ISB Interviews- The Gateway to a Rewarding Career

The financial crunch which have been affecting the economy since the past few years had its dire effect on every sectors. Not only has it changed the way a business operates, but also has influenced the education scenario in a significantly diverse manner. Holding a professional degree is no more a ticket to a rewarding career, because recruiters are looking for the one who can outshine the “exceptional” set of applicants. Quite obviously higher education like MBA and that too from the internationally acclaimed colleges have become a compulsion.

Top B-schools like Indian Business School or ISB have their own set of norms and admission nitty-gritty, which are really tough to get through. But that does not make it an impossible venture although. Experts believe that getting successfully through the ISB interview gives you an edge, which in the long run can help you excel in the competitive professional field.

Lately, the business market is completely focused on the explicit and industry-oriented managerial skills, which are taught at the Top Business Schools. Hence, the course curriculum as well as the ISB interview pattern is framed in such a manner, so that they reflect a perfect blend of academics as well as the challenges faced in the real business world. Being chosen for the prestigious two year tenured MBA program in ISB is certainly a great feeling but, for that a candidate should be backed by a good GMAT scores, excellent academic track record, and professional experience as an added advantage.

However, the GMAT scores and academic track record is not everything. Since, the business market is extremely volatile, a candidate should have the tenacity to tackle all the hardships, he might need to face in the present business environment. This is how he will create his own niche in this market. Hence, during the interview session the students are meticulously scrutinized, whether they are able to put up with such challenges. ISB essays play a significant part in determining this. There have been instances, where an ISB aspirant has been asked to write essays (or prepare video essays) on different topics. According to the ISB scholars, essays provide an innovative way to screen candidates. Perfectly framed ISB essays are aimed at determining the candidate’s level of confidence, problem solving skills and the approach to address any problem.

The interview process helps in the neat qualitative analysis of an individual. If you are an MBA aspirant and desire to have a degree from the esteemed institutions like ISB, you must do your homework from months before. ISB essay tips can be of real help in this regard. According to the veterans, essays are nothing but a “freedom of expression” given to the candidates, which in turn help the interviewers to find the right candidate from the lot. Since, the educational scenario is increasingly becoming competitive and every second individual is holding a prestigious degree and competence, it’s really difficult to spot the one with real exceptional talent. The ISB essays are nothing but a great yet hassle free way to find the one.

How to prepare for GMAT

GMAT is certainly one of the hardest parts of applying to a business school. Your GMAT score is one of the most important factors in determining whether or not you will be admitted into a top business school. General Education GMAT expert offers some advice for those who are embarking their future on first stage of the Business School Application.

  1. More commitment to study: Regardless of how good you are at numbers and words and grammar, you must study in order to do well in your GMAT. Inspite of your busy schedule try to give sufficient time to your study.
  2. Study the Official Guide books:  There are many official guide books available in the market. The Official Guide for GMAT is an excellent GMAT study guide for people who need practice with sentence correction, reading comprehension, critical reasoning, quantitative questions and sentence correction questions.
  3. Take as many practice tests as you can: To gauge your knowledge for test and learnings you should take as many practice tests as you can.
  4. It’s okay if you have to take GMAT test again. You might even want to plan for it: GMAT is not an easy test so if you don’t get success in first attempt of the test its perfectly okay if you have to take it again. But make sure second time you take the test with more practice and study then you did at the time of your first attempt.
  5. Be prepared for it to be difficult- you can conquer it: No matter how intelligent you are. GMAT needs a lot more practice and prepare as much as you can. Just be prepared for it and if you are really trying don’t loose hope. If you have really put your efforts and then be sure it will be reflected in your result.

For more information regarding GMAT and Online GMAT Preparation visit http://www.general-ed.com/online-gmat-preparation

IMD Interview Process

IMD follows one of a kind interview process. The usual interview day @ IMD will be divided into 5 parts, they are –

Part 1 – Personal Interview: First part of interview process generally would be personal interview by the admissions committee members. This is similar to other b-school interviews.

