Please review my profile! Thanks!

[jessetheguy]

Hi,

Thanks for taking the time to look this over.

I am 28, Caucasian, Canadian Male. Bachelor of Commerce undergrad (3.4 GPA) from a top Canadian University. My GMAT is 700+.

After graduating I worked at a seasonal family business in the summer and traveled/designed web pages through my own little design company in the winters for three years. Eventually I was involved in every aspect including hiring, accounting, marketing and managing our partners and government contacts. The seasonal business was great experience and I took on more responsibility every year. We were voted best in our industry by our customers (against maybe a 100 alternate choices) my last year working there when my responsibilities were at their highest. In the winters I traveled, mostly to South America and designed web pages for clients in Canada.

The seasonal business had run the course of a 10 year government contract and I wanted a new challenge. So, I took an internship in Ecuador as an International Marketing Specialist at a Tourism Management Consulting firm where my role involved creating business plans and project managing web pages for local businesses. This internship was for 6 months and I left the position when my work permit expired. As a result I speak acceptable Spanish and learned a good deal about conducting business in Latin America. The most important thing I learned was that manana doesn't necessarily mean tomorrow (or the next day, or the next week for that matter)!!

Following Ecuador and some more travel I ended up in New Zealand. I was hired as a web designer/html coder at an e-commerce start-up that was backed by the nations largest TelCom. So a small start up with some serious corporate backing. After a couple months, I asked for and was given more responsibility and eventually left ten months later (when my work permit expired) as the Front End Product Manager. I was offered a permanent position but turned it down feeling that New Zealand was not the right situation at that point in my career.

For volunteer experience, I have tutored troubled youth at a correctional center and designed web pages for various non-profits at zero or minimal cost. EC: have played soccer pretty much my whole life. Been voted MVP of my team a couple times by my teammates. Lots of other hobbies but I want to keep it simple at this stage.

For why an MBA? I want to either continue in my technology vein or switch over to sustainability, which is a passion of mine. I implemented alot of sustainability measures at our seasonal business and would love the opportunity to tackle that challenge on a larger scale.

Finally, both of my parents owned small businesses (retired) and entrepreneurship is in my blood. Eventually I would like to start my own 'shop' combining sustainability and technology. I feel like an MBA from a top institution would steer me towards my path and provide that first opportunity out the door.

(How does that grab you as a Mission Statement?)

I know I have some holes in my application. For instance I dont tend to stay at jobs a long time. I was going to pitch this as really enjoying project based work. Once the project is over I move on to the next challenge. Which is actually how I look at it. Also moving around has given me a chance to experience conducting business in many different cultures.

Also, I travel ALOT. I have stuffed a passport since I finished my undergrad. I am overseas right now and had to go to the embassy to get a new passport so that I could see a couple more countries before heading home. I really feel like that phase of my life is coming to a close and I am ready to move forward in my professional career. But I am a little concerned about how the adcom committee will view it. Any schools that you are aware of that have a higher tolerance for travel?

Total Work Experience: about 34 months plus about 10 webpages designed and managed while traveling. Usually takes me a couple of weeks to do a page so I could probably round up to around 40 months.
GPA: 3.4
GMAT: 700+

Finally, my school list:

1. Stanford, whose #1 isnt Stanford? Love the blend of innovative thinking, international exposure and creative environment
2. Berkeley, The technology program, international opportunities and commitment to sustainability appeal to me. Seems you can go overseas every semester with this program.
3/4 Colombia/Stern, I group them together because they seem very similar to me. Maybe have not researched them enough. But both offer good opportunities in technology with international exposure(?)
5. IESE, love the opportunity to solidify my Spanish. The international exposure is immense and I really enjoyed the last time I went to school overseas (ESC Grenoble, France, exchange). Would rank the European schools higher on my list except for the stigma vs US schools.
6. LBS, international exposure. Some grads hired to Google which is a target company for me.

So what do you think? How are my odds? Is there anything I should focus on in the next year to improve my application?

Thanks for looking this over!

[MBAApply]

Your candidacy will be hard to benchmark or assess because you're an unknown quantity.

Keep in mind that there's a lot of applicants to all the top schools that will have extensive experience outside their home country. The fact that you have won't necessarily make you unique. Beyond a certain threshhold, the degree of your international experiences being an asset becomes marginal. What's most important still is the quality of your work experience, no matter how many stamps you have on your passport.

Moving around to different countries can be a great thing, but it can also come across as someone who is running away from something, especially if you're not staying in one place for too long. The concern is that you have commitment issues, and that you haven't been in one place long enough to be in a position to really grow. Moving around has allowed you to be broad, but not to really dig deep. And as you get older, digging deep becomes more important for your growth anyhow.

Anyhow, it's really hard to say what your chances are. Stanford will be a long shot, although I guess it's like a lottery ticket and you never know. For the other schools, it will come down to how well you execute your applications and a bit of luck.

Alex Chu
alex@mbaapply.com
www.mbaapply.com
http://mbaapply.blogspot.com