Showing posts with label Wiki. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wiki. Show all posts
This is an age old fable of the tortoise and hare race. A more recent version follows...
1. Once upon a time a tortoise and a hare had an argument about who was faster. They decided to settle the argument with a race. The tortoise and hare both agreed on a route and started off the race. The hare shot ahead and ran briskly for some time. Then seeing that he was far ahead of the tortoise, he thought he'd sit under a tree for some time and relax before continuing the race. He sat under the tree and soon fell asleep. The tortoise plodding on overtook him and soon finished the race, emerging as the undisputed champ. The hare woke up and realised that he'd lost the race. The moral of the story is that slow and steady wins the race. This is the version of the story that we've all grown up with.
2. But then recently, someone told me a more interesting version of this tortoise and hare story. It continues.The hare was disappointed at losing the race and he did some soul-searching. He realised that he'd lost the race only because he had been overconfident, careless and lax. If he had not taken things for granted, there's no way the tortoise could have beaten him. So he challenged the tortoise to another race. The tortoise agreed.
This time, the hare went all out and ran without stopping from start to finish. He won by several miles. The moral of the story? Fast and consistent will always beat the slow and steady. If you have two people in your organisation, one slow, methodical and reliable, and the other fast and still reliable at what he does, the fast and reliable chap will consistently climb the organisational ladder faster than the slow, methodical chap. It's good to be slow and steady; but it's better to be fast and reliable.
3. But the story doesn't end here. The tortoise did some thinking this time, and realised that there's no way he can beat the hare in a race the way it was currently formatted. He thought for a while, and then challenged the hare to another race, but on a slightly different route. The hare agreed. The tortoise and hare started off. In keeping with his self-made commitment to be consistently fast, the hare took off and ran at top speed until he came to a broad river. The finishing line was a couple of kilometres on the other side of the river. The hare sat there wondering what to do. In the meantime the tortoise trundled along, got into the river, swam to the opposite bank, continued walking and finished the race. The moral of the story? First identify your core competency and then change the playing field to suit your core competency. In an organisation, if you are a good speaker, make sure you create opportunities to give presentations that enable the senior management to notice you. If your strength is analysis, make sure you do some sort of research, make a report and send it upstairs. Working to your strengths will not only get you noticed, but will also create opportunities for growth and advancement. The story still hasn't ended.
4. The tortoise and hare, by this time, had become pretty good friends and they did some thinking together. Both realised that the last race could have been run much better. So the tortoise and hare decided to do the last race again, but to run as a team this time. They started off, and this time the hare carried the tortoise till the riverbank. There, the tortoise took over and swam across with the hare on his back. On the opposite bank, the hare again carried the tortoise and they reached the finishing line together. Both the tortoise and hare felt a greater sense of satisfaction than they'd felt earlier. The moral of the story? It's good to be individually brilliant and to have strong core competencies; but unless you're able to work in a team and harness each other's core competencies, you'll always perform below par because there will always be situations at which you'll do poorly and someone else does well. Teamwork is mainly about situational leadership, letting the person with the relevant core competency for a situation take leadership.
There are more lessons to be learnt from this inspirational teamwork story.
Note that neither the tortoise and hare gave up after failures. The hare decided to work harder and put in more effort after his failure. The tortoise changed his strategy because he was already working as hard as he could. In life, when faced with failure, sometimes it is appropriate to work harder and put in more effort. Sometimes it is appropriate to change strategy and try something different. And sometimes it is appropriate to do both. The tortoise and hare also learnt another vital lesson in teamwork. When we stop competing against a rival and instead start competing against the situation, we perform far better. When Roberto Goizueta took over as CEO of Coca-Cola in the 1980s, he was faced with intense competition from Pepsi that was eating into Coke's growth. His executives were Pepsi-focussed and intent on increasing market share 0.1 per cent a time. Goizueta decided to stop competing against Pepsi and instead compete against the situation of 0.1 per cent growth. He asked his executives what was the average fluid intake of an American per day? The answer was 14 ounces. What was Coke's share of that? Two ounces. Goizueta said Coke needed a larger share of that market. The competition wasn't Pepsi. It was the water, tea, coffee, milk and fruit juices that went into the remaining 12 ounces. The public should reach for a Coke whenever they felt like drinking something. To this end, Coke put up vending machines at every street corner. Sales took a quantum jump and Pepsi has never quite caught up since. To sum up, the story of the hare and tortoise teaches us many things. Chief among them are that fast and consistent will always beat slow and steady; work to your competencies; pooling resources and working as a team will always beat individual performers; never give up when faced with failure; and finally, compete against the situation, not against a rival.
