ISB Profile Evaluation - Tools for B-School Profile Evaluation

Hello,
If you have a valid reason for taking a break, and if asked, you can provide an explanation. If possible, you can highlight those work experiences from your current role that matches closely with your past experience.
Hope this helps.

Hi, please rate my profile for ISB?

1. 10th/12th/Grad = 86.3/78.6/7.81
Grad is B.Tech in Production Engg from COEP (RANKED 1 in state colleges of Maharashtra)
2. Total of 5 years experience in core engineering and Education field. Currently working as Assistant Professor for IIT JEE.
3. Wish to learn strategy and finance side for establishing sustainable institutes
4. GMAT target score is 700-720.
5. Have founded an eatery(mess) of college hostel. Forwarded suggestions to revive the company which are implemented too.

Posted from my mobile device

Hi,
Firstly, a note of gratitude for doing such profile evaluations.
Really helps aspirants like me.

Profile:
Educational qual

10th - 93.27%
12th - 90.50%
BCom - Grade A, 6.9/7 CGPA
MCom - Grade O, 9.3/10 CGPA

Professional qual
Chartered Accountancy
- Qualified in Nov 2017 (Group 1 in May 2017 and Group 2 in Nov 2017)

Work experience
1) 3 years articleship in the statutory audit funtion of a Big 4 consulting firm focussing on manufacturing and logistics firms. During this stint, focus has been on accounting standards compliance , audit, financial controls reporting, overall risk mitigation, financial statement analysis.

2) 2 years stint in a big 4 consulting firm, specializing in mergers & acquisitions consulting focusing on project management, dataroom management, carve out analysis and separation blueprinting, standalone cost assessment, target operating model development and Day 1 planning.

Other aspects :
Content head and secretary to India's largest financial collegiate festival 2015.
Mentorship programme of a learning 10th grade student with a renowned NGO
Learning violin
Writing manuscript for a fiction novel

GMAT Score : Not yet appeared, targeting 700 plus.

Posted from my mobile device

Hello SilvesterJoshua,
You indeed have a distinctive profile for ISB, with your education and work experience, which will help your chances at ISB significantly.
For one of the ISB essays, you need to talk about leadership and you should also offer a few leadership examples from your experience for a compelling case. Feel free to dig into your personal and other experience and articleship experience if you cannot think of substantive examples from your current role (you have two years of work-ex so may not have direct leadership experience, though remember leadership experience can come in lots of other forms too).
You have interesting EC too.
I could not get a sense of your goals post-MBA from your description here. Again, a lot will also depend on your GMAT score. A score of 710 or even 700 (your target) will further cement your position.
Post your GMAT, focus on putting together a compelling application.
Hope this helps.

Hi RoughBook,
Couple of questions
- Your current role is Asst. Professor at a coaching institute or a college?
- Is your goal post-ISB to setup your own coaching / training institute(s) and hence you need an MBA?
Your GMAT target will complement your profile. COEP is a good brand. Setting up a college café/mess is a good initiative. I worked with someone a couple of years ago with a similar venture and it enabled a long & interesting interview conversation.

Cheers,
Manan
Co-founder, S4G | ISB Class of 2013
-

Hi SilvesterJoshua,
While acads isn't your strongest area, you more than make up for it through the type of work experience you have and your ongoing endeavor with writing. Fyi, there are a couple of alums who have written books and done well!
Even though your articleship will not be considered as full-time experience for eligibility, you could highlight an example from there in the first essay to demonstrate the 'one quality' ISB is asking you to substantiate. Focus on your post-MBA goals and ensure that they are in-line with your past experience or skills you have. Employability post the program is one of the criteria which ISB looks at while assessing the application.

Hope this helps!
All the best.

-
Manan
Co-founder, S4G | ISB Class of 2013

PS: There's another successful fiction writer who has IB/M&A experience and MBA from a top b-school. You're 50% there, all the best for the MBA. Reach out in case of more questions

1. My current role as assistant prof is with a coaching Institute(Resonance, Kota)
2. Yes, my long term goal is to set up my own coaching institute.

What should be my target score?

Yeah. . .I normally have very interesting conversation with respect to mess(cafe)

Resonance is a good brand in the JEE coaching space and your experience is very different from the usual pool of applicants. This does give you an edge. You should think hard about your short-term goal, whether you want to start right after ISB or for e.g. work at a large ed-tech / test-prep brand. In either case, you should be clear about the pros and cons of each approach and expect to be grilled in the interview.

