Profile Evaluation : 710 : 8 years : Consulting

[mazebox]

Hi ,

I am planning to join a one year MBA program in 2013. Can some one please evaluate my profile and tell me which range of colleges I need to aim for.

I have 8 years of experience in software consulting. I have 2 years of international experience ( 1- Japan , 1 - US , 1 - Australia ).

I work as a business process consultant with focus on process improvement. Since my role is as a consultant , leadership experience is relatively less. My extra curricular are also quite weak.

Social / Extra curriculars

I am part of my company's CSR initiatives , represent my team in quizzes and internal competitions. I am an amateur photographer and involved in some photography communities.

Leadership

I have led project teams of 10 - 15 . Some of them very diverse with people from 6 7 countries. I also lead an initiative in my company where I build strategies for preparing consultants via peer learning.

I have received 5 awards in the last 3 years . Most of them are for contribution to company's profits by bring consulting revenues and in building consulting services which our sales team can sell..

My GMAT split is 710 - ( Q - 49 and V - 38 ) .

In a worst case scenario , what is the range of colleges I can look into. It will be very helpful if you can share your thoughts.

Cheers
M@zebox

[mili]

Hello,

Professionally, it is really important that you show career progression. If you've been consistently promoted in your company over the past eight years, that is a different story than staying a stagnant as a consultant for the past eight years. Remember that many consultants apply successfully to business school and are able to demonstrate leadership in their professional experience (usually with only 4-5 years on the job), so it'll be important that you do the same. Finally, it will be important to position yourself as a business person rather than a technical person.

You have a strong GMAT, but I agree that your extracurriculars and community dimensions are not as strong.

I'd say that worst case scenario, you could look at schools like Cornell and Emory for 1 year programs. I hope this helps!

Good luck,
Mili Mittal
Senior Consultant
http://www.mbamission.com

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[mazebox]

Hi Mili,

Thanks for the information . It has been very helpful.

I consider the 3 years of my international experience under Japanese and American management styles as a differentiator. Is that a fair assumption or is it too common among applicants. How do I highlight such a strength .

Regards
M@zebox

[mili]

Certainly international experience is valued, but it is increasingly more common for applicants. There are many ways to position this in your application (cultural insights, adaptability/flexibility, international business...), but we'd have to do a much deeper consultation for me to help you figure out how to best position it for your specific application.

Best of luck,
Mili