IIMA PGPX Essay 2: Describe a situation where you failed and how did you deal with this experience. What did you learn from this? (500 words)

This situation deals with my failure to secure an MBA admit in X previous attempts and the lessons I learnt from it for the fifth one.

After graduating in 20XX, I had started studying for MBA entrance exams while handling my job responsibilities. I did not get the required scores to clear the cutoffs for the interviews. Undeterred, I tried harder in the next three years and studied meticulously for the exams in each of these years. However, I never got the full taste of success as my scores always fell short of desired cut-offs. As a little consolation, I was shortlisted for interviews of a few Tier-2 B-schools. However, my misery continued because I could not get a single admit letter from any B-school I had interviewed with.

So in 20XX, after X unsuccessful attempts, not only was I nowhere close to getting an MBA seat, but I had also not been able to focus well on my job which put my career in jeopardy as I constantly fared average during my performance appraisals. Fearing yet another disappointment, I could not muster up the courage to resume studies and did not appear for any entrance exams since, until this year.

Although I failed, I learnt a lot about what had gone wrong and how I could have dealt with it.

Dedication – I learnt that I was not devoted enough to the goal, as I was constantly worried about failure and often wondered if I should focus on my job than on studies. This fear of failure put a roadblock in my mind, which affected my preparations. As a learning, I decided to go for another attempt at MBA only after reaching a stable stage financially and career-wise. The result is that I have been able to focus on MBA preparation without over-worrying about career.

Planning – I realized I was not studying in a systematic manner, focusing more on my strengths and trusting on destiny for weaker topics. Also, I was not paying attention to practice tests for analyzing my weaknesses. This time though, I planned my studies well, took several mock tests to improve on the weaker sections, and also thoroughly analyzed my scores in the mock tests. The result was that in the GMAT exam, I not only scored well in the quantitative and verbal sections, but also obtained full marks in IR and AWA sections (8 and 6 respectively).

Lack of plan-B – I did not have a plan-B in case of not getting selected in my desired school. This left me in similar situation every year for X consecutive years and I had to start all over again every year. The learning is that I have applied to multiple schools along with IIMA. This has not only helped me to get a real interview practice, but also kept my dream of MBA alive even if I don’t make it to IIMA, since I already have an acceptance from another school.

IIMA PGPX Essay 1 : Describe a situation where your professional ethics were challenged and how you came to terms with the situation. What did you learn from this? (500 words)

This is an instance that tested my honesty and taught me several lessons.

I have been working as company's employee engagement partner for the past X years, conducting various XYZ events for the company.

In 20xx, the management decided to celebrate the XYZ in India. I led the team that took the responsibility of organizing various fun and technical events for the employees. I also oversaw purchase of various gift items to be awarded to employees as prizes. We purchased a few spare gifts, to cover for any last minute surprises or defective pieces.

After the event got over successfully, we were left with the spare gifts. At this time a few members of the team suggested that we distribute some of the remaining gifts among ourselves as a reward for our hard work. While I had no doubts on the efforts we had put, sneaking something that belonged to the company did not seem right to me. The management had shown complete trust on our team, so nobody would have got to know even if we had kept the gifts for ourselves. Yet, doing so would have been wrong because we were merely handlers of company property, not the owners. I politely but firmly refused to side with them. With a little prodding I was able to convince them that the appreciation from happy employees is the true reward than any physical gifts. They agreed with me, bringing me immense satisfaction of not having to break my values and giving me a reason to walk tall.

The learnings from this situation have been enlightening in more than one ways. Primarily, I learnt that in order to follow the right path, taking a leadership position is essential. People often know what the right thing is, but may not always be willing to lead. However, if a leader is showing the way, then they will happily stand with you.

Secondly, I learnt that merely taking a stand may not be enough. It is necessary that you convince the opposing party because what may look obvious to you may not be as easily visible to them. In this case, the dissenting members thought since we would not get any reward from the management anyway, this might be the only way to get some prize for their hard work. I convinced them that organizing good events can help us win the best team of the year award at the company's annual rewards ceremony.

Lastly, it is important that you do not burn all your bridges with the other party, as your paths may cross again in future. I had been working with this team for close to 2 years and wanted no bad blood between us, as we had a long list of events lined up to organize in coming days. I kept my composure while explaining to them leaving no animosity between us.

These lessons have helped me during many events that I organized later.

ISB Essay 2 : Describe your short and long term career plans. How does the PGP fit in with those? (300 words max)

During my 11 year stint in IT industry, I have taken on multiple challenges head-on and learned something new after each success and failure alike. While these opportunities have taught me a lot from technical perspective, I feel stuck in an overly technical role with limited exposure to management aspects. I wish to gain broader view of industry and market which can enable me to become business partner for customers, not just technology implementer. This is where an MBA fits in, enabling me to hone my management skills with new perspectives and ensuring that I am ready for next phase of my career.

Post MBA, I see myself in a leadership role of a multinational IT firm where I would offer business consulting combined with technical solutions to important players in ABC domain industry. I would use learnings from 6 years of handling technical and functional challenges for a ABC domain customer in this direction.

In the long term, I see myself in a VP or director’s role, developing global strategic plans and driving the implementation that includes business development and technology modernization. I intend to provide thought leadership and industry knowledge by analyzing the market dynamics and recommending solutions to pertinent business challenges. These goals require cross functional understanding of business, and I would like to combine my know-how from IT sector with ISB learnings.

PGP provides such tremendous diversity in its cohort that hundreds of mid-career professionals have transformed into global business leaders using this peer network, and this forms crux of how I intend to use PGP to achieve my goals. A diverse crowd from all spheres of life will ensure that I unlearn and learn at the same time. The various professional clubs and frequent alumni interactions will help me leverage my versatility with a 360-degree overview.

ISB Essay 1 : If we were to admit just one more candidate to the Postgraduate Programme (PGP) at the ISB, why should it be you? (400 words max)

The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today. – H Jackson Brown Jr.

Spending more than a decade in the IT industry has made me a versatile IT professional and my achievement rewards speak volumes about it. I grabbed the opportunity to directly work at the customer premises in XYZ barely 8 months into my first job, and to mentor and organize the offshore team after my return to India 4 months later. I showed an early display of leadership when I led a 6-member project before completing 3 years of experience, and later worked at customer premises in ABC in the capacity of an Analyst, Designer, Developer and Tester, all combined. This way I not only saved costs for my company, but also impressed the customers with my multitasking skills. The project was customer’s first involvement with my company in the embedded systems domain, and my stint ensured that the company won another 0.2 million $ project from the same customer.

In my current company, I had 3 designations in just 4.5 years. I played a key role in scaling up the team size from an initial 8 to a peak size of 60+, by taking interviews, mentoring development team and helping management in re-structuring the team. I served as the development coordinator, handling the technical and general coordination work with my onsite counterparts and customers. Through my business trips to several countries I have learnt cross cultural communication, which is a vital competency in any international business. My current position has given me proficiency in setting up and managing fairly big global teams.

As an official employee engagement partner of my company, I have conducted external events such as campus connects, job fairs and recruitment drives, and internal events such as fitness challenge, technical paper contests, corporate quiz and software conclaves for 3000+ employees of the company. I led the celebrations for company’s XX event in India in 20xx, organizing various technical & fun events and managing finances of the program. This role has allowed me to frequently interact with the company leadership for several strategic initiatives and demonstrate my large scale organizational skills.

I believe I offer a unique value proposition to the class by offering my technical expertise, organizational skills and leadership qualities. My urge to learn from the diverse peer group to prepare myself for a better tomorrow makes me a right fit for ISB.