Utility Guy needs advice!!

[ankzoutlaw]

Hi,

Would be obliged if you could evaluate my profile and answer some questions ...

Profile summary
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Academics:
- GMAT 710 (Q49, V36, AWA 5.0) first try 660
- Undergrad: Non IIT Indian engineering college: decent and well known, 2009 passout GPA: 3.74, B.Tech. Mechanical Engineering
- Scholarships-2007/08/09

Work Experience:
-Will be 4 years 10 months by the time of joining
-as an engineering manager at a manufacturing plant for an Indian FMCG major

-Engineering Operations and Maintenance Management
#Leading a team of 3 engineers and 31 technicians to manage the entire operations and maintenance of utility systems and ancillary services for a manufacturing plant
#Planned and managed engineering services budget of $1M and energy budget of $2.2M.

-Energy Management
#Co-ordinated the operation and maintenance of a total of 16 MW wind turbine generators.
#Led a project for IGBC Green Factory Certification for the unit: helped achieve LEED platinum rating.

-Project Management
#Set up the maintenance systems of the Plant Utilities from scratch based of Integrated Facilities Management Principles
#Managed a project for supply side optimization of the unit's water supply: Liasioned with consultants and statutory bodies for a hydro-geological survey of the unit
#Identified Six Sigma and lean implementation opportunities in engineering operations and ensured timely execution.

-Cross functional exposure
#Involved in a cross-factory, cross-functional job evaluation exercise along with senior management for evaluating job descriptions and roles/responsibilities for entire division's technical managers.
#Managed the HR activities for outsourced utility team: compliances with labour laws, training and development, ramp up/ramp down and attrition management.

-Extra Curriculars..........
#At current workplace: Secretary of Canteen Management Committee; Member of Central EHS (Safety) and Energy Conservation committees.
#College: Member of Youth Red Cross Society; Fine Arts Club and Drama Club; Hostel mess management, took arts classes for underprivileged students in a local village school

Questions
1)What schools do I have a chance of getting into.....please throw in some names...I would really be in need of a scholarship...so kindly let know the ones where I may land a scholarship as well
2)What should be my post MBA goals....was interested in consulting....the specifics and long term goals are hazy as yet...would be great if you could suggest

[Jon@Admissionado]

It is funny that you should ask what your goals should be, because I was going to ask you!


So let's start with that. Your goals should make good use of your experience up until now, because it is that that will make most sense. So for example, upper management in manufacturing is a really good goal. It builds on your experience, it is less common than you might think (and preferable to software), and actually there are lots of jobs! So why not? Plus you already have PROVEN leadership of a team of 34!

My advice to you - drop ANYTHING form your essays/resume that sounds even remotely technical. You want to set yourself up as "Leader of a team of 34". If you can manage to do that, I think you would have a good shot. What schools? Tough to say because there are so many great ones, and you haven't told me your goals!! But really your options are open. For manufacturing, the best schools are the ones in regions where there is a lot of that going on. So Ross is a good choice, Tepper (because of their strengths), Kellogg... I think your sweet spot would be in schools ranked 10-30, and you should be looking into those schools to see where you fit, and which programs interest you most.

If you're aiming for a scholarship then you can add a few extra schools in the rankings 30-50 (that nonetheless fit your goals for other reasons), and that should balance things out for you.

Best of luck!
And if you have any further questions, let me know.