Part 2 – Impromptu Presentation: After the personal interview admission committee gives all candidates a topic to give presentation on for about 5 minutes. We can say this as unplanned presentation round. To ace this round you need to be good in current affairs, global economic issues, politics, general awareness topics.

Part 3 – Lunch with IMD alumni: Immediately after the presentation IMD provides the opportunity to interact with the alumnus of IMD. During this process IMD alumni try to understand how an applicant will fit in with the culture of the school and then they report their findings to the admission Committee.

Part 4 – Case Study round: IMD Admission Committee provides the topic of case study 2 weeks prior to all the shortlisted candidates and during the case study discussion IMD faculty would be present, they generally observe and moderate the case discussion. From this round IMD looks for skills like case analysis, teamwork, leadership and presentations skills of the candidate.

Part 5 – MBA Class Observation: At the end all candidates will get the chance to sit in the current MBA class and observe the IMD MBA Class being delivered by the prominent professors. Most applicants just observe and don’t participate in class.

For more details on IMD Interview tips, interview experiences visit http://www.general-ed.com/imd-interview-experience and http://www.general-ed.com/imd-essay-analysis

ISB Essay Analysis 2013-14

Indian School of Business (ISB) Essay Analysis 2013-14

Essay 1: Attitude, skills and knowledge differentiate people. Elaborate with two examples on how you would differentiate yourself. (300 words max)

Analysis: The intent of this question is to gauge your reactions to situations in professional and personal life when you have demonstrated out of the box thinking and used knowledge, positive attitude, wisdom and skills to perform a task to differentiate yourself among your colleagues or teammates. It is advisable to make a mention of two situations where you have done something creative or impressive. You may also mention achievements and accomplishments in your professional life where you have displayed intellect and dynamism. An example could be how you may have helped any of your project(s) achieve success by meeting stringent timeline or helped improve company’s profit.

Essay 2: How does the ISB PGP tie-in with your career goals? (300 words max)

Analysis: This essay gives you the opportunity to tell ISB how your career goals fit with ISB and how ISB can help you to achieve your career goals. This is a perfect opportunity to describing your short term and long term goals, post and MBA degree, and how ISB and its resources will help you them.  Instead of singing ISB’s praises you have to show your strong and specific understanding about the ISB PGP Program and ISB’s specific resources (ISB’s faculty, curriculum etc.) and how you can make effective use of them. It is also advisable to speak about how your goals will make a difference to the society or the country in its due course.

Essay 3: Pick the most significant achievement (professional or personal) you have had and elaborate on the key learning you took away from it. (300 words max)

Analysis: This essay allows you to highlight your biggest learnings from previous experiences and achievements at work and your personal life. Write about the most distinct achievements at work that have made the greatest impact to you as well as your organization. It is also wise to mention failures, if you had any initially, the lessons learnt from them, your resolve to overcome and the final path to success. Not all achievements are realized in the first attempt and if you would be saying so, then chances are that they will be bought as lies.

For more information regarding Indian School of Business (ISB) essays and analysis visit http://www.general-ed.com/isb-essay-analysis

Career Counselling

General Education offer a comprehensive and professional range of career development services for individuals, groups and students to help excel in their goal. In today’s era the competition in education and employment is increasing each day and we are becoming more and career focussed and growth oriented. It is wisely said that before climbing the ladder of success it is important to ensure that the ladder is leant across the right wall and hence a proper guidance and direction is needed to lead on the path to success. Our career counselling services are personalised to understand and gauge candidature, gather information, research and then provide guidance and support to assist with a range of career management issues. A thorough career counselling from a seasoned professional can help identify a suitable career direction and the zero in on the activities required to pursue those career goals that is, finding relevant employment, training or education.

Our Career Counsellors are experts in their field with international and top notch management experience from the best institutes and organizations. They have a wide variety of domain and industry exposure, extensive knowledge of a wide range of occupations, disciplines and courses to suitably counsel you with professional, independent advice on your career, training and employment options. The career counselling services that General Education offer typically encompasses the following:

  • Understanding your profile in a comprehensive manner
  • Brainstorm about career goals and aspirations
  • Assessing interests, personality traits and skills
  • Determining short term and long term education and training needs
  • Developing effective job search skills
  • Exploring work and family balance and other core values
  • Identifying and addressing barriers to pursuing career goals
  • Identifying career choices and pathways
  • Understanding market trends and employment prospects for the future.

