MBA Crystal Ball

Hi Abhishek,

// compliments for the good job you are doing.

Thou art being too kind sire.

// Age: 27
GMAT: 760(Q50 V44 AWA awaited)
CFA: Passed first two levels in first attempt, should pass the 3rd level in June.

Good. But wondering why you chose this certification when you were not interested in finance. Also, wondering how this could be positioned as something that takes you towards your post MBA goals.

// M.S. in Computer Networks and Mathematics from one of Italy's best technical universities

The Italian connection has worked well for several Indians. Hope it does for you too.

But I'm still curious to know why you chose Italy instead of the usual Mecca for MS education - US?

// 3.5 years in an advanced R&D team of a leading semiconductor company...Now moving to another division of the same company which will bring me closer to the business.

Great. I had started wondering if the pure R&D role would be a challenge, specially when you are thinking of moving into consulting. you've got roughly 5 months before the Round 1 application deadlines.

Hopefully, you'd be able to get up to speed in your new role and accomplish some nice stuff that'll make the Adcoms want you (pretty much like the illogical Axe commercials)

//Career goal is to shift to management consulting post MBA...Could you give me a feedback if my profile and ambitions are clear and competitive enough for a top B-School.

Profile clear. Ambitions clear. Only hitch is how to connect the two. Over the next few months, once you've picked up business skills, hopefully this answer will become clearer.

//Thou art being too kind sire.
Just giving credit where it is due signore.


//Good. But wondering why you chose this certification when you were not interested in finance. Also, wondering how this could be positioned as something that takes you towards your post MBA goals.

Had an interest in it when I started, but since then I have realised that personally I need not just something challenging but also something that gives me exposure to multiple sectors and problems, so consulting. Besides, did the certification to prove that I know it, simply saying I know it would not have sufficed.

How I plan to use it during and post MBA? Well, I believe this will give me flexibility during MBA as, safe in the knowledge that I know all my Finance, I will be able to focus on other concentrations, namely strategy and operations. Have a strong interest in operations as well as have a solid background in optimization, queing theory etc. Post MBA I could use it to bring something extra to the table. Basically all these things give me a strong analytical toolset to use in whatever job I take up.


But I'm still curious to know why you chose Italy instead of the usual Mecca for MS education - US?

Two main reasons:
1. The program was more or less unique, just computer networks and mathematics with very little IT. Strong faculty with strong research connections. Precisely what I wanted to do at that time.
2. Full ride, basically 0 expenses. Big plus as I did not want to take any money from my parents.

Add to those the charm of being in Europe at a young age.

Great. I had started wondering if the pure R&D role would be a challenge, specially when you are thinking of moving into consulting. you've got roughly 5 months before the Round 1 application deadlines.

Hopefully, you'd be able to get up to speed in your new role and accomplish some nice stuff that'll make the Adcoms want you (pretty much like the illogical Axe commercials)

Did not elaborate much as wanted to keep the intro short. Well my role now is not pure business but is not pure R&D either. It is more strategic innovation. We work on technologies that are 2-3 years from the market. We try to show to the clients that we are ready for those technologies and try to differntiate ourselves from the competition. Usually my division sends one big project to the CES every year to be showcased to the clients. Of the 3 years here my team's project was sent twice(was technical lead for one of them), missed out narrowly in the other year.

Now I will be moving to a business unit that is responsible for getting customers for now and meeting their needs now. More challenging, lets see how I do there.

//Profile clear. Ambitions clear. Only hitch is how to connect the two. Over the next few months, once you've picked up business skills, hopefully this answer will become clearer.

That is precisely what I need to do. Ideally I would like to think that I can prepare a competitive application for a leading program like Kellogg MEM, but then I also know that the competition is tough. BTW got my AWA result yesterday so now it is 760,6. So the GMAT is covered now. For the rest I could do with some guidance.

Hi Phoenix,

// Before I get started I would like to thank you for your altruistic gesture of providing a free profile evaluation!

Altruistic gestures...Heavy!

