Profile Evaluation for INSEAD

Launched April 26, 2006
This topic has expert replies
Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Feb 27, 2020 6:35 pm

Profile Evaluation for INSEAD

by rkansal » Thu Feb 27, 2020 6:37 pm
Hi everyone!
First of all I’d like to thank everyone for taking the time to read through and respond to my profile.
I’m planning to apply for the Jan-2021 intake, and appreciate your insights for my profile.

Background:
Nationality: Indian, Male, 25 years old
GMAT: 730 (Q50, V38, IR7, AWA5.5)
TOEFL: 114 (R30, L30, S28, W26)

Education:
B.E in Computer Science from BITS Pilani (non IIT - top university in India), GPA: 9.55/10 (Top-5 of my batch of 650+)

Professional Experience:
1. By the time of Joining i.e Jan2021, I will have 41 months of experience in a US based cloud company (Nutanix).
2. Moved into a new role of Product Management - which contributes to half of my total experience.
3. Technology consulting for IRENA on the side for about 8 months now (will be close to 15 months by the time of joining) - on sustainable energy technologies

International Exposure:
1. Worked for Empa (Swiss Lab) - on a 3 month internship with 3 professors. [REMOTE]
2. Travelled to Bay Area (my company HQ) for projects.
3. Handle customer requests and discussions in the EMEA/Americas/India regions. [REMOTE]
4. Have been working for IRENA (international renewable energy agency) - collaborating with researchers, technologists, etc. from over 10 nationalities [REMOTE]

Achievements:
1. One of the few employees to get a quick promotion in 1 year.
2. youngest PM in the entire company of 5000+ people.
3. Undergraduate merit scholar (for all semesters of study).

Co-Curriculars:
1. Started an NGO chapter in Bangalore - formed and led a team of 5 - deals with financial education for the underprivilideged (> 1.5 year)
- conducted camps, collaborated with other NGOs to increase our reach to over 1000+ people, 1 case study of helping a group of people
2. Volunteered for another NPO remotely - creating a platform called “sing for needs” - product owner leading a team of 8 to deliver the solution (~ 1 year)
3. Worked as a mentor to a undergraduate startup (~ 1 year)
- helped scale their business to 50+ clients in 6 months (from 10)
- helped the team to get incubated at Atal Incubation Centre

Post MBA goals:
Goal-1: I would like to work in technology in a general management or a product management role for a tech company like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Tesla, Apple, etc.
Goal-2 (Backup): I want to try management consulting for a while before moving to tech (hence the Jan intake, so as to secure a summer internship).

Questions:
My work experience is on the lower side, is that going to be a big concern for me?
Is my GMAT score enough to get into INSEAD? Since Indians generally tend to have higher scores?
I have experience interacting with international nationalities, but not travelled to those places. Will that be a big issue?

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 351
Joined: Fri May 01, 2015 9:10 am
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Thanked: 44 times
Followed by:9 members

Re: Profile Evaluation for INSEAD

by MargaretStrother » Fri May 01, 2020 6:19 pm
First of all, I’d like to congratulate you for a really well-presented profile!
You’ve got some great stuff here:
Super GMAT, one of the highest GPAs I’ve ever seen from a top Indian university, and I love that you’re challenging yourself by questioning whether your strengths are good enough – that alone is a quality that portends success in your MBA applications.

Now, to address your concerns:
Looks like you will have over 3 years of work experience at the time you submit your application. You’re right that this is on the young side, but not too young. International exposure: nobody’s doing much international travel these days, but the remote work with international companies in the US and Switzerland is excellent for your profile. GMAT: again, you’re right that some Indian applicants do have higher GMATs, but MBA acceptance is a holistic process, and GMAT is only one piece of the puzzle. Yours is high enough, and your spectacular GPA will also support you as an applicant.
One area you will want to give the most attention to is your statement of goals: whether you choose tech or consulting, you’ll want to be sure that the companies you target are companies with a broad history of hiring MBAs from INSEAD, most likely international companies with strong European/Asian ties. INSEAD will want to see themselves in your career goals, so that means the path out of the MBA might be different than the path you’d target if you were applying to a US school. This will be of premium importance to you as an applicant, because the connection between your goals and your work experience will be key to supporting your assertion that you’re ready now.
To summarize: well done! You’ve got a terrific, balanced profile, and I think you’ll do very well with INSEAD.

Best of luck,
Margaret Strother
Senior Consultant
Stacy Blackman Consulting

Learn more about me