zen Posted March 6, 2012 Posted March 6, 2012 Btw, in b/w all this action and work that I hv to do, I m down with pneumonia :((
zen Posted March 6, 2012 Posted March 6, 2012 I left my job to get a full time MBA from Ivey School of Business. It is ranked as one of the top tier business schools in Canada although it cant hold a candle to some of the American business schools. The MBA definitely helped me in bumping my pay grade and landing a more managerial job. But it was all due to the networking I did during my time at the school. As for the question of whether an MBA would really make a difference in your current company. From my experience if it did the company would be pushing its employees to get their MBAs like most of the management consulting firms do. Otherwise the probability remains low that you would see any significant ROI. Another drawback is if you plan to leave your current firm other employers may discredit your online MBA degree. My advice would be if you are serious give it all you got. Go for a full time MBA at top tier school otherwise do it only to increase your knowledge base and don't expect any significant payback. I am in a similar situation as you were, I.e. leaving ft job to do ft MBA Good to hear that things worked out for you
Alchemist Posted March 6, 2012 Author Posted March 6, 2012 My prefrence is Online MBA since I don't want to leave my current job. Thats why I am trying to get into a reputed program that might have some networking capablities.
hari504504 Posted March 6, 2012 Posted March 6, 2012 that is only half information. When I said - do not do just for the sake of it. I was specifically referring to examples, where people start thinking about CSR just before apping - e.g. someone who just started thinking for 2013 today, reads somewhere that CSR counts and realizes its missing in his profile..., and then just goes and join some NGO or something, just to have a bullet point in CV. There is no argument that, if you already have 'significant' CSR experience ( esp leadership type), it puts you slightly ahead of those with everything else same. But, even then - the quality of experience matters a lot. Admission committee of top bschools is not fool to not see through one's NGO experience that started just 3-4 months before application process. Agreed that an all round profile (CSR, + good acads / GMAT, + career progression, + recommendations to substantiate your app/CV points) - is preferred.. but it does not mean that if CSR is missing, it will be seen as disadvantage. If you have stood in top 5% in your area, with leadership experience to show off.. no one would bother about missing CSR. It is like - whatever you have done, you must have done well enough to be outstanding in your field. And then again CSR is not the end of it there is quota for diversity also. e.g., you can be contributing to some professional body like tennis-academy, weekend event organizers or something - out of your passion, and not some random NGOs just for the sake of it. Why CSR is so popular for additional brownie points is because - more often than not, people with genuine leadership skills tend to have touched various disciplines of life - CSR being one of the most common (besides work related experience). It is not like, if you have not done CSR you can not display those skills in your app. While I agree that jumping into a random NGO would not churn out the desired result - ie if one isn't passionate about it - it would show in the kind of output he has, completely disagree on the purpose of putting CSR into one's application essays - not leadership etc. CSR isn't about showcasing your leadership skills..etc which should already be there in your work experience or college CCAs. CSR experience is distinctly putting the angle of someone who strives to give back to the community - enrich the life of the community in a meaningful way. All the others about leadership and team building etc are simply supplementary to it. It also brings to the fore time management - how you are someone who can achieve at work as well as outside the office regardless of the pressures. It becomes a vital differentiator as typical MBA aspirants are hardcore job junkies who wouldn't mind spending 60 hours a week at work to get the desired results- while their achievements at work can be spectacular..they often wouldn't find the time to do anything else. Most successful applicants - atleast for INSEAD had CSR (serious stuff like taking unpaid leave and working with the UN aid agencies in Africa,Indonesia etc for a few months). The level of research one does to plot an entry into a top B-school is ridiculous..usually a few years in advance.
