Events & Promotions
| Last visit was: 02 Sep 2026, 10:55 |
It is currently 02 Sep 2026, 10:55 |
|
|
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.
Customized
for You
Track
Your Progress
Practice
Pays
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Sep 0201:00 PM PDT
-02:00 PM PDT
Inquire for a free profile evaluation and guarantee statement for possible admits and scholarships!
Sep 0311:00 AM PDT
-12:00 PM PDT
We go inside the MIT Sloan School of Management with Donna Levinson, Assistant Dean of Admissions at MIT Sloan, for a detailed conversation on Sloan’s MBA experience, curriculum, global community, application process, and admissions philosophy.
Sep 0309:00 PM IST
-10:00 AM IST
Join our free webinar on building a stronger Round 2 MBA application for INSEAD, LBS, Kellogg, HEC & other T20 B-schools after missing Round 1. Learn what actually changes in Round 2 and rebuild your candidacy.
Sep 0412:00 PM EDT
-01:00 PM EDT
The old MBA recruiting playbook is dead. Here’s how top admits are getting ahead this summer.- Sep 07
12:01 AM PDT
-11:59 PM PDT
On the 7th, GMAT Club Tests will be Free! Including all the Quizzes, Questions, and Tests. 12 AM - 11:59 PM PDT - Sep 09
07:00 AM PDT
-10:00 AM PDT
Meet AdComs and explore top Master’s programs - MiM, MiF, MSc, MSBA and more. - Application Fee Waivers - Free 1-Week of GMAT Club Tests: - Master's Application Toolkit - Grand Prize Giveaway
20 Apr 2018, 20:29
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi! I wish to apply for Top 10-30 business schools in USA, Canada and The Netherlands for the year 2019. Please review my resume and give feedback. Thanks!
Name Mathew Sharma
Country:- India, Mumbai
Email [email protected]
Education
Bachelor Degree B.A. (Hons) English. Percentage 65%
Institute name:- Kirori Mal College, Delhi University, India. KMC ranks 3rd in Delhi University rankings, whereas DU is one of the best universities in India.
GMAT 740 (V:48, Q:43)
GRE: - 320 (165 on Verbal and 155 on Quant)
TOEFL: - 110
Professional Experience
1. Inspector (Examiner) under Central Board of Excise and customs (CBEC):- 5 years
Work Profile: Examiner is an all-time coastal job. If posted in current posting then the main duty of an Examiner is to give clearances, he has the power to access and examine goods, power to take samples, examine the cargo which needs to be imported or exported to other countries and then, levy the charges (duty) on that shipment. After examining the goods, examiner need to prepare lists, check market values of confiscated goods, loading and unloading of the goods whether generally or specifically, escorting goods from one Customs area to the other(esp in case of gold and other precious material), and any other customs work authorised to him by the Commissioner of Customs. Moreover, an examiner also needs to help the officers in Auctioning of Goods. It is a non uniform post. If posted in headquarters, then he has to do clerical work.
2. Founder of Save Earth NGO:- 2 years
Save Earth NGO is a nonprofit organization with a belief and intention to make a greener and eco friendly environment. Since its inception, we have planted 10,000 trees all over India, created awareness among 2,000 people regarding the need to save our environment and what steps we can take on our level. The money received in the form of donations from our beneficiaries has been fully utilized in cleaning local rivers.
3. Co founder of Desi Chains a local e commerce startup:- 2 years
Desi chains is an online retainer which sells books, handicrafts, food etc.
4. Part time:-
Creative writing for Oracle India Limited:- 1 year Iwas responsible for developing and writing Cloud training content from existing documentation. The job required working with SMEs to scope the right content and present it in a fun and interesting manner, which made a great learning experience.
Creative writing for Triphobo :- 1 year
My duties included
1. Writing clear, concise and grammatically correct website content.
2. Proofreading & editing.
3. Monitoring site content and updating regularly with the help of SEO.
4. Research for content & information.
Volunteer Service
1. Teach for India: (1 year) My duty was to teach children from slums. I used to teach them the subject English.
2. ROPIO (Reach out and Pass it On): (1 year) My duty was to teach children from slums. I used to teach them the subject English.
3. CRY (Child rights and You): (1 year) My duty was to teach children from slums. I used to teach them the subject English. Also did fund raising.
