ISB Profile Evaluation - Tools for B-School Profile Evaluation

QUESTIONS:
1. How does this profile look?
2. What would be a good GMAT Score for CO '22 intake?
3. Which round should i go for?
4. Areas of improvement?

1. Good profile overall. I like the move from a software development role to a business role. International experience, exposure to multiple client problems and leadership of team will add favorably to your profile. You must present these in the right manner. B-schools want to be assured that you have the experience and insights to contribute to other classmates and I think you have these. That said, they need to be presented in a competitive manner.
2. 710+
3. Whenever you are ready. I would select between R1 and R2. Applying in R1 helps if you are applying to multiple b-schools- you can manage your timelines better in that case.
4. Continue taking up important projects at work. Its always helpful to build a strong work profile. Secondly, your extra curriculars are not strong. Is there an activity which you have indulged in earlier and can pick up the threads of, now?

Feel free to reach out to us for a deeper discussion on your profile by filling this [url-https://mbadecoder.com/services/free-profile-evaluation/] profile form[/url] or writing to us at contact@mbadecoder.com

Hi Gaurav,
Your profile is very similar to nitishjain1993
Are you the same people?

No

Hello, Could you please evaluate my profile below

Indian, Female,26 years
Education: IT Engineering from Mumbai University , 70% distinction, among toppers of college (not a top tier college )
Work Exp: 5 years total work experience in a UK based product company , working as Automation test engineer (QA), Domain - UK government, public safety products
Automated tests that reduced execution time for overall project and minimised leakage to production
Received a Feather in cap award for work accomplishments for leading a critical module
International experience of 2 months in UK dealing with client interaction and live support
Currently working in an all onsite team and single handedly managing the testing activities from offshore
Leadership experience: Leading fellow 4-5 team members on QA activities, training upcoming graduates
Awaiting promotion this year
Not many extra curricular activities, certificates in singing, carrom
Taken up French in school
Technical paper presentation in international journals
Did some certifications in product management & other workshops attended
Planning to take up ECBA certification next month (this is to get into proper BA role at current company)

GMAT - Terrible score last year,this time aiming 720+
Post MBA field: Product Management
Looking for 1 year program that help to transition into tech role

Questions: how does the profile come across and any suggestion to improve? target gmat score?

Hi Team,

First company (SmartAnalyst) : Healthcare Economics related projects mainly with cost comparison and statistical analysis
Second Company(WNS) : Statistical and business analysis
Third Company (Axtria) : Consulting + Analytics projects ranging from Market Mix ,promotion reponse modelling to sales force sizing ,mainly related to Sales and marketing analytical side of the pharmaceutical companies.

All of them were mostly consutling related projects.

Hope this helps. Thanks in advance for your response.

Hi abell78989, this reminds me that ISB offers some very interesting electives in Healthcare and analytics. See if they interest you, and do mention them in your statement of purpose.

Hi TaePri1510, Product Management does seem to be a logical next step in your career; you are already working in a product company and your work as a QA engineer would have ingrained in you, the ethos of what comprises a great product.

Slightly curious to know why you say: Looking for 1 year program that help to transition into tech role.

Product management is not a purely tech role; in fact, if it were, then one would not need a MBA for it. So, make sure you highlight the cross-functional competencies required for being a successful Product manager.

700+ on GMAT should be good; obviously the higher, the better.

Hi, I would love to hear views on my profile.

Indian/Male/26 yrs/Engineer

Education:
IIT BHU (Varanasi), Mechanical engg. (CGPA: 7.89/10)

Job:
Working in automobile industry (since 2015)
Field: New Projects (Operations)

Recent projects:
1) Last year, project manager for establishing production facility in Malaysia. (But I didn't work on-site, except for few short trips)
2) This year, I was working on similar projects for Indonesia and Vietnam (but projects got canceled due to COVID)

GMAT(Taken in Sep 2017) - 700 | Q50V33

PS: I applied to ISB PGP in 2017, but didn't get an interview.
I am planning to reapply this year in R1.

Any feedback?
Also, should I retake GMAT to improve my scores?

Thanks in advance!

