Hello all,
Mine is a peculiar question or so I believe it is.
I graduated in electronics engineering in Jan-2007 with excellent academics from one of the top universities in southeast asia. Academically I have had excellent records through high school, college and university. Excellent as in top 2% of the class. I worked for a year and a half before moving to Singapore for a Masters degree in my field of specialization (Industrial Automation). I scored a 4.5 on a scale of 5 at the university which ranks amongst the top 25 in the world. And I have been working in Singapore since.
My field of work (Oil & gas / Marine) carries me to all parts of the world. Since graduating from my Masters course I have done projects in Australia, China, Spain, UK, Italy, Caribbean, Nigera, Angola etc. Mostly its technical work but my work demands to be exceptionally detail oriented, technically robust and work on extremely tight deadlines. I have started leading teams recently on my overseas projects.
I have had an accelerated career path, with promotions / bonuses / awards / certifications to show for it. I was nominated the Most valued young professional in my first year of work in an MNC that employs 150000 people in the world.
All that said and done, I am only 5 feet tall. To add to the issue, I look like a 17 year old kid. I always have trouble people taking me seriously. May be not a lot of my fellows here have noticed, but sales people at shopping malls / waiters at food shops, restaurants treat teenagers / younger people differently. I guess it roots from the stereotyping that this age group has a low buying power. Anyways,
Customers are almost always hesitant to interact with me in the first meetings, judging me as a newbie, trying to brush me aside before realizing that I am actually an expert on what I do and can bring a lot to the table. "By the way, how old are you really?" is the most common question I face by the people I interact with during my brief stays on project sites.
I was planning to do an MBA and scored a 740 on GMAT recently. But now I am thinking of the practical issues that I might face once I have finished an MBA. Would my short height / young looking face be viewed as a hurdle by prospective employers? I am planning on energy consultation once I graduate. Would employers believe that since I look too young and almost a midget by European / Western proportions, I will face difficulty interacting with clients? I tried to dig up any relevant material on this but failed to do so. So I had no other option but to ask the experts here about their opinion on the issue. At this point of time, I am not even sure if I should embark on an MBA as I am not able to quantify how much handicap would be associated with my short height / young looking face.
Any help / opinions / suggestion would be greatly appreciated !!!
Mine is a peculiar question or so I believe it is.
I graduated in electronics engineering in Jan-2007 with excellent academics from one of the top universities in southeast asia. Academically I have had excellent records through high school, college and university. Excellent as in top 2% of the class. I worked for a year and a half before moving to Singapore for a Masters degree in my field of specialization (Industrial Automation). I scored a 4.5 on a scale of 5 at the university which ranks amongst the top 25 in the world. And I have been working in Singapore since.
My field of work (Oil & gas / Marine) carries me to all parts of the world. Since graduating from my Masters course I have done projects in Australia, China, Spain, UK, Italy, Caribbean, Nigera, Angola etc. Mostly its technical work but my work demands to be exceptionally detail oriented, technically robust and work on extremely tight deadlines. I have started leading teams recently on my overseas projects.
I have had an accelerated career path, with promotions / bonuses / awards / certifications to show for it. I was nominated the Most valued young professional in my first year of work in an MNC that employs 150000 people in the world.
All that said and done, I am only 5 feet tall. To add to the issue, I look like a 17 year old kid. I always have trouble people taking me seriously. May be not a lot of my fellows here have noticed, but sales people at shopping malls / waiters at food shops, restaurants treat teenagers / younger people differently. I guess it roots from the stereotyping that this age group has a low buying power. Anyways,
Customers are almost always hesitant to interact with me in the first meetings, judging me as a newbie, trying to brush me aside before realizing that I am actually an expert on what I do and can bring a lot to the table. "By the way, how old are you really?" is the most common question I face by the people I interact with during my brief stays on project sites.
I was planning to do an MBA and scored a 740 on GMAT recently. But now I am thinking of the practical issues that I might face once I have finished an MBA. Would my short height / young looking face be viewed as a hurdle by prospective employers? I am planning on energy consultation once I graduate. Would employers believe that since I look too young and almost a midget by European / Western proportions, I will face difficulty interacting with clients? I tried to dig up any relevant material on this but failed to do so. So I had no other option but to ask the experts here about their opinion on the issue. At this point of time, I am not even sure if I should embark on an MBA as I am not able to quantify how much handicap would be associated with my short height / young looking face.
Any help / opinions / suggestion would be greatly appreciated !!!
