Profile evaluation Request (Apply this year or not)

Question

Hi Paul,

I sent you a pm as well but I think you didn't get time to review it!

I will be posting the same thing here. Hope I get a reply!

Xth : 96.8% (Zone Topper)
XII: 92.8%
B.Tech in Mining Engineering: 8.73/10 ( Gold Medalist and Institute medal for exceptional academic record ) from IIT, Varanasi
GMAT 740 (Q50, V39, AWA:6, IR:6)
3 papers (2 National conference, 1 International Conference) , 1 Book Chapter (Springer, Introduction chapter)

Have held some good position of responsibility during my college time such as Placement Representative, Departmental Undergrad committee Senior Representative and have also participated and led my team in some National level competitions such as CIMA Global Business competition etc.

I had my startup during my final year but sadly it could not take off and I ended up joining TATA STEEL.

I am currently working in TATA STEEL India as a Manager, Mining Operations and have about 1 year of work expn. During my time here, I have undertaken about 3 improvement projects (on critical issues of Mining). I will be having two when I will join a MBA Program next year and am thinking of applying in R1 this year.

I have some good amount of voluntary experience, not just normal contributing stuff but some real projects ( 2 ) and participatory rural appraisals.

My question is should I be actually thinking of applying this year in schools such as Sloan,Booth, Yale, Columbia? Do I have a chance or should I bide my time and apply next year that is in 2017.

ADDITIONAL INFO (IF YOU HAVE THE TIME)

I had already mentioned about my school stats, just to add one thing to it, I was the student president of my school and just a few months I took an initiative and went back to school to form an Alumni association for our school so as to guide the incoming classes w.r.t. career choices and also pooled some money for funding education of 1 student on a need basis.

In my college time, except the positions, paper, projects that I have already mentioned, as a senior representative of Undergrad committee, I was instrumental in framing of a new constitution for the institution in a very sensitive situation when the whole institute had sat on a protest (I am sure I will not be writing it in this way in my application, but I think that experience of handling a 4000+ voices changed me!)

I did my internship at a TATA STEEL (5 selected among 300, it's kind of a choosy company!) and was subsequently offered a Pre-placement offer (company generally offers a Pre-placement interview!) and joined it as a Management Trainee Technical. Now while Mining is a very tough profession, it's also a very interesting one with a lot of opportunities for improvement and innovation.

At TSL, first and foremost, I decided to follow up on my internship work, took the responsibility on myself and implemented the improvement measures in the mine which while a having a great deed of good short term effect also saved company from immediate expenditure of 20 million INR in expenditure on new Mine fan installation. (They can forget about it for next 5 years)

Next, I was off to an Open cast coal mine of TSL, which was struggling with the Industrial relations issue of workers actually not wanting to work because of which there were huge production losses. I realised that the officers were actually most of the time in fire-fighting mode, trying to solve issues as they arose with no sense of planning and implementation. I suggested a performance based incentive to the Dumper operators (subsequently worked upon by HR division) and took to the measures to implement scientific mining methods in the mine which led to vast improvements in productivity and production.
In the same mine, I also worked out on a new mining method by tweaking the existing technology and using my previous expertise of underground mining which actually increased the life of mine by 10 years. I was the Team lead to investigate in this new mining method with other 4 Management trainees of various expertise.

In other open-pit iron ore mine of TSL, I investigated in the fuel related issues that were being faced by the mine. I suggested the implementation of a Fuel Management system which is being done now and am part of the team that is overseeing the process. Also, I was asked by Top management of the mine to look into the operator issues and see if any scope of improvement is there and am working on this, as well as, am working on the operational aspects of fuel consumption and intend to benchmark the fuel consumption by various vehicles in the mine. I am also working on the digitisation of the production reporting in the mine with my colleagues so as to well ,save paper

, and making the process of reporting and action making more streamlined.

