INSEAD Profile Evaluation - Tools for B-School Profile Evaluation

@MBAkarma.com (Varun)

Thanks for the prompt response,

I have noted your thoughts and agree with them - I do think it's important to craft a well thought answer to all possible questions. In light of this, what advise would you have on building the story of 'why an MBA'? . Right now, the best answer I have (as mentioned in my original post) is that I want to formalize my education, deepen knowledge about the business world and build on my consulting skills further. But the way my past experience would 'tie' into my reason to look for a career in consulting, the 'education' part of the story would not and hence it seems to be somewhat lost. I don't expect you to answer this for me but to simply guide me on how to think about the same.

Thanks.

Hello bubna3number

Though answering your question would require a much deeper understanding of your personal motivations, I can give you some generic advice.
Say you want to reach 'point A' in 10 years. (AKA long term goal)
To reach 'point A' you need to cross 'point B' as a stepping stone. (AKA short term goal- the role immediately after your MBA)
However, you cannot reach 'point B' because you have some missing skills.
An MBA will fill this gap in your missing skills (now you have to identify is what is that gap, and will an MBA actually fill that gap?) and help you land your short term goal ('point B')
As I said, this is generic, for a more personalized advice, you may reach out.

Best
Varun Sharma
+919137133507
MBAkarma.com
GMAT Score Predictor
info@mbakarma.com

Hi bubna3number,

on your application, you are going to need to articulate really well your career goals, including your target geography. So make sure you have compelling reasons as to why your career goals and why UK (or any other geography).

I see progression throughout your career path (not only in your non-profit experience).

Thank you
Alex

Hello,

I have 4+ years of experience in field of Data Analytics and Strategy Consulting combined with a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from IIT (BHU), Varanasi (8.16 GPA , 2014 Batch).

I have scored 710 (Q50, V37, AWA3.5 & IR6) in GMAT exam.

With this profile and score of 710. What should I target? Post MBA, I want to grow in the field of strategy consulting.
Please let me know if I should add additional information about my profile.

Hello,

Male
Chinese
29 (served 2 years of national service)
Singaporean (born and grew up)

4+ years of work experience in a non bulge bracket bank (will be 5 when I enter into a mba programme). In a management associate programme, experiences were mainly in wealth management/retail banking experience (products, process & business management)

Engineering graduate from Nanyang Technological University. First class honours, dean list and valedictorian.

GMAT 700, Q50 V34 IR8 AWA5.5

Post mba goal: MBB.

Intend to apply Insead, Oxford Said. How is my chance with the both? No international exposure.

Am mainly looking at 1 yr ivy leagues programme. Any other recommendations?

Posted from my mobile device

Hi Rahul,

We will need to know some more details about your work- specially with regards to your leadership experiences and the impact you have created at work/outside. These are one of the top four admissions criteria for INSEAD.
Your GMAT score is average and maybe a less depending upon which b-schools you are targeting. If you are aiming for the top programs, a retake will not hurt at all

Hi wk89,

thank you for your sharing your profile.

You have very strong academics and your 700 GMAT score is more or less on par with the average of INSEAD (706) and Oxford Said (690). However, if possible, I would recommend a retake and increase at least your Verbal score.

When you say no international exposure, do you mean you haven't worked outside of Singapore? INSEAD's International Motivation criteria can be met by demonstrating your adaptability to working in multi-cultural teams, your curiosity for cultures beyond your own, global career goals, fluency in multiple languages... As Chinese Singaporean, I believe you shouldn't have much trouble showing this in your application. Please, confirm.

Other than the above, as long as you can show clear career progression, and articulate your career goals and Why MBA/Why INSEAD/Why Oxford Said in a compelling way, you should be okay.

I hope this helps.

For a more detailed discussion, feel free to PM me or email me directly at alex@arleeconsulting.com. It would be great if you could share your resume as well.

Good luck!
Alex

Thanks Alex.

I have never worked overseas before, except for some infrequent business trips. How do I highlight my international exposure/hope for a global career here? I know it is one of the key criteria for insead. V34 is not a good score but English is one of my weakest link and I have no confidence of improving my verbal score, along with the fact that I want to apply in Round 1 or 2 of insead/oxford/cambridge for 2019 programme.

Posted from my mobile device

Hi wk89,

you're welcome

I understand you don't feel confident you can increase your Verbal score. Like I said, your 700 (Q50/V34) is def a good score, but not one that will help you stand out. However, with outstanding applications (i.e. Resume, Essays, LoRs,...) you should be okay.

And yeah, International Motivation is a key criteria for INSEAD. As I mentioned in my previous post, there are different ways you can show you meet the criteria. It doesn't necessarily have to be through extensive international experience outside of Singapore. In order to give you a more accurate answer though I would need to have a more detailed discussion with you.

Feel free to PM me or email me at alex@arleeconsulting.com to discuss in more detail.