Hi Anupam, generally a score of 700 is not a concern. However, I would suggest that you do consider the option of retaking GMAT because you are a re-applicant and also because there is still time before the R1 deadline.

Apart from the various new projects that you've done, an enhanced score would signal to ISB an objective data-point about how your profile is stronger now, than back in 2017. Obviously Verbal needs to be your area of focus. See if you can bump it up by another 3-4 points.

Thanks for the clarification Gaurav. Your work profile is competitive. Digital consulting is a hott space to be in as most industries are working towards digitalization and that can lead to varied and meaningful exposure. You have mentioned this in your profile as well. You are also leading teams. Together, both these points give you a chance to make deep impact on your clients' businesses and also take up improvement initiatives within the firm. You should be highlighting such stories in your ISB application. Both impact at work and leadership skills are big considerations for b-schools and if you can convey those through your application, then its great.

Academically, you've done ok, and I would stress upon the need for a 710+ GMAT score (more than the class average) that shows you can do better.

So far everything looks good. I will need to know your profile in more detail to make further suggestions for improvement. You can email me at contact@mbadeoder.com to schedule a personalized consult or fill up this form.

Hi everyone, would love feedback on my profile:
24 year old Indian male.

Expecting GMAT Score – 700

Educational Qualifications:
Undergrad: - 8.45 CGPA with a degree in BCom (Hons) from Christ University, Bangalore
12th: 89% in Commerce from CBSE Board(2014)
10th: 10 CGPA from CBSE Board(2012)

Work Experience:
Senior Talent Acquisition Consultant/Recruiter - 3 years in Allegis Group(a Global Talent Acquisition Company, biggest in US)
Clients – HP and Baxter International
• Focus on leadership roles for VPs, CTs, Senior Managers and Senior Sales Executives in BPO, IT, Saas space etc (across industries – Healthcare, Insurance, Defense, Aerospace, Finance, Retail, Travel etc.)
• Engaged and developed relationship at CxO level, internal stakeholders, customers, senior leaders and peers alike
• International experience working in NA and EMEA market
• Was promoted thrice in a span of 2.5 years.
• Led two pilot projects in very competitive markets for HP and Baxter. Responsible for leading/mentoring/training a team of 6 for the pilot projects
• Led the “Recruiter Dashboard” nationally for two consecutive years for the company (2018 & 2019)
• Awarded Employee of the quarter in 2018 for Q3

Internship – IRDA licensed Life Insurance Advisor - 2 Months with Reliance Life Insurance

Extra Curricular:
Campus Ambassador Zomato
• Won multiple National Business Fests in Human Resources, Public Relations and Marketing
• Event Head for Public Relations, Dept of Commerce.
• Event Head for the Marketing Club, Dept of Commerce
• Led a comprehensive Research Project for a NGO (Association for People with Disability) conducted by the college
• 3 years of NGO experience in College. Some with company’s CSR team.
• Member of College Cultural Team for Literature events
• Represented school in Football at State Level
• Represented school in Tennis at District Level

Goal
Want to get into consulting, preferably HR function (Talent Acquisition would be ideal).
A mix of Consulting + Talent Acquisition, companies like AON, Mercer.

Hi!
You've got decent acads and extra-curricular. Your work ex as a TA does stand out. There aren't many applicants from core HR domain and more so TA. Also, from personal experience at one of the target firms you mentioned, these achievements are impactful! In additional, you'll have a lot of meat to mention in the application on how you'd help your peers at ISB around preparing for placements. Hence, you're bound to be popular
Your post-PGP goal aligns with your current experience and skillset.
Aim for 700+ at GMAT.
All the best!

-
Manan

Hello,

I would love to hear feedback on how can i improve my application for ISB. I have a few areas of concern which i have listed down below. Please do recommend on how can i improve so i can get an interview call at the very least.

Background : I did apply to ISB in 2019 with a GRE score of 317 and plan to reapply this year with a GMAT(yet to appear).

Academics: I have a strong academic profile with 92.91% in 10th and 95.5% in 12th. My undergraduate degree is in Computer Engineering , with a 9.11 CGPA.

Job : I am currently working at as a software engineer with about 4 years of work experience and have had the opportunity to lead a team and act as a technology architect. I have won a few laurels at my firm for the work i have done.

