MBA Crystal Ball

[Moderator's note: This profile has been posted multiple times on several forum threads and also on the blog. Requesting readers to please select the appropriate thread before submitting your queries]

Hi,

Thanks a lot for starting this forum. This is a kind of forum we MBA aspirants always wanted to participate.
The following is a brief summary of my profile:

EDUCATIONAL CREDENTIALS
• Completed higher secondary examination from ICSE board scoring 87.8 % in 1997.

• Completed senior secondary examination from Orissa board scoring 83.8 % in 1999.

• Bachelor of Technology in Electrical Engineering from National Institute of Technology Rourkela in 2004.

CERTIFICATION

• Project Management Professional (PMP) certified

PROFESSIONAL CREDENTIALS

PRESENT COMPANY : ACCENTURE -May 2008 onwards

IT EXPERIENCE (May 2008 onwards)

• Currently working as a Systems Analyst (Team Lead) in Accenture

Role Description:
• Leading a maintenance team of 16 resources and ensuring that the deliverables are met within the SLA time.
• Generating status reports and sending to senior management
• Working as a SAP ISU functional consultant in Billing and DM with domain knowledge of the utilities industry.

Notable Accomplishments:
• Worked at the client site in The Netherlands on customisation of a new Billing Master Data and Technical Master Data needed to accommodate new customers joining the client .

• Made Functional Design documents after mapping requirements of client for a new Billing process affecting new customers about to join the client.

• Leading a Maintenance team that analyses and solves incidents and defects logged by client team within SLA date.

• Led a team that was involved in Migration of customers of the client from old IT system to a new IT system.

• Involved with productivity initiative carried out at Organisation level (CMMI). Current project was awarded for good productivity performances.

• Part of the capability team at Accenture that works on Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) and Smart Grid.

PREVIOUS COMPANY : NORTH DELHI POWER LIMITED (JULY 2004 – MAY 2008 )

Utilities Domain Experience:

• Previously Worked with NDPL (Joint venture of Tata Power & Govt. of Delhi) as an Executive for 4 Years (July 2004 to May 2008)

Role Description:
1. Commercial Department: (July 2004 to April 2007)
• Worked as an Executive in the Meter Reading Group of an Utility Industry.
• Responsibilities include generation of meter reading order, accurate reading of meters and helping the Billing Department in creating the Bills.
• Worked in the Automatic Meter Reading Department and analysed downloaded data through meter vendor software.

Notable Achievements:
• NDPL has world’s largest no. of bulk consumers equipped with AMR system. I was responsible for implementing AMR system in my allocated district. Installation of AMR system had led to elimination of manual reading of over 90% of bulk consumers leading to enormous cost savings and reading cycle time reduction. Integration of AMR reading with billing software had eliminated manual data entry leading to sharp decrease in billing complaints and associated work.

Role Description:
2. Operations: (April 2007 to May 2008)

• Worked as Zonal Revenue Discipline & Maintenance Officer and was responsible for operations and maintenance and commercial aspects of Distribution of Power in an area.

• Handled distribution network affecting 22000 customers of the concerned area.

• Handled Meter to cash process of the 22000 customers of the concerned area.

• Worked as an end user of SAP PM and SAP ISU module.

Notable Achievements:
• Conversion of bare conductors of length total 40 KMs into AB conductors to prevent theft and equal distribution of load.

• Replacement of old mechanical meters with Electronic meters in houses to make error free energy calculations.

• Augmenting existing transformers and installing new transformers in the area to meet load growth.

EXTRACURICULAR ACTIVITIES
• Participated and won several Quizes conducted at internal and external forums.

• Reached the finals of TATA round of TATA CRUCIBLE QUIZ held at IIT DELHI on 10/7/06

• Won first prize in Management Game conducted by AIMA .

• Sucessfully completed 3 days training on Production management by AOTS JAPAN institute. Learned basics of TQM & TPS methods used by Japanese organizations for better production in the stipulated time.

CAREER GOALS : I want to be a consultant for the Utilities Industry. Utilities industry is one of the major backbones of any economy in the world. Having said so i must also acknowledge that its also one of the most inefficient industry of the world accounting for huge losses in the power sector due to use of outdated practices and equipments. My focus as a consultant would be to try and convince the utilities companies to implement best IT practices and get into SMART GRID. This would help them to be more efficient in their functioning and also add value to customers.