1. Once upon a time a tortoise and a hare had an argument about who was faster. They decided to settle the argument with a race. The tortoise and hare both agreed on a route and started off the race. The hare shot ahead and ran briskly for some time. Then seeing that he was far ahead of the tortoise, he thought he'd sit under a tree for some time and relax before continuing the race. He sat under the tree and soon fell asleep. The tortoise plodding on overtook him and soon finished the race, emerging as the undisputed champ. The hare woke up and realised that he'd lost the race. The moral of the story is that slow and steady wins the race. This is the version of the story that we've all grown up with.
2. But then recently, someone told me a more interesting version of this tortoise and hare story. It continues.The hare was disappointed at losing the race and he did some soul-searching. He realised that he'd lost the race only because he had been overconfident, careless and lax. If he had not taken things for granted, there's no way the tortoise could have beaten him. So he challenged the tortoise to another race. The tortoise agreed.
This time, the hare went all out and ran without stopping from start to finish. He won by several miles. The moral of the story? Fast and consistent will always beat the slow and steady. If you have two people in your organisation, one slow, methodical and reliable, and the other fast and still reliable at what he does, the fast and reliable chap will consistently climb the organisational ladder faster than the slow, methodical chap. It's good to be slow and steady; but it's better to be fast and reliable.
3. But the story doesn't end here. The tortoise did some thinking this time, and realised that there's no way he can beat the hare in a race the way it was currently formatted. He thought for a while, and then challenged the hare to another race, but on a slightly different route. The hare agreed. The tortoise and hare started off. In keeping with his self-made commitment to be consistently fast, the hare took off and ran at top speed until he came to a broad river. The finishing line was a couple of kilometres on the other side of the river. The hare sat there wondering what to do. In the meantime the tortoise trundled along, got into the river, swam to the opposite bank, continued walking and finished the race. The moral of the story? First identify your core competency and then change the playing field to suit your core competency. In an organisation, if you are a good speaker, make sure you create opportunities to give presentations that enable the senior management to notice you. If your strength is analysis, make sure you do some sort of research, make a report and send it upstairs. Working to your strengths will not only get you noticed, but will also create opportunities for growth and advancement. The story still hasn't ended.
4. The tortoise and hare, by this time, had become pretty good friends and they did some thinking together. Both realised that the last race could have been run much better. So the tortoise and hare decided to do the last race again, but to run as a team this time. They started off, and this time the hare carried the tortoise till the riverbank. There, the tortoise took over and swam across with the hare on his back. On the opposite bank, the hare again carried the tortoise and they reached the finishing line together. Both the tortoise and hare felt a greater sense of satisfaction than they'd felt earlier. The moral of the story? It's good to be individually brilliant and to have strong core competencies; but unless you're able to work in a team and harness each other's core competencies, you'll always perform below par because there will always be situations at which you'll do poorly and someone else does well. Teamwork is mainly about situational leadership, letting the person with the relevant core competency for a situation take leadership.
There are more lessons to be learnt from this inspirational teamwork story.
Note that neither the tortoise and hare gave up after failures. The hare decided to work harder and put in more effort after his failure. The tortoise changed his strategy because he was already working as hard as he could. In life, when faced with failure, sometimes it is appropriate to work harder and put in more effort. Sometimes it is appropriate to change strategy and try something different. And sometimes it is appropriate to do both. The tortoise and hare also learnt another vital lesson in teamwork. When we stop competing against a rival and instead start competing against the situation, we perform far better. When Roberto Goizueta took over as CEO of Coca-Cola in the 1980s, he was faced with intense competition from Pepsi that was eating into Coke's growth. His executives were Pepsi-focussed and intent on increasing market share 0.1 per cent a time. Goizueta decided to stop competing against Pepsi and instead compete against the situation of 0.1 per cent growth. He asked his executives what was the average fluid intake of an American per day? The answer was 14 ounces. What was Coke's share of that? Two ounces. Goizueta said Coke needed a larger share of that market. The competition wasn't Pepsi. It was the water, tea, coffee, milk and fruit juices that went into the remaining 12 ounces. The public should reach for a Coke whenever they felt like drinking something. To this end, Coke put up vending machines at every street corner. Sales took a quantum jump and Pepsi has never quite caught up since. To sum up, the story of the hare and tortoise teaches us many things. Chief among them are that fast and consistent will always beat slow and steady; work to your competencies; pooling resources and working as a team will always beat individual performers; never give up when faced with failure; and finally, compete against the situation, not against a rival.
