rachitkansal
Hi everyone!
First of all I’d like to thank everyone for taking the time to read through and respond to my profile.
I’m planning to apply for the Jan-2021 intake, and appreciate your insights for my profile.
Background:
Nationality: Indian, Male, 25 years old
GMAT: 730 (Q50, V38, IR7, AWA5.5)
TOEFL: 114 (R30, L30, S28, W26)
Education:
B.E in Computer Science from BITS Pilani (non IIT - top university in India), GPA: 9.55/10 (Top-5 of my batch of 650+)
Professional Experience:
1. By the time of Joining i.e Jan2021, I will have 41 months of experience in a US based cloud company (Nutanix).
2. Moved into a new role of Product Management - which contributes to half of my total experience.
3. Technology consulting for IRENA on the side for about 8 months now (will be close to 15 months by the time of joining) - on sustainable energy technologies
International Exposure:
1. Worked for Empa (Swiss Lab) - on a 3 month internship with 3 professors. [REMOTE]
2. Travelled to Bay Area (my company HQ) for projects.
3. Handle customer requests and discussions in the EMEA/Americas/India regions. [REMOTE]
4. Have been working for IRENA (international renewable energy agency) - collaborating with researchers, technologists, etc. from over 10 nationalities [REMOTE]
Achievements:
1. One of the few employees to get a quick promotion in 1 year.
2. youngest PM in the entire company of 5000+ people.
3. Undergraduate merit scholar (for all semesters of study).
Co-Curriculars:
1. Started an NGO chapter in Bangalore - formed and led a team of 5 - deals with financial education for the underprivilideged (> 1.5 year)
- conducted camps, collaborated with other NGOs to increase our reach to over 1000+ people, 1 case study of helping a group of people
2. Volunteered for another NPO remotely - creating a platform called “sing for needs” - product owner leading a team of 8 to deliver the solution (~ 1 year)
3. Worked as a mentor to a undergraduate startup (~ 1 year)
- helped scale their business to 50+ clients in 6 months (from 10)
- helped the team to get incubated at Atal Incubation Centre
Post MBA goals:
Goal-1: I would like to work in technology in a general management or a product management role for a tech company like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Tesla, Apple, etc.
Goal-2 (Backup): I want to try management consulting for a while before moving to tech (hence the Jan intake, so as to secure a summer internship).
Questions:
My work experience is on the lower side, is that going to be a big concern for me?
Is my GMAT score enough to get into INSEAD? Since Indians generally tend to have higher scores?
I have experience interacting with international nationalities, but not travelled to those places. Will that be a big issue?
Hi
rachitkansalThanks for posting. A good profile and some truly noteworthy experiences there. Our assessment:
- Your GMAT score is good (730) and should work, provided you submit a solid application. More on that below. The TOEFL wont really be a factor - it is not required, and is anyway a qualification exam.
- Your GPA is great, and the BITS Pilani brand name certainly matters. Accomplishments such as 'youngest PM' may not carry much weight (difficult to calibrate for the school) - what matters is your experience in the role, and the impact you have been able to create in it.
- The international experience (lack of it) is not a huge concern here, given your visits to the Bay Area, and remote work with IRENA, provided you can highlight this well. Over the last couple of years in particular, INSEAD has become a lot less demanding in terms of on-the-ground international experience. Read
this article for more on this topic. Also read
this story on someone (also from BITS) who cracked INSEAD with a similar profile.
- It is your goals part that will need a deeper look. You are already into product management, so how is your post-MBA goal different/better/a step up from what you do right now? You have also had some tech consulting experience in various ways, so if that is what you are seeking, need deeper insight on what and how. INSEAD is not very big on tech as a school (much much bigger on consulting), so work out your goals carefully here.
Hope this helps. Feel free to come back with more queries as needed.