Written by Sameer Kamat

Teach for India jobs through various NGO partners on the ground can provide an excellent exposure to the education sector for high-potential professionals.

Saloni Gupta might remind you of the naughtiest girl in your school who always got away scot-free because of her innocent looks. Several years after completing her undergrad, she was planning to become a full-time student once again. But destiny had other plans for her. Rather than being an MBA student at one of the top bschools, she transitioned to the other side to become a teacher. Her life changed when she got the following email from Teach for India:

Written by Sameer Kamat

This wasn’t meant to be a promotional post for the MBA book. In fact, many of the events in this story happened many years back, before the book was published. I had almost forgotten about the interactions with our friend, Amit (name changed).
But he got in touch again after reading the book and mentioned that the content and advice in the book resonated with the discussions we had many moons back. I asked if he’d be willing to share his story with others who might be thinking a lot of what’s mentioned in the book is pure fiction.
Several names (including the narrator, bschools and his employers) have not been revealed, for reasons that will become apparent once you read his story. And trust us, this post isn’t made up.

Written by Sameer Kamat

You could pass her off as a young, aspiring entrepreneur trying to learn the ropes at a top business school. Young, she definitely is. But she’s gone way past the ‘aspiring’ stage.

Sila Toksoz already had a Master of Science (M.Sc.) degree in Materials Science & Nanotechnology and a Bachelors degree in Molecular Biology & Genetics when she launched her Biotech startup (Biyonesil Biological Products) in Turkey.

Her entrepreneurial journey started after winning a business plan competition while she was still studying. Now she’s planning to take it all to the next level.

Written by Sameer Kamat

Greatness wasn’t thrust upon him. He earned it, or rather paid for it, depending on how you look at it. All his alleged super-powers were hardly the result of an experiment gone horribly wrong (some might dispute that theory). At the risk of causing serious damage to his financial well-being, he went through a rigorous 2-year process of conditioning and training that converted him into the super-being that he thinks he is. Now with his super-powers he selflessly strives hard to save the corporate world and make it a better place for all innocent, hard-working and ignorant souls around him.

But it wasn’t always like that. Aditya Chamba (Adi to his friends) grew up as a regular kid with all the normal fears that plague the untrained brain. Maths, exams and data overload jitters were the popular plots that his nightmares were based on. After close to 2 decades of basic education, he thought he had learnt everything he needed to help him lead an enjoyable life and sail towards retirement. He was so mistaken.

Written by Sameer Kamat

When you start your MBA program, you’ll probably have to create (or review or study) a business plan. It might be a mandatory exercise because it’s part of a graded assignment. Or it might be part of a MBA business plan competition sponsored by your friendly neighbourhood consulting firm. If you think you’ll never have to create one for yourself, it may still be a good idea to get your hands dirty right now, even before you step into a b-school.

Why should you start working on a business plan now?

When you are in B-school, everything will happen at such a breakneck speed that you will not have time to digest many of the important lessons. So start the learning process right now, when you’ve got more time

Written by Sameer Kamat

After you’ve taken care of the compulsory MBA essays, there’s the open canvas of the optional MBA essay looking at you enticingly…all white and pure…waiting for you to colour it with the palette that you hold. Will you jump at the opportunity or will you let it go?

The enthusiastic ones would look at it as the last open window to squeeze in all the brilliant things that they think the Adcoms need to know about them. Stuff that they were not able to cover in the mandatory MBA essays. Others may treat it like the psychologist’s couch where you can explain all the things that went wrong in your life and why you were not the one to blame.

The lazy ones (‘overworked’, sounds better?) would think

Written by Sameer Kamat

It’s a relief to be done with the GMAT preparation and move on to the main MBA application. The most ominous part now is to write the MBA essays. The best written MBA essays can open up the doors to the final round – MBA interviews. But for many, an interview may never happen as the Admission Committee has already made up its mind (based on your essays) that you aren’t good enough for their program for that year.

You may have done your research on what you should do when it comes to MBA essays. However it’s also a good idea to have the knowledge of what to avoid in your MBA essays so that you don’t inadvertently shoot yourself in the foot. So here’s a list of 8 things to watch out for while working on your MBA application.

Written by Sameer Kamat

Another one in the MBA Application Basics category. A commonly known fact (assuming you’ve read the application guidelines on bschool websites) is that your MBA application will be looked at as a complete package and the impact that it’ll have on the admissions committee (adcom) will depend on each of the components included. But candidates often discard that guideline and create their own priority list. There’s a clear pecking order while they work on their MBA applications – a preferential treatment for GMAT preparation, with the MBA essays coming in at a distant second and the letters of recommendations (LORs) often being sidelined.

You may have an enviable GMAT score, but that tells the Adcoms nothing about your work related accomplishments and business potential. And you think some decent essays will do the job, if you can

Written by Sameer Kamat

For many, their MBA pursuit is usually a hush-hush affair: on the personal front, also on the professional front. You would not want inquisitive friends, relatives or neighbours spreading the word around before you have a confirmed place in the MBA college of your choice. Again you don’t want your competing office colleagues to gain an edge over you when it comes to opportunities and promotions. But now you’re in a situation where you need an outsider to write recommendations for you to complete your application. Interesting fix!

Written by Sameer Kamat

This is a guest post by Tyler Cormney, co-founder of MBA Prep School. Tyler is a graduate of the Harvard Business School and is an experienced MBA admissions consultant with over five years in the field.

MBA Prep School has published an eBook entitled Prepare to be Accepted! 10 Steps to a Winning MBA Application and provides 35 on-demand videos in which admissions consulting pros teach you their secrets for resume writing, essays, resume, recommendation letters, and admissions interview.

You’re planning to apply to business school but do you have a plan for applying?

Creating an MBA application work plan and timeline reduces uncertainty and anxiety because you will know what you need to do and when you need to do it.

In this guest post, I will summarize the steps in an effective MBA application work plan – from researching schools and writing your essays through to acing your MBA admissions interview.