Nahi re, just trying to gain some goodwill to pay for the sins that I might have committed in my past life. Or advance work for the next life.

And yes, in the spirit of being honest and transparent, there's also the indirect marketing aspect. Hoping that some folks will sign up for our MBA Mock Application Process (MBA MAP) service that's allegedly far more indepth and beneficial compared to the free work we are doing on this discussion forum.

// - General: 23 yrs/Female/Non-engineer
B.Com (Hons) - 77%
I have not yet appeared for GMAT
Work-experience: An HR professional with more than 2.5 years experience in Human Resource Management with an expertise in Training and Development and Employee Engagement.

A 'hat ke' profile. A little less experience that your competition. An estimated GMAT range would've helped to see if you can reach out for the top 10/20/30 schools.

// • Secured 1st Rank (State Topper) in 12th, Council of Higher Secondary Education, Orissa in 2006, attained 97.2% of marks including extra optional subjects.

Usually 12th Std marks aren't that relevant. But in your case, you should mention this accomplishment.

// To tell you honestly, the best thing about my work is that I love what I do so my future goals are in alignment of the kind of work I would love doing.

Nice. You are also making a lot of potential career-changers (who hate their current jobs) go green with envy.

// I am also interested in understanding organizational behaviour in times of mergers/acquisitions and how important will be HR's role from a cost incurring function to being a strategic partner in enterprises.

Aiyyo, you are already speaking like an MBA.

Btw, during a Mergers & Acquisitions phase, apart from the strategic points you've highlighted, you'll have bigger issues to deal with: redundancies (layoffs), re-alignment of compensation & designations. Plus softer elements such as how such an event changes the company culture on either sides.

M&A affects the lives and careers of a lot of employees. Handling that will not be covered in an MBA program. So your awareness about these aspects as well, as it'll demonstrate your technical and professional maturity.

Also be aware that an M&A event doesn't happen frequently if you join a regular company, so you can't target a role like that. Often, regular HR folks take on the additional responsibility of M&A related activities. If you join an HR consulting firm, things are different. So choose your post-MBA role carefully.

Apart from that, focus on getting a decent GMAT score. Ask Abhishek (previous post) for tips on scoring a 760 on the GMAT with a 6 on the AWA.

Hi Abhishek,

// Besides, did the certification to prove that I know it, simply saying I know it would not have sufficed.

Surely, the CFA will help strengthen your profile and help you in the finance related subjects. Just be careful not to milk it too much from a post-MBA career angle, if you don't see a direct overlap.

// Well my role now is not pure business but is not pure R&D either. It is more strategic innovation.

Good.

// I can prepare a competitive application for a leading program like Kellogg MEM, but then I also know that the competition is tough.

The tougher the competition, the sweeter the rewards. So don't shy away from trying.

// BTW got my AWA result yesterday so now it is 760,6. So the GMAT is covered now.

Your turn to play guide now, to others who'd like to get a score like yours. Interested in writing a guest blog post for us, on how you prepared for the GMAT, challenges, solutions, tips for others?

//Your turn to play guide now, to others who'd like to get a score like yours. Interested in writing a guest blog post for us, on how you prepared for the GMAT, challenges, solutions, tips for others?

Sure, let me know how I could contribute.

// Sure, let me know how I could contribute.

I'll share the details offline. Can you please drop me a note on: info at mbacrystalball dot com ?

Hello Sir,

First up, I think this is a great initiative and I hope it helps as many from the confused lot as possible.

I would really appreciate if you could evaluate my profile. Sorry for the terribly long post, but I wanted a full scrutiny!

