Profile Evaluation Request

Question

Hello Everyone,

Hope you all are doing good amid this pandemic. Please evaluate my profile given below. Let me know if any other details are required.

Indian, Male, 26yrs 
College - IIT (Top 7), Class of 2018
CGPA - 9.75/10 (Majors in Electrical Engineering)
Department Gold Medalist (90 students)
GMAT - 750

Work Exp - ~3 years as Software Developer at the time of application
Oracle - 1 promotion, 1 award (2yrs 9months)
Microsoft - Recently joined (1 month)
 
Extracurricular-
Held some of the leadership positions at college 
Vice-captain, Institute Football team (12 medals for the institute)
Active member of institute Alumni Cell
Member of College students Parliament 
Member of Oracle Football team (won multiple tournaments and National level corporate runners-up)

International Experience-
1. Nepal (for travelling and Leisure)
2. France & Spain (went to represent Oracle India Team for football tournament)
3. Worked with teams across East and West Coast, USA and Canada while at Oracle (REMOTE)
 
Volunteering-
Raised funds by participating in a football tournament, organised by a social organisation CRY. Won and donated the prize money.
Short online volunteering experience (10 weeks)

Post MBA - Product management.

1. What are the drawbacks in my profile ? 
2. I need suggestions for the potential schools based on my profile and fit.

Thanks for your time.

GMATinsight · Answer

Although everything is great, but since you asked so here are a few things that might be called drawback to an extent 1) Lack of managerial experience or experience in capacity of leam lead 2) Count of number of years 3) Duration of stay internationally during work assignment also plays role which I see is absent here 4) Any product management-related work experience where your creative self was at display. All the best!!!

MBADecoder · Answer

Hi Kushsal,

Nice profile overall. I'd be interested to know more about your work experience- a product manager goal is easier to justify to the adcom, however, i would like to know what you have done in your short career. Specifically:
1. How's the career trajectory?
2. What are your achievements and what impact have you created on your org through them?
3. Are you already working with product teams? Can you justify through real work experience, what attracts you to the PM role? Some relevant experience will help you create a good goals essay.

Otherwise your profile is nice. If you are planning to apply this year, then coming months will be crucial for building solid work experience, given that you will have 3 years experience at the time of applying. Its a little less, but with good work experience, you can sail through. So what I mean to say is, that although you joined a new company recently, try to make it a fruitful shift by doing some good work and garnering some meaningful resume pointers. Taking initiatives at work, building consensus among different teams and making things happen is a good way to show leadership skills even if you don't have a formal leadership position.

ECAs always help to round out your profile. So if you are not doing anything currently, that's an area you could build upon.

ankushban · Answer

GMATinsight  Thank you for the pointers. Really appreciate it. 
I do understand that leadership experience at work is missing but I have assumed a number of leadership roles in sports and during my undergraduate days. Will that help to make up for it ?
I haven't taken up any prod management roles yet but I do have small experiences where I have worked with cross-functional teams to gather the requirements and deliver to the client. Will that help ?

MBADecoder  Thanks for the insights. Answering your questions :
1. Software developer -> Prod Management
2. A much early promotion as compared to peers, improved some of the processes to reduce man work-hours by 40%. Worked with an international client to deliver a product.
3. Haven't got a chance yet to work with any of the product teams. My interaction with an international client involved understanding their requirements, getting approval from all the stakeholders in the org, develop that software requirement all by myself and deliver it to that one customer. I really enjoyed the end to end process and decided to transition towards prod management.

as part of ECAs, I mainly have participation in Football but due to covid that is not feasible for now.

PersonalMBACoach · Answer

Hello kushsal and thank you for your post. At first glance, your stats and experiences look pretty good. Your 750 GMAT and roles at Oracle and Microsoft should help to position you well. Something that is important when looking at extracurriculars and volunteer experience is quality over quantity. While you have a range of experiences here, it will be key to highlight those that demonstrate leadership. Successful applications tell a consistent story, so you will want these experiences to align with your essays and the rest of your application. Are you planning to apply in the upcoming application cycle? While determining specific programs is something that we spend some time on with clients, some initial thoughts keeping in mind your post-MBA goal of product management are Wharton, CBS, Ross, HBS, and Kellogg. Do not hesitate to reach out to scott@personalmbacoach.com if you are looking for further assistance with your applications. Best, Personal MBA Coach

ExpertsGlobal · Answer

Hi kushsal , Hope this finds you well. Overall, you have a fine profile in place complete with a good GMAT score. It would be important for us to know about the impact you generated at work and whether you took up any leadership roles (even if they were not formally handed through promotions); such information would definitely strengthen your case. With regard to the extra-curricular activities, most of them appear to be in the domain of football. Therefore, to make the application well-rounded, see if you can improve your profile on the extra-curricular front not merely by taking up additional activities but by trying to garner managerial experience in what you are already doing. Hope this helps!