Thank you
Alex

Hi everyone,

Background:
Korean-American (born in Brooklyn)
Age 27
GMAT 710

Education:
BBA in Risk Management and Insurance from Temple University
Honors Program, Magna Cum Laude, GPA: 3.76

Work Experience: Total 5 years
Job 1 (2 years) - Global Property Underwriter at world's largest publicly traded insurance company. Analyzed and managed risk for complex multinational property portfolios.

Job 2 (3 years) - Co-Founder/CEO of energy efficiency consulting company. Started the company during my sophomore year of college and worked part-time while working at the insurance firm until it grew to the point where I decided to pursue the energy consulting full-time. Worked with property managers, building owners, etc to convert their facilities to up to 70% efficiency. Portfolio annual savings at about $1M.

Extra curriculars - After winning first place at a business pitch competition for Emerging Young Entrepreneurs, joined as an advisor/assistant director of the program focused on fostering and accelerating underrepresented minority owned businesses to work with government and corporate entities.
At the time of application, will be working in Singapore for a network organization connecting non-profit startup ventures to impact investors and government grants.
In college and throughout my insurance role, contributed to a firm that is dedicated to creating opportunities for asian-americans in leadership roles in corporations.

Post MBA Goal - further hone business strategy consulting skills to support global social enterprises in creating sustainable business models. Long-term goal: create a fund that supports social enterprises with the potential for financial returns for investors.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Chris

Hi christophahn,

thanks for sharing your profile.

I think it is quite interesting and complete. I like your career progression and your entrepreneurial experience. I also like your extra-curriculars and your career goals.

I just have a few questions:

(a) Besides your future experience in Singapore, do you have any other international exposure?

(b) I understand you're Korean-American (I'm Spanish/Korean myself). How is your level of Korean? Have you spent significant time in Korea, perhaps growing up?

(c) What's your target geography post-MBA?

(d) When did you take the GMAT and what's your Q/V/IR split?

It would be great if you could answer the above. Feel free to also PM me or email me directly at alex@arleeconsulting.com. It would be great if you could share your resume as well.

Good luck!
Alex

Hi
I am looking to apply for the september 2019 intake and have started working on my applications.

Please find below pointers on my profile :
1. 10th - 93%
2. 12th - 92%
3. Btech in Mathematics & Computing from DCE - 80.77%
4. GMAT - 740 (Quants 51, Verbal 39, IR 8, AWA 5)
5. 3 yrs of work experience in Business Analytics & Strategy - Paytm - Business Analytics, HSBC - Risk Strategy for Middle East region and my current company is Oyo rooms which gives me a lot of learning towards driving things and leading analytics in different spheres. Have some achievements from my diverse work experience - for example runners up at the advanced analytics competition for HSBC Global Analytics Centre.
6. I was the VP for a technical fest at DCE and also have some volunteer experience(not alot though).
7. I had received the LN Birla scholarship for academic merit twice in my school days.
IWhat kind of chances do I have this year if I am thinking of R2 or should I look at gaining more work experience and then applying?

Sent from my vivo 1713 using GMAT Club Forum mobile app

Hi Experts!

I'd like to ask for your kind help to assess my profile competitiveness to be an INSEAD MBA candidate.

Background:
Vietnamese - Age 28 - Major: Aeronautical Engineering
GPA 7.5/10
GMAT 640
IELTS 7.5

Education:
Bachelor of Aeronautical Engineering in University of Technology Ho Chi Minh, top 10 universities in Viet Nam.

Work Experience: Total 5+ years (65 months) in - Top FMCG company
3/2013 - 1/2014 - Process Engineer - Vietnam
-Responsible for process establishment and improvement in Shampoo packaging line
-Executing loss elimination project in the department
-Ensuring technical readiness for initiatives

1/2014 - 1/2015 - Technical Department Manager Vietnam
-Leading a team of 10 to deliver manufacturing improvement projects
-Delivering year on year cost, cash, productivity targets
-Leading Loss Elimination process across Shampoo supply chain

1/2015 - 1/2017 - Operation Department Manager Vietnam
-Leading a team of 30 to deliver manufacturing excellence of P&G Shampoo Business in Viet Nam
-Executing new initiatives in plant successfully to fuel business growth
-Delivering year on year 7% cost savings, 45% productivity improvement
-Leading Loss Elimination process across sitewide in the plant as the capability leader. Coaching and qualifying more than 67 people in the plant

1/2017 - Now - Regional Category Supply Network Planner Leader, relocated to Singapore
-Managing an inventory pool of $38 million, structurally driving down inventory by 8%
-Optimizing the supply network design to improve cost, cash and create competitive advantages
-Maintaining order fulfillment rate at 98% across Japan, Korea, and China customers.
-Cooperating with IT team to digitalize and automate processes to enhance productivity
-Managing sufficiency for 18-month capacity planning for 10 Asia Plants to support the mid-long term strategic growth

Awards and Recognition:
Transformer Award, honor date Jan 2018, by Asia Associate Director:
Making step-change in Unproductive Inventory analysis by applying Power BI, contributing to Category Asia Best-In-Class Unproductive Inventory results.

#ChangeICan Collaboratorium, honor date Oct 2017, by Asia Vice President:
Top 10 improvement ideas in Asia. This solution saves more than 80% time used for the inventory data analysis task.