Educational Background

- BTech from IIT Bombay, 7.62/10.00 GPA
- A+ In strategic management at London School of Economics (Summer School 2009)
-Top 1% in the state round of the Indian Physics Olympiad
-Awarded the prestigious K.V.P.Y. (Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana) Scholarship
-Awarded the National Talent Search Examination Scholarship
-4th in the State Level Science Talent Search Examination

- GMAT - 730 (Q49, V40, AWA 5.0)

- Currently working for Deloitte Consulting as an Integration Solution Architect (for the past 1 year)

Current Work Profile

- At work, Worked on HR process restructuring projects for a leading American insurance firm and also for a leading multinational technology and consulting corporation. I am one of the only few fresh hires (250+) to be given the opportunity to work in the functional design tracking and transaction management processes of the project right from the requirement gathering phase. Our team was awarded a Team Terrific Award.
I am helping to set up a community based education program at the company into a full fledged NGO and am a part of the core 3 member team that handles all it's operations. Our mentors are in the UK and US. We explore new and innovative ways to educate the slum kids on several issues (apart form basic education).

- Outside work, I am the Founder and Overall Coordinator of India's first Patriotic Original Song Competition, Desh Raag. I have been leading this concept for the past year and it has blossomed into 170+ registrations and 50+ submissions from a 'Brand and Positioning' document. Needless to say, the event involves team building, management, aiding web and creatives, artist management etc. This concept is endorsed and is being judged by people like Shankar Mahadevan, Indian Ocean and Prasoon Joshi.
-I am a creative content writer and have been asked to contribute articles on music for a popular magazine called The Opinion (3000+ Readership). I developed a story which is now being used by a game design start-up for a game concept.
-I provide consultation to a couple of music related ventures both in India and abroad who got in touch with me owing to my experience in the field.

College Extra-curriculars

Activities and Societies:
-Institute Cultural Council - Music Secretary (Led 2 clubs and represented one entire cultural segment on campus for complete year - completed a long plagued recording studio project using creative methods)
-Youth Saga (City wide initiative to spread AIDS awareness through graffiti art)
-SAAZ (Led the institute Indian music club through major restructuring phase)
-Senior Mentor for all music related events, led team to victory in the Performing Arts Festival 2011 in Music
Awards and Recognitions:
Hostel Cultural Citation 2011
Institute Cultural Color 2009
Hostel Cultural Color 2009,2010
Hostel Performing Arts Festival Color 2010
Special Mention in IBM-GBS Survey 2010

School Extra-curriculars

Received the highest honors from school in the form of:
Xavierite of the year 2007
Best All rounder 2006
School Crest and Flag Bearer 2007
School Head Prefect 2007

Music Extra Curriculars

1st position for 3 years in a row at IIMA's festival (Chaos) band events
2nd position at "Mantra" (biggest Hindi rock band competition) at Mood I
3rd position at "Malhaar", the St. Xavier's festival's band event
Invited two years in a row for professional shows at D.Y. Patil College
Invited by "Radio Mirchi" for interview and acoustic performance
Composed the background score for the silent film "Khoon Chala", an effort to publicize Mood Indigo's blood donation drive in Mumbai

Previous Internship Experience

-Simulytics Services, Pune (Supply Chain Analytics Consulting) - Worked on two projects both for Industry giants in paints and healthcare, and the healthcare project was on-site
-Insultec Ltd., London - Design and Cost of Insulation systems
-Rakshak Foundaiton, Santa Clara - Internship project was to identify a public policy issue affecting the youth and counter it creatively with art and culture. Desh Raag, the event founded by me, is this concept, which the foundation later took me on board to execute as well.

Career goals

I would like to start up something in the domain of social entrepreneurship which uses the skills I have developed in the IT+Analytics, NGO and Music domains in life.

Questions

I am a little confused on whether my current work experience will benefit me in an MBA application a couple of years down the line. Please comment on this. The profile has very less managerial work.

What kind of activities, work experiences should I pursue or continue to pursue in the future?

Masters in Management Vs MBA question at my stage is really confusing. I'm not confident if this profile will catch eyeballs with 2-2.5 years work experience.

I dream of getting into one of the Ivy league business schools.

Please Advise.

