Sorry Paul, I know this is a very late response to your question. But, all this while I was doing the various research on B schools etc.
TO YOUR QUESTION ON ST/LT GOALS:
I am working at a top tech MNC company in India. I am also part of the talent development program here. The program has 80 members and there are various committees (analogous to the various clubs in B schools). All 80 members are part of exactly 1 committee. Each committee is headed by a committee lead and there is one over All-Up lead, leading the program and designing the experiences.
I have been elected as the All-Up over all lead of the program since the last 1 year (was re-elected at the 6 month mark). I have some fantastic initiatives to talk about in this program which had far reaching effects. Hence, not inclined towards talking about my technical work which is as such the core job of every IT person.
Through the experience, I have realized that I want to start a company for talent management and leadership development, with special focus on emerging economies like India/China where the attrition rate in companies is high and people change jobs almost every 2 years. This is something that I want to do in the long run.
I know that MBA is critical for me as I don't have the business skills (marketing, finance etc.) needed to run a company.
But, am not able to figure out on what should I be doing in the short run. I know that it is not possible for me to immediately open a company after a Business school education (especially with that huge loan of my MBA education on my head
). I am thinking on talking about strategy consulting for companies (not sure about consulting in which industry) as this will help me touch various industries and understand the processes and human capital in them. Am not sure whether this short term goal of mine (of getting in to strategy consulting) sounds convincing.
Would be great if you could help me in fine tuning this short term goal!!!
SCHOOLS THAT I HAVE SHORTLISTED (in order of preference):
Harvard
Wharton
Tuck
Fuqua
Sloan
Anderson