Ivey MBA is a fast paced programme and quite often students learn 15 cases a week. Previous business experience certainly helps in such an environment where a great deal of reading is required. Having spoken to some current students, I have understood that students like me, with no previous business exposure (especially those from an IT background) had to ensure additional efforts to perform well in the case method. Further, my immediate career objectives after MBA (top five Management Consulting firms) would realistic only if I could manage among the top 10% of the class. Honestly, I don’t know if I would be able to achieve that, but at least, I must be prepared to face such challenges ahead. Given that I have more than a year’s time before I start my MBA, thought I had to invest my time in learning business fundamentals.
I’ve added a section Learning, Pre MBA on my personal wikispace where I shall archive my learning.
I’ve added a section Learning, Pre MBA on my personal wikispace where I shall archive my learning.
Personal
- Discuss yourself/ Walk me through your resume and explain your roles and responsibilities.
- Name three words or phrases to describe yourself to others
- What is an activity you are involved in? Why is it important to you?
- What contributions would you make to a group?
- What do you do to relieve stress?
- What are your hobbies outside of school and work?
- What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?
- Please discuss the factors, both professional and personal, influencing the career decisions you have made so far.
Goals
- Why the MBA? Why now?
- Why are you interested in a general MBA program?
- What do you expect from this program?
- What can you contribute to our program and into our classrooms? What makes you unique among other candidates and why should we accept you?
- What would you do if not accepted?
- What are your long- and short-term goals? Why?
- Where do you see yourself in ten years?
- Which other schools are you applying to? How did you choose these schools? Why so many/few? Which school is your first choice?
- How do you plan to use your MBA in your career and your community?
- Why does this school appeal to you?
Undergrad Experience
- Why did you choose your undergraduate major?
- Which school did you attend and why that one'?
- What was your major and why?
- Would you choose the same studies again if you could do it over again?
- What overall grades did you get? What is Honours?
- Which courses were you best at? Why?
- Did you work as an undergrad?
- Do you think your grades are an accurate reflection of your ability?
- What did you like most about this part of your education?
- What did you least like about this part of your education?
Professional Experience
- What was your first job out of undergrad?
- Have you been promoted?
- Talk about experiences you have had at work. Can you briefly describe the key responsibilities of your current job?
- Describe a typical work day.
- Discuss your career progression
- Give examples of how you have demonstrated leadership inside and outside the work environment
- Discuss any experience you have had abroad
- How does your performance compare with that of your peers at a similar level?
- What specifically have you done to help your company change?
- What have you done to develop those under your responsibility?
- What could you do to be an even more effective member of your organization?
- Describe your most successful accomplishment at work.
- Describe a failure on the job.
- Why did you choose this profession? Why this company?
- What do you like best/about your current job?
- What are the key challenges of your job?
- Have you ever supervised employees?
- Have you switched firms? If so, why?
- What is most frustrating at work?
- Describe your relationship with your boss. What is good and bad about it"
- Where is your industry heading in the next five years? (all the more important if your interviewer works in the same domain)
- How would co-workers describe you?
General
- Discuss a time when you successfully supervised a diverse group of people toward a difficult goal. Give an example of when you accomplished something significant that wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t been there.
- Tell me about a situation where you had to persuade someone to agree with your point of view
- Describe a time when you had to gain upper management’s support for an idea/proposal
- Name a time when you had to convince someone who didn’t report directly to you to do something they didn’t want to do
- Describe a time when you had a conflict with another person in a corporate or school setting
- Describe a situation in which you identified key problems early on in a project and were able to avert a crisis
- Tell me about a time when you led a team to a goal even though the individual team members were sceptical that it could be accomplished
- Tell me about a time when you worked with someone who didn’t follow through. What did you do?
- How have you dealt with a person who was difficult to work with?
- Discuss a time when you had to make an unpopular decision
- Tell me about the toughest group that you ever worked in. What made it so tough, and how did you handle it?
- Describe an ethical dilemma that you faced in your career. How did you resolve it?
- Give me an example of when you pushed back against doing something
- What is the hardest decision you have ever had to make on the job? Outside of your job?
- Tell me about a time when you took a smart risk
- Name a time when you developed a unique and resourceful solution to a problem
- Describe a situation when you had to make an important decision without having all of the necessary information at hand
- Tell me about a time when you had to analyze facts quickly, identify the issues, and develop an action plan
- Give me an example of when you thought out of the box
- Have you ever had to bend a rule to get your work done more efficiently?
- Discuss a time when you didn’t succeed on the first try.
- What is the worst professional decision you have ever made?
- Tell me about a time when you weren’t very pleased with your performance.
- Describe a situation in which you wish you had acted differently with someone in your group.
