Profile Evaluation Please!!

[mohitchopra1988]

Hi Expert

Hope you are doing fine!!

So now I know I fall into a common group of applicants i.e. Indian IT Applicants and its tough to convince the ADCOMS why they should accept me. So please can someone evaluate my chances of getting into one of the following B-Schools: HKU (which I really hope I can make it to), HKUST, Nanyang, National University of Singapore Business School and SMU(Singapore).

Nationality - Indian
Age - 25 years

Scored 76% in my High School and 71% in my Higher Secondary School.
62% in my Under grad and hold a B.E. degree in Information Technology (sorry I heard not to calculate GPA untill you are very sure of doing it correctly.)
Writing GMAT in October mid and targeting a score of 650+ ( at least ). All HK Universities R1 deadlines start 13th Nov onward.

After my undergrad I went a bit offtrack from IT domain and carried out a small research project work for an aviation company and got a big appreciation from them on that.

Currently I work for a top 250 Fortune listed company and have a work experience of 2.4 months till date and hopeful it would be 3+ by the next year. I joined this company at a point when my seniors (who previously used to handle this project left the organisation), so it was just me who was the single point of contact and responsible party for 2 of our main UK Pensions tool. Till date they fall under my kitty as I do manage them in a nice smoothly and is responsible for any releases/updates for them from scratch to the very end production release. Also I handle couple of more projects again related to UK/US flexible benefits and US Pensions. So currently working on 3 sub projects and have some good domain knowledge on UK(DB/DC) and UK/US Flexible Benefits. Though I do not have direct engagement with the client teams but my major work client age includes RBS, CitiGroup, Goldman, Barclays, HSBC, Motorola, GSK and many more. I also built a utility independently which is used by more than 200 of our Admin people and was appreciated by Business for doing getting done the same.

I have been involved in some small free lancing technical work with 3 other Software professionals and my main role was client interaction, deal closures and understanding the requirements and taking those requirements back to my team of 3.

I am also associated with a NGO for child welfare and with an animal welfare society, quite actively. Was also involved in similar programs at school level.

That is all about me!!!

Below are my some concerns and questions:
1) I know my academics scores are not that great, to compensate that what is the minimum GMAT score at least I need to target.
2) My major reason for doing an MBA is more associated with a Carrier change all together focusing on the Business side of Healthcare products of which I hold some prior knowledge, also the other thing that is in my mind is related to IT industry but focusing on Sales/Marketing side of IT Products. Keeping both the points above in mind what according to you is the most appropriate school in Asia that I should target (I do have US B school option open but really want to do my MBA from ASIA .)
3) Any tips on what other points I could highlight in my essays and resume which might help to make my application strong.
4) Do I really hold a chance in getting an admission in any of college in the above B school list.
5) One other concern is that I didn't got a chance to lead people in my current job which I could highlight out as + point. So working alone on projects could make me a bit a left behind if a University evaluates me.
6) Who will be the best people in my case to get Letter of Recommendations from? I am interested to get one from my senior at my current workplace and other still don't know.

Many Thanks in Advance, any feedback or guidance would be highly appreciated!!

[mbaMissionJenK]

Hi there,

Thanks for your post. So a couple of points of clarification first and foremost... how much full-time work experience do you have?? Did you mean 2.4 YEARS perhaps?

The GMAT does provide a general guide of what tier of schools you may have a chance at, so it's tough to assess without that score completed. You may have a good feel if you have taken multiple full length adaptive practice tests. But with 650+ the schools you mentioned wouldn't be outside of your reach; you would want a very strong application in all other areas for sure, and definitely don't underestimate the importance of the essays! And yes a strong GMAT is more important if you're less proud of your academics.

As far as what school, generally you'd want to aim for a program that works best for your goals, so look at employment statistics at schools you are considering (available on their websites) to get more insight into companies that hire there, roles grads go into, etc. And/or talk to hiring managers for roles you'd be interested in post-MBA for any feedback on schools as well. Generally higher ranked usually is associated with higher starting salaries and additional opportunities...BUT you have to figure out what works best for you and your goals.

As for leadership, it is a plus.... are there areas where you've led projects, influenced others, suggested initiatives? Anything that could be somewhat defined as leadership?

For letters of rec, you would need your current supervisor if feasible, yes, and anyone else who has supervised you in the past, or supervised your work, and can comment on working with you.

Keep us posted on the GMAT and other questions and your plans! Good luck!

[mohitchopra1988]

Thanks a lot Jennifer...!!

Ok, so I have a full time work experience of 3 years till today.

I am quite interested in the below programs:
1) HKU - IT/MBA
2) HKU - General Management
3) Looking for a B school program within Asia which can help me in building my career in Health Care sector. (Perhaps you could advice something for this one.)

Unfortunately as I mentioned, really didn't got a chance to Lead as a leader in my job profile. So working alone and managing couple of projects all alone would undermine my capabilities here??

To be honest, currently my career goal is pretty much on getting into IT sector and that too focusing on Marketing/Sales in Health Domain sector. The other option that I have kept open is the aviation business given that I worked for 6 months in that sector (though was a start up Private chartering company but learnt many things while working on the same).

As you mentioned in your reply about a strong GMAT score and hence I have started working on that part so that I can make my profile better and strong.

All in all do you think merging all three things i.e. - the Aviation project, current Job description and the free lancing work would be a good option to add in my Application??

Please share your thoughts, hope to hear back from you soon.

Thanks & Regards
Mohit

[mbaMissionJenK]

Hi Mohit,

It sounds like you have an interesting and varied background and set of interests. It's not a bad thing to have, but you'll want to be careful when you put together an application that you don't come across as too scattered or unsure of what path you want to follow.

Do as much research as you can into your options. You can look at each school's website and review their program and strengths and importantly, their employment statistics on where their grads go and what companies recruit from there, etc.

Keep us posted on the process!