I had my Skype interview today. The interview went smoothly and was not at all a stress interview. I was interviewed by 2 alums and most questions were related to my work. All those questions could easily be answered as I knew my work well. They also asked why MBA and discussed a bit about the role shift within my current industry that I had talked about in my essays. I was also asked how long would it take me to reach the next level in my current role if I do not do an MBA. Apart from work, they asked me what initiatives had I taken at a personal level outside of work. Finally, they asked me what I would bring to the table at ISB and asked me if I had any questions. The whole interview lasted around half an hour and was conducted in a very calm, conversational manner. There was no grilling and the interviewers were nodding and responding to my answers throughout. No questions about why ISB, strengths or weaknesses or about hobbies/passion were asked.
I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and now the wait begins! All the best everyone!
How to start developing the essays? for @PrakeshReddy
Yes the start is usually the toughest and sometimes consumes up to 40 to 50% of the time invested in doing up the MBA essays.
Well for starters go back to the basics and understand one thing that this MBA application is also essentially a selection process and there are fundamentally only two aspects to any selection from the recruiter's point of view:
1. What is it that the candidate brings to the table?
And
2. What is the expectation of the candidate from the recruiter?
Think about it even if you have ever hired a domestic maid servant (or a CEO for that matter) these have been the fundamentals of your selection.
As an MBA applicant for you the 'Recruiter' is the school and you are the candidate.
So start by asking 3 simple questions:
1. Who you are? - this will help you determine your diversity
2. Where do you want to go? and
3. How does the school fit into the scheme of things? - Both 2 & 3 will help make it very clear to you as well as the school what your aim is.The B School application is primarily an introspection exercise but with a twist.Start of by enlisting 'Who you think you are?' and do it like a brain storming session to come up with a long list of things you think will differentiate you. Your competencies fit best in this list but don't just stick to your knowledge and skill based attributes but also explore your attitude.
For God's sake remember that by DNA you are different and thus if you think you cannot come up with anything differentiating about you, you have not thought enough. Once you have a reasonable long list get it validated by your most ardent critic. (Women with mother-in-laws are at a distinct advantage here. Men too can try it with your father-in-laws but do not add too much soda to his Whiskey.) Jokes apart connect with someone who knows you real well to validate this list and once done look at the list yourself to understand if this is what you think you can contribute to the class's knowledge quotient. Fit these differentiation in as things that made you do or think differently in the given situation in Essay 1 2 & 4. I am guessing cooking up the situation is the easy part.
Now look at 'Where do you want to go?' or Essay 3
Connect the dots carefully to show a logical sequence. Stick to fundamentals of knowledge and qualification based steps rather than drive, passion or even interest. If you are coding software and want to go into investment banking you will have to show what steps you have taken besides applying to the school to get there. MOOCs, Apprenticeships, probono work, reading, research,etc... all can come to your rescue here. While showcasing your aim (goal immediately after MBA) try and workout a way in which you can show that you have thought through your plan but are still flexible. This flexibility is important as it will help you depict humbleness.
Now 'How does the school fit into the scheme of things?' Well this is the part most people get wrong. It is important for you to explain why you need that MBA so much in this part of the essay.
Unnecessary references to Projects, Programs (ELP), People (faculty), Clubs, etc... just do not help. I have only been too amused to read that candidates who know nothing about the life at a B - School write about how they will participate and organize activities for a club. It is too obvious to a seasoned essay evaluator that your research about the school is restricted to either its website or at max an infosession. This will not be appreciated.
Most schools expect you to know at least the why you need an MBA and you should not only be able to put this across well but also be able to defend it if interrogated.
A good consultant may be able to help you on how to put your points across but you will still have to do the leg work and come up with the 'What.'
So get up tomorrow... Have your cup of Tea and START working on that list...
Please 'Like' if it helped and 'Follow me' for more advice from me.
Wish you all the best!
Llewellyn Desouza
#MBAconsulting - We do not have a website but you can checkout the profile of 'Llewellyn Desouza' on LinkedIn.
hello, please review my profile i am a dentist with 31 months of work ex in charitable hospital as well in a private multispeciality hospital as a dental surgeon . my gmat score is 620 awa/ir (5/5). 10th std 86% 12th std 76% graduation 58% i wish to enter into ISB ..what are my chances? as i have followed the page many dentists have applied...what do u think should i go for a retake or.620 vl fetch me a call in R2?
