be improved

Posted from my mobile device

Post on behalf of the student

Name/username: Yash Teckchandani
Age : 27
Country/Location : India
Under-Graduate School : BE Instrumentation engineering, Mumbai University
Under-Graduate GPA: 65%
GMAT/GRE Test scores: 710
Total Work Experience : 5.5 years
Pre-MBA Industry : Engineering and Construction
Target industry post-MBA: Consulting

Brief about Work Experience : Engineer with experience from tendering to construction of plants in chemicals, oil and gas, petrochemicals and metals industry.

What is your relation to the Recommenders?(Manager. client etc): Direct manager and past manager

Volunteering/Extra-curriculars: Toastmaster for 1.5 years, Social work for 5 years

International Experience : No
Scholarship Given? : NA
The motivation for MBA and why Now brief? : To avoid plateauing in career

Short-Term Goal : Join consulting as a domain expert for chemicals and oil and gas industries

Long-Term Goal : Return to construction sector in senior management role

Interview debrief:

Have you heard about Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna? What is it about?

Do you think it has been successful?

What do you think are the issues with it?

1-2 more cross questions on my answers.

Same process repeated for MNREGA.

So you are an instrumentation engineer? I want to measure the RPM of the ceiling fan, how should I measure it?

After I answered - Oh! But what if you can't open up the fan? How will you measure the RPM then?

After I answered - Ok, now are you not allowed to touch the fan, how will you measure the RPM in that case?

What does your company do?

Where are the international headquarters of your company?

We want to replace the elevator in our building. If you were to pitch ThyssenKrupp elevators to us in 2 mins, how would you do it? (This was the extempore-like topic)

What you do outside of work?

What do you think about the changes brought in recently by the govt to the CSR laws?

Show id proof

Interview ends


Did you use the help of an MBA Consultant? : Yes

Any comments, feelings, advice to share?:
1. Focus on GMAT first. Do not do GMAT prep and essay writing together.
2. If you are from an over-represented background, aim for at least 20 points more on the GMAT than the school’s average GMAT score.
3. In my experience, choosing the right admission consultant is very important if you need the help of one. Do not fall for tall claims made during free webinars. Ask other students for their first-hand experiences with the consultant before enrolling with one. In admissions consulting, high fees charged by consultant does not necessarily translate to high quality.
4. Spend some time on the college website and understand the different aspects of the program – academic as well as non-academic.
5. In interviews, keep your answers short and no longer than 90 seconds. DO NOT start a 5 minute monologue as soon as you get the opportunity.

Hi,

Congratulations on your admit!

I have a question you mentioned in the interview that adcom asked for ID proof.

What kind of ID proof they asked.

Shashank





Posted from my mobile device

It's our government-issued Identity card - PAN /Passport.

Background and nationality : Indian
10th: 83%
12th: 69%
Undergrad Information : B.E. (Punjab Technical University) 69%

GMAT: 710 ( Q : 49, V : 38)

Work experience and leadership : 7.5 Years ( 4 Years in JK tyre 2 Years in Tata Motors and 1.5 years in Maruti Suzuki)
I have 7.5 Years of Work experience in sales and Marketing - Service. I am responsible for generating sales and revenues in After service industry and drive customer satisfaction

Award: Awarded Best Service Engineer FY16-17 at Jk tyres, Annual Award for achieving lowest Tyre cost at Tata Motors , and Part of Team Awarded for achieving highest accidental revenue at Tat Motors

Post MBA goals :General Management roles, Preferably in Automotive Sector
Target B Schools : In India (A/B/C) R-1
Please Evaluate My profile

Kindly evaluate my profile for IIM A PGPX-

Academics -
10th - 8.0 CGPA
12th - 8.4 CGPA
Undergraduate- 7.1 ( B.Com from RKM Vivekananda college)
Work Ex: 3+ years working in EY GDS as an Auditor.

Post MBA Goals: Short term: Switch over to a financial consulting/strategy role;
Long term: lead a company from the executive leadership position

Extracurriculars -

1. Won multiple all India and regional level awards awards in company for excellence
2. Authored and self published a book.
3. Automated 0.5 million working hours in company by introducing performance optimization tools and techniques.
4. Presented papers on various topics in college seminars (one of the papers was published in SRMs official journal)
5. Certified chartered accountant (ACCA, UK)
6. Certified white belt six sigma

Haven't taken the GMAT yet. Would I have any shot at an admit to IIM A PGPX for 2022 and is it too late/lower chances of getting into the R2/R3 intake?

Hi,

Can anyone please evaluate my profile for Indian B-schools 1 year full-time executive program / Or Few of the top B-schools in India I can target with my profile

Male - 26 years old.