Champion Productivity, honor date Aug 2017, by Asia Director:
To recognize for Asia Best in Class Performance in term of Inventory Management via excellent data analysis and structural improvements

Extra activities -
2011-2014 - Co-founder of Hola English Community, a non-profit organization whose mission is to enhance English skills of students in high school and university, which has at its peak more than 150+ active members.
2012-2013 - English Tutoring at Help Orphan Worldwide, a non-profit organization to take care of orphanages.

Post MBA Goal - Advancing to a higher managerial level. Finding a job opportunity in business development/sales.

Thank you very much.

Hi viethieu2504,

thank you for sharing your profile.

I really like your career progression and you seem to have accomplished a lot. Congratulations on that.

I just see a few gaps/vulnerabilities:

(a) Test Scores: while your 7.5 IELTS matches the score recommended by INSEAD, your GMAT score is on the lower side. When did you take it? How many attempts? What is your Q/V/IR split? Any possibility of a retake?

(b) Extra-Professional Activities: What activities are you currently engaged in? INSEAD is looking for well-rounded candidates with active lives outside of work. There is even a motivational essay on extra-professional activities.

(c) Career Goals: They're sort of vague. On your application, you're going to need to be more concrete and articulate in a clear way your career goals.

Feel free to PM me or email me directly (alex@arleeconsulting.com) for a more detailed evaluation and discussion about your profile and chances of admission. It would be great if you could also share your resume.

Thank you very much.

Good luck!
Alex

Profile:
Nationality: USA
Ethnicity: African American Male
Age: 24
Languages: English (Native), Spanish (Conversational), Portuguese (Beginner)
Education: Bachelors in Business Administration, GPA 3.48 2016
Awards: Academic Excellence Award (Given to 1 student each major across university, I received it for accounting major)
GMAT : 710

Work Experience:
- 2 yrs @ Deloitte in their technology consulting practice. Leadership roles on projects, and proposals. 1 promotion analyst to consultant. I've been a mentor for 5+ new staff and led some office volunteering events, and started a pro bono consulting project
- 2 months @ Walmart Labs/Ecommerce as a product manager. Plan on applying at 1.5 yr mark.
- Internship GoldMan Sachs in middle office finance role

Extra- Curricular:
Undergrad - 2 yrs Non-Profit Consulting Club (1yr as a lead, 1 yr on the board), VP of Honors Business Society in inaugural yr, 1.5 yrs research assistant for org. behavior professor, 2 yrs D1 athlete (Walk-on, gained scholarship)
Postgrad - Local office leadership at work & started local non-profit consulting project in office and served as project manager.
Random - Travel frequently, bi lingual, working on tri but know a little bit of french and usually pick up stuff from countries i visit. Love music from other cultures.

Post-MBA goals:
Entrepreneurship, High Tech, VC, Impact focused consulting (ex. IDEO, Bridgespan, Bill & Melinda Gates)

Other Schools: Harvard, MIT

Thinking about using MLT to help with application process. Not currently doing much extracurricular mostly focusing on self growth ex. Muy Thai, Travel, Music, Practicing languages etc. Will this hurt me? I was hoping the 2 yrs undergrad and 2 yrs post grad and goals would be enough for impact/extra stuff.

Hi slicksoldier,

thank you for sharing your profile.

Overall, you have very good elements to submit a strong application, including fast career progression and leadership experience despite your young age.

Your goals are a bit all over, so I would recommend you to be more specific when it comes to the actual application.

As for your concern about extra-curriculars, for INSEAD the most important thing is to be able to demonstrate that you have an active personal life, i.e., your life is more than work or academics. So in the Motivational Essay #3 (i.e. Extra-Professional Activities) feel free to talk about activities you are currently engaged in (or were in the past for a significant amount of time) even if they have nothing to do with volunteering/community service.

It would be great if you could clarify the following:

(a) Do you have any international experience? You mentioned you traveled frequently, but have you ever lived abroad? What is your target geography post-MBA?

(b) You mentioned your level of Spanish is conversational. Have you taken DELE or any other official test? INSEAD is going to require you to provide some means of assessment.

I hope this helps.

Feel free to PM me or email me directly (alex@arleeconsulting.com) for a more detailed discussion.

Thank you
Alex

Thanks for the feedback ARLeeConsulting!

To clarify - My goals post MBA are all tech related so I don't think they are all over the place. High Tech, Entrepreneurship, and Social Impact Consulting all would be focused with tech and hopefully I would be in a product management role. The only one that is pretty vague is entrepreneurship and that would only be if I found some partners during school or had a project I was working on. VC again tech related but pretty varied in types of roles, this is kind of a long shot.

No I have not worked internationally. Around the US as a consultant though, I think I may be able to transfer to a New York office but that is it. Maybe Mexico if I am lucky and the company continues to do well.

No I have not taken any test. Just university spanish, getting around in spanish speaking countries etc. My reading and writing is significantly better than comprehension or speaking so with some study i don think it should be much of a problem.