After completing MBA i would get to know the business side of utilities companies and talk to the utility companies not only in technical but also in business language which would help me a lot in becoming a successful consultant.

Soumen,

Thanks for sharing the detailed profile and career aspirations. While its difficult to discern what you are looking for exactly and what kind of schools you have in mind, but here are some overall observations you need to be aware of before taking the plunge:

1. The school credentials are a passe and way back in the past, so you can omit form the overall profile
2. On the utilities consulting bit and the IT grid idea, I have seen tons of similar sounding aspirations; that's good and bad. Good because you are not alone; bad because, most of the people who say this, do not know what it means. And adcoms can see through that. So unless you really know what kind of work that involves, what's the latest on research for that, why it hasnt taken off yet, etc etc, it could be like committing hara-kiri.
3. Be aware that when you are speaking of the usual management consulting companies such as McK, BCG, Accenture etc, they usually do not have a dedicated utilities practice. Which means you will be doing all sorts of projects and atleast to begin with, wont have much control on what projects you do. So if this is your story and aspiration, you really need to research if there are actual companies focused around utilities consulting and whether such companies recruit from the school you are applying to. See the connection?
4. Lastly, on the overall resume that u've posted, it is currently too replete with technical jargons. The one that u finally submit should be much more toned down and made "layman friendly"

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Hi!

I have a rather unique profile - uniquely messed up that is. Its more of a disadvantage when it comes to applying for a school like ISB. However, everyone should give their dreams a chance, and so it'd be great if you could share your views. I have tried to keep it a little generalised.

24 years, Female, 1st year MBA student(session about to start). Also an engineer with above average acads(but non-IIT/NIT/DCE). GMAT score 710. Total Work Ex 2 years, 8 months. Re-applicant to ISB (Possible mistakes last year - applied in R2, rushed essays, focus on both CAT and GMAT, low GMAT score and less work ex)

2005-2009 : Comp Science Engineering. Not a fancy institute. But department topper, took part in numerous extra curriculars (intra/inter college, national level etc). Won quite some awards.

Recession time + I didnt want a job in the IT sector. Wanted to experiment with options available in marketing. Thus..

2009-2011 (18 months) : Worked as an analyst at a KPO. No promotions (company policy of not promoting any1 b4 18 months), didnt lead a team. But the only undergradute in a team of 30, Mentored new joinees, took varied initiatives for process improvement, got a chance to work on complex projects earlier than most other ppl.

Excel spreadsheets & powerpoint PPTs were no longer exciting enough,plus I had formulated a better idea of what aspect of marketing was most interesting to me (Brand management/brand consulting) Thus..

2011-2012 (12 months) : Joined hands with my father at his 2 men small business, got into B2B sales (and all the other work that comes in a start-up/small company). In my understanding of career paths of most marketing heads/bramd managers, sales was always the first step. Lead a team of 2 people, closed some important deals, increased the turnover, worked on buliding a brand, implemented best practices..learnt more than I ever couldve anywhre else.

But without an MBA, the climb was getting steeper...gaps in skill set, lack of credibility..etc. thus wrote CAT and GMAT. Applied to ISB, got rejected. Fared better at CAT based schools, had calls from quite some reputed educational institutes. But interviews were followed by rejects, and I am now joining what I had initially dismissed as a 'safe' school.

While an MBA is not an end in itself, and in the end its a person's capability that takes her forward in life, I would still like to have another chance at a better school. I understand there are quite a few chinks in my armour, but it'd be great to have some opinion from experts.

Thanks in advance!

MG

What's your take on the video upload inclusion in ISB app this year.How should one go about it-be conservative and formal or take the liberty of being creative?

zoey wrote:Hi!

I have a rather unique profile - uniquely messed up that is.
:
I understand there are quite a few chinks in my armour, but it'd be great to have some opinion from experts.

Zoey, thanks for sharing the detailed contours of your profile.