I have been recently promoted to Manager, Mining Operations, a job that holds me responsible for production of 250 million $ worth of Iron ore and its desptach (and in supervision of 100+ people, both company and contractor). The job also entails looking into various aspects of implemetation of TQM, ISO standards and safety standards. Its a statuory post (required under Mining Act of India, 1957) and involves constant communication with government authorities over various aspects of Mining and related issues.

POST- MBA : work in consulting with focus on metals&minerals and steel industry.

, and making the process of reporting and action making more streamlined. I have been recently promoted to Manager, Mining Operations, a job that holds me responsible for production of 250 million $ worth of Iron ore and its desptach (and in supervision of 100+ people, both company and contractor). The job also entails looking into various aspects of implemetation of TQM, ISO standards and safety standards. Its a statuory post (required under Mining Act of India, 1957) and involves constant communication with government authorities over various aspects of Mining and related issues. POST- MBA : work in consulting with focus on metals&minerals and steel industry.

PaulLanzillotti · Answer

Hey akashsriv1993,

I am going to craft up a response for you asap. I appreciate your patience!

- Paul

akashboi · Answer

Sure!

PaulLanzillotti · Answer

Hi Akash:

There is a relatively straightforward way of looking at whether or not you should apply this year. At a high level, you simply want to consider the number of years, as well as the quality of your work experience.

With respect to the number of years of work experience you have at this point, I read your post a couple of times and unfortunately, I am simply unable to determine how many years of work experience you have at this point. The level of detail you provided me was great, but it missed an extremely important point here – simply put – what are your number of years that you have been working? That should be the very first question you need to answer and would have expected me to answer.

The second part of addressing whether or not you should apply this year is to consider the quality of your work experience, and as an extension of that your title. You seem to be at a management level, and that provides you a basis for saying that you now need the management and leadership skills necessary to "take it to the next level." Having experienced management responsibilities, you are able to legitimately say that you now understand the depth of management and leadership challenges that await you, as well as the ones that you have to encounter in your current role. This is an important point because business schools will want to know why "now" is right time for you to apply. So again, because of your recent experiences as a manager, you now have a clear vision of your goals and you now have a complete understanding of what you will require to reach those goals. When I say "what you will require" I am specifically referring to the MBA level knowledge that a top business school program can and will provide you.

Anyway, I digress. With respect to your individual work experience, you seem to have accomplished quite a bit and however many years you have been on the job at Tata steel. The progression actually looks quite excellent. While I know you regret your startup not flourishing, it seems that you have done very well in spite of that setback. Actually think that this would most likely be a better experience in the startup from the perspective of a business school admissions committee because this is more "definable" in their mind. I see a lot of startups and entrepreneurs, and often it is hard to define what they would get out of the business school experience.

The bottom line - I do think that you should apply this year. I do not see what you would get out of staying another year at Tata steel. I do not think that you would encounter any new or revolutionary or transformative projects that would really make your resume that much stronger. If you are, then you may want to reconsider my advice. But if this next year is going to be pretty much the same in terms of progression at Tata steel, I would say that you would want to apply this year.

With respect to your school selection in your goals, I would Advise you to heavily scrutinize the career center reports from each school - (link to MBA career center reports  https://www.amerasiaconsulting.com/blog/2015/3/22/business-school-rankings-by-industry-our-shot-at-ranking-the-top-mba-programs-based-on-employment-data ). Consulting is a very logical goal for you. But you need to make sure that the types of roles in these consulting firms are hiring for are indeed within your metals and minerals and steel expertise. I know that when a consulting firm hires from business school they tend to push all of their new hires into a general bullpen. But you want to make sure that you are not pigeonholing yourself by defining your Short-term goals so narrowly At a program that really does not have the courses and curriculum (and clubs) to provide you the knowledge you need – knowledge that will build off of your existing work experience and achieve to your short and longer-term goals.

Another way of checking whether or not a program would be appropriate to you is to use LinkedIn. So for example, see what CBS grads have graduated and taken on roles within the metals and minerals group at McKinsey. Can you find a critical mass? If not, then what school do these hires tend to come from? If you see a trend, focus on that business school and put it on the short list for consideration when you are applying.

