INSEAD PROFILE EVALUATION THREAD: Post all Profile Eval Requests Here!

ARLeeConsulting I'd also love to hear your insights!

Hi tsuxinhah,

thank you very much for asking for my opinion as well.

Overall, you have a strong profile with good elements to meet INSEAD's admissions criteria.

Please, note that Brazilian is usually among the largest national groups at INSEAD (alongside Indian, American, Chinese, Canadian, ...), which means that competition will be fierce.

Keeping this in mind, let me assess your profile using INSEAD's 4 admissions criteria as framework.

(1) Leadership Potential. You seem to clearly meet this criteria as you currently hold a leadership role. However, could you please clarify a couple of things in regards to your career progression? Would it be fair to say that those were early promotions, or that you have been put in some sort of fast track? Have you progressed much faster compared to your peers? I am very interested in taking a look at your resume to assess this further.

(2) International Motivation. Your background (and goals) is definitely international. However, a very good number of Brazilians applying to INSEAD have extensive international experience, sometimes including not only several countries in LatAm but also US and Europe. Furthermore, given the multiculturality of Brazil, it is also quite common to find Brazilian applicants with Asian or European heritages, and therefore they're not only fluent in Portuguese, Spanish and English, but also in an Asian language (e.g. Japanese, Mandarin, ...) or another European language (e.g. Italian, French, ...). So, in the application, stress those aspects that can help you show the uniqueness of your international profile.

(3) Academic Capacity. Your 680 GMAT score is not a deal breaker, however, if you feel confident you can score at least 710, I would recommend you to go ahead and retake GMAT. Focus not only on bringing your Quant score above the 75% recommended by INSEAD, but also on increasing your IR to at least 6. Regarding your GPA (although most likely it is not called GPA at your school), I completely understand what you mean. I wouldn't recommend you converting your score to a 4.0 scale. INSEAD is well aware of how the different education systems across the globe grade their students, so just keep your 7/10 as is.

(4) Ability to Contribute. This is the ability to contribute to your study group, your class, the school. Given that you are living a very active and interesting life (not only at work but also outside), I have no doubt that you will have no issues meeting this criteria.

Regarding your career goals, I am sure you're aware that changing geographies cannot be the main driver for pursuing an MBA. So please take some time to think about what you want to accomplish in your professional career and how an MBA can help you get there. I guess this goes without saying but your goals must be concrete, so in your application, please avoid talking about different options.

If you are able to distinguish yourself from the other applicants in your pool, and you are able to articulate clearly your career goals and need for an MBA, I have no doubt your application will be of much interest for INSEAD.

I hope this helps, and I wish you the best of luck in your application.

Thank you very much.

Warm regards
Alex
_________________

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Hi ElsieHuang55,

thank you very much for sharing your profile.

As ususal, let me assess it using INSEAD's 4 admissions criteria.

(1) Leadership Potential. Overall, I like your career progression, especially the fact that your performance led to being transferred to Bosch Germany (I assume in its HQ?). 7 years as Project Manager is still a long time though, so it would be great to have more detail as to what happened during those 7 years.

(2) International Motivation. You're currently working in Germany, you have worked in international projects and your goals are international. You should leverage all this to stand out from the rest of Chinese applying to INSEAD with several years of experience working and/or studying outside of China. And yeah, you can use the fact that you're married to a French to play in your favor.

(3) Academic Capacity. This is prob the weakest point of your profile. You'll have to compete with many Chinese with +730 GMAT scores. This being said, your current 690 alone won't disqualify you, but it means that the need to submit an oustanding application is even more important. What is the possibility of a retake though?

(4) Ability to Contribute. Here, we will need more detail in order to properly assess this. Sure, cooking and organizing team events count, but it won't suffice. In your application, you need to show that you're living an interesting life even outside of work, and that you'll be willing to share your experiences with your classmates. Also, have you done any community service? Perhaps back in China?

Another aspect that might get in your way is your age. I'm not sure which intake you're targeting, but if you are currently 34, you'll prob be 35-36 at the beginning of the program. This is not a complete deal-breaker, but this means that INSEAD will expect more from you in terms of career progression, achievements and leadership. Therefore, make sure your application reflects you as mature leader. Also, a higher GMAT score would also help mitigating the age factor.

Overall, you have good elements to be a strong candidate for INSEAD, but you will def benefit from a higher GMAT score and you will need to work around the age thing and the lack of extra-curriculars.

I hope this helps.

Good luck!

