Profile evaluation

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Profile evaluation

by Neeraj Ojha » Sun Aug 12, 2018 11:31 am
Hi,

I am planning to target B-Schools from US, Canada and Singapore for the intake of 2019. Kindly evaluate my profile and suggest the next steps

Qualifications: B. Arch IIT Roorkee
Work Experience: Overall 9 years of experience, currently Vice President - Real Estate Investments at a financial services company at Mumbai

Indian Male, 32 years
GMAT 700-720 Estimated - Actual Test date: Oct 2018
Interested in: Full-time MBA and MS / MiM programs
Geography / Class Start Year preference: USA / Canada / Singapore / Hong Kong for classes starting in Feb 2019 or later

I firmly believe that my strong professional experience coupled with my involvement in diverse extracurricular activities and leadership skills make my profile unique.
At my undergraduate college at Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, I contested for and was initially elected Hostel Secretary and later elected Vice President of Student Affairs Council. In those positions, I had a number of responsibilities in addition to undertaking a number of initiatives that helped improve the standard of hostel life for my peers and successfully organize college fests.
Armed with a Bachelors of Architecture from one of the most reputed technical institutions of India, I started my professional career as a project management consultant with Jones Lang LaSalle in Bangalore, India. During this tenure, I was responsible for managing the construction of a Platinum rated LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified commercial building in Bangalore for an American multinational corporation, which was the world's largest provider of data-storage systems. Serving in challenging client-facing roles, combined with the many leadership opportunities that were presented to me, honed my people-management, time-management, and communication skills. Further, I was handpicked to lead the Business development efforts for my vertical in the South Indian region. It served as a perfect platform to gain industry insights and provided me with an opportunity to closely interact with other verticals within the organisation.
Post a fulfilling stint at Jones Lang LaSalle, I was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to work for a fast growing financial services company in Mumbai. Here, I was entrusted to be a part of the founding team for the Structured Finance desk specializing in Real Estate funding. The Cumulative value of transactions executed by me would be in excess of INR 5 Bn. Within a short span of time, I positioned myself as a subject-matter expert in the real estate finance vertical as I had the technical knowledge of the sector by virtue of being a qualified architect and I had quickly developed the acumen of a financial analyst. I was also recognized with several awards and an ahead-of-track promotion.
My quest to expand on the horizontal knowledge areas still motivates me to consider an MBA. Fully aware of the risk of letting go of a very rewarding career and the significant investment and opportunity costs involved, I have decided to step out of my comfort zone and experience a holistic learning opportunity.
With this learning in my pocket already, I look forward to the many more pockets that I have yet to fill while I expand my career in real estate to position myself as an astute investment and asset management professional in the global real estate arena.

"¢ Will it be disadvantageous for me to pursue a regular MBA programme in any of the B-schools considering that I have more than 9 years of prior work experience? I am keen on opting for a full time program only.
"¢ Can you suggest some top B-schools in US, Canada and Singapore where I should apply considering my profile?
"¢ Do you think I should pursue a regular MBA program or I should also consider other programs like Masters in Real Estate Finance/Masters in Finance or any other program that may be well suited for my profile?