These services can be availed online, over the phone and in person from our consultants who can catapult you to the next level of your career horizon. You can also visit http://www.general-ed.com/career-counseling-mba to know more about Career Counselling.

Your Chances for B-School

While applying to a top B-School we don’t have any idea of our chances of getting admitted in a Business School.  Imagine if you knew your chances and probability of getting in to each top global Business school, then it is very easy to apply for Business schools across the globe.

General Education, India’s top MBA Application consultancy is here to help all the B-School aspirants. Use our new tool to gauge your chances for admission in particular school across the globe. Please visit http://www.general-ed.com/chances-of-bschool page and try out Your Chances for B-School tool.

  • This tool can calculate your percentage chances of admission at the top global B-schools.
  • By this tool you can be confident that you are receiving the most accurate, standard advice on getting admitted into top MBA Programmes.
  •  After getting your percentage chances of admission, you will know where you stand and you will be able to focus on the top business schools where you have the best chances of getting in.
  • In this tool Statistically significant variables – GMAT score, work experience, impact of extracurricular activities, performance in school and college, significant activities like leadership position and starting up and sustenance of a venture have been included in the model to explain maximum variance in B-school selection process and minimize confidence interval.

General Education is here to help you. We have alumni from Top B-Schools like ISB, Harvard, INSEAD, Duke, Emory etc. The consultants at General Education have successfully been through the interview process at top B-Schools around the world including Harvard, Emory, INSEAD, HEC Paris, ISB, AGSM and Cornell.

Gauge your chances for B-School now visit http://www.general-ed.com/chances-of-bschool

MBA Ding Analysis

General Education’s ding analysis service is an introspective evaluation of why you ended up being not accepted. Most of the b-school(s) do not provide feedback on application leaving candidates frustrated of not providing the reason of not being accepted.

One of our top b-school grad will thoroughly evaluate the application and do a comprehensive analysis of possible factors of being rejected with a specific B-School.  The consultant will work out “why” you were not given admission and suggest what might have gone incorrect as well as recommend next actions for how you might move in direction of any future application and what should be your approach towards a successful application as a re-applicant.

For more information visit http://www.general-ed.com/mba-ding-analysis

MBA Application Strategy Workshop & Meet Top B – School Alumni in Bangalore

Alumni of top B-Schools from Tuck-Dartmouth (USA), INSEAD (Europe) and ISB (India) would be conducting the workshop/seminar in Bangalore on 21st April 2013. The agenda of discussion would be:
•    How to start thinking about MBA?
•    Which b-schools to target?
•    When is a right time to apply in B-Schools?
•    What could be your pay-offs?
•    How to manage b-schools application process?
•    How to prepare for GMAT?
•    Live mock interview & analysis.
•    Interactive Q & A.

The advantages of attending the working would be:

•    Free profile evaluation (bring your updated CV).
•    One-on-one guidance from top B-School grads.
•    Free essay reviews (bring one along).
•    Interview tips.
•    Deep & thorough insights on B-Schools.
•    Opportunity to network with B-School alumni and aspirants.

The registration fee for this session is free. Kindly register for the session at http://www.general- ed.com/workshops-and-seminars. Bring/inform your friends aspiring for MBA from global B-Schools.

Yale School of Management Essay Analysis 2012-13

Yale School of Management Essay Analysis 2012-13

Essay 1.What prompted your decision to get an MBA? When did you realize that this was a step you wanted – or needed – to take? (150 words maximum)

Analysis: This essay is restricted to 150 words and it’s such a clear strategy from Yale to FOCUS your response here on exactly what they are looking for. Before answering brainstorm about your overall objective, your career goals and check whether MBA from Yale will help you to achieve your goals. Also demonstrate the necessity of MBA to achieve your goals with examples such as your lack of ability to progress in an organization’s hierarchy without MBA, your desire to change career paths, your interest to learn more management concepts. Link these with your rationale behind doing MBA.