Warm regards
Alex
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Hi ARLeeConsulting,

Thank you very much for your feedback!! Here go a few comments:

1) Leadership Potential. I think my promotions to analyst and senior analyst were in line with regular track in the company and peers. Where I work, you usually get promoted to senior after 2 years (if you have been doing a good job, of course). I think the real break-through was my promotion to manager. Firstly, in my account, promotions are usually need-based, meaning, to replace a manager who resigned. I was promoted entirely by merit, the idea was to help my manager with the supervision of our 14-member team, but he resigned and I ended up by myself. It's the largest team in the account. Secondly, I was promoted to manager before many other people that had leadership responsibilities as a senior. I believe I am the youngest manager in the Argentina firm (definitely in my account). If you stay long enough, eventually you will get a promotion to senior analyst, but it doesn't work the same way with managers. I also had to answer awkward questions from peers, such as "why did they promote you instead of John Doe who is here longer" or "who has more experience than you".... quite an accomplishment I'd say I'll see if I can send you my resume via PM.

2) I see what you mean. However I do believe I can stand out from that pool of Brazilians. Since I have lived half of my life in Argentina (more than half by when the program starts and also the more meaningful half.. I really don't remember anything from before I was 2!), I truly identify myself as an Argentine. I think I can contribute more of Argentine culture than I can of Brazilian culture. Also, since I have been here by myself, I haven't relied on "my own culture" being present at home. Also before facetime and smartphones I would spend several weeks without talking to my family and without saying one word of Portuguese (and that made my Spanish and English way better than my Portuguese I believe to have a trully immersive international experience, where I experienced so much of the foreign culture that I adopted it as my own. Do you think that could be enough? Of course I can stress the multiculturalism in the company and my many business trips to NY (I see several profiles here who have visited many countries for work, but work travelling isn't as common in my age in Argentina. In the firm, I actually hold the record of "more business trips to the same place". It's unfortunate I wasn't sent to other places such as Chennai

Eager to receive your feedback!

cheers!

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Hi tsuxinhah,

thank you very much for your comments.

(1) In your application, do not forget to mention you have been promoted to Manager ahead of time on a pure merit basis, and also the fact that you are one of the youngest Managers in the company.

(2) As I mentioned, leverage those aspects that make your international profile "unique". Moving to a foreign (although not completely unknown) country at an early age all by yourself is something def worth leveraging. You can also mention your multiple biz trips to NY and stress the multiculturality of your firm.

And yeah, it would be great if you could PM me or email me your resume.

Thank you very much.

Warm regards
Alex
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Hi ElsieHuang55,

thank you very much for your comments. Let me give you some further feedback.

(1) Age. I think you can defend the "Why an MBA Now" with the elements you mentioned. But you need to be careful. Focus on the positives of working for a slow-paced male-dominated company/industry, and how this has helped you become the accomplished female leader you are now.

(2) GMAT. Yeah, if you are targeting R3, a retake could be challenging. May I ask why you're targeting R3 for Sep 2019 intake? Is the Jan 2020 an option for you? The Jan 2020 intake would have the advantage of giving you a bit more time to retake GMAT, and would allow you to apply in an earlier round (R1 - Feb 20th, or even R2 - April 17th). Given that the Chinese applicant pool is extremely competitive, applying in an early round is always recommended.

(3) Extra-curriculars.

Everything you have mentioned does sound interesting. It is just a matter of how you frame your extra-curriculars/interests. Also, do you have any personal interest that you consider somewhat "unique"? It could be something you do on your own, i.e. does not involve others. For example, painting, writing, investing in stock markets, collecting stamps, etc... Anything counts.

Thank you very much.

Warm regards
Alex
_________________

Hello,

Please help me in evaluation of my profile against the odds of it getting selected for INSEAD- Sept'19(R3) or Jan 2020(R1-R2) admissions
Nationality: Indian
Sex: Male
Age: 24
Languages: Hindi (Native), English (Fluent), German (Beginner)
Education: Bachelors in Engineering - Civil Engineering (Major) ( Bachelors completed in May 2015 )
GPA: 8.05/10 (Indian Version), 4/4(US 4 Point Scale)
GMAT : 730 (Q-49, V-42, IR-5, AWA-5)

Working experience:
Associated with Amazon.in for last 3.5 years as an Area Manager, a role in which i handle Warehouse/Fulfillment Operations. Recently promoted to Manager Level 2.

International exposure:
None as of now.

Extra- Curricular:
I like to watch and analyse football - Primarily Spanish.
I read a lot about India Trade/Share Markets and about worthy investments.
Worked for social organization for about 1.5 years ( which helps poor and underprivileged) during my undergrad course.

Post-MBA goals:
Continue working in France.
Job in an Consultant/ Program Management Role.