It was taken by two alums. Very friendly. Most of the questions were around my work.
First few were why do I need MBA with my current profile and How do I rate myself among my peers. They asked me about the nature of my work and my responsibilities and also an incident where I had disagreements with my team at work.
Then they asked me what value would I add to the class. They went deep into this question as I mentioned Big data and an incident how I helped a friend of mine from non analytic background in her assignments.
They quizzed me on my essays asking me to elaborate on the risky situation mentioned in the essay.
Since I am a re applicant they asked me why was I rejected last year.The interview ended with what was the constructive feedback I received at work in the last appraisal.
The interview was a great experience and personally for me the biggest challenge was to get over the nervousness of facing the interview but with help from @Llewellyn75 I was able to focus on my strengths.
For the benefit of others I would like to iterate your tip which proved to be very useful for me. The interview is only about finding out two things from the candidate:
1. What would they bring to the table
2. What are their expectations
So I hope the experience is helpful and all the best for the interview!
Questions were mostly related to my work and essays. Then there were a few typical questions such as why MBA? why consulting? There were no guesstimates; however there was a business case question, perhaps because I come from a consulting background. There were also a hypothetical scenario thrown at me (sharing the same essence as my risk essay). It was a smooth interview overall.
Thank you @Llewellyn75 so much for all the help and guidance. Your help, preparation, feedback and mocks were right on target! 😃
There's always something in the past that makes you who you are today.
Think about this carefully while writing your MBA application essays.
#MBAconsulting #HappyDiwali
I have given my GMAT last year and scored 650. Though I applied to ISB last year, I did not get an interview call.
I m planning to give GMAT again this month but based on my mocks performance, I understand I might not score more than 700. The basic reason for not getting a good score is I m not able to devote time due to my commitments in the NGO I work and office schedules.
as I m not able to score much Should I drop off from my ISB aspiration ? .
Here is a brief of my profile
IT male 27 years engineering grad from a local college in Hyd
BTech - 75%
12th - 92%
10th - 78%
With 5.5 years of experience in product development.
Extra curricular
1. Marketing member, city manager for NGO which has a volunteers strength of 300 2. Participant in Startup weekend Hyd
Achievements
1. Prepared impact proposals & streamlined process in NGO.
2. Applied for Tata SE challenge for the NGO to get funding.
3. Winning team member for Product design challenge in my company
4. Selected as Jagriti Yatra fellow 2015
Future plans
Want to be a product manager for a technology startup or company.
So planning for a SPL in marketing and strategy @ISB.
So the submitting date has noting to do with the date you will be called for the interview. It is not First In First Out.
It is totally random but city wise...
So far calls for only Hyd, Bangalore, Skype and a few from Chennai have been rolled out.
More calls for Hyd, Bangalore, Skype and Chennai will still keep coming maybe till the 25th of this month. Skype call may keep coming till early Dec.
The next Big blast of interview calls maybe expected on or before Friday the 13 of the month for Delhi and Mohali interviews on 20, 21, 22 and beyond. Some Del candidates may even be called to Mohali or Hyd. These calls will keep coming till early December.
After that Mumbai calls will come by Friday 20 Nov for interviews in Mumbai on 27,28 and 29. Again Mumbai candidates who cannot be accommodated may be called to Hyd or Mohali there after. These calls may come in subsequent blasts till early Dec as well.
Then calls for Kolkata will come on or before Friday 27 Nov for interviews in the City of Joy in the First week of Dec. The spill over of Kolkata will be interviewed in Hyd/ Mohali after 5/6 Dec.
So effectively don't lose hope till at least 3 Dec 2015.
Wish you all the best... HAPPY DIWALI
Llewellyn Desouza
PS: All the above dates are data collected over phone from the school. However since the dates are not published on the website, they may change. This is just to give you a general idea and nothing official about it.
Puys a quick question...What if there are no extra-curricular activities/NGO experiences in the profile? Is it a straight forward reject? (Assuming other aspects of the app are average)