Thank you so much (if you have come till this point )

Regards

Kritin

Hi
My Gmat Score - 750 (Q50, V42, AWA 6.0) (3rd Attempt)

Age- 24

Undergrad- Bachelors of Commerce from HR College, Mumbai University

87% in TYBCom ( 3rd University Rank)
LLB (Gen.) from Government Law College, Mumbai

Chartered Accountant - Final CA All India Rank 2

Certified Financial Planner (CFP)

Work Experience-Asst Manager, Risk advisory services at EnY, Mumbai. Also involved with international taxation and internal audit.( 2 years at the time of application in October, 2012, 3 years at the time of matriculation in September, 2013)

3 years of articled training at an accountancy firm.

Have lived in Singapore, Germany, Hong Kong for about 2-3 months each.

Extra Curriculars-

Regular half marathon runner Mumbai Marathon since the last 4 years, London Marathon, New York Marathon, Great Manchester Run, Prague Marathon, Paris Marathon, Sydney marathon, Delhi Marathon, Bangalore marathon.

Runs a service which provides free education to primary school students (200 students per year)

Established a community football league tournament.

Organises an Annual 10 kilometre run for community.

President of a CA Students Organisation.

Won "Best Presentation" awards at CA Students All India National Conferences 2 years in a row.

Runs organisation that provides essentials to the down trodden in Bihar, India & plants trees all over Mumbai with the permission of the Municipal Council.

It also spreads HIV awareness in schools

Diploma in Speech and drama and professional certificate in communication skills from Trinity Guildhall, Trinity University, London.

Runs a free library for CA students.

Regular speaker at CA Conferences.

Walked the Inca Trail, Peru.

Travelled extensively in Europe.

Fluent speaker of Spanish, German and French (Obtained B2 Certificates) along with English, Hindi, Marathi and Gujarati.

Handball player in school and college.

Started a Manchester United Fan Club in Mumbai.

Writes a blog on Manchester United.

Plays Cricket for Community.

Organiser of a Community T20 Cricket Tournament.

Active with a Book Bank & a Blood Bank.

Hi,
Kindle analyze my profile
 GMAT score : 700 ( Q=48; V=38) , Nov-2009 (had given it 2 times previously - 630 and 650)
 Analytical Writing : 5.0
 Citizenship: Indian
 Currently working and residing in : Singapore (past 3.5 yrs)
 Age: 30
 Class-X:78% from SSC.
 Class-XII: 78% .
 Degree: B.E (Computer Engg.)
 College: Ramrao Adik Institute of Tech( Mumbai Univ)
 Year of graduation: 2003
 Percentage: 55%
 Marital status: Married
 Kid : Yes 7 months old.
 Years of experience: 8.5 years
 Current Employment Oracle Financial Services Software - Since Feb-2005. Mumbai and SG.
 Current Designation : Software development Manager

 Experience: Banking Domain - Origination, Interfaces, Payments. Working on various technologies in used in Flexcube-Retail. Now working on Next generation product. All new domain , new tech.

• Experience in recruitment right from framing the requirement to selecting resumes and then interviewing them, project management activities, liasing with different departments for my team here, design , implementation and delivery of different modules within the product etc.

• Good domain knowledge. Fantastic technical exposure, worked in loads of critical and hectic development and implementation projects.

• Sent to Singapore to single handedly lead a team of 10 in Aug-2007. Have led the team here since then, gone through a full cycle of attrition, rebuilding the team through recruitment, grooming fresh and experienced team members, sharing the vision of senior management in Mumbai with the team here and ensuring we deliver good software following the functionality required within deadlines in spite of the challenges of being miles away from the nerve centre of the project.

 Past Employment
• Motech Software Pvt Ltd( now merged with Reliance Infocomm) (2004-2005)
Experience: (Telecom project) Was sent to onsite team - within Mumbai as a single source to support the project from vendor side. Responsible to communicate with client daily, report and fix major issues and act a single point of contact with least help required from offshore team.

• Sharekhan .com (2003-2004)
Experience: Inducted as a fresher. Worked for 7 months here basically doing self learning and some simple reporting for end of day analysis for the trading platform. Worked without salary for first 4 months.