Let me know if you need more info from me.
Also please suggest if this profile has prospects of it getting selected in any of the following colleges:
1. HEC, Paris.
2. MIT Sloan
3. Tepper
4. NYU Stern
5. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Hello honey23022

You have some things going for you, but also need to work on others. Let me elaborate-
1. Past acads, GMAT works- not stellar, but checks the box
2. Brand on the CV, career progression can help, but focus more on achievements at work
3. With your age/work ex slightly lower than that at INSEAD/HEC you will need to showcase achievements that help you stand out from the rest of the competition (who may have an edge due to a slightly higher work ex)
4. Languages definitely help
5. Will need to show international motivation for the likes of INSEAD, even if you have no international exposure
6. Not sure how your specific career goals tie in with France as a geography (do your research on this)
7. More than a laundry list, highlight impact and contribution in extracurricular activities
Based on the limited information, may have a decent shot at HEC.

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

Background and nationality: USA, White Male,
Undergrad Information: State University Top 100, Finance & Entrepreneurship Double Major. Entrepreneurship program ranked Top 10 and I received distinguished awards and grant money to pursue a venture from the program. GPA is 3.45
GMAT: 730 | Q 48
Work experience and leadership: 5 years of work experience; Had a startup for a year that had a modest exit. Then I worked for two startups in B2B Software Sales. One was headquartered in Tel Aviv so I have that international experience plus I'm fluent in Hebrew. For the last year, I have been working in Channel Sales for a Fortune 500 tech company where I train and present to our channel partners.
Community and others: I lead corporate volunteer efforts for my company's regional office
Post MBA goals: Big 3 Consulting
Anything else?

Thanks so much for the review! Happy to provide more background if it will help.

Hi jonrave,

thank you very much for sharing your profile.

Overall, I feel positive about your candicacy for INSEAD.

I like the mix of entrepreneurship, startup and Fortune 500 in your experience. However, I would need a bit more detail on your career path in order to properly assess your career progression. It would be great if you could share your resume via PM or email.

How long where you in Tel Aviv? Is this your only international experience? Have you been on international biz trips, even if only for a few days? Where have you traveled (even if for leisure)?

What is your target geography post-MBA?

Do you speak any other language besides English and Hebrew?

Can you tell us a bit more about your extra-curriculars? What do you do for fun?

Thank you very much.

Warm regards
Alex
_________________

Here is my Profile:

Nationality: Indian

X:84.4 % (CBSE)
XII: 80 % (CBSE)
B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from Uttar Pradesh Technical University (JSS)-78.18 %
M.Tech in Design Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi)-7.81/10 CGPA
No Gap in Stuides.

Current Profile:Senior Project Engineer in Shapoorji Pallonji Oil & Gas BU (AFCONS) for Offshore Oil & Gas EPC Projects as Project Engineer and Project Management Professional with over 4+ years of experience in role for Project Management, Operations and Execution of EPC projects. Synposis as mentioned below:

" Project Engineer and Project Management Professional with over 4+ years of experience in role for Project Management of EPC projects. Successfully completed EPC project of ONGC-HRD Process Platform (Green field, Process Platform), Mumbai High, India of USD 250 million and currently working on ONGC/EIL-LEWPP1 & LEWPP2 project (Revamp field, Complete Topside Revamp of 43 wellhead platforms) of combined USD 320 million. Performed responsibilities starting from EPC Project initiation and planning such as proposals, bid-engineering (support to estimation and bidding teams), pre-engineering survey, detail engineering coordination, technical assistance to procurement, modular yard fabrication to execution, commissioning life cycle of offshore oil and gas projects including engineering management, interface management, vendor engineering management and control, project activities monitoring and overall coordination with site teams for EPC Projects with major roles as “Sr. Project Engineer”, “Sr. Project Engineering coordinator”."


Extra Curricular/Achievement : Trekking of different places and alreday completed National Level Trekking program with YHAI for 10 days trekking with certificate holder, Marathon running completed with 5k, 10k kms. Alreaday in Process of obtaining PMP Project certification(International certificate for Project Management Professional). Received M.H.R.D. Scholarship (2012-2014) for academic performance for securing 99.96 percentile in GATE-2012. Winner of Volleyball Tournament at college level

Target GMAT score:740


Post MBA Goals: Startegy managment and Project managment professional in Finance for Infrastructure/Renewable Energy EPC Projects

Kindly let me know about my profile.

Also do let me know about the other colleges suitable for my profile and based on post mba goals.

Thanks in Advance.

