Profile evaluation - anxiety problem

[christian]

Hi,
I kindly ask you to evaluate may profile.

Age: currently 28, but when program will start I will be 29
Nationality: Italian
Target schools: Top-European schools with 1-year program (IE and INSEAD for sure)
GMAT: 760 (Q50, V42)
EDUCATION:
Degree in Communications Engineering from Politecnico with 110/110 cum laude
Got also a second degree at UIC with a joint program between the two universities.
Work Experience lengths: 5 years and some months when program will begin

Work experiences:
- worked for 2 years and a half for BAH as management consultant in the IT sectors (IT governance and strategy, process design, program management, IT Service Management/ITIL)
- then I worked for 1 year for a small italian management consulting firm focused on the IT Service Management/ITIL: involved in process definition for IT re-organizations, got IT Service Manager Certification sponsored by Company (2weeks course + 2 days exam). I so became an expert of this field.
- 1 year (will be 2 when program will start) experience as a Service Manager for an IT Services Company, I am responsabile for an outsourcing service). Currently managing a team of 28 people (4 direct reports), responsible for managing client interface, people management, etc.
Also doing jobs as Senior Consultant/PM about two days a week for consulting projects in the IT Service Management definition / process assessment, etc

INTERVIEW SKILLS: I am stutterer and I do not react well under pressure (as usual in interviews!), I sometime stutter and feel anxious. This does not happens always, but expecieally when I feel I am judged. this does not cause me problems in normal working conditions, though.

Community Service:
active member since the end of high school of a cultural volunteer association, doing visits to cultural Palaces of my city. I have acted as a guide for visits on Saturdays, I organize cultural trips of the organization, I am the webmaster of the website

Post-MBA goals: make a career progress in my sectors (IT / Tech), either in the IT function, or in the Tech Marketing -> this would be the natural evolution of my current job which aims at aligning IT with business). Also could be interested in business development of new technologies.

I want to pursue the MBA in order to enlarge my vision of the business and to better understant how IT and technology can make business evolve (either from the IT or from the business side).

In particular, my question is: how much my potentially bad interview skills could influence on the decision, and which European MBAs value most this point? Would some american programs value less this point? Should I address this weekness in the application? Please consider that I do not always do bad in interviews, it is just random depending on my anxiety.


Thanks,
Christian

[MBAApply]

To be honest, b-schools care a lot about your communication skills, and if you have certain blocks that prevent you from being an articulate communicator, it will be a major concern.

My suggestion for your issue is not to do it alone - but to reach out to others for help. I'm not sure if there are support groups where you live that will help you with this. Based on what you wrote, it seems like it comes down to performance anxiety that is rooted in self-conciousness. Also, the "stutter" isn't a mental thing, but a physical thing (words aren't coming out as complete words or complete phrases because your voice isn't full, your breaths are very short and shallow, your heartrate is increased, and so forth), so you can't "think" your way out of it when it happens. It's about breath support, learning how to be on your voice and so forth - physical things that acting classes, speech therapy sessions, singing classes and even yoga may help (they all teach you how to be more aware of your body/voice so you know how to deal with nervousness and anxiety when it happens). Sounds unconventional, but it works because learning the mechanics of your body/voice that you use in acting, speech therapy, singing and yoga will help you learn how to combat nervousness and performance anxiety (or any kind of anxiety). While doing these things won't change or fix the problem overnight, but you'll be surprised how quickly it can work if you are dedicated.

Good luck

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