- Describe a time when you inspired someone to work harder.
- Discuss a project that required the use of your analytical skills.
- Tell me about a time when you led a team to success despite opposition from others.
- Describe a situation where you brought an idea forward, and it failed.
Spontaneous
- Tell me about a topic you just read?
- What trait you possess that I would not get by reading your file?"
- To test your communication skills: Pick a subject from the current news, assume I don't know anything about it and give me a brief synopsis.
- Describe a time when you had to convince an antagonistic group of the merits of your proposal. Explain the process.
- What team skills will you learn in MBA program?
- What are three major challenges that your industry is currently facing?
- Who do you admire most as a leader, and why?
- What was your greatest accomplishment?
- How do you define success?
- What would you do if a team member wasn't pulling his own weight?
- Who are your heroes? Why?
- What have you done that you are proud of?
- Define teamwork
- Define leadership
- What is your favorite sport? What aspect of it appeals to you'?
- What is the last book you read? What did you think of it?
###Check bookmarks --> MBA App Research for the updated list###
Where to start
- http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/international-indian-mba-schools-accepting/19927-mba-admissions-thread-of-gyans.html
- http://www.mba.com
- http://www.pagalguy.com
- http://www.managementparadise.com
- http://mbaleague.blogspot.com
- http://daveformba.blogspot.com
- http://www.mba-forums.com
Grammar/Usage Reference
- http://www.adrive.com/public/8dd39d1f444052218196e68c0416f7a2b1a1b2f23b94ca8b778575673c2678d9.html
- http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Writing/index.html
- http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar
BSchool Research
- http://www.vault.co.in/pagalguy/PagalGuyBuzz_BOOK.pdf
- http://blog.clearadmit.com
- http://www.accepted.com
- http://mba.us.com/guide
Essays
Other Good Sources and Resources
- http://www.esnips.com/web/BSchoolEntranceExamsGoodDocs
- http://www.geocities.com/gaurav.mittal83/1.htm
- http://esnips.com/web/gaurav-CAT
- http://esnips.com/web/gaurav-CAT1
- http://askpsycho.blogspot.com/2006/08/gmat-scoring-demystified-atleast.html
Ebooks
- http://www.web-books.com/
- http://www.planetpdf.com/
- http://www.gutenberg.org/
- http://www.FlazX.com/
- http://www.koobe.net/
- http://www.xpressionz.com/
- http://www.phatnav.com/books/
- http://etext.lob.virginia.edu/ebooks/
- http://www.onlyebooks.org
- http://gauravkiduniya.blogspot.com/
- http://www.managementparadise.com
Misc
##Later I translated this table to “Why MBA” essay##
http://facts.wikispaces.com/MBA+Applications#Career%20Goals
It’s never a crime to possess low undergraduate grades, but it’s a grave blunder if you fail to address this weakness in your MBA application. I have a poor undergraduate record and honestly, it's the accountability of my own. However, it’s not an indicator of my potential and intellectual ability. I attribute my low GPA to the decision that moved me away from Civil/Chemistry careers and work towards Database Administrator profession. My college provided me the right flexibility to focus on my aspirations rather than worry about academic grades. I pursued numerous IT electives/projects to diversify my computer science skills. The infrastructure had also allowed me to comprehensively engage with numerous extra-curricular activities. Subsequently, I prioritized my total focus perking up my IT and administrative abilities and eventually integrating them. I also believe that the figures such as GMAT, DBA-certification score, High School performance and Oracle's employee performance rating: “Exceeding Expectations”, demonstrate my academic and professional capabilities.
I am sure that you can find the right reasons that either directly or indirectly contributed for your low grades. Be sure to address them as part of the application, even if you are not explicitly asked for.
I am sure that you can find the right reasons that either directly or indirectly contributed for your low grades. Be sure to address them as part of the application, even if you are not explicitly asked for.
IIM is the latest buzzword that you will normally come across in applications from India. To those who don’t know what IIM is all about: it represents the “Indian IT Male” and not the prestigious Indian Institutes of Management. If you fall this category, then you need to ensure additional efforts to persuade the admissions committee that you are different and not another typical IIM. Extracurricular activities, unusual growth curve in your team, social involvement, etc can certainly differentiate you; so start engaging with such activities right now, if you haven't already.
I am no different from a typical IIM. In my applications, I had talked about my ability to bond with strangers and build a network of trust fully utilising my enthusiastic outlook. Honestly, almost every activity that I engaged with, had coupled an element of fun and I demonstrated in my apps that this passion and high-spirit greatly enhanced my learning and working environments, with numerous examples to support.