Hi,

I've recently taken the GMAT exam and plan to start my applications soon. INSEAD is one of my top choices as my preferences are oriented towards getting an European MBA. It would be really helpful if I could get your opinions about the fit of my profile with the INSEAD Program. Below is my profile,

GPA - 3.5
GMAT - 710 (Q88,V39,IR7)

Under Grad - A Bachelor in Engineering (Electronics) from an Indian University

Work Ex - Total experience is 4+. Started with a pure play Analytics firm as a Decision Scientist. Worked on Analytics projects that helped clients make Data driven decisions. Gained good exposure in interacting with US based Clients while driving presentations. Gained good exposure to US Healthcare industry and moved to a Healthcare solutions company as a Business Analyst. At my current role I regularly interact with clients, understand their problems and use our proprietary data to provide Solutions/Insights. Have had an accelerated promotion to the designation of a Senior Business Analyst, in recognition of my competencies. Most of clients, and my immediate supervisors are US/Canada based, so that provides me some global exposure.

Nationality - Indian Administered Kashmir. The reason I emphasize Kashmir is because I come from a Non - Conventional Indian applicant pool. Kashmir is ethnically, linguistically and culturally distinct from mainland India and I hope that helps my application as plus for the Diversity factor

Personnel Achievements - Have been a high achiever in Academics/Sports/Extra Curricular through my Education years (Most of them have been in far away Residential Schools). Besides the accelerated promotion at my current job, I've received multiple Impact Awards

Short Entrepreneurial Stint - In between the 2 jobs I took few months off to start a Medium scale Business in my hometown. But due to political instability in the region, I had to stop midway and move back to corporate

Post MBA goals - Given the nature of my current job, I'd like to leverage my existing problem solving acumen to break into the Management Consulting scene

Community Support - I am an active member of an organization in my home town which collects charities from members of the society and puts them to the use of people whose lives are affected by the instability in the region

Would greatly appreciate any inputs and suggestions for my application.

Thanks!

Hi,

I've recently taken the GMAT exam and plan to start my applications soon. INSEAD is one of my top choices as my preferences are oriented towards getting an European MBA. It would be really helpful if I could get your opinions about the fit of my profile with the INSEAD Program. Below is my profile,

GPA - 3.5
GMAT - 710 (Q88,V39,IR7)

Under Grad - A Bachelor in Engineering (Electronics) from an Indian University

Work Ex - Total experience is 4+. Started with a pure play Analytics firm as a Decision Scientist. Worked on Analytics projects that helped clients make Data driven decisions. Gained good exposure in interacting with US based Clients while driving presentations. Gained good exposure to US Healthcare industry and moved to a Healthcare solutions company as a Business Analyst. At my current role I regularly interact with clients, understand their problems and use our proprietary data to provide Solutions/Insights. Have had an accelerated promotion to the designation of a Senior Business Analyst, in recognition of my competencies. Most of clients, and my immediate supervisors are US/Canada based, so that provides me some global exposure.

Nationality - Indian Administered Kashmir. The reason I emphasize Kashmir is because I come from a Non - Conventional Indian applicant pool. Kashmir is ethnically, linguistically and culturally distinct from mainland India and I hope that helps my application as a plus for the Diversity factor

Personnel Achievements - Have been a high achiever in Academics/Sports/Extra Curricular through my Education years (Most of them have been in far away Residential Schools). Besides the accelerated promotion at my current job, I've received multiple Impact Awards

Short Entrepreneurial Stint - In between the 2 jobs I took few months off to start a Medium scale Business in my hometown. But due to political instability in the region, I had to stop midway and move back to corporate

Post MBA goals - Given the nature of my current job, I'd like to leverage my existing problem solving acumen to break into the Management Consulting scene

Community Support - I am an active member of an organization in my home town which collects charities from members of the society and puts them to the use of people whose lives are affected by the instability in the region

Would greatly appreciate any inputs and suggestions for my application.

Thanks!

Hello ImadTurey

While the outline of your profile seems good, take care of the following-

1) GMAT, though good is not stellar considering the Indian background- assess if a re-attempt is possible (with a jump of 20-30 points). Will put you in a strong space.
2) Whether the Kashmir diversity will work for you depends on how you choose to present it in your essays. Very few things add to diversity just as a bullet point.
3) International motivation is critical to an application at INSEAD- make sure your professional experience and application emphasizes the same.
4) Though INSEAD is a strong school for consulting (probably an understatement), make sure it is the right path for you in terms of transferable skills and ability to achieve the same.
5) With work ex and extracurricular the depth of your experience will matter more than a laundry list (think achievements, progress, impact)

Tie these well and you have a shot.