Extra Curricular: I have been part of various clubs during my school days and engineering days, was part of the sports council and represented the college at inter college level. Have been part of the student council of my college in the cultural department. I have also participated in various dance shows on stage and on television. I have won a few awards to backup these achievements.


Areas of concern:
1) I was not invited for an interview round at ISB last year and i really wish to purse an MBA. I would appreciate if anyone could advise what could have gone wrong in last year's application so i don't repeat the same mistakes.
2) Does being a re-applicant impact chances of converting a college?

Hi!
Your acads and GRE score (lower than ISB median) are good but not stellar. The extra-curricular at college was impressive, how much of it (dance) are you continuing to pursue now? Also, with work-ex, it seems you got good achievements but your applicant pool (IT) is quite heavy so you really have to stand out. Prima facie, you should focus on getting a couple of good projects under your belt to demonstrate leadership instances and where you went above & beyond what was expected from you. Also, beef-up your current extra-curricular section apart from a 700+ GMAT score.

Your application / essays could also be a reason for not getting a call. A number of times even stellar profiles don't make it due to a lack of impact in the essays. Please share your essays on info(at)strategy4gmat(dot)com so that I can share a detailed analysis.

Cheers,
Manan

Hello,
I request someone to please evaluate my profile.
25-year-old Indian male.

GMAT Score – 700(Q49,V36)

Educational Qualifications:
Undergrad: - 7.5 CGPA in IT, Manipal Institute of Technology
12th: 94% in AP State Board
10th: 84% in ICSE

Work Experience:
1year 3 months (currently employed here) in EXL Services as a Blockchain + Fullstack Developer
- Currently working with a USA based Insurance client.
- Won the Star Performer award within just 6 months of joining.
- Have completed 10 experimental projects.
- Currently working on a $100 million project.
- I have organised many events for the team

1 year 7 months in Reliance Industries Limited as a Blockchain Developer

Internship – 6 months Internship with PwC as a Cyber Security Analyst(worked with a Dutch client)

Extra Curricular:
- Top Writer on Quora with 23 million+ views and 10,000+ followers/
- I have developed a website for writing cricket blogs in which 3 full-time writers are working.
- I have mentored over 50 people in writing blogs. I have also judged two writing competitions.
- Got the third prize in company-wide Table Tennis doubles competition.

Hi,

You have a nice profile. On the work front you seem to be a top performer. The achievements and their impact will be important to demonstrate that you have done meaningful and noteworthy work at your organizations. The 10 experiments give the impression that you are entrepreneurial in your thinking and take initiatives- all of these are important qualities for business school.
Your extra-curriculars related to writing/blogging are interesting and show depth and passion.
The one thing that can be improved in your profile is the GMAT score. Yor undergrad GPA and GMAt are both kind of average. If you can retake GMAt and shoot for a 720+, that would help you in general.

Hi JustAboutDone,

Firstly, nice profile there! ISB is a great school when it comes to Consulting as a post-MBA goal. 25% of the cloass of 2019 got placed in Consulting. You can get more insights in these stats here: https://www.isb.edu/pgp/careers/placement-trends

ISB looks for the following in an MBA applicant:
1. Academic Excellence: The parameters that are quantified, in numbers: GMAT/GRE, GPA, other scores.
2. Better than the average performer: It means that when you are working, work better than the average performer in your workplace.
3. Diversity in your personality: It means they want to see what more do you spend your time doing outside of work.

I can see a good mix of all three in your profile. However, the average GMAT score for ISB stands at 710, I'd suggest that you push for getting a 700+ on GMAT. That said, you can always overcome test score with exceptional examples from your work experience or extracurriculars, and I can already get a glimpse of those examples in your profile. What’s going to matter most in your application is how you connect the experiential dots and build a great story to stand out from other applicants in the pool.


If you'd like, I am happy to hop on a call sometime this week to discuss your chances in further detail. Feel free to book my calendar as per your convenience.

Cheers!
Shantanu Sharma,
Founder and Admissions Consultant, MBA and Beyond
Schedule a free session
Email: shantanu@mbaandbeyond.com
What s app: +65-97158525
Call: +49-15212121641
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