Profile evaluation: Good profile but bad interview skills

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Hi,
I kindly ask you to evaluate may profile.

Age: currently 28, but when program will start I will be 29
Nationality: Italian
Target schools: Top-European schools with 1-year program (IE and INSEAD for sure)
GMAT: 760 (Q50, V42)
EDUCATION:
Degree in Communications Engineering from Politecnico with 110/110 cum laude
Got also a second degree at UIC with a joint program between the two universities.
Work Experience lengths: 5 years and some months when program will begin

Work experiences:
- worked for 2 years and a half for BAH as management consultant in the IT sectors (IT governance and strategy, process design, program management, IT Service Management/ITIL)
- then I worked for 1 year for a small italian management consulting firm focused on the IT Service Management/ITIL: involved in process definition for IT re-organizations, got IT Service Manager Certification sponsored by Company (2weeks course + 2 days exam). I so became an expert of this field.
- 1 year (will be 2 when program will start) experience as a Service Manager for an IT Services Company, I am responsabile for an outsourcing service). Currently managing a team of 28 people (4 direct reports), responsible for managing client interface, people management, etc.
Also doing jobs as Senior Consultant/PM about two days a week for consulting projects in the IT Service Management definition / process assessment, etc

INTERVIEW SKILLS: I am a stutterer, and I do not react well under pressure (as usual in interviews!), I sometime stutter and feel anxious. This does not happens always, but expecieally when I feel I am judged.

Community Service:
active member since the end of high school of a cultural volunteer association, doing visits to cultural Palaces of my city. I have acted as a guide for visits on Saturdays, I organize cultural trips of the organization, I am the webmaster of the website

Post-MBA goals: make a career progress in my sectors (IT / Tech), either in the IT function, or in the Tech Marketing -> this would be the natural evolution of my current job which aims at aligning IT with business). Also could be interested in business development of new technologies.

I want to pursue the MBA in order to enlarge my vision of the business and to better understant how IT and technology can make business evolve (either from the IT or from the business side).

In particular, my question is: how much my potentially bad interview skills could influence on the decision, and which European MBAs value most this point? Would some american programs value less this point? Should I address this weekness in the application? Please consider that I do not always do bad in interviews, it is just random depending on my anxiety.


Thanks,
Christian
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by Lisa Anderson » Fri Feb 15, 2008 7:03 pm
Dear Christian:

You present a strong profile in terms of GMAT, GPA, and work experience. I also think your work with the cultural volunteer association is interesting. While I empathize with your anxiety over the interview, I think most interviewers will not view you negatively if you stutter as most candidates are nervous about their b-school interview.

While I cannot speak for all business schools, the majority do not weight one aspect of the application greater than another (i.e. GMAT versus work experience). Your application is evaluated holistically. The best thing you can do to reduce your anxiety about the interview is try to research what the interviews are like at your target schools (types of questions), practice interviewing with people you trust, and try to meet the admissions staff of your target schools prior to submitting your application at MBA fairs or campus visits.

Good luck!
Lisa
Lisa Anderson
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Stacy Blackman Consulting

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