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

Please post this in the profile review section.

Hi! I am planning to apply for the January 2020 intake, and would like know my chances of acceptance. Below is the brief summary of my profile:

Age: 29
Sex: Male
Nationality: Pakistani
GMAT: 650 (Q 45, V 35, IR 6)
Bachelors: Oxford brooks – First class honours (Considered 4.0)
ACCA: 65% - Completed in 1.5 Years, which at that time was an achievement. Not sure if it is the case nowadays
Languages: English (PTE 90), Urdu, Punjabi, (Arabic very basic)

Work Experience – Total 7.5 Years

1 - EY – Pakistan

Audit Junior – 1 yr
Audit Semi Senior – 1 Yr
Audit Senior – 1 Yr

Secondments

EY – Saudi Arabia
Tax accountant 1 Yr

Commercial Officer - Engor – Pakistan (Biggest listed company of Pakistan)
4 months

Team leadership – Lead teams of up to 20 people
Promotions – Every year

2 - Tech Company (Leading recruitment portal in UAE) – United Arab Emirates

Accountant – 1 yr
Senior Accountant – 5 months
Assistant Finance Manager – 2 Years

Key responsibilities:

Reporting directly to CEO, I am fully responsible of the finance function of our Dubai and UK office. Other key aspects:

• Overseeing the fund raising process of the company
• Make strategies for the business’s expansion into other countries
• Will be promoted to finance manager position in the next couple of weeks
• CEO is Insead alumni and would give excellent recommendation

Extracurricular:

Endurance obstacle races (Spartan trifecta)
Hiking
Squash and table tennis

I have not been involved in volunteer work recently. But have worked on assignments of UNICEF and several other NGO’s in the past.

Post MBA motivation -

Want to work in the finance function of a tech giant before setting up my own company within next 5 years.

Age- 30 years

GMAT- 700 (Q49, V36, IR-6, AWA-6)

UG- B.E. in Instrumentation and Control from NSIT, Delhi

UG %age -79.7 (2nd ranker but no document for that)

12th-85.4%

10th-89.4%

Work Experience-8.5 years

Company- Indian Oil Corporation Limited

Department- Operations

Present designation- Incharge of a plant having annual turnover of Rs. 2400 crores and supplying petroleum products to 6 districts, heading a team of 18 employees, 50 contract labours, 300 Tanker crew.

Previous roles- worked in similar plants in different roles as supplies manager, safety officer, maintenance manager, second in command in 3 different plants including present one.

Professional achievements-

1. youngest plant incharge of IOCL at present.

2. developed a new supply model for a 500 crore customer to prevent him from switching on account of enroute pilferage from tankers leading to huge losses to customer

3. brought about market realignment to save 2.2 crore annually on logistics costs in the plant

4. designed the automation system for Rail wagons for which pilot project is being undertaken at my plant and post successful commissioning will be replicated on PAN India basis.

5. undertook capitalization projects worth Rs. 33 crores as maintenance manager in previous plant and Rs. 16 crore in the capacity of plant incharge presently.

6. All India winner of a series of online quizzes conducted by our operations department on various topics covering downstream oil operations.

7. My plant awarded British International Safety award for commitment to occupational health, safety and welbeing.

8. presented techincal paper to management proposing modification in core facilities in the plant to meet future challenges.

9. Developed e-learning modules for Operations department for effective training of employees, labour etc.

International experience- Nil

Extra curricular

1. Silver medalist at one National Level Painting competitions and have significant achievements in fine arts at various levels throughout school and college life.

2. President of college's annual cultural festival

3. Organised oil conservation rallies/signature campaigns

4. Provided borewell for local villagers near my plant.

Future goals
Plan A- Management Consulting
Plan B- Operations/downstream oil & gas

Background- Rose from a very low economic status by working for 8.5 years and considering an MBA now since I have stabilised my fiancial conditions.

Already applied-ISB

Seeking suggestions for alternate colleges to apply

Please suggest suitability of my profile to Insead.

Hello ImadTurey,

Thanks for writing in.

The career progress sounds good and while the global exposure is not stellar. it will give you a talking point for sure.

Having said the above, the GMAT is on the lower side of the spectrum and for you to stand a realistic chance, a re-take is strongly recommended. Of course, while you may choose to bring out the diversity in your background suitably in your essays, essentially you will continue to fall into the conventional Indian pool and therefore the GMAT expectations will be a lot higher.

Do explain the gap in work experience through your essays; remember to focus on those few months from the viewpoint of learning. INSEAD appreciates entrepreneurial experience so you must build up on this as much as you can.

Hope this helps!

All the best!
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