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Hi,

Please Evaluate my profile for ISB, Hyderabad below:

Acads:
GMAT: 670(1st GmatPrep mock); 710(2nd GmatPrep mock); expected 720+
10'th(CBSE) : 90.6%
12'th(CBSE) : 85.6%
B.E(Hons.) EEE from Bits Pilani - Goa Campus(2007-2011); CGPA: 7.29/10

WorkEx: Working in leading MNCs in semiconductor and EDA domain.
sep'2011-sep'2013: Software Engineer I at Xilinx, Hyderabad
oct'2013-oct'2014: Software Engineer II at Xilinx, Hyderabad
apr'2015-present: Software Engineer II at Cadence, Noida

Internships:
summer internship: NTPC, Dadri
july'2010-dec'2010: ST Microelectronics, Noida
july'2011-aug'2011: Xilinx, Hyderabad

NGO experience:
march'2013- oct'2014: Executive Committee member and Volunteer at Nirmaan, Hyderabad(Education Initiatives)
march'2015: full-time intern at Swechha, Delhi(RTE awareness Campaign)

Gaps:
2006: Took a gap to prepare for engineering entrances
nov'2014 - april'2015:
1) Travelled solo for 3 months in states of rajasthan, Gujarat, MP, Bihar, Goa and Kerela
2) Worked at Swechha NGO
3) Worked part time at family business for a month

Extra-curricular/Achievements/Leadership roles:
1) Won 'Instant Recognition Award' within first year at Xilinx. Promoted in 2 years while the general trend is 3+ years.
2) Started Volleyball club for Xilinx. Was Captain of Xilinx cricket team. Managed team outings.
3) Managed weekend CLP programme at Nirmaan, NGO. Started Science club for 8th standard students. Lead the collaboration with another NGO for curriculum development.
4) Was part of various clubs and event committes for college fests at Bits Pilani- Goa.
5) Met/lived with people from different nationalities during my 3-months travel(maybe could cover up for international exposure).


Post-Mba plans: Have been involved in tech for more than 4 years now. Plan to understand the business side of things by taking up a role of product manager for few years.

Please evaluate the profile for ISB. Also, please provide valuable feedback on where I could improve.

Thanks,
Vaibhav

A few reflections on your profile Vaibhav:

1. The nature of your tech experience is important to understand. Is it on the development side or testing for instance? While the gap can be maturing, you will also need to put that into perspective and not just a fickle decision - can come back to haunt if not explained well for future recruitment prospects too.
2. The BITS pedigree and GMAT will help. You have set the right target of trying to surpass 720 as exactly because of the pedigree, the stakes are higher.
3. While you've mentioned ECs and NGO work, it is not clear if you are doing any of those now. The recency effect is important in those areas and will determine the kind of mileage you can derive from them.

Purely from the objective data here, you should have a good shot but a deeper assessment will depend on some more information that is missing here.

Cheers,

Hi Manish,

Thanks a lot for the response. I would try to provide detailed information on the missing points:

1)Nature of tech experience: I have always worked on the development side doing software development in C++ language. Along with software development role, I have also worked as a technical analyst for quite a while (informal designation) where I used to gather data from other R&D teams, scientists from the xilinx lab, marketing guys and people from the field and based on the analysis, generate product requirement for the future team projects. Also, I have mentored 1-2 interns under me.
Regarding the Gap, I would work on it and make sure to put it into perspective. I had an aim to get diversified learnings and gather clarity on my future steps(I was juggling between continuing in tech, shift towards business, travel for a long duration, work in non-profit or public space or try setup a business of my own. So yes, I was confused ) and I had a positive outcome but I understand I would have to prevent myself from looking confused on vague.

2) I couldn't understand what you meant when you said that the stakes are higher because of the pedigree.

3) My last involvements in any ECs or NGO was in march, 2015. I took a new job in a new city from April onward and it took me a around a couple of months to adjust to the new place. Post that, I have been busy preparing for the GMAT and hence not much time left for ECs or NGO. Should I try to get involved in some capacity?

I hope this information helps. Looking forward to hearing from you again.

Thanks,
Vaibhav

Vaibhav,

The development experience will be good to project as a cross-functional one too.

The stakes are high because in one of the cuts, you will be pitted against Tier 1 college grads who tend to score in the ranges of 740.

Well think about it - the MBA application shouldn't put a stop to rest of your life ideally. Which means that you should in any case re-start your interests if you've settled in a new place.

Hope this helps