Profile Evaluation - IIMs and ISB

[Vishal Agarwal]

Hi All,

Need help in my profile evaluation. I am targeting IIMs, ISB for 1 year MBA programme in 2016.
Profile Details:
10th :-- 85%
12th :-- 74%
B.Tech :-- 8.95 (DGPA) in Electronics and Instrumentaion Engineering, 3rd Rank in University and 1st in College
Total Experience :-- 10 years
GMAT score :-- Can get anything between 700 to 720.
Certificate in Scaled Agile SAFe Agilist
Certificate in Scrum Alliance Certificed Scrum master
Working for PMI - PMP and PMI - ACP for this year.

Currently working as Techincal Manager handling a team of 10 members with Verizon Data Services India Pvt. Ltd.

[mcbMcK]

A few points for you to ponder on Vishal:

1. Purely from an years of experience perspective, I would suggest keeping IIMs as the more preferred option. At ISB, you are likely to be in thin company.
2. Your leadership experience is good. But what you will have to think hard and deep about is, how will you differentiate from the 100s of other folks from your industry with 10+ years of experience, many with international exposure (assuming you don't have any). This will determine your chances of making it in more than anything else. Of course, higher the better for GMAT - so target even more than 720 if you can.
3. Finally, you have not mentioned your post-MBA plans. How well you connect the dots will also dictate the practicality of your goals.

Hope this sparks your thoughts in the right direction.

Cheers,

[Vishal Agarwal]

Thanks Manish.

From your 2nd point, I dont have a long term international experience not considering 3 months which I spent, but I have been working with diverse people across US and even people from othe rparts of world. Verizon is a communication where you get an oppurtunity to work with people from different culture and diversity.

And for post MBA, I am currently working as a Technical Manager, and my plan to is merge the technical knowledge with the financial and operations expertise which I can will getting with MBA. This will also help me to think as a Solutions Manager who is able to provide technical solution with an expert idea of how finance, operations and people will take same.

Also I missed one point, I do have a distance MBA in finance from ICFAI completed in 2013, and reason for doing 2nd MBA is Distance only gave me theoritical knowledge about MBA and an Full Time MBA will give the exposure required for applying the knowledge in practical.

[mcbMcK]

Vishal,

You'll have to dig deeper into stories you can project to showcase the quality of your experience and accomplishments therein.

Firms rarely hire for a 'Solutions Manager' role from tier 1 MBA programs - so check your facts and research on exactly what roles will you target after MBA.

The distance MBA won't add much to the profile and I'd recommend downplaying it.

Cheers,

[CriticalSquareMBA]

Hi there,

Your academic stats put you in the conversation at your target programs, however I'd think more about your story. An MBA should do more for you than simply offer you a finance/operational perspective on things. As mentioned above, I'm not sure the recruitment opportunities make sense based on what you're saying you want to do post MBA. I'd consider reflecting a bit more on this and adding a bit more depth into your short and long-term goals. Tie in specifics - which firms are you targeting? What clubs and networks will put you in a position to get your foot in the door? How does this help you in your long term endeavors? Hope this helps. Best of luck!