Profile Evaluation - Time to stop the procrastination!

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Hi

Procrastination seems to have become one of those annoying habits that i haven't been able to get rid of for sometime now. I've been sitting on the entire application process for sometime now. Would be glad if someone would help me get a little clarity in terms of my competitiveness and general fit

I am a 24 year old Indian girl. With a GMAT score of 710; Quant: 49 (87 percentile); Verbal: 39 (86 percentile)

Education
- B.A. (Economics) from a college consistently ranked among the top 3 Arts colleges in India

Work Experience

- Worked with the Retail Banking arm of a major multinational bank in India for a year in the Investment Products team where I was responsible for analyzing the mutual fund portfolios of our clients with assets over INR 10mio.

- Currently working in the Corporate Banking arm of the same bank in the treasury sales division, which primarily covers foreign exchange and fixed income products. I have been working here for the last two and a half years. This team caters to 500 + clients in India including most of the largest corporate names. The role requires me to keep a constant watch on the world markets and events - need to keep our clients updated on all happenings.

Summer Internships
- 2 months in the banking and cash operations division of the same multinational bank
- 2 months in the yield management division of a leading domestic airline.

Extracurricular Activities
- Teach Sunday Joy Club - a church organization which is part of the children's ministry. I have been teaching 2nd and 3rd grade children for more than 4 years - one hour every sunday morning. Have been coordinator of the grade I've been teaching for 2 years - this includes coordinating the efforts of 6 to 8 catechists who oversee over 100 children.
- Played Hockey at the inter college level - our team won the 3rd place in a University tournament.
- Taught children with special needs as a part of the social involvement program organized by the college

Why do i need an MBA?
- So I've told you that i work for a top bank, what i haven't told you is that though I am on the banks payroll, i am on contract. Getting into treasury in a multinational bank is a lot of finance professionals' dream job. And in India most finance professionals come from Engineering backgrounds. Being from an Arts background - i am not naturally 1st choice. So when i got the opportunity to work here on a 6 month contract - i took it. I performed well and have been with the team ever since. So even though i have got 30-50% raises in my salary in the last 2 years, i haven't been able to get onto the permanent roles because 1) headcount reduction 2) my lack of an engineering degree / MBA.
Everyone i work with is either from an IIM or IIT. So i definitely need to get an MBA to go further in my career. Post my MBA i would love to come back to Treasury.

In terms of schools - I would love to go to one in Asia / Europe - would really like to stay closer to home. Would really appreciate some help with shortlisting schools.

Thanks alot!

Rgds
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by 99Colleges: MBA Admission » Sat Sep 01, 2012 10:58 pm
Hi Shamara,

You have a decent GMAT score with a fine distribution between quant and verbal. You need to have this score to be competitive. Even if your undergrad college was top 3 in India, it will not add to the pedigree if it is not known outside India. Unless you have exceptional achievements in your work experience, it will not be easy for you to get into top 20 schools. And, finance is not an uncommon industry amongst B-school applicants. It will all depend on the quality of your work experience.
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by apphelp » Sat Sep 08, 2012 6:37 am
shamara wrote:Hi

Procrastination seems to have become one of those annoying habits that i haven't been able to get rid of for sometime now. I've been sitting on the entire application process for sometime now. Would be glad if someone would help me get a little clarity in terms of my competitiveness and general fit

I am a 24 year old Indian girl. With a GMAT score of 710; Quant: 49 (87 percentile); Verbal: 39 (86 percentile)

Education
- B.A. (Economics) from a college consistently ranked among the top 3 Arts colleges in India

Work Experience

- Worked with the Retail Banking arm of a major multinational bank in India for a year in the Investment Products team where I was responsible for analyzing the mutual fund portfolios of our clients with assets over INR 10mio.

- Currently working in the Corporate Banking arm of the same bank in the treasury sales division, which primarily covers foreign exchange and fixed income products. I have been working here for the last two and a half years. This team caters to 500 + clients in India including most of the largest corporate names. The role requires me to keep a constant watch on the world markets and events - need to keep our clients updated on all happenings.

Summer Internships
- 2 months in the banking and cash operations division of the same multinational bank
- 2 months in the yield management division of a leading domestic airline.

Extracurricular Activities
- Teach Sunday Joy Club - a church organization which is part of the children's ministry. I have been teaching 2nd and 3rd grade children for more than 4 years - one hour every sunday morning. Have been coordinator of the grade I've been teaching for 2 years - this includes coordinating the efforts of 6 to 8 catechists who oversee over 100 children.
- Played Hockey at the inter college level - our team won the 3rd place in a University tournament.
- Taught children with special needs as a part of the social involvement program organized by the college

Why do i need an MBA?
- So I've told you that i work for a top bank, what i haven't told you is that though I am on the banks payroll, i am on contract. Getting into treasury in a multinational bank is a lot of finance professionals' dream job. And in India most finance professionals come from Engineering backgrounds. Being from an Arts background - i am not naturally 1st choice. So when i got the opportunity to work here on a 6 month contract - i took it. I performed well and have been with the team ever since. So even though i have got 30-50% raises in my salary in the last 2 years, i haven't been able to get onto the permanent roles because 1) headcount reduction 2) my lack of an engineering degree / MBA.
Everyone i work with is either from an IIM or IIT. So i definitely need to get an MBA to go further in my career. Post my MBA i would love to come back to Treasury.

In terms of schools - I would love to go to one in Asia / Europe - would really like to stay closer to home. Would really appreciate some help with shortlisting schools.

Thanks alot!

Rgds

Hi Shamara,

Your candidature looks strong and well balanced. Fewer applicants from India especially female applicants apply with this profile. Yoru retail + corporate banking experience will allow you to talk about learning from customer ( B2C) as well as Clients ( B2B) side.

GMAT is decent if not great and extra currics also look good ( especially the hockey thing).

Lot will depend on how well you portray your candidature in essays.
Here are some schools you can look at

ISB
NUS
Nanyang
HKUST
Oxford Said
Cambridge Judge
HEC Paris

Feel free to contact us for any queries.

Apphelp Team
Apphelp : India's # 1 MBA admissions consultancy

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