Profile Evaluation - Offshore Oil Industry

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Profile Evaluation - Offshore Oil Industry

by bjam2 » Tue Aug 23, 2011 10:54 am
At time of application for 2011:

Age: 25
Gender: Male
Undergrad Major: Mechanical Engineering
Undergrad Minor: International Studies
GMAT: 720 (Q47, V42, AWA-6.0)
GPA: 91.7 (3.5 to 3.8 depending on scale)
Full Time Work Experience: 3-3.5 years
Co-op Work Experience: 2 years (my school did 3 months in class, 3 months full time co-op job rotations for the entirety)
Applying to: Harvard, London Business School, Columbia, Stanford


So my co-op experience was mostly in product development and test engineering at automotive related companies. Then I went to work as a field engineer on offshore ultra-deepwater oil rigs for a highly regarded oilfield service company. I have a lot of leadership experience in my current job and in multiple organizations in college. I also have a good amount of international experience having done study abroad in Germany, having spent part of my full time work in France, and loving to travel. I think my biggest weak spot is that I have no real community service to speak of since graduating but thats mainly due to my hectic schedule since I work offshore, but I have mentored 4 engineers that have come into my company since I've worked there. I was the person primarily responsible for their training and I have taught a course to global workers at one of my companies learning/training centers. I am the field champion and helped commercialize the main product my group offers to oil companies.

Comments on how I should plan my application strategy? I've heard that engineers too often get wrapped up in technical aspects of their job, is this something I should look out for?

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by MBAPrepAdvantage » Thu Aug 25, 2011 11:08 am
Yes, you should try to describe the technical aspects of your job in a business context. Make sure to describe why you chose to work on offshore rigs as this is unique. Also, given the BP climate, if you have done any work to ensure safety this would be very topical and beneficial to your application.

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by bjam2 » Thu Aug 25, 2011 6:21 pm
My entire job is to provide a safety system to Oil companies for subsea/deepwater oil rigs so the Deepwater Horizon Spill is very relevant.

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by Jon@Admissionado » Thu Aug 25, 2011 10:59 pm
Yeah, we want stories where we can smell the oil, and fear for our lives. If you can get anything exciting. If you have any hands-on leadership stories (especially like ones with someone "going down to the rig" and leading a team in an emergency). Basically you wanna focus o n he things the MBAs are looking for: Do you innovate? are you creative? are you a good team player? Are you a strong leader? a good mentor? a good public speaker? all these sorts of things are the things you can focus on.
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by PrepMBA.AlexLeventhal » Fri Aug 26, 2011 6:55 am
I think my colleagues have given you sound advice so far. Given you have some significant leadership experiences in college (and no extra curriculars since), I would dedicate some of the essay real estate to one or two of these, where you can showcase how you led a group and executed on a plan. Some applicants shy away from using these undergrad experiences but for you, perhaps 70% off the app could be about work, and 30% about personal/extracurricular content.

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by FutureWorks » Mon Aug 29, 2011 10:37 pm
Hello

Since you are aiming for top schools then a score above 700 is desirable. However GMAT alone won't determine your chances of admission; beyond the academics will also help you in determining your candidature and your work experience plays a vital role as well. In general most of the applicants are from engineering background with a good 4-5 years of work experience.

So you would need to differentiate yourself from others . Start thinking what makes you unique and what's that 'hook' that will be key to your application. Make sure you follow the 'show rather than tell' principle so that the admissions committee could really understand your strengths and differentiating factors Although it is not just the work experience that counts but also what you did there like-what were your achievements, what initiative you took, what changes you drove in your workplace etc. So you need to ensure that in 3.5 years of work experience you have demonstrated the skills business schools are looking for. This could still put in a strong set of essays for you.

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