An Indian Candidate Shares his ISB Experience

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Poonam, founder and president of myEssayReview, is publishing interviews of her successful students. This is the latest in the series. Here is a chat with Tribhuvan who graduated from the PGP program of the prestigious Indian School of Business in 2016. Let's learn about Tribhuvan's journey to the ISB, his one year at the ISB, and his post ISB career.

Poonam: First of all, congratulations on graduating from you dream school ISB. How do you feel?

Tribhuvan: I feel transformed. When I had joined ISB, every alumni I met told me that this will be the year of transformation, and I said to myself they surely must have learned about marketing. But after one year at ISB, I could vouch that ISB did transform me in more than one ways.

Poonam: In what ways ISB has transformed you?

Tribhuvan: I think transformation can't really be explained in simple words because it's a feeling. Because of the fast pace of the course I learned about myself a lot more than I thought. I learnt to react to situations quickly and in a balanced manner. The next thing I learned at ISB was co-existence with amazingly brilliant people. Each individual at ISB had accomplished something great prior to coming to ISB and they demonstrated what they were better at compared to others in the class. ISB takes away all your confidence at first and then trains you to earn it back; this process not only makes you humble, but also instills a belief that you can achieve what you want to achieve.
Poonam: That's great. Please tell us a little about yourself? Where are you from? Where and what did you study as an undergrad? Where did you work after undergrad?

Tribhuvan: I was born and raised in Chandigarh. I did my engineering in Electronics from PEC University of Technology in Chandigarh. After that, I joined EXL Service as a Business Analyst. Just prior to joining ISB, I was leading the development of pricing solutions for one of the largest banks in the UK. I had already developed analytical dashboards for an US Airliner and a UK based insurer.

Poonam: Could you please tell us something about your post ISB career? What do you do now?

Tribhuvan: I graduated from ISB in April 2016 and joined Amazon in Luxembourg as a Business Analyst. My function hasn't changed post ISB - I am still a business analyst, but now I have a deeper understanding of business, and I am responsible for Business Analytics of the entire Europe. Business Analyst position being technical in nature hasn't changed much, but after ISB, my inputs have become more business oriented, and I have the option of switching to Product Management roles easily.

Poonam: Looking back, when did you start thinking about PGP program of ISB? Why was ISB your dream school? How was it the best school for you?

Tribhuvan:I always knew that I wanted to do an MBA after getting some experience but I first wanted to be sure that I needed the knowledge MBA has to offer. After 5 years as an Analytics Consultant I had reached a point where my clients were looking towards me to provide them a wholesome solution. I knew MBA only could provide me with a 360 degree view of business. I also didn't want to spend a lot of time completing my MBA as there is a cost associated with being out of job for 2 years. ISB's PGP program easily rated high on my list as it is a 1 year program with all major companies from all industries recruiting. ISB also has the most renowned professors on its visiting professors' list from B-schools such as Wharton, Kellogg and London Business School which also makes it a very good option. I had applied to ISB in 2012 with 3 years of work experience, but didn't make it. So, I applied again in 2015 after getting some more experience, and worked with you on my application. This time I made it through.

Poonam: What was your favorite thing about PGP program of ISB? Could you please share your best experiences both in and outside of the class room that helped shape your career?

Tribhuvan: It is hard for me to list out one favorite thing. I can share the things I remember the most. At ISB, professors in Operations, Marketing, and Strategy teach us by using different cases published in Harvard Business Review, and they make them very interesting by challenging our conclusions and involving the whole class in an open discussion. It was very rare that I didn't learn anything new from the professor or my peers in a class sessions. Also, all the events at ISB are student driven and are held both at Mohali and Hyderabad campuses. I was the VP of General Management club and enjoyed organizing 'Advaita' a multi-business school event. Another big thing I was involved at the ISB was ISL - the ISB version of IPL. All the extra- curricular activities helped me bond better with my classmates and allowed me to apply the managerial concepts learned in classroom. Participation in various competitions also taught me that collaboration yields better results than individual brilliance.

Poonam: Is there anything about the program that you would like to change?

Tribhuvan: The program is optimized to squeeze in the relevant knowledge in one year. I think the school can improve the scheduling and timing of its elective courses because right now these are scheduled as per the availability of the professors rather than the timing required by the course. For example, sometimes we had to complete 6 lectures in a day only because the professor had to leave a week earlier than the course timing which caused unnecessary extra burden in an already packed day. In cases where the Prof has to leave early there should be an option to conduct the classes through VC. I agree that the teaching quality may not be not at par with the physical presence but it is still better than conducting classes on the week end or affecting the remaining 4 - 5 courses in the term.

Poonam: Looking back, what was the most challenging aspect of the school admissions process? How did you approach that challenge and overcome it? What would you advise other applicants who are facing similar challenges?

Tribhuvan: Writing essays was the most challenging part of the admissions process especially because of the stringent word limit. I was trying to write out the essays by myself but wasn't able to convey the message I wanted to, so I started to look for essay reviewers. I found sample analysis of myEssayReview useful and therefore, decided to take your help , and it worked well for me. I think every applicant needs some professional guidance on the essay part of the application.

Poonam: What are your favorite non-school books? What are you hobbies?

Tribhuvan: I am a big fan of detective novels and have read all of Sherlock Holmes and novels by Dan Brown. In my free time, I like to watch cricket, play tennis/badminton. Being in Europe now, I am enjoying learning French as well.

Poonam: Thank you, Tribhuvan, for sharing your story with us. It was a pleasure chatting with you about your ISB experience. Good luck on your future endeavors.

Note: You can connect with Tribhuvan via https://www.linkedin.com/in/tribhuvan-gupta-25b85b18/
This interview was first published in myEssayReview blog.

For questions, email Poonam at [email protected]

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