Ask Cambridge (Judge) Admissions

Hi:

I'm an indian IT professional with good academic background (M.S. from a leading engineering college in India, CGPA 9.04) and GMAT score of 730 (Q49 V40). I'm planning to apply in fall of 2013, by then I will have an experience of more than 7 years. Post MBA, I plan to continue in my current field albeit in a general management roles. I want to do MBA to complete my transition from my current position (I'm currently working as technical lead in a leading software firm).

Can you please let me know the trends and recuritement activities seen in Technology sector during last couple of years as part of your career services in Cambridge? Also, would be really helpful if you can provide some insights in my application that would help me stand out in the common pool that I belong to?

I am not sure that the Admissions team can really help with ideas how to stand out. It is a good question but tough for the judge to provide since they play numerous roles in this case.

Thanks bb.

More specifically I was looking to hear from panel about post MBA opportunities in technology sector in fields like Business Analysis/Product or Project management etc.

@prakhag

Product management in the tech sector really depends on whether you have the background knowledge. There are MBAs here who come in already having managed a product line in a tech company. I can think of one who worked in a major microprocessor company in the US and he managed one of their new chips that would have gone into laptops. For those who go into product management post-MBA, a lot will depend on whether you have the technical and industry knowledge before the MBA. I know one student from last year who rejoined Google but in a larger new product development role. His previous sales experience, coupled with the knowledge that he gained through the MBA, enabled him to move up into a product management role.

Hope that helps.

Conrad Chua
Head MBA Admissions

Hello Conrad,

I had a question about the typical roles that most of your graduates land in consumer facing companies such as J&J, GSK, Reckitt Benckiser, Samsung or even retail companies such as Sears, Tesco etc.

Since many of these companies may or not be headquartered out of the UK, do these roles tend to be focused on the domestic UK industry or do you also see instances of candidates being recruited for international positions?

I am a brand management / product development professional and my interest is in pursuing a role where I can be part of a global product strategy or product innovation team.

I am sorry if my question is beyond the intended scope of this forum. I am just trying to assess whether my expectations are in line with the general trend of opportunities available to graduates.

I'd really appreciate any advice that you might have to offer. Thank you for your time !!

@bigdreams. Sorry for the delay in replying. We do have companies such as Tesco who have come on campus to recruit. Some of them are for UK operations but quite a few are for international ops. The reality is that even if one starts in a domestic operation, the business of retail is becoming global and you would expect to be rotated internationally if you were to do well. I would include Amazon in this category because they typically have come on campus to look for people with SCM knowledge.

However, for some reason, we have not had that much interest from students in this area. Which is a shame because it is a challenging career and, compared to many of the other companies in financial services, these retail companies put a lot more effort in developing their employees.

This year, there is a bit more interest in this area. So we have one Global Consulting Project in Brazil with an FMCG conglomerate and another in the UK with another FMCG company. So, I am always on the lookout for good students with FMCG or retail experience.

Conrad Chua
Head MBA Admissions

Dear Admissions team,

I have a very unique question.

I spent 3 years of engineering in India and took a transfer to University of Surrey for the last year and graduated with first class honours ( Top 5 of my class)

My problem is that I can't produce the transcripts for my first 3 years as my previous university will not provide it - as far as they are concerned, I didnt finish my degree and left them after 3 years.

Should that and will that affect my chances? All the schools seem to require all the transcripts.
I have an overall good academic record.

Thanks

@ashShukla

We will require all your transcripts.

Conrad
Head MBA Admissions

So basically, I can't apply to Judge Business School.

Many thanks for the reply!

On a general note, I fail to see how my engineering degree transcripts for first 3 years which had no impact on my final degree (surely my academic capability is determined by my first class degree and references) holds such an importance for admissions team.

Rules are rules, I guess.

Ash

Hi Mr Conrad Chua,

Thank you for taking the time off to answer the questions in this forum.

I am a 30 year old male with a B.Eng(Mech) and am currently working as a Manager for a subsidiary of a listed company in the Marine and Oil & Gas industry in Singapore. Prior to my present employment, I was working for an academic institution to manage and build race cars to compete in Detroit and Eco-friendly cars to race in France.

I am a certified productivity and innovation manager, certified ISO9001:2008 auditor, certified operations personnel, trained in finance for non-finance manager and am currently awaiting for certification as a Lean Sigma Black Belt. I am also actively involved in volunteering; in particular helping out less fortunate children. I have received awards for my achievements.

What attracts me to Cambridge MBA is definately the unique program, the right balance of theory and practical projects, the possibility of a concentration in strategy and the Cambridge Venture and Global Consulting Project. I have had experience with projects before but the possibility of looking at it from a "Cambridge MBA" perspective is definitely something I am excited and look forward to.

If given an opportunity to pursue an MBA in Cambridge, I would like to opt for a Concentration in Strategy and Marketing as it is inline with my career goals. I would like to enquire, how are concentration chosen? Is it quota based or based on a bidding system or will all students have an equal opportunity to pursue whichever concentration they have choose?

For the questions on “significant challenge” and “significant accomplishments,” am I right to assume that this questions are restricted to my current employment as they are under the Current Employment Tab?

Thanks.

Best Regards,
Sharael

@RaelSg

Students choose concentrations. So far, we have not had to impose any quotas on concentrations but things do change from year to year.

Yes, those questions pertain to your current employment.

Conrad

Thanks Conrad. Just wondering, is there equal opportunities in the last round or is the last round generally harder to get in?

Sharael

Hi Conrad,

I would like to know the maximum length of the internship at the end of the programme? Can it be more than 3 months if students do the internship outside of the UK?

Thank you.

@Raelsg

Statistically, it does not make a difference. If you are good enough, we will give you an offer.

Conrad.

@TrueLie

Students should complete all requirements by September so any student who needs an extension would have to submit a request.

Conrad

Hi Conrad,

Thank you. Greatly appreciate your assistance. Planning to submit my application within a day or 2. By the way, read through your blog entry on "Searching for the Rare Find." Inspired to read the book once I'm done.

Definately an interesting question; Spotting the right talent for the job and building winning teams.
Looking forward to submitting my application. Thanks again!

Sharael

I am not sure how many people here are based in Africa but this is a post that I wrote about our outreach plans for South Africa this coming admissions year.
https://www.thecambridgembaadmissions.co ... hy-africa/

The Director of the MBA Programme and the Director of the Masters of Finance Programme will be visiting Joburg and Cape Town on 26th and 30th July respectively. They will host information sessions and you can find more details and register at the appropriate links below

https://www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/mba/meetus/201 ... etown.html
https://www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/mba/meetus/201 ... sburg.html

Sadly, I won't be attending either of the sessions but I hope they will be of interest to some of the people on this forum.

Conrad Chua
Head MBA Admissions
University of Cambridge Judge Business School