Certifications
1. Edx courses
A. Skype for business fundamentals (Microsoft)
B. Omnichannel and Management (Dartmouth)
C. Organizational Behavior (University of British Columbia)
D. Understanding the Collaborators (Microsoft)
E. Digital Strategy and Action (Babson)
2. Coursea
A. Excel skills for business specializations
B. Presentation skills: Designing Presentation Slides
C. Supply chain management
D. Microsoft Word
E. Introduction to mathematical thinking
3. Spanish C2 level :- School of Spanish (The Spanish Language Institute)
4. Knows data entry and typing (70 words per minute)
Hobbies
1. Playing piano
2. Reading (Novels)
3. Playing PC games
Others
1. Manages own blog
2. Executive member of resident welfare association
Additional information
1. About me; - Age 30 years, lives in Mumbai, India, woks in Mumbai. I have not yet applied to any B schools.
2. Why MBA?
Playing games had been one of my childhood hobbies. When I was a child, I used to play tycoon games and enjoyed them a lot. This sparked my interest towards managing things in general. I started enjoying making schedules of what I had to do, managing my pocket money and became punctual in every event that I used to do. Moreover, I had developed an outgoing personality and enjoyed meeting new people. When I reached the crossroads of my life, I got my career counseling done and got the dominant fields as management and literature (English was my favorite subject). Therefore, I decided to pursue English at Bachelor level and MBA at post graduate level.
3. Why now ?
When I completed my graduation, I appeared for CAT(Common Admission Test) and secured a decent percentile and got three admission offers. But due to financial constraints, I was unable to join any Institution. The reason was due to the fact that we were already paying installments of our house which my family had recently purchased. Secondly, my elder sister had also appeared for CAT and secured admission into one of the best B schools in the country. Therefore, to pay her institute fees we had to take another loan. It became impossible for my family to take another loan for me as we were neck deep in debt. The system of scholarships is in its infancy in India regarding MBA education.
Therefore, I forewent my MBA dream and decided to enter government service and earn money so that I can pursue MBA at a later stage. I knew that government experience is nontraditional; therefore I decided to build my profile and make myself a suitable candidate for MBA program.
4. Which sector After researching and reading books on major sectors of management, I found marketing the most interesting which also fits my skill set.
5.Post MBA goals I wish to join a company and help it grow.
Please free to ask any questions.
Sent from my MI MAX using GMAT Club Forum mobile app
Sent from my MI MAX using GMAT Club Forum mobile app
Name Mathew Sharma
Country:- India, Mumbai
Email [email protected]
Education
Bachelor Degree B.A. (Hons) English. Percentage 65%
Institute name:- Kirori Mal College, Delhi University, India. KMC ranks 3rd in Delhi University rankings, whereas DU is one of the best universities in India.
GMAT 740 (V:48, Q:43)
GRE: - 320 (165 on Verbal and 155 on Quant)
TOEFL: - 110
Professional Experience
1. Inspector (Examiner) under Central Board of Excise and customs (CBEC):- 5 years
Work Profile: Examiner is an all-time coastal job. If posted in current posting then the main duty of an Examiner is to give clearances, he has the power to access and examine goods, power to take samples, examine the cargo which needs to be imported or exported to other countries and then, levy the charges (duty) on that shipment. After examining the goods, examiner need to prepare lists, check market values of confiscated goods, loading and unloading of the goods whether generally or specifically, escorting goods from one Customs area to the other(esp in case of gold and other precious material), and any other customs work authorised to him by the Commissioner of Customs. Moreover, an examiner also needs to help the officers in Auctioning of Goods. It is a non uniform post. If posted in headquarters, then he has to do clerical work.
2. Founder of Save Earth NGO:- 2 years
Save Earth NGO is a nonprofit organization with a belief and intention to make a greener and eco friendly environment. Since its inception, we have planted 10,000 trees all over India, created awareness among 2,000 people regarding the need to save our environment and what steps we can take on our level. The money received in the form of donations from our beneficiaries has been fully utilized in cleaning local rivers.
3. Co founder of Desi Chains a local e commerce startup:- 2 years
Desi chains is an online retainer which sells books, handicrafts, food etc.
4. Part time:-
Creative writing for Oracle India Limited:- 1 year Iwas responsible for developing and writing Cloud training content from existing documentation. The job required working with SMEs to scope the right content and present it in a fun and interesting manner, which made a great learning experience.