Essay 2.Describe a difficult professional decision you had to make. What were the consequences, and what, if anything, did you learn? Would you make the same decision again? (300 words maximum)

Analysis: This question is common in most of the MBA applications; this question specifically asks for difficult professional decision which means you can choose the topics for answering this essay from professional history. You can elaborate about any challenge you may have faced on the job—such as accepting a new position, relocating due to work, or agreeing to work with a demanding colleague.

This Yale SOM essay question is framed to know the applicant’s approach on the decision-making process: the way you decide on the priorities by evaluating risks associated with the decision and also the ways to overcome the risks.  You can think of any such decisions and include them in reply but the key will be to give a convincing clarification of the reasons you made, thereby  providing the adcom with convincing reply about your thought process.

Essay 3.The Yale School of Management provides a leadership education characterized by broad-minded and intellectually curious students with diverse backgrounds, a distinctive integrated curriculum, connections to one of the great research universities in the world, and the broad reach of an innovative and expanding global network of top business schools. What will you contribute to the Yale SOM community, and how will being part of it help you extend your professional vision? (300 words maximum)

Analysis: This question focuses on Yale’s distinct values like diverse student body, distinctive integrated curriculum, connections to one of the great research universities in the world, and the broad reach of an innovative and expanding global network of top business schools. By asking this question   Yale is making an attempt to get a snapshot of an applicant’s understanding, hobbies and interests, and how can he/she add value to the class, also Yale Adcom tries to measure how these capabilities would make an influence on the Yale’s distinct values, culture and community.  While answering the applicant should focus on how he/she is different and distinct from others in the applicant pool. Elaborating on some focused skills and experiences from your professional/personal area would really strengthen your reply, additionally, the point that applicants are expected to focus on how joining Yale would help expand their professional vision. This implies that it would be suitable to include things like a quick reference of one’s career goals and the approaches in which enrolling in the Yale community could help improvise on those goals.

Essay 4.What do you consider to be your most significant accomplishment? Why? (300 words maximum)

Analysis: This is another relatively basic question on your achievements and accomplishments, and is typically asked by top business schools.  In answering this essay question, applicants should look at the achievements which showcase big picture and by focusing more on the impact they had on a project, group, or company. So, the applicants should brainstorm and note down potential topics for this essay, the potential achievements should me everlasting and measurable in terms of positive change. Also see that it’s important to demonstrate the overall story behind your achievements and accomplishment by describing the situation, task, action, and finally the important results and also discuss about the positive change.

UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School Essay Analysis 2012-13

UNC Kenan Flagler Business School Essay Analysis 2012-13

Essay-1 What are the 2 or 3 strengths or characteristics that have driven your career success thus far? Do you have other strengths that you would like to leverage in the future? (500 words maximum)

Analysis You can write about your 2-3 strengths and then evaluate how they have played a role to your professional achievements. This is a chance to exhibit your skills, highlight important achievements and milestones alongside your employment journey and outlining the approaches your chosen capabilities and strong points have allowed you to accomplish this result.

Essay-2 Briefly describe the career path you intend to pursue immediately after b-school. Explain why this career option appeals to you and why an MBA is appropriate at this time. (500 words maximum)

Analysis In this question you can talk about your strategies following Business College and why an MBA is the appropriate subsequent phase for you. You will need to explain your expert ambitions and the inspiration behind your profession goals. The individuals ought to make an attempt to comprehend programs, extracurricular activities and college’s key curriculum irrespective of whether dialogue with associates of the community or by means of a trip to college.

Essay-3 What personal qualities or life experiences distinguish you from other applicants? How do these qualities or experiences equip you to contribute to UNC Kenan-Flagler? (500 words maximum)

Analysis How is your story distinctive from other applicants? How will you contribute to UNC Kenan-Falgler’s MBA community and classroom? Think about groups or activities you will be a part of and what you will carry that is unique. Generate interest of admission panel members by differentiating yourself with others. Use this question as an opportunity to discuss some details about your passions and experiences that differentiate you from other applicants.