Managing information and time was no easy task for database administrators and in particular, having come from a non-traditional background, I found that it was a huge challenge to work on multiple IT projects simultaneously and gain credibility among my team mates at Oracle, who had at least two additional years of experience than I did. But my experiences from college and enthusiastic personality helped me offset all fear and execute critical tasks successfully. I have learned to use the fun-factor as a successful tool at my workplace to build outstanding associations. I also have a history of having infused a number of fun-related activities to the work environment such as celebrating birthdays, organizing team-outings, Caroms/Chess tournaments, etc. I believe that the "enthuse" has ensured high energy across the team, building personal relationships within professional environments. The credibility earned me additional responsibilities such as team’s resource planning, workload management and tasks allocation. I had also structured and documented many critical tasks, helping the team avoid ‘reinventing the wheel’ and save time. I now serve as the point of contact for such activities and I train many of my senior colleagues in that aspect. Despite being the junior most in the team, I had played significant roles in the recruitment process and introduced several innovations. All these successes helped me achieve "Exceeding Expectations" rating at the Oracle’s employee performance review and have been recognised for demonstrating excellent information management skills.
I tried to differentiate myself with this "Enthuse" trait!
I am no different from a typical IIM. In my applications, I had talked about my ability to bond with strangers and build a network of trust fully utilising my enthusiastic outlook. Honestly, almost every activity that I engaged with, had coupled an element of fun and I demonstrated in my apps that this passion and high-spirit greatly enhanced my learning and working environments, with numerous examples to support.
Managing information and time was no easy task for database administrators and in particular, having come from a non-traditional background, I found that it was a huge challenge to work on multiple IT projects simultaneously and gain credibility among my team mates at Oracle, who had at least two additional years of experience than I did. But my experiences from college and enthusiastic personality helped me offset all fear and execute critical tasks successfully. I have learned to use the fun-factor as a successful tool at my workplace to build outstanding associations. I also have a history of having infused a number of fun-related activities to the work environment such as celebrating birthdays, organizing team-outings, Caroms/Chess tournaments, etc. I believe that the "enthuse" has ensured high energy across the team, building personal relationships within professional environments. The credibility earned me additional responsibilities such as team’s resource planning, workload management and tasks allocation. I had also structured and documented many critical tasks, helping the team avoid ‘reinventing the wheel’ and save time. I now serve as the point of contact for such activities and I train many of my senior colleagues in that aspect. Despite being the junior most in the team, I had played significant roles in the recruitment process and introduced several innovations. All these successes helped me achieve "Exceeding Expectations" rating at the Oracle’s employee performance review and have been recognised for demonstrating excellent information management skills.
I tried to differentiate myself with this "Enthuse" trait!
The MBA Admission is more comparable to the dating process. Whether that be dating or admission, in order to find a better match, you should establish “fit” with both the concerned parties. Each BSchool has it’s own trait and it’s essential that, if you believe that’s the right school for you, you must highlight these traits in your application. This is possible only by researching the school rigorously. Blogs, message boards, alumni and current students may be valuable resources.
But as a rule of thumb, every school looks for one common characteristic : "Leadership". Schools expect their students to have demonstrated leadership abilities in the past and present. Of course, they do understand that Leadership is not just leading people but also managing extra curricular activities, innovating, teaching, managing multiple assignments, handling pressure, etc.
To me, my college experience provided me with plenty of such opportunities and I did highlight them on my applications. The five-year tenure provided me the best flexibilities to capitalize on non-academic activities. The "General Secretary" responsibility had put me in charge of the finances and administration of 30+ student run clubs and departments. On the job, I had to manage large groups of people and conduct events as businesses that would generate profits. The council meetings and general body meetings served as boardroom wars, helping me understand people and processes better.
The university operates two semesters and students travel home twice a year for vacations. Transit planning was traditionally outsourced to a third-party student, approved by the Institute and almost every student runs his travel requirement through this facility. In an effort to improve the transparency of financial transactions, I took it over and integrated with the activities of union council. Transiting 5000 students was no easy task and I had to group a team of 12 students to run this effort. The entire process embraced two important stages: One, having the desired train tickets reserved in accordance with the student requests and two, arranging buses to get to the nearest major railway station. Managing the information provided by students and minimizing discrepancies were the most demanding rudiments. The effort involved managing heavy finances and strategic relationships with Indian Railways and Roadways.
