An evening with Richard Ivey

She was waiting for me, standing tall next to the pillar, with folded hands and crossed legs, as I entered the Taj lobby. I was 15 minutes before the scheduled time and she was free, so we decided to sit at the pool side. It was a pleasant evening wheather of Bangalore with no drizzling thankfully. Some wedding preperations were going on there and we started with a light conversation about Indian weddings and how they are like grand parties and she told she wants to attend one. And then, the interview began.

It was not a blind one and she was well informed about my application, but it was quite standard with a few spontaneous questions. She was easy going and so was the interview.

Walk me through your resume briefly.

Why MBA?

Where do you see yourself just after MBA? Exactly what role you think you would be playing?

What do you see in a MBA school?

Any leadership or team work experience.

Any challenging situation in team. How you handled? What you learned?

What concerns career team in Richard Ivey could have with your placement and how they could address them?

What's your long term goal? Any specific company in mind for long term?

Any constructive criticism from the manager.

Why we should take you?

Any questions for me?

And the pool side meeting was over in half an hour with hand shakes, smiles, a light conversation about her India visit, and a final hand shake.

Was it a date? Will be revealed on Dec 17 ;-)

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The fight is on

So yesterday ISB broke my heart once again, don't know what's the problem...so the fight is still on and for the much better.

Congratulations to all who are in, and for those who are not, don't loose hope and believe in yourself. The best is yet to knock the door...and the life would change forever!

A

Some fun, lost rhythm, and the wait...

Though a little late, I wish all my readers a very prosperous Diwali and a successful Year ahead. Wish we all get into the schools of our choice.

Aha! Last ten days were real fun with my cousin’s wedding and Diwali celebrations. In amidst of chit-chatting with cousins I met after long, dancing on every single song, relishing the variety sweets, drinking Bacardi with dad, licking my fingers on mom’s delicious food, and playing cards with family till 2 am, I managed to write stories for first two essays of HBS and get them reviewed by my reviewer.

I am back from home but will confess that the rhythm of writing stories every night is lost somewhere. Yesterday, one of my closest friends made me realize that the time is running faster than I, and I don’t have a single minute to waste provided I have 5 US schools and I safe UK school in my list for round 2, and I have one more cousin’s wedding coming up in last week of this month. So from today, I am going to regain my lost rhythm with more focus and efforts.

I personally feel one more reason for this lost rhythm – the anxious butterflies inside and outside me waiting for ISB result - though I keep saying to myself and everyone that nothing going to happen there as these results are so relative. These butterflies remind me of one more news to share – interview invite from Richard Ivey on 19th – face to face with manager of admissions in Bangalore. If anyone has Richard Ivey interview experience, please do share.

My next post would be only after ISB result – all the best to all who are awaiting the result!

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Advantages of MBA Deferral Policy

Some top business schools around the globe are offering flexible deferral policies these days. There is a reason for that but many admits don't ponder much on the advantages of the deferrals, and the few who do, just do it solely for family reasons. 

This post is intended to highlight how deferring for an year might position you better for your MBA. 

Prepare yourself to excel in MBA: Many top consulting companies or financial institutions who recruit MBA graduates mostly consider top 5 - 10 percent of the lot. And to be in that top 5% is not an easy task in a rigorous tight-packed one-year MBA program. In your deferred year, you can prepare yourself extremely well to have more chances to excel by completing basics management courses like accounting, finance, stats, economics, reading management books, reading famous biographies, improving soft skills and many more.

Clear your goals: I have interacted with a lot of MBA students and admission consultants during the last 4 years, and I have come to believe that one year in MBA just flew by before you know. Because of that it becomes utmost critical to have crystal clear goals of what you want from this MBA program. If you choose to defer, you gained one free and secure year. Use this year to increase your network, talk to as many alums as you can, talk to your senior professionals and search through your soul. Your crystal clear goals will help you far better in MBA than anything else. 

Aim for your dream school: If this is not your dream school or is not in the country where you would like to settle post MBA, you can defer for an year and give your best shot for your dream school with more confidence, because now you already have a seat secured. You are not loosing anything but the gain is tremendous. Nothing can substitute your dream school.

Increase in salary: One factor that largely affect the outgoing salaries of MBA students is their incoming salaries. In that one year, in all the probabilities, you have a better salary than the current. And, higher incoming salary equals to higher outgoing salary.

Designation: Many admits might have pending promotions within an year for which they have sweated-out really hard for last couple of years. So why not wait for an year and make that sweat count. You have your position secured in MBA and getting in with a higher designation will surely pay-off.

Plan for the money: Today you have a good earning job. Better earn and save money for one more year, so even if you opt for loan, you have enough liquid cash to pay off that loan without hurting your back in the uncertain market.

NOTE: Not all advantages are applicable to all, so think clearly and deeply and make the most of it. 

PS: This is a guest post by Kamal Verma. He is a freelance writer and resident blogger, dedicated to contribute to the MBA community.

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Some other useful features:

• Its classifies the practice section wise, so you can concentrate on your weak sections first.
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• Performance reporting to identify your strengths, weaknesses on GMAT subject areas.
• Adaptive practice algorithm that mimics the real GMAT - the better you do, the harder the questions become in your practice session.

If you are preparing for GMAT and need to know more about this product, please don't hesitate to mail me using the link on left. I have a few accounts of this product specially for my blog readers, so let me know if you are interested.

Hope this helps,

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