[wishy.mishy]

Hi ISB_CONNECT

Following is a briefing of my credentials-
1.I am 24 year old, female, graduate from Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh in Electrical Engineering.
2.I am working as a Software Engineer in an embedded systems firm, Samsung India Electronics Limited with a total work experience of 2.5 years until now.
3.I have a score of 670 in GMAT.
4.I have a very strong profile that reflects a career suitable for a Master’s Degree in Management.

My query is, do I stand any chance of making it to ISB. If I have some chance, then what should I do in order to maximize it?

Would be a great help to have a reply form you!

[ISB_CONNECT]

hi
Sorry for getting a bit late on this. My few cents on the same
>>> Kind of roles offered by Google, Microsoft etc?
The majority of jobs revolve around the roles of programme manager, account manager, sales operations manager, business development, market analyst, evangelist etc.. The roles offered could change year on year based on company's demand
>>> how how much sense does it make to do MBA from ISB to progress in product development roles?
Being from one of the companies you have mentioned, I can vouch that it is easier to get into these roles without an MBA if you have grown from within the company. As an outsider, you would either need experience in the same or have a degee in business administration. ISB has a strong tie up with major IT companies and they do visit on a regular basis. Also, the Business Technology Club offers students a chance to interact with some of the most distinguished luminaries in this field. The recent technology conclave organised by ISB was a huge success with the who's-who of the industry attending. Interaction with these stalwarts is not something that easy to obtain and that is one thing ISB can provide. Since most of the students come with good amount of experience from distinguished companies and have good contacts, students get a chance to leverage the same to get companies of their choice on campus.
Hope this answers your question.

[Shinoj_48]

Hi ISB CONNECT

I am Shinoj. I have close to 5 years of experience(IT).

While forming my Essay question,i have come across this question that

Discuss how your career goals will be met by the ISB’s one year programme in management

Now i am really interesting in the Business side of things like going to Consulting, to Business Development(possibly and of course later on in my career). So obviously for these reasons i want to do my MBA.

But an experienced acquaint of mine told me that stating out these reasons would be riskier as i would present an opportunity to the Panel to interrogate me further over these fields which i don't have in depth knowledge as of now.

Now obviously i dont have the knowledge in depth for the above fields because of the simple reason i am not in those fields (Consulting,Business Development). So in your experience how would the Panel approach my reasoning if i state it the way i want to? And in your opinion how should i approach answering the question?

Regards
Shinoj

[wishy.mishy]

Originally Posted by ISB_CONNECT

hi
Sorry for getting a bit late on this. My few cents on the same
>>> Kind of roles offered by Google, Microsoft etc?
The majority of jobs revolve around the roles of programme manager, account manager, sales operations manager, business development, market analyst, evangelist etc.. The roles offered could change year on year based on company's demand
>>> how how much sense does it make to do MBA from ISB to progress in product development roles?
Being from one of the companies you have mentioned, I can vouch that it is easier to get into these roles without an MBA if you have grown from within the company. As an outsider, you would either need experience in the same or have a degee in business administration. ISB has a strong tie up with major IT companies and they do visit on a regular basis. Also, the Business Technology Club offers students a chance to interact with some of the most distinguished luminaries in this field. The recent technology conclave organised by ISB was a huge success with the who's-who of the industry attending. Interaction with these stalwarts is not something that easy to obtain and that is one thing ISB can provide. Since most of the students come with good amount of experience from distinguished companies and have good contacts, students get a chance to leverage the same to get companies of their choice on campus.
Hope this answers your question.

Dear ISB_CONNECT,

Thanks for the timely response. Let me re-state my question with more details....

Following is a briefing of my credentials-
1. I am a 24 years old, female, graduate from Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh in Electrical Engineering.
2. I am working as an Embedded Systems Engineer in Samsung India Electronics Limited with a total work experience of 2.5 years until now.
3. I have a score of 670 in GMAT.
4. I have a suitable profile that is coherent with a career in Management, with some first-hand Entrepreneurship Experience. I have a start-up of my own.

I would really be grateful if you can guide me on the following:

A) What could be the limiting factors in my profile for making it to ISB?

B) Provided my score of 670, how should I present my case in the best possible way to secure the best chances of admission in ISB?


Warm Regards!!

[shobhit.shri]

Originally Posted by ISB_CONNECT

hi
Sorry for getting a bit late on this. My few cents on the same
>>> Kind of roles offered by Google, Microsoft etc?
The majority of jobs revolve around the roles of programme manager, account manager, sales operations manager, business development, market analyst, evangelist etc.. The roles offered could change year on year based on company's demand
>>> how how much sense does it make to do MBA from ISB to progress in product development roles?
Being from one of the companies you have mentioned, I can vouch that it is easier to get into these roles without an MBA if you have grown from within the company. As an outsider, you would either need experience in the same or have a degee in business administration. ISB has a strong tie up with major IT companies and they do visit on a regular basis. Also, the Business Technology Club offers students a chance to interact with some of the most distinguished luminaries in this field. The recent technology conclave organised by ISB was a huge success with the who's-who of the industry attending. Interaction with these stalwarts is not something that easy to obtain and that is one thing ISB can provide. Since most of the students come with good amount of experience from distinguished companies and have good contacts, students get a chance to leverage the same to get companies of their choice on campus.
Hope this answers your question.