Academic Details-
10th - 6.8 CGPA
12th - With optional 69.33% Without optional 77% - Top 5 percentile Business Studies -95
BBA/BBM/BBM- 73 % from Jain University Average B-school feeder (60,62,77 ,79,75, 85) -Top 20 percentile among 800 students
EPGDBM (Executive management for Working professional Weekend MBA) -Organization sponsored 7.09 CGPA from Symbiosis

GMAT Score - Yet to give ( Need suggestions on the target for an Interview )

Work Experience-
5 years of experience in the field of CRM Solution consulting as a Senior Consultant , Working with a Big 4 Consulting company with a good experience across multiple verticals , Few successful solutions are across Top-20 Universities in the world. Experience of mentoring freshers from Leading B-schools in India.

Post MBA Goals : Transition myself to Digital transformation consulting not limited to CRM technologies but overall Front-office process transformation




Extra curricular-
- Toastmasters member
- CIM (Chartered Institute of Marketing Level 2 Completed)
- Started an Anti-ragging committee during my college days - Covered by a Leading news paper
- Good performer awards and testimonials from clients, Business heads for exceptional work and getting new business
- College Rock band member - Lead Synthesizer , Performed at various college fests and won few awards at school level as well as Inter-College level
- Helped transformed a legacy business operating in a rural area to digital, Case study as an ad covered by google
- Volunteer and participation certificates at various national level conference and community service
- Started a home kitchen during covid to support a former house help who became a chef



Any inputs would be greatly appreciated.

Hello GmatWarrior700

Definitely some potential strengths in your profile that you can build upon.
Strong profiles are those which balance Academics, Work Experience, Diversity and Fit of Career Goals. Reading here will help.
Let's touch upon each-
1. Academics looks decent, but the biggest piece is missing (GMAT or GRE). The final score will decide whether the school finds you strong enough to handle the academic pressure of the program.
2. Work Experience isn't as straight forward as Academics (subjective and hence much more difficult to measure). However, on paper, the role seems interesting and unique (vs the larger pool of applicants) and the brand on the CV looks strong. From here it is up to you how you showcase your work ex in essays/interviews and really bring our your career progress and accomplishments.
3. Diversity can come from N number of places (nationality, industry, life experiences etc.), but the easiest way is to show extracurricular activities that make you a good addition to the batchmates' experience inside and outside the classroom. Just like work experience, this list looks interesting and has some B-School favorites (Toastmasters for instance) and it will be crucial how and which ones you bring these out (not necessary to talk about all, keep the message focused on how this makes you a good addition). Also keep in mind that school/university level activities do not add much weight unless you have done something absolutely stellar.
4. Career Goals most important piece of the admissions puzzle. Goals need to be clear and realistic (both for your profile and school's ability to fulfill it). While your goals sound clear, be ready to answer why can't you reach the same goal without an MBA.

So to conclude, you seem to have a diverse profile, but that is just one part of the bigger picture. GMAT, Depth & Quality of Work Ex, presentation of Career Goals will all play an equal (or more) importance in the admissions process.

Best
Varun Sharma
+918452954888 (https://gmatclub.com/chat)
MBAkarma.com
GMAT Score Predictor
info@mbakarma.com

Hello rahul_scholar1@yahoo.com

Most of parts of the profile shared check all the boxes.
Academic potential- decent past scores, at par GMAT Check.
Work Experience- Role that can show clear and measurable impact. Under-represented but competitive industry (Good B-School feeder in the past few years). Years' of work ex in the sweet spot. Check
Career Goals- Organic, Clear, Realistic. Check
No clear spike in the profile, but no evident weakness either.
Only if admissions also worked as a checklist.
It is the elements that are missing that will decide success.
If you can fill the following blanks well, you have a good shot at the IIMs one year program.
Work experience should bring out steady upward career progress and impact on the business (very relevant in your case as you are in a sales/revenue role)
Diversity needs to be highlighted through work ex or extracurricular activities (missing in your post)
While career goals look good on paper, why is an MBA needed at all and what skill/knowledge gaps is it going to fill will define a strong narrative.

You may want to read here on what factors work in a profile and here to add to your research on career goals.

Best
Varun Sharma
https://gmatclub.com/chat- +918452954888
Free Profile Review
MBAkarma.com
GMAT Score Predictor
info@mbakarma.com

Hello IshwaryaMurali

Past scores look strong and indicate chances of a higher score than what you have mentioned.
Work ex while in the sweet spot from a no. of years perspective, will need to bring out progression and achievements. All the more so as you belong to the biggest and most competitive pool of applicants (IT) which means you will need to stand out from the competition via your essays.
In fact, in such cases, extracurricular is a big differentiator. It is not necessary to have state level achievements or certifications, but a great extracurricular must show an improvement in someone's life (that someone can be you as well). This must present qualities that will help you succeed at b-school inside class, outside class and of course in life. If your music experience can do all that, it is a great extracurricular. School/college activities will add weight only if the achievement was stellar.
Lastly, a profile feedback is incomplete without assessing career goals. Unfortunately these are missing in the post.