Good luck!

ankushban · Answer

Thank you  ExpertsGlobal  and  PersonalMBACoach  for your feedback.

I am looking to apply R1 this year.

MBAandBeyond · Answer

Hi kushsal , Thank you for sharing your profile. Here are my thoughts based on the details you've shared. Your profile looks good on the surface. Talking about your stats, your undergrad GPA is good, and with a solid GMAT score, you strike as a high-performing, intellectual person with great academic prowess. So, this part is pretty sorted. On the work front, I can see that you have a lower than average work experience. This shouldn't be a problem as long as you have strong reasoning behind going for an MBA at this stage. If you can bring impactful stories and the values for which b-school looks for, it will improve your candidacy. I see a good career progression. You must bring out instances highlighting that you’ve performed better than your peers in the past. You will need to bring forward what you've learned from the roles and responsibilities you have undertaken. Talking about your Ecs, your interest in football, and stories related to it will add diversity to your profile. B-schools are really interested in knowing the candidate beyond their work, and you should work on it. It would be great if you bring out something that you do now. It can be anything, your community service (maybe in the times of COVID), your hobbies, interests, anything beyond work that you do now for stress buster. You may want to read the article on Role of Extracurricular activities in your MBA application to get some better insights.

If you need any direction/guidance over any aspect of your application and have any specific concerns, you can ask us on the forum Ask MBA & Beyond . Overall you have a good profile. Wharton, Booth, Haas, Ross, Tuck, and Insead are all great schools considering your post-MBA goal. If you’d like, we are happy to hop on a call with you sometime this week to discuss your profile in length and further chances to the b-schools. Feel free to book a free session with us as per your convenience. Let’s maximize your chances in Round 1 for fall intake Cheers! Shantanu Sharma Founder and Admissions Consultant, MBA and Beyond Testimonials Email: shantanu@mbaandbeyond.com What s app: +65-97158525

GeneralEducation · Answer

Hi  kushsal ,

You have an excellent profile. Your academics and extracurricular are really good. Based on your profile and GMAT Score, I would suggest you target B-Schools like NYU Stern and USC Marshall from the list you have mentioned above. You may target B-Schools like - Cornell, Michigan Ross, CMU Tepper, and UNC Kenan Flagler.

I would suggest you take some professional help to make your B-School application strong.

You may also gauge your chances of getting admission to top business school by trying this amazing  tool .

ankushban · Answer

Thank you  MBAandBeyond  and  GeneralEducation .

GyanOne · Answer

Hi  kushsal

Strong profile at the outset. Please provide more details on your key responsibilities and achievements at work. What have been your key responsibilities and achievements within the software engineering role at Oracle? How is your Microsoft role different? While the other parameters in your profile are fairly solid, your IT background puts you in a competitive pool and will need a closer look. On schools, please suggest what geographies you are focusing on.

ankushban · Answer

Hello  GyanOne  Key responsibilities and achievements at work:
1. A much early promotion as compared to peers, improved some of the processes to reduce man work-hours by 40%. 
2. Worked with an international client to deliver a product all alone. My interaction with an international client involved understanding their requirements, getting approval from all the stakeholders in the org, develop that product all by myself and deliver. I really enjoyed the end to end process and decided to transition towards prod management.
3. Worked Remotely for 3 months with the development team in US to help them meet certain deadlines.

At Oracle, I worked directly with the customer, but the team here at Microsoft works closely with the product team which was the one of the reasons for transition to Microsoft.

I am primarily looking for US B-Schools.

GyanOne · Answer

Hi  kushsal

Thanks for sharing these details. They help to an extent. What we really wanted to get at is what your product involves, and what industries it caters to. Overall, from what you have shared, you seem well set for the US top 10 schools. Product management is a possible post-MBA career for you, but there are other options as well. Similarly, if you are considering product management as a future career, there are also specialized options apart from the MBA.

Please also go through  this article , and  this series of articles  as we think they will be relevant for you.

Profile Evaluation Request

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards