Career in entrepreneurship

[devesh]

Hi Stacy/Amy

Please look at my profile and assess my chances of getting into a top10 school.

Personal Background
Age – 23, Male
Born in a business family and first in my family to graduate as an engineer.

Educational Background
I am a Mechanical Engineer.
I graduated in 2005 from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee.
GPA 3.15

GMAT
720 (Q50-99%, V36-80%) Overall - 95%

Work Experience
2 yrs in Fortune 500 MNC in Oil and Gas Sector in India. Currently, I am a Marketing Executive looking after channel sales and marketing of lubricants. I supervise sales of 3 distributors and over 100 Dealers under me. Two sales assistants and one trainee officer report directly to me. I am in-charge of one operating storage location.

Extra-curricular
Represented my company at National Management Games-2007, a competition for young managers organized by All India Management Association.
Worked as Student Advisor of SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) collegiate chapter at IIT.
I acted as Coordinator of Library Committee at IIT.
I Worked as Active member of Tech Fest and Youth fest organizing committee.

Community work
Worked as student ambassador for School of Deaf at Roorkee.
Member of Green Peace India.

Awards, Papers
Received a Merit cum means tuition scholarship for my Bachelors degree.
Published technical papers during undergraduate studies.

Sports, Hobbies
I am a certified NCC and Karate Cadet.
I've played Table Tennis at school & collegiate level.
Driving is one of my favorite hobbies.



Career Goals
I want to shift my career from marketing to entrepreneurship. I have developed good networking with my current business partners (Dealers and Distributors), direct clients and colleagues at work. I have learned technical skills during my engineering, and marketing and man-management skills during my professional work experience. I am interested in learning about entrepreneurship aspects such as opportunity recognition, risk taking, fund raising etc and about financial and HR perspective of business. These skills together will help me in building my own organization. I also want to look at global business opportunities available and global networking through International MBA.

Target schools
Looking for Full time MBA from top 10 US B-Schools.

Primary concerns:
Low work experience, Low GPA (I can improve on my current GMAT score by 30 pts if needed).

Why now? – If I have to start own company then sooner it is better it will be for me in terms of richness of varied exposure.

Thanks in advance.

[Amy]

Hi devesh,

Were you promoted at work? If you have shown progression, I think the lack of years at your job may be ok. Have you ever tried to start your own business in the past? I don't think you should do it now just for an application, but it is a question.

Otherwise I think you need to really think about how to stand out from others and show your unique qualities. How are your goals particularly credible for you? What have you done at work in terms of leadership and teamwork? Really do some self reflection and think about how to present yourself well.

Good luck!

Amy

[devesh]

hi Amy

thanx a lot for your reply

Regarding the que which you had asked

Were you promoted at work?
I work in a public sector where 1st promotion is strictly after 3yrs so i am expecting promotion next year. However in terms of job responsibilty earlier i was looking after 4 low revenue districts but now i look after 6 revenue districts(1 is a metro, high revenue district).

Have you ever tried to start your own business in the past?
No but i have worked with my father during my summer breaks. My father owns a small scale iron and steel rolling mill. So i have good idea about that business but the business is not lucrative anymore so i wish to venture in some other sector rather than to continue with father's business. During my work ex i have networked with lot of people venturing in different businesses. I have some business plans for future but they are all in nascent stage as i want to explore for more opportunities.

How are your goals particularly credible for you?
I am very clear that in long run i want to become a successful entrepreneur. But i am still not able to freeze on a particular business opportunity so exploring for more.

What have you done at work in terms of leadership and teamwork?
I am lucky to get enough opportunities to display leadership and teamwork at my work so early in my career and also during the graduation. I have made most of these opportunities which i can highlight in my essays.

[Amy]

Hi devesh,

Great, it sounds like you have done some thinking and preparation for the essays. Continue to think about your goals and the leadership and management skills you have as you prepare for the applications.

Good luck!

Amy

[devesh]

thanx again AMY

your advice boosted me up.

few more questions that i was really worried about?

1) My age is just 23.5 yrs(WE-2yrs) and the career ambition is entrepreneurship so would my less age and WE hinder my chances as Adcom may think i should gain more WE before MBA?

Although the quality of WE was very good and also my participation in family business has been good with lots of initiatives taken.


2)Are my extra curriculars OK?

3) While writing my essay(on career progress to date and why MBA?) should i place my Entrepreneurship background first, then education and the WE ? What is the most appropriate order.

thanx.

[Amy]

Hi devesh,

If you make a strong case for why "now" is the right time for your MBA, that is what is important. People in MBA programs have a range of work experience and time spent working.

The important thing about extracurriculars is how much leadership experience you gained in them. It's a quality rather than quantity issue.

There is no set order you need to go in for your essays - it really depends on how the story flows. If you are raising more questions for the reader than you are answering, that is a problem, but I really can't tell you that unless I read your essay.

Good luck!

Amy