You GMAT target of 700+ will complement your profile. Hence, aim for that!

All the best!

-Manan

Hi RoughBook

Your profile definitely stands out due your background and your extracurriculars. A GMAT of 700-720 should be a good score for your background. Since you have founded an eatery, you can easily link your past experience and learnings to an entrepreneurial DNA and your long term goals. Articulating short term goals that are in line with what you have achieved so far would be your next challenge. Have you thought of your short term goals yet?

Carefully crafted essays that bring out leadership experiences and go beyond highlighting academic proficiency would be extremely critical when you work on your application. A well written application along with solid GMAT should see you through.

Hi SilvesterJoshua

Excellent academic background and we are sure your GMAT would be in line too. A few thoughts on your profile:

- Since the articleship would not be considered as full time experience according to ISB rules, you would be looking at 2 years of experience. This puts extra pressure as the number of applicants are high and the pool is extremely competitive.
- The good news is we are seeing more and more CAs being admitted to the batch each year, which is in your favor. Your extracurriculars, too are a well-balanced mix of social interests and personal hobbies.
- You haven't mentioned your goals. We hope they are in line with what you have achieved this far.
- As next steps, get GMAT out of the way. 720+ should be your aim. Look for leadership examples and anecdotes that you can showcase from your work experience, this will make your profile stronger.

Hope this helps.

Hello Everyone,

Requesting your feedback on the below profile. Aim is to apply via EEO.
Profile:
Educational qual

10th - 9.8 CGPA
12th - 86.80%
BTech - - 6.8/10 CGPA

Work experience
1)

Extra Curricular
1) Led the largest club of university 3000 members, 1million INR revenue - Social Club(Solar Power Infrastructure Development, Livelihood for people, Helathcare facilities to poor, Round the year teaching, Fund Raisers, Vocational Training Facility Setup etc. )
2) Part of Core Committee for College fests.
3) Recognition of Leadership from university.
4) Pro bono work with 3million$ market-cap German block-chain firm.
5) Started a gaming studio. Developed 1st game. Working on second.

GMAT Score : Targeting 720.

Why MBA? - Had a failed startup in college which I was not able to scale up. To not make the gaming studio meet the same fate, need to learn more about how business work from bottom-up.

Hello everyone,
Just wanted to get my profile evaluated for this year's PGP program of ISB.

Academics
10th:- 89 % state board (West Bengal)
12th:- 76 % state board (West Bengal)
UG:- 7.69 CGPA BE CSE from Birla Institute of Technology 2016 passout
Work-experience
2 years MakeMyTrip Software Engineer
2 years Paytm Senior Software Engineer
2 months (still continuing) Amazon.com Senior Software Engineer
GMAT 710

CFA level 1 cleared
CFA level 2 will be appearing this December

Post-MBA goal:-
A product manager at global internet companies like Google, Amazon, etc.
Few questions:-
1) Is my GMAT score good enough or should I aim for a higher score? Also does GMAT score matter for any company that visits the ISB campus?
2) Is it a good idea to showcase CFA credentials in the application?
3) Which round should I target and what are my chances with current scores?
4) Considering I'll be having 5 years of work experience by the time I join ISB, will it negatively impact me for any company visiting ISB?

Posted from my mobile device

Hi Manan,

Thank you for the feedback. I have made note of your insight regarding leadership experience and will spend some time introspecting which one will best suit my application.

Organisations like CHAI, Gates Foundation, Dell Foundation are also interesting propositions so I shall include them as a part of my short-term goals.



I applied last year (December 2019) and got dinged without an interview. I believe my recommender was unable to send in his recommendation within the stipulated time-frame since he faced an emergency at home. A bit of a hard pill to swallow but it's a part of life.

Despite that, I believe I would have faced challenges due to my GPA (specifically my awful grades in Finance). I think the best antidote to that will be performing well on the GRE though I also have enrolled for a finance course to showcase my comfort with the subject.

I have a question for you and Manan: With respect to the short term goals, I'm still a bit torn between working in a product/strategy role at a tech startup to learn about product management and scaling, learnings which can be applied later to entrepreneurship. The other option is getting work experience in the social sector which directly relates to my area of interest in entrepreneurship. One gives me a diverse set of skills applicable in a variety of sectors while the other gives me very specific skill which may give me a headstart. Should some more introspection and research be done to finalise my ST goal?

