How to connect the dots?

Question

Can somebody shed some light on this subject. The question is how do I connect my experience to my aspirations/goals.

I have an IT background and my long term goal is to start my own venture in the food processing industry in India. 
Why food processing: India's working middle class population is growing day by day. This is the population that need frozen, canned and processed food because of scarcity of time. Also the growth potential in this industry is enormous. In India, this industry is expected to grow by more than 10% each year and by 2020 growth rate is expected to be 25%. I am planning to grow the raw material and then sell the half processed items to already established brands. Being from an agricultural background will also be helpful because I know the in and out of agriculture. Also the land utilization(production per hectare) in India is half that in developed countries. I also want to address this in my new venture.

In my 5+ years of IT experience, I have worked in big teams and managed small to medium teams in a global environment. I have worked in Retail Banking, International Banking and Manufacturing domains. For past 3 years I am in US and I am working as a project manager for past 2+ years.

Any suggestions will be highly appreciated.

rhyme · Answer

My long term goal is to start my own venture in the food processing industry in India. This is something I am passionate about because it addresses a real world need. The explosion of growth in India has stressed existing infrastructures that remain relatively undeveloped compared to other countries. For example, production per hectare in India is half that in most developed nations. 

Although this doesn't immediately appear germane to my experiences in Information Technology, I believe that I nonetheless have developed important skills that will allow me to suceed. For example, as TITLE at FIRM, I've developed a strong general management perspective that has already allowed me to suceed in a variety of diverse industries from banking to manufacturing. This has demonstrated that I can suceed in unfamiliar areas. The further combination of my global experiences and family background in agriculture have established a foundation upon which I can build. 

However, I lack the necessary depth in business for me to fully achieve my goals. This is something an MBA from _______ would directly help me achieve. Given that the population explosion in India shows no signs of abatement, I believe now is the right time for me to pursue an MBA education.

DONT COPY THAT VERBATIM CAUSE ITS NOT VERY WELL WRITTEN. REWRITE THAT IN YOUR OWN WORDS.

ps_dahiya · Answer

Rhyme,

What the hell are you doing here? Why are you doing an MBA? You can certainly give competition to accepted.com

That's really a million dollar advice. Thanks a lot. God bless you.

rhyme · Answer

Hah, no problem. Always happy to help.

I'd flush it out a bit more - try and find a specific example of your going from one industry to another and succeding. This will tie it all together.

willget800 · Answer

Rhyme, You want to begin rhymeaccepted.com? I will be your first client

Ping me!

rhyme · Answer

Actually, you'd be the 9th person to say that in the last two months. I seem to get requests for resume editing most frequently actually. In fact, I tend to get them so frequently now that I started putting together everything to launch such a service but then decided to wait until my apps were done as I just didn't have the time. I did about 70 resumes last year on a job hunting forum and still get emails now from people who somehow "heard you're a nice guy who might be willing to help." Thats either very flattering and cool or really creepy internet stalker scary. Depends on your point of view I suppose.

It's all sitting on the backburner, until after Oct 20th, at which point I may seriously consider launching things in earnest. Website exists, framework exists, client documents exist. I've just held them back.

That being said, if you need help, just let me know and I'm always happy to do so (free of charge of course).

haddy74 · Answer

well, let me add some thing here. Applicants come up with different goals and Adcom are well aware of the fact that there are many applicants who simply "make up" or "create" their goals to differentiate their applications from the mainstream. 

Therefore, when writing a "career goals" essay, it is extremely critical to show how executable are your goals? If you are claiming to start something that is totally different from your past professional and academic experiences, you better have some concrete reasons or get ready for a ding. I may sound rude but my intent is to help you. 

If I am reading your essay as an Adcom, I will have some serious concerns about your current theme. You already have six or seven years of experience in God Knows What but surely not in Food Processing or in Agriculture Engineering. I will then look into your academics. What did you study before? Did you study agriculture engineering? Did you do MS in Agriculture Land Development? Did you ever work for an agriculture firm who specializes in food processing? Just because you are from an agriculture background means nothing. Yes you are son of a farmer and it gives you a â€œsocial mindsetâ€

ps_dahiya · Answer

haddy74,

Thats a very candid advice. I am really thankful to you. I agree with you that you have to have some concrete reason if you want to do something different from your experience. But I don't agree that you can't do something that you haven't done and you haven't experienced. Do you think Steve Jobs was a computer expert or had business experience or had strong acads in computers/business when he launched Apple?

From the time when I entered the IT field, I am thinking of going into agri business but lack of proper guidance and resources kept me at bay. But now, after working with people of various nationalities, cultural and social background, has tought me the people management, which is one of the most important aspect of any business. But I lack many more skills such as marketing, finance, sales etc and most importantly the network. An MBA can equip me with these skills.

I am sick of this IT industry (No offense). Though it may take longer, but I am determined and will pursue my goals even if I don't get an MBA.

If you have time for me, I would like to hear more of your suggestions/advice. One more thing: With due respect, I want to emphasize that I am not making this story. I am really serious about this venture.

ap663 · Answer

I donâ€™t think you need to prove that you are the worldâ€™s biggest expert on agriculture or anything, but you should be able to show that your interest is grounded in a legitimate activity which has given you an insight into working in the field. As an entrepreneur you have to know the business before you invest your $$ or ask other people to do the same. So show how youâ€™ve learned the business. It would be ideal to join a non-profit or start-up that is working to promote better agricultural practices. That way you can point to at least some real world experience outside of the family farm. It seems to me that food processing would depend heavily on operations (a/k/a process engineering) so talk about how you will use your process improvement skills gained in IT to build your company. Also you can acknowledge your lack of experience and outline the steps that it will take for you to get to your goal. You may require more than two career jumps so be explicit about how you plan to use your degree to get you there. For example: I plan to go to BIG FOOD PROCESSING COMPANY OR FDA after graduation, after a few years there I will go to a NICHE AGRI CONSULTING FIRM, then I will start my own agri company in India and live happily ever after.

haddy74 · Answer

I am so sorry if I sounded rude but my intent was to convey to you my true feelings....and no,i have never questioned your intentions....not even for one sec.....i was just trying to tell you the story from an adcom viewpoint....when they have 3000 such stories, how are they going to establish the validity of your claims.....

you have made some valid points..please also read ap663 post.....he has made some really good points....that is exactly what i was trying to say...please feel free to contact me any time...just PM me..God bless you and may all of us achieve our ultimate goals.....

rhyme · Answer

Not sure you realized it, but you just wrote a starting paragraph on why you want to pursue an MBA.

tkkoh · Answer

I think what haddy is saying is that you need to address"Why Agri?". Just because it is a potential market or you are sick of IT may not be a good reason. Why not go into space travel? Or start an online community for MBA? Why specifically Agri? Are you sure you will not be sick of the agri industry after 3 years?

It is true that you do not need to be an expert or very experienced in the things that you wish to do. But there should be some relations between what you wish to pursue and your past or present. That's connecting the dots. Notice how the S. African guy that haddy mentioned has worked in a zoo. Steve Jobs did not launch Apple I overnight in 1970s. He joined computer club meetings, worked in the game industry in the 1960s. Same goes for Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Page and Brin - their "future" were related to their "past/present" at that time of moving on to "greatness".

2 cents' worth.

How to connect the dots?

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