Respectfully,
Paul Lanzillotti

PaulLanzillotti · Answer

Hi Akash:

There is a relatively straightforward way of looking at whether or not you should apply this year. At a high level, you simply want to consider the number of years, as well as the quality of your work experience.

With respect to the number of years of work experience you have at this point, I read your post a couple of times and unfortunately, I am simply unable to determine how many years of work experience you have at this point. The level of detail you provided me was great, but it missed an extremely important point here – simply put – what are your number of years that you have been working? That should be the very first question you need to answer and would have expected me to answer.

The second part of addressing whether or not you should apply this year is to consider the quality of your work experience, and as an extension of that your title. You seem to be at a management level, and that provides you a basis for saying that you now need the management and leadership skills necessary to "take it to the next level." Having experienced management responsibilities, you are able to legitimately say that you now understand the depth of management and leadership challenges that await you, as well as the ones that you have to encounter in your current role. This is an important point because business schools will want to know why "now" is right time for you to apply. So again, because of your recent experiences as a manager, you now have a clear vision of your goals and you now have a complete understanding of what you will require to reach those goals. When I say "what you will require" I am specifically referring to the MBA level knowledge that a top business school program can and will provide you.

Anyway, I digress. With respect to your individual work experience, you seem to have accomplished quite a bit and however many years you have been on the job at Tata steel. The progression actually looks quite excellent. While I know you regret your startup not flourishing, it seems that you have done very well in spite of that setback. Actually think that this would most likely be a better experience in the startup from the perspective of a business school admissions committee because this is more "definable" in their mind. I see a lot of startups and entrepreneurs, and often it is hard to define what they would get out of the business school experience.

The bottom line - I do think that you should apply this year. I do not see what you would get out of staying another year at Tata steel. I do not think that you would encounter any new or revolutionary or transformative projects that would really make your resume that much stronger. If you are, then you may want to reconsider my advice. But if this next year is going to be pretty much the same in terms of progression at Tata steel, I would say that you would want to apply this year.

With respect to your school selection in your goals, I would Advise you to heavily scrutinize the career center reports from each school - (link to MBA career center reports  https://www.amerasiaconsulting.com/blog/2015/3/22/business-school-rankings-by-industry-our-shot-at-ranking-the-top-mba-programs-based-on-employment-data ). Consulting is a very logical goal for you. But you need to make sure that the types of roles in these consulting firms are hiring for are indeed within your metals and minerals and steel expertise. I know that when a consulting firm hires from business school they tend to push all of their new hires into a general bullpen. But you want to make sure that you are not pigeonholing yourself by defining your Short-term goals so narrowly At a program that really does not have the courses and curriculum (and clubs) to provide you the knowledge you need – knowledge that will build off of your existing work experience and achieve to your short and longer-term goals.

Another way of checking whether or not a program would be appropriate to you is to use LinkedIn. So for example, see what CBS grads have graduated and taken on roles within the metals and minerals group at McKinsey. Can you find a critical mass? If not, then what school do these hires tend to come from? If you see a trend, focus on that business school and put it on the short list for consideration when you are applying.

Respectfully,
Paul Lanzillotti

akashboi · Answer

Hi Paul,

Thanks for your response! I think your thoughts on how to research for schools will infact do me wonders.

I did mention that I have 1 year of experience post college right now  and will have 2 by matriculation. People have suggested me that I might not fit in the bell curve of the colleges w.r.t. number of years of experience. I am more willing to consider your recommendation for applying this year but this number i.e. 1 year of experience is haunting me and I am unable to make a decision. Will it prove to be detrimental? Will the committee see me as a rookie? I am quite confused now. Also, I don't want to go into 
as a reapplicant.

Requesting your guidance one more time!

Thanks and Regards,
Akash

Profile evaluation Request (Apply this year or not)

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