Posted from my mobile device

Hello sidshocker,
Your WE will not be a big differentiator for you, though one thing that will work in your favor is you have worked with big names. A lot will depend on how you talk about your demonstrated leadership potential, the impact that you have created at work, which distinguishes you and positions you for success in future.
Your GMAT score compares with the average GMAT score for ISB. It will definitely benefit you to retake GMAT, only if you think you can increase the score by 20-30 points, and also keep in mind the application deadline and that you would need 4-6 weeks to put a compelling application forward.
Though clearing CFA Level 1 adds to your profile, it does not match with your post-MBA goal or what you are doing currently.
Average experience at ISB is 4.3 years, which is in line with your experience, so you should not be at any disadvantage.
Your chances of success will depend with the strategic positioning of your profile and a good story. You should definitely aim for a higher GMAT score, if you can, but must apply even with a 710.
Hope this helps.

Hi,
Firstly, a note of gratitude for doing such profile evaluations.
Really helps aspirants like me.

Profile:
Educational qual

10th - 93.27%
12th - 90.50%
BCom - Grade A, 6.9/7 CGPA
MCom - Grade O, 9.3/10 CGPA

Professional qual
Chartered Accountancy
- Qualified in Nov 2017 (Group 1 in May 2017 and Group 2 in Nov 2017)

Work experience
1) 3 years articleship in the statutory audit funtion of a Big 4 consulting firm focussing on manufacturing and logistics firms. During this stint, focus has been on accounting standards compliance , audit, financial controls reporting, overall risk mitigation, financial statement analysis.

2) 2 years stint in a big 4 consulting firm, specializing in mergers & acquisitions consulting focusing on project management, dataroom management, carve out analysis and separation blueprinting, standalone cost assessment, target operating model development and Day 1 planning.

Other aspects :
Content head and secretary to India's largest financial collegiate festival 2015.
Mentorship programme of a learning 10th grade student with a renowned NGO
Learning violin
Writing manuscript for a fiction novel.
Blog and poem writing.
Passionate interest in debates, elocutions and like literary interests.

GMAT Score : Not yet appeared, targeting 700 plus

Post MBA Goals :
To function in the strategy wing of a multinational corporation (preferably manufacturing) focussing on local and global business opportunity assessment and planning, inclusive of any M&A strategies, with the long term objective of serving as a member on the board of directors of such corporation.

Posted from my mobile device

Hello mbamisfit,
Your undergrad CGPA is little on the lower side, so you should aim to get a higher GMAT score to demonstrate academic rigor.
You are working in a brand, which should be in your favor. I am curious, and am sure so would the AdCom be, that you have experience in leading a 11-member team at work in such a short time. May be it will be a good experience for you to share in your essays.
You have diverse EC interests, though again I would need some clarification to comment further. You seem to have been involved in almost all kinds of social activities through your social club. Your EC are interesting too. One tip would be to make sure your EC reflect some sort of a common theme.
You say you had a failed startup at college, but haven’t given any details here.
I will have to understand more about your gaming studio idea to comment on how it will come across as a post-MBA goal, since you are pursuing this with a job.
Overall, you have a very interesting profile and good chances.
Hope this helps.

Hi sidshocker,
Acads aren't your strongest suite and the overall profile is from the competitive IT/ITes pool. Hence, the need for showcasing achievements and leadership instances within your work-ex in a highly structured manner is very high for you. Do demonstrate a good understanding of the user's journey for the product(s) you worked on at MMT, Paytm and Amazon- the adcom and interviewers would relate to all three apps/products as they are highly used. Your post-MBA goals are in-line with your current work-ex. Regarding your questions,

1) You should take another shot at GMAT and aim for an increase of at least 20 points. In parallel, start working on your application. However, in case you aren't confident of achieving at least a 730, then don't divert your energies there. A few consulting firms consider GMAT as one of the components while shortlisting but it is a small one
2) Yes, you must show CFA. However, do expect to be grilled around why you're working towards it since your goal is to get into product management. There are creative ways to show a connection and relevance between the two and your long-term goals
3) You should target R1 as you have a shot at all the seats + scholarships and R2 would be highly competitive since a number of applicants under the 'wait & watch' mode would apply
4) No, ~5 years' experience doesn't adversely impact your placement chances. There are a number of roles in your target firms requiring this level of experience

Feel free to reach out for further questions. All the best.

-
Manan