My enthusiastic attitude helped me build better relationships and the fact that I never hesitate to voice my opinion, served as the perfect supplement. I have eventually understood that leadership is the ability to break down complex problems into actionable fragments and drive the team by communicating the vision clearly. I have also understood that a leader must accurately define the roles and responsibilities of individual members in his team. Delegating responsibilities is important because it not only instigates involvement among the players, but also encourages their leadership capabilities and I view this as the success of the group on the long run.
I am sure that every MBA prospective student would have sweet leadership experiences. Never forget to highlight them on your application even you are not explicitly asked.
But as a rule of thumb, every school looks for one common characteristic : "Leadership". Schools expect their students to have demonstrated leadership abilities in the past and present. Of course, they do understand that Leadership is not just leading people but also managing extra curricular activities, innovating, teaching, managing multiple assignments, handling pressure, etc.
To me, my college experience provided me with plenty of such opportunities and I did highlight them on my applications. The five-year tenure provided me the best flexibilities to capitalize on non-academic activities. The "General Secretary" responsibility had put me in charge of the finances and administration of 30+ student run clubs and departments. On the job, I had to manage large groups of people and conduct events as businesses that would generate profits. The council meetings and general body meetings served as boardroom wars, helping me understand people and processes better.
The university operates two semesters and students travel home twice a year for vacations. Transit planning was traditionally outsourced to a third-party student, approved by the Institute and almost every student runs his travel requirement through this facility. In an effort to improve the transparency of financial transactions, I took it over and integrated with the activities of union council. Transiting 5000 students was no easy task and I had to group a team of 12 students to run this effort. The entire process embraced two important stages: One, having the desired train tickets reserved in accordance with the student requests and two, arranging buses to get to the nearest major railway station. Managing the information provided by students and minimizing discrepancies were the most demanding rudiments. The effort involved managing heavy finances and strategic relationships with Indian Railways and Roadways.
My enthusiastic attitude helped me build better relationships and the fact that I never hesitate to voice my opinion, served as the perfect supplement. I have eventually understood that leadership is the ability to break down complex problems into actionable fragments and drive the team by communicating the vision clearly. I have also understood that a leader must accurately define the roles and responsibilities of individual members in his team. Delegating responsibilities is important because it not only instigates involvement among the players, but also encourages their leadership capabilities and I view this as the success of the group on the long run.
I am sure that every MBA prospective student would have sweet leadership experiences. Never forget to highlight them on your application even you are not explicitly asked.
Everyone has great dreams and ambitions, but not everyone has a structured game plan. I accept that given the unpredictability of the environment surrounding us, it’s practically impossible to formulate “the ideal strategy”. But, in my humble opinion, this is never an excuse for not planning short-term objectives that could eventually lead towards achieving one’s ambition. The best way to start organising future goals could be, perhaps, to start thoroughly researching the past successes, failures and more importantly the decisions that we experienced.
One thing people would be surprised to know about me is that I am ‘a Civil Engineer and a Chemistry Graduate’ by qualification, ‘Oracle Database Administrator’ by profession but now, aspiring to become an MBA. I simply perceive these career changes as just advancements and I consider that I have been hitting my priorities right. I intend to comprehend my full potential in every aspect of my professional career; consequently, my short-term goals have been evolving over the years. However, my long-term dream has remained the same. In my second year of college, I decided to leave behind the civil/chemistry academia and focus on IT skills to become a DBA. It is not unusual for engineers with non-computer science background to carry out such shifts, but to me the decision was not so obvious. I had ruled out options such as MS/PhD that could narrow my career options and deny the generalist perspective. In contrast, the DBA career seemed to provide the perfect broad focus that I needed. I was thoroughly impressed with the fact that Information Management is a critical aspect that a firm has to effectively deal with, for survival. Consequently, I discovered that no other immediate career as the DBA could couple as much, with my skills, before I stride towards my ambition.
I knew that this career change would be an uphill task for any fresher, especially for one with a non-computer science background. Companies rarely invest in inexperienced DBAs because the DBA tasks are highly critical and even a slightest mistake can cost millions. The risks that I, as a fresher, won’t find a job were high. But despite all the threats, I decided to move ahead and carefully designed my game plan. I pursued numerous electives and projects to diversify my IT skills. I also had the opportunity to instruct graduate level senior students as a professional assistant for a database related course. Finally, the DBA certification facilitated me the crucial breakthrough. The very fact that only experienced professionals pursue this and that I was able to clear it in record time, right during my college tenure, helped me sell myself as a competitive DBA. And now, with around three years of experience as a DBA, I trust that an MBA would be the next perfect priority that can significantly accelerate my dream.