You may want to read here on what factors work in a profile and here to add to your research on career goals.

Best
Varun Sharma
+918452954888 (https://gmatclub.com/chat)
Free Profile Review
MBAkarma.com
GMAT Score Predictor
info@mbakarma.com

Hi all !

Profile evaluation requested

Indian Male 33
Industry: BSFI
Acads:
B.Tech Biotechnology (Biochemical tech)- Tier 2/3 college
CGPA: 8.78
PG diploma in banking from Manipal university. CGPA:8.3
GMAT: Yet to attempt
Work experience: 10 years in ICICI bank. Currently heading an operations unit with turnover of 1000Cr cash volumes on monthly basis. Taking care of ATMs and branches of whole western and southern M.P in terms of currency flom and management. Job includes liaison with RBI, ALC, police authorities and other law enforcement agencies on bank matters. Managing RBI and internal audits. Drafting reverts and submission for compliance. Also responsible for product improvement (Cash is referred as product here). Part of team which reviews SOPs for the group. Part of team engaged in software development for efficient cash management- work includes BRS creation, inputs for UI/UX design, module testing and post go live monitoring. Few of projects inclined towards capability building in team and driving for complete west zone (1000 employees).
Community: Member of Zomato feeding India at Indore chapter. Handeled media team for spreading awareness among public of the city. Got certificate of appreciation from ZFI.
Post MBA Goals: Want move into fintech in product or project management from traditional banking as I firmly believe that next 20 years whole banking, payment and lending landscape will change. MBA will be a stepping stone towards my goal.

Target schools: IIM A,B and ISB(Less inclined towards ISB)

Please evaluate. TIA

Posted from my mobile device

Hi Aekagra

Some solid elements in the profile for sure. Work experience seems to be the biggest strength, what stories you choose to present and how will be a major deciding factor. Age/years of experience is slightly on the higher side. While definitely not a deal breaker, you'd be expected to show better career progression and accomplishments. As you rightly said I'd incline more towards IIMs than ISB.

Though past scores are decent, missing GMAT score makes it difficult to give a complete assessment.

Diversity factor is helped by your work profile and industry. Extracurricular will help further. While your list is short, it sounds interesting and may have good stories to tell here. Are there any other extracurricular to talk about? Makes a more compelling case of how you'll add value to the experience of your batch mates inside and outside the classroom.

Lastly, career goals look solid as they seem clear and organic. Here I'd recommend you also look at the realistic side of it- how easy it difficult is for you to land such a role, what sort of work experience do companies hiring for such a role look at, fit with the school.

To conclude, solid work profile, needs to be backed with GMAT and clarity of thoughts in the essays.

You may want to read here on what factors work in a profile and here to add to your research on career goals.

Best
Varun Sharma
https://gmatclub.com/chat- +918452954888
Free Profile Review
MBAkarma.com
GMAT Score Predictor
info@mbakarma.com

Hi Aekagra,

Thank you for sharing your profile.

Lets start with the attractive of your profile -
1. You have good experience in a stellar leadership role. Handling operational unit with 1000 employees and facing complexity of the role along with the tremendous responsibility is no mean feat. This will make your application stand out.
2. Your domain of expertise is evergreen. Candidates with financial background are always in demand in one year MBAs. This will make your application attractive.
3. Your profile has the work exposure to digital world (Software development), which when combined with financial domain sells like hot cakes!!
4. Your community work adds good points to your overall profile.

But, there are some aspects in your profile where you will need some good points to project it in a better way. One, is the banking after biotechnology. Second, if your post MBA goal is fintech product/project management, then why explicitly a MBA? (You are already handling large team with huge responsibility which involves operations, finance, HR, stakeholder management, leadership skills, then what skills are you exactly aiming to enhance in MBA?)

Considering your profile and experience of over 10 years, IIMA PGPX will be the best place for you. You can keep IIMB EPGP and ISB PGP as back up colleges. Infact IIMC MBAeX will be as good as any other specially for finance background.

A GMAT score of 680 to 690 will put you in a good position for any of these colleges. (Considering your work ex and profile -- for candidates with richer experience, average GMAT is lower).

But, since you have still not attempted GMAT, you should aim as high as possible!!

Best wishes.

Thanks for evaluating my profing and sharing your inputs. Will relook that the points you mentioned to strengthen my application.