 Extra Curricular activities:
• Participated various events at school and college level,
• Was the member of Organizing Committee for cultural activities for my company in Singapore and organized many events like bowling day, family day.

History of MBA Application: Have always dreamt of it, but never actually took the big step. Had applied in 2005 after I got 650 in GMAT. Got admit from Sauder School Of Business, but did not join it as I was not sure whether I wanted to do it from there. Got the kick again in 2009. Researched a lot myself, worked out very well what was a good fit and what was not, worked hard on GMAT and got 700. In fact I think I worked so hard pre-gmat on the research and on the test that after the test I actually took it easy and got immersed myself in work. Never really worked hard on my application and in the end all research came down to zilch. Applied only at NUS and NTU as last minute applications and not surprisingly got dinged.

Reasons for Ding according to me) Not good essays. No promotion since joining the company for almost 5 yrs ( yeah the 2008 financial meltdown effect), not good extracurricular (basically devoted to work and did not pay attention to personal growth outside work).

What has happened since then :
A lot. Got promoted from Associate Consultant to Software development Manager in 2010-2011. Took up a home loan in 2011. Had a baby in 2011 (yay!!)
So in all, personal responsibilities have increased a lot and there is a certain financial burden of doing MBA.

But professionally I seem to have hit a wall. Have been doing Technical Mangement role since last 3.5 yrs and if I am here, will keep doing the same. Only thing that might keep increasing is the quantum of responsibility - more functionalities, more deliverables. Hence I am now seeking a change in Job Function.

Preferably in the consulting for the banking domain. We tend to do that all the time. Understand the business side of IT. In short, my goal is to obtain an MBA degree, and then work in the technology consulting industry, either with a consulting firm or with a financial institution.
Can I do this right now by just switching jobs? Probably not.

Schools I had chosen to apply in 2009 but did not do so. May not be applicable now due to financial situation now.

Long shot : 1) Cornell 2) Emory 3) CMU Tepper 4) UNC Kenan-Flagler
Good Chance 1) Kelley 2) Austin
Safe Bets : 1) NUS 2) HKUST 3) Broad - MSU 4) NTU

As you can see, my safe bets rejected me. But I think my profile has changed a lot since then and I am ripe now to do an MBA.
So there you go ; a lengthy profile. Let me know your analysis and guidance for Aug 2013.

Btw, did I tell you that you are doing an awesome job here!!

Hi Kritin,

// Sorry for the terribly long post, but I wanted a full scrutiny!

Yes, too long. Also, a public discussion forum is hardly the place for a full scrutiny (which btw makes this sound like an airline security discussion). If you really want a full-body cavity search, sign up for the MBA MAP.

// - BTech from IIT Bombay, 7.62/10.00 GPA
- GMAT - 730 (Q49, V40, AWA 5.0)
- Currently working for Deloitte Consulting as an Integration Solution Architect (for the past 1 year)

Deja vu!

//- Outside work

Great work, buddy. But just be careful that your enthusiasm to share ALL that you've done in your life doesn't overwhelm the reader (I'm still reeling from the impact). When it comes to Bschool MBA Applications, clarity and brevity reign supreme.

// I am a little confused on whether my current work experience will benefit me in an MBA application a couple of years down the line. Please comment on this. The profile has very less managerial work.

Sure it will. Your work at Deloitte involves many things that you will benefit from - client focus (everything starts from there), defining the project strategy, planning, coordination, execution. Entrepreneurship is all this and more.

//What kind of activities, work experiences should I pursue or continue to pursue in the future?

You already have too many extra-curricular stuff that's overshadowing the professional profile. Try to balance it out over the coming year. The idea is to present your profile as someone who's as serious about work and making the company successful, rather than someone who's coming onboard for other reasons.

//Masters in Management Vs MBA question at my stage is really confusing. I'm not confident if this profile will catch eyeballs with 2-2.5 years work experience.

An MBA will be more broad-based. Your peer group will be more mature (so better cross-functional learning). I think you could apply to a few schools this year. But save the bulk for next year.