One thing people would be surprised to know about me is that I am ‘a Civil Engineer and a Chemistry Graduate’ by qualification, ‘Oracle Database Administrator’ by profession but now, aspiring to become an MBA. I simply perceive these career changes as just advancements and I consider that I have been hitting my priorities right. I intend to comprehend my full potential in every aspect of my professional career; consequently, my short-term goals have been evolving over the years. However, my long-term dream has remained the same. In my second year of college, I decided to leave behind the civil/chemistry academia and focus on IT skills to become a DBA. It is not unusual for engineers with non-computer science background to carry out such shifts, but to me the decision was not so obvious. I had ruled out options such as MS/PhD that could narrow my career options and deny the generalist perspective. In contrast, the DBA career seemed to provide the perfect broad focus that I needed. I was thoroughly impressed with the fact that Information Management is a critical aspect that a firm has to effectively deal with, for survival. Consequently, I discovered that no other immediate career as the DBA could couple as much, with my skills, before I stride towards my ambition.
I knew that this career change would be an uphill task for any fresher, especially for one with a non-computer science background. Companies rarely invest in inexperienced DBAs because the DBA tasks are highly critical and even a slightest mistake can cost millions. The risks that I, as a fresher, won’t find a job were high. But despite all the threats, I decided to move ahead and carefully designed my game plan. I pursued numerous electives and projects to diversify my IT skills. I also had the opportunity to instruct graduate level senior students as a professional assistant for a database related course. Finally, the DBA certification facilitated me the crucial breakthrough. The very fact that only experienced professionals pursue this and that I was able to clear it in record time, right during my college tenure, helped me sell myself as a competitive DBA. And now, with around three years of experience as a DBA, I trust that an MBA would be the next perfect priority that can significantly accelerate my dream.
This is the second most important (next to “why MBA”) question that an MBA aspirant needs to work on for a powerful application. It’s imperative that he relates a common theme across his strengths, past experiences, current experience, MBA, career immediately post MBA and career long-term post MBA. To me, this self-realisation helped me identify the right kind of schools that could fit into my experiences and aspirations. For example, I understood that I am more of a “learn by doing” kind of a guy. Accordingly, I was obsessed with schools that operate Case-Method as the primary teaching style than the Lecture-based style.
Unquestionably, it’s essential that an applicant clearly articulates and demonstrates past successes in the application, but make sure that it doesn’t sound arrogant. Talking too much of successes can apparently have an egotistical tone, but sticking to the central theme of relating past successes to future goals, can significantly reduce the “overconfident” factor. On the other end, being over modest can sometimes provoke you disregard potential successes, which is again a bother. Make sure to maintain a good mix of both "Marketing" and "Modesty" and not "Exaggeration".
Unquestionably, it’s essential that an applicant clearly articulates and demonstrates past successes in the application, but make sure that it doesn’t sound arrogant. Talking too much of successes can apparently have an egotistical tone, but sticking to the central theme of relating past successes to future goals, can significantly reduce the “overconfident” factor. On the other end, being over modest can sometimes provoke you disregard potential successes, which is again a bother. Make sure to maintain a good mix of both "Marketing" and "Modesty" and not "Exaggeration".
It’s almost certain that one would find things difficult converting applications to admission offers, if he has no idea of why he needs an MBA. Perhaps, “Why MBA” is the most important question that I had to explain as part of the whole application process. And honestly, entire application process helped me realise my short-term goals and where I should be heading up to.
I am sure every MBA aspirant will have great dreams and am no different. Ambitiously, I aspire to establish not for profit ventures and associations, operating similar to those of profit-businesses, but measuring profitability in terms of social impact. I chose a path that allowed me to develop problem-solving skills both as a manager and team player. The General Secretary/transit planning experience at BITS, co-ordinating of medical camp and sporting events at Oracle offered me priceless value additions to my administrative abilities. My contributions to the social activities group and canteen committee at Oracle, various clubs such as Marketing, Sponsorships, Publications, Correspondence and National Service scheme at BITS provided me plenty of opportunities to work as a team. The database administrator career offered me invaluable experiences on prioritising tasks, resource allocation, client interaction (requirements understanding, data analysis, solution proposal, negotiation, implementation, etc) and managing information. I picture myself with certain business skills however, I seem to lack a fundamentals-toolkit that will help me build frameworks to counter business problems. I believe that MBA is the best available enhancement to supplement my skills, at this time of my career to make the most of unforeseen opportunities. Given that I do not have a previous business experience, I intend to take up management consulting as a strategic career step immediately after my MBA. I believe that researching and implementing solutions across cross-functional issues will add tremendous experience in terms of having a mindset to run an organization. As part of various consulting assignments, I look forward to cultivate potential contacts and this will have straight significances in advancing me to my second strategic career phase: A top-level position in a small/medium or entrepreneurial venture. Focusing on multiple business units, as a leader, will help me learn to discover opportunities, formulate strategy and manage risks. This will be the final cog in the wheel, before I make my mark in the entrepreneurial and eventually social entrepreneurial arena. I have had many short-term goals that eventually evolved all the way, however, my long-term ambition has been the same.