Yours is the kind of profile that has all the right ingredients in making for a very interesting read for the adcom - not the usual run of the mill stuff. So makes me wonder what went wrong. A few points can be made nonetheless:

1. Applying in R2 is never a mistake. This is something that plays up on the mind of >90% of the candidates. But take note of the fact that you or for that matter anyone would apply in R2 since applying in R1 would have meant some sort of compromise in terms of preparation. So better be late and put the best foot forward is my theory
2. Where you need to be water tight is the consistency - unless you are able to justify the reason for your seemingly irrational transition from KPO to business "both" in writing and verbally, it can fall flat on its face.
3. Finally, the one big piece that is expected from budding entrepreneurs such as yourself, is the motive behind the MBA. Does it just mean that you are tired of the family business, or do you really have an innovative idea/passion that you'd like to see the light of the day. Unless you have such a thought process, leave apart applying for an MBA program, at the very basic level, it may not even help you longer term

And yes, I agree if you are not content with the school even after deciding to join it, you will always keep blaming yourself - so better to take another shot than have a life long blemish you are not willing to live with.

Cheers,

del@mcb wrote:MG

What's your take on the video upload inclusion in ISB app this year.How should one go about it-be conservative and formal or take the liberty of being creative?

Well this is a pretty bold move by the school perhaps daring the candidates to think different. Very few schools try the innovative way to candidates screening. It has been a regular feature only in Stern amongst the top notch schools.

Coming to your specific question - like most other questions, the answer is it depends :)

And there's a good reason for it. If for instance your story is that u'd like to become a management consultant, then one would expect it to be a formal do. On the other hand, if marketing/branding is your thing, then experimentation may not really hurt. So it really depends on what's your story and what kind of a person you are - the video should flow from the application - it should not stand out as a piece that has been artificially grafted in. If you try to make things up they will come out eventually during the interviews.

To be fair to the adcom, it wouldn't hurt to think at least a bit differently here. It can obviously not be a narration of your CV - 90 seconds is way too less for that. Think of it as the classic "elevator pitch". For the uninitiated, visualize that you are travelling in an elevator with the CEO / Decision maker of the firm you want to work with. What will you say or do to create a lasting impression in the 90 seconds? And then verbalize that. Usually helps bring out pretty interesting stories!

Cheers,

Update: We added a detailed blog post on this topic. ISB Video Tips: Life to me is...

Hi Sameer

Thanks for acknowledging my queries via mail and getting me on this forum. You & your team are doing great job.

I have read Snapshots from Hell by Peter Robinson. It's also a great book in terms of content on MBA school life after you get in but now I am going to read yours also for sure.

The big question is same as I asked you earlier, following is CTRL+C & CTRL+V of part (some portions left out) I asked you on mail.

I am 2010 (B.Tech) pass out from PTU, working in a US based IT multinational from August 2010. My work profile (SQL DBA) is highly regarded in industry but and it’s a big but, I feel it doesn’t align with my career goals and am not getting the skills that would help me in fully appreciating a MBA program. I have to crack GMAT and ISB, Hyd. is the place I see myself at.

So, I have this opportunity to work on sales side in a start-up that is into recruiting business and this is where I am on slippery ground, whether to go for it or not as it doesn’t bring any brand name onto resume, hardly known in the market, not sure if joining it would be a pragmatic move for finally getting into ISB.

Can you please enlighten me with your wisdom, as to should I join this start-up or not. Writing this has flooded my brains with lots of other
questions which I keep thinking about such as preparation for, ideal time to apply for ISB, ideal profile for ISB, relevant work ex. etc.

Keep up the good work.

Thanks much.

Hi Nabhaite

//Thanks for acknowledging my queries via mail and getting me on this forum. You & your team are doing great job.

Appreciate you posting here, bro.

//I have read Snapshots from Hell by Peter Robinson...now I am going to read yours also for sure.

Let me know if Beyond The MBA Hype lives up to your expectations.

//I have to crack GMAT and ISB, Hyd. is the place I see myself at.

MG might be the best person to address your queries. So let's wait for his response.

Hi,

I graduated from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani, Pilani Campus around a month back and will be joining a consulting K.P.O as an Analyst next month. My academic credentials in brief are as follows

AISCE (Class X) - 92.4%
AISSCE (Class XII)- 86.4%
College CGPA - 7.1

I have various extracurricular achievements and positions of leadership, and my dream b-school is ISB, Hyderabad. I wrote my GMAT last December and scored a 730. I was wondering if I need to write it again, because I studied for less than a fortnight and I feel that I can score more if need be. I also wanted advice on how to build my profile to apply to ISB's 1-year programme. Do I necessarily need to do work for an NGO or the likes? Also, what is the appropriate time for me to apply, in how many years/after how much work ex et al?

Thank you