Creative writing for Triphobo :- 1 year
My duties included
1. Writing clear, concise and grammatically correct website content.
2. Proofreading & editing.
3. Monitoring site content and updating regularly with the help of SEO.
4. Research for content & information.
Volunteer Service
1. Teach for India: (1 year) My duty was to teach children from slums. I used to teach them the subject English.
2. ROPIO (Reach out and Pass it On): (1 year) My duty was to teach children from slums. I used to teach them the subject English.
3. CRY (Child rights and You): (1 year) My duty was to teach children from slums. I used to teach them the subject English. Also did fund raising.
Certifications
1. Edx courses
A. Skype for business fundamentals (Microsoft)
B. Omnichannel and Management (Dartmouth)
C. Organizational Behavior (University of British Columbia)
D. Understanding the Collaborators (Microsoft)
E. Digital Strategy and Action (Babson)
2. Coursea
A. Excel skills for business specializations
B. Presentation skills: Designing Presentation Slides
C. Supply chain management
D. Microsoft Word
E. Introduction to mathematical thinking
3. Spanish C2 level :- School of Spanish (The Spanish Language Institute)
4. Knows data entry and typing (70 words per minute)
Hobbies
1. Playing piano
2. Reading (Novels)
3. Playing PC games
Others
1. Manages own blog
2. Executive member of resident welfare association
Additional information
1. About me; - Age 30 years, lives in Mumbai, India, woks in Mumbai. I have not yet applied to any B schools.
2. Why MBA?
Playing games had been one of my childhood hobbies. When I was a child, I used to play tycoon games and enjoyed them a lot. This sparked my interest towards managing things in general. I started enjoying making schedules of what I had to do, managing my pocket money and became punctual in every event that I used to do. Moreover, I had developed an outgoing personality and enjoyed meeting new people. When I reached the crossroads of my life, I got my career counseling done and got the dominant fields as management and literature (English was my favorite subject). Therefore, I decided to pursue English at Bachelor level and MBA at post graduate level.
3. Why now ?
When I completed my graduation, I appeared for CAT(Common Admission Test) and secured a decent percentile and got three admission offers. But due to financial constraints, I was unable to join any Institution. The reason was due to the fact that we were already paying installments of our house which my family had recently purchased. Secondly, my elder sister had also appeared for CAT and secured admission into one of the best B schools in the country. Therefore, to pay her institute fees we had to take another loan. It became impossible for my family to take another loan for me as we were neck deep in debt. The system of scholarships is in its infancy in India regarding MBA education.
Therefore, I forewent my MBA dream and decided to enter government service and earn money so that I can pursue MBA at a later stage. I knew that government experience is nontraditional; therefore I decided to build my profile and make myself a suitable candidate for MBA program.
4. Which sector After researching and reading books on major sectors of management, I found marketing the most interesting which also fits my skill set.
5.Post MBA goals I wish to join a company and help it grow.
Please free to ask any questions.
Sent from my MI MAX using GMAT Club Forum mobile app
Sent from my MI MAX using GMAT Club Forum mobile app
23 Apr 2018, 20:33
Kudos
Bookmarks
Thanks for reaching out to us! The good news is, you've definitely got some interesting items in your background. The fact that you've started an NGO is awesome. Would be curious to hear if the online retail store has had much in terms of results/scale. Depending on its size that could be a strong item on your resume as well. Even if you don't have much there in terms of numbers though, it's always a good thing to have entrepreneurial experience & be able to talk about what you've learned there. Your volunteer experience is solid. It's common among Indian applicants to have tutored disadvantaged kids/kids from slums so it's not super unique but it's good that you do have some extracurriculars since some applicants just do not.
In terms of challenges, unfortunately as an Indian male you're coming from the toughest demographic out there when it comes to b-school apps. The fact that you'e not coming from an engineering background will help, but you'll still be up against some stiff competition.
Unfortunately, this demographic is also one that has very high GMAT scores. So while among average applicants your GMAT is strong, among Indian male applicants it's just about average. It is a solid score but not one that will make you stand out unfortunately.