“Why MBA” question, ironically, turned out to be “Why not an MBA”
I am sure every MBA aspirant will have great dreams and am no different. Ambitiously, I aspire to establish not for profit ventures and associations, operating similar to those of profit-businesses, but measuring profitability in terms of social impact. I chose a path that allowed me to develop problem-solving skills both as a manager and team player. The General Secretary/transit planning experience at BITS, co-ordinating of medical camp and sporting events at Oracle offered me priceless value additions to my administrative abilities. My contributions to the social activities group and canteen committee at Oracle, various clubs such as Marketing, Sponsorships, Publications, Correspondence and National Service scheme at BITS provided me plenty of opportunities to work as a team. The database administrator career offered me invaluable experiences on prioritising tasks, resource allocation, client interaction (requirements understanding, data analysis, solution proposal, negotiation, implementation, etc) and managing information. I picture myself with certain business skills however, I seem to lack a fundamentals-toolkit that will help me build frameworks to counter business problems. I believe that MBA is the best available enhancement to supplement my skills, at this time of my career to make the most of unforeseen opportunities. Given that I do not have a previous business experience, I intend to take up management consulting as a strategic career step immediately after my MBA. I believe that researching and implementing solutions across cross-functional issues will add tremendous experience in terms of having a mindset to run an organization. As part of various consulting assignments, I look forward to cultivate potential contacts and this will have straight significances in advancing me to my second strategic career phase: A top-level position in a small/medium or entrepreneurial venture. Focusing on multiple business units, as a leader, will help me learn to discover opportunities, formulate strategy and manage risks. This will be the final cog in the wheel, before I make my mark in the entrepreneurial and eventually social entrepreneurial arena. I have had many short-term goals that eventually evolved all the way, however, my long-term ambition has been the same.
“Why MBA” question, ironically, turned out to be “Why not an MBA”
Wow, this is amazing! Too good to be true: Adrive
It offers a massive 50GB of online free storage space. Handling uploads is graceful: simple drag/drop of a directory from your local PC uploads files and the associated sub-directory structures. It does support online file sharing.
It offers a massive 50GB of online free storage space. Handling uploads is graceful: simple drag/drop of a directory from your local PC uploads files and the associated sub-directory structures. It does support online file sharing.
Personally, this is one of the most awaited update from Google Calendar. Thanks to Google’s innovation. You may now sync your Google calendar and Microsoft outlook either ways.
PS: It works only with Outlook 2003 and 2007. If you are suing an older version of Outlook, use Calgoo, instead. It’s a free calendar application that can be installed on your PC. Calgoo does allow the two way sync betwen Google and the Calgoo calendars. Trust me, it works like a charm.
Just started using Google’s notebook, a free service that provides interactive interfaces to clip/collect and organise information while browsing on the web. It also permits the user to add/remove comments, notes, images, etc. The Mozilla firefox google notebook plug-in enables the user to collect clips without leaving the webpage. The interactive scratch pad can as well be published.
I will be sharing my bookmarks and collections at <here>
I will be sharing my bookmarks and collections at <here>
Ever wondered how to sign-on to google talk using your multiple google accounts? If you are using several gmail accounts, you may also want to run multiple google talk instances simultaneously using different ids...
Run the gtalk program using the prototype given below
"c:\program files\google\google talk\googletalk.exe" /nomutex
Sometime back, I talked about using remember the milk to effectively manage to-do lists. RTM has recently added a striking feature to it. Now you can view the RTM tasks in your gmail, along side the mailbox, in a separate pane exactly similar to the way labels are placed. It uses a firefox extension that uses greasemonkey scripting. I wonder why Google has not acquired it yet…
More here
More here
Remember the Milk is a personal task manager web application that allows users to manage multiple to-do lists over the web. The application is built upon google gears and this makes it available even when I am not connected to the Internet. I’ve been using this for quite sometime now and the offline functionality works best in Internet explorer than in any other browser. RSS feeds, Google Calendar integration, adding locations via google maps, tasks sharing and reminders in email/sms/IM are among the best features.
I’ve decided to use wikispaces to create static pages where I would archive and publish interesting excerpts, articles, facts and learning. I shall also attach the tag "wiki" to such posts in my blog.
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