Thanks for your reply. It is indeed very useful.

I understand that MBA is not a panacea to solve all problem but it can provide a push to jump few steps. But do people really do that in ISB? For example, a programmer from MS joining ISB and going on to become programme manager in R&D?

I know this is too hypothetical but I just want to check the possibilities.

[mission_mba2009]

Hi ISB_CONNECT,

I have a question on how diversity plays a role in classroom learning. Can you give me an example where you personally felt that because of peer, who had a diverse background, you could learn something which you could not have otherwise. I believe that its about sharing your unique experiences i.e. how you faced a particular situation and handled it and what were my learnings from it, regardless of your background. So, can you please help me understand the material benefit of having diverse peers.

Thanks

[creative_dude]

Hi ISB_Connect,

I must congratulate on such a good job you're doing in helping prospective ISB applicants. When ISB started it's program, it was an ideal option for a working class professional to join.

But, with the advancement in years, the years of experience are starting to feel like a drawback. I have an an average GMAT of 700 with extensive IT industry experience in various orgs. I've done my Btech from an NIT.

I have both a products sector profile with experience in Novell and Mentor graphics. I also have exposure in service sector in IBM.


I see two career options in my future.
a) Getting in Program Management or Product management
b) Getting into consulting.

I have a preference for consulting. I do have expsoure to various social issues, As a matter of fact, I write articles on investment, royalty and various mining matters. They have been published in Portals. This does provide me an extensive social sector exposure.


The question is, since, I don't fit in regular class profile of ISB ie.e 3-6 years exp. Is ISB a good option for me?

I've received feedback from certain sources that ISB does not prefer high experience candidates.


Thanks In advance
Umashankar Das

[c_syama]

Originally Posted by mission_mba2009

Hi ISB_CONNECT,

I have a question on how diversity plays a role in classroom learning. Can you give me an example where you personally felt that because of peer, who had a diverse background, you could learn something which you could not have otherwise. I believe that its about sharing your unique experiences i.e. how you faced a particular situation and handled it and what were my learnings from it, regardless of your background. So, can you please help me understand the material benefit of having diverse peers.

Thanks

This is a very valid question...I would really like to know how the diversity works....in fact,I would love to see,if possible, a live class room session in ISB...Is there any such provision??

[idream800]

Dear ISB CONNECT,

I'm an Indian woman, 25 yrs of age and my profile is as follows. (The question nos in front of my questions have been highlighted in red):
10th - 84.33%,
12th- 58.17%,
Bachelor of Management Studies (Mumbai University) - 70.91% (first class with distinction)
GMAT: 700 (Verbal-38, Quant-48 )

Work ex- 2 years 10 months, Marketing and General Management profiles.
05-06 - worked for an NGO as communication Executive
06-07 - worked for a manufacturing, small EOU as Management trainee
07-08 - Worked for a leading retailer as Marketing Executive (handled all marketing related activities of several stores across India alone for a few months, re-launched the loyalty program)
Took 1 year, 9 months break from work.

Extra curriculars: decent...

I am currently not working and have started looking. Hope to start soon (extending my current profile). So my total experience would be around 3 years 2 months by March 2010.

I took the break for extremely personal reasons. For my well being, i have been asked to refrain from talking about the real reasons by experts. During this period, I have worked on life skills primarily but have not 'visibly' (atleast thats what i think) been very active on that front too due to the constraints I have had. So I'm feeling very unsure and confused about how to justify this break. 1. Will you be able to suggest how I can approach this? 2. I wanted to know from ISB's perspective, what are the disadvantages of having such a long break for no fault of ones own.

Also, i have applied in the past and had my application rejected for 4 different reasons (as was mentioned in the feedback). I have been able to work only on one of those i.e. GMAT and have improved my score phenomenally. Second point was that my reason for doing the course at ISB did not appear to be strong enough. This also can be worked upon through essays. However, i was given 2 other points to consider- quality of work ex was not rich enough and no significant awards and achievements. My application last time was slightly hurried and that may be one of the reasons (among some real ones) why I got some of these feedbacks. However, I can't do anything about these 2 in this cycle because I haven't been able to work.

3. Please help me understand how the fact that I applied hurriedly last time and haven't significantly improved on the application this time will affect my chances and 4. what is your view on such an application. 5. Also, do you think that the improvements in my profile are significant enough to justify a reapplication this year.

6. Wat are the weaknesses in general (overall) you see in my current profile?

Thank you so much for your time and help. Really appreciate it.

idream800

[godhead]

Can a student have a Mac as his/her laptop instead of a PC?
Or is it mandated that only PCs should be used?