Based on the description you provided here your work experience will also potentially be a bit of a challenge. It's not a typical "business" role so our goal would be to highlight the business skills you have used (and I'm sure there are plenty of them) to convince the adcom that you are up for the rigors of b-school. The challenge in your role though may be showing impact. It's not clear based on what you wrote if you'll be able to show measurable results of your work or not (how you impacted the org overall etc).
In terms of target schools, a lot will also depend on your goals. You'll want to get a LOT more specific about those since you whole argument for why you need the MBA hinges on them. The adcom will want to see target titles/firms for the ST & LT & will also want to know WHY this is your goal/passion as well as some examples of what you hope to accomplish in those roles. Those goals allow you to set up your skill gaps & make an argument for why you need the MBA (and why you need to go to THEIR school in particular).
Finally, you're above the average age for b-school, which can be a challenge sometimes since they wonder if you still need the degree but given your non-traditional background I think we could still make a strong argument there in terms of your skill gaps.
And I'd nix the long list of certifications from your resume. The adcom doesn't care much about that kind of stuff to be honest and (since you need to get your resume to one page ultimately) you don't want it to detract from the cool NGO/start up experience or from the space you devote to your volunteer & work sections. When it comes to a resume it's all about quality & not quantity.
In terms of schools, top 10-20 is going to be a bit too aggressive given the factors I named above but assuming some rock solid goals & a strong application you definitely have a shot at schools in the 30s!
In terms of challenges, unfortunately as an Indian male you're coming from the toughest demographic out there when it comes to b-school apps. The fact that you'e not coming from an engineering background will help, but you'll still be up against some stiff competition.
Unfortunately, this demographic is also one that has very high GMAT scores. So while among average applicants your GMAT is strong, among Indian male applicants it's just about average. It is a solid score but not one that will make you stand out unfortunately.
Based on the description you provided here your work experience will also potentially be a bit of a challenge. It's not a typical "business" role so our goal would be to highlight the business skills you have used (and I'm sure there are plenty of them) to convince the adcom that you are up for the rigors of b-school. The challenge in your role though may be showing impact. It's not clear based on what you wrote if you'll be able to show measurable results of your work or not (how you impacted the org overall etc).
In terms of target schools, a lot will also depend on your goals. You'll want to get a LOT more specific about those since you whole argument for why you need the MBA hinges on them. The adcom will want to see target titles/firms for the ST & LT & will also want to know WHY this is your goal/passion as well as some examples of what you hope to accomplish in those roles. Those goals allow you to set up your skill gaps & make an argument for why you need the MBA (and why you need to go to THEIR school in particular).
Finally, you're above the average age for b-school, which can be a challenge sometimes since they wonder if you still need the degree but given your non-traditional background I think we could still make a strong argument there in terms of your skill gaps.
And I'd nix the long list of certifications from your resume. The adcom doesn't care much about that kind of stuff to be honest and (since you need to get your resume to one page ultimately) you don't want it to detract from the cool NGO/start up experience or from the space you devote to your volunteer & work sections. When it comes to a resume it's all about quality & not quantity.
In terms of schools, top 10-20 is going to be a bit too aggressive given the factors I named above but assuming some rock solid goals & a strong application you definitely have a shot at schools in the 30s!
26 Apr 2018, 17:35
Kudos
Bookmarks
Thanks, based on my profile can I get admission into 30-50 b schools? What additional qualifications should I acquire according to your knowledge to make my resume better?
Sent from my MI MAX using GMAT Club Forum mobile app
Sent from my MI MAX using GMAT Club Forum mobile app
27 Apr 2018, 20:12
Kudos
Bookmarks
You definitely have a shot at schools ranked 30-50. It's not so much that you need to gain additional qualifications to list on your resume as it is that you want to position it as a BUSINESS resume. There is definitely opportunity to do that - especially with the NGO & the start up. And with your current job you want to show business skills as much as possible as well as any impact. Schools want resumes that show impact so you want to focus there & make sure it doesn't just read like a job description if that makes sense. They want to see your achievements & the business skills you used to make an impact. Like I said, you don't need that long list of certifications. In general you want to avoid long lists of anything on your resume & want to SHOW your skills, not tell them. They want to see you prove it via your examples & are not going to just take your word for it. Hope that helps!
And like I said some schools will require to name a concentration whereas others don't even have concentrations. Typically you wouldn't have to name one until at least your second semester though since you usually don't take any electives until then. 