zen Posted March 6, 2012 Posted March 6, 2012 My prefrence is Online MBA since I don't want to leave my current job. Thats why I am trying to get into a reputed program that might have some networking capablities. Sorry I lost track of why you want to pursue an MBA .... but "online" and "networking" doesn't seem to go together much Doing MBA is a big investment of not only money but also time. You need to be sure of what you want out of a program and then find the program that suits you Since you mentioned 'networking' and plan to do MBA, it appears as if you want to work in a different area (and with a different company) to what you are working in now. if this is the case, doing online MBA or a 12-month program may not help you as much as may be doing a FT 2-year MBA where you get a chance to specialize PS I re-read the thread and you talked about growing within your own company. Have you checked with your company on how doing an MBA will help you get the necessary advancement? Does your company sponsor for EMBA? If so, you should check to see if you could be a candidate
Alchemist Posted March 6, 2012 Author Posted March 6, 2012 Sorry I lost track of why you want to pursue an MBA .... but "online" and "networking" doesn't seem to go together much Doing MBA is a big investment of not only money but also time. You need to be sure of what you want out of a program and then find the program that suits you Since you mentioned 'networking' and plan to do MBA, it appears as if you want to work in a different area to what you are working in now. if this is the case, doing online MBA or a 12-month program may not help you as much as may be doing a FT 2-year MBA where you get a chance to specialize I can understand your thinking, and in the begining , I thought the same. But after looking around and talking with a lot of people doing an online program itself, I have come to a conclusion that some of the schools do have a good online networking platform. Several people I talked to have got better opportunities in the same area or a new one through online networking. There are schools who have done this for years. So they have a develped program/platform for networking issues/needs of online students. I do agree that it it wont be as good as a full time program. But its not as bad as people think either.
zen Posted March 6, 2012 Posted March 6, 2012 I can understand your thinking, and in the begining , I thought the same. But after looking around and talking with a lot of people doing an online program itself, I have come to a conclusion that some of the schools do have a good online networking platform. Several people I talked to have got better opportunities in the same area or a new one through online networking. There are schools who have done this for years. So they have a develped program/platform for networking issues/needs of online students. I do agree that it it wont be as good as a full time program. But its not as bad as people think either. hmmm interesting .... the imp thing is that you are confident about being able to leverage on that and that's what counts :nice:
Alchemist Posted March 6, 2012 Author Posted March 6, 2012 hmmm interesting .... the imp thing is that you are confident about being able to leverage on that and that's what counts :nice: Sure !! I am feeling comfortable with what I think I will do. Hopefully it works. This thread, though, has opened my eyes to a lot of things. Best of luck to you too ! Hope everything works for you.
zen Posted March 6, 2012 Posted March 6, 2012 Sure !! I am feeling comfortable with what I think I will do. Hopefully it works. This thread, though, has opened my eyes to a lot of things. Best of luck to you too ! Hope everything works for you. Thanks! Earlier I had planned for EMBA (Rotman has a good program in Omnium) but my company saw it as me "preparing an exit-plan" and tried to create road-blocks .... so before you do an MBA, do chk out how it goes with your company. Who knows they might burden you with extra work while you have to attend your class
Alchemist Posted March 6, 2012 Author Posted March 6, 2012 Thanks! Earlier I had planned for EMBA (Rotman has a good program in Omnium) but my company saw it as me "preparing an exit-plan" and tried to create road-blocks .... so before you do an MBA, do chk out how it goes with your company. Who knows they might burden you with extra work while you have to attend your class That is a good suggestion. I will check. Or may be not tell them :winky:
akshayxyz Posted March 6, 2012 Posted March 6, 2012 While I agree that jumping into a random NGO would not churn out the desired result - ie if one isn't passionate about it - it would show in the kind of output he has, completely disagree on the purpose of putting CSR into one's application essays - not leadership etc. CSR isn't about showcasing your leadership skills..etc which should already be there in your work experience or college CCAs. CSR experience is distinctly putting the angle of someone who strives to give back to the community - enrich the life of the community in a meaningful way. All the others about leadership and team building etc are simply supplementary to it. It also brings to the fore time management - how you are someone who can achieve at work as well as outside the office regardless of the pressures. It becomes a vital differentiator as typical MBA aspirants are hardcore job junkies who wouldn't mind spending 60 hours a week at work to get the desired results- while their achievements at work can be spectacular..they often wouldn't find the time to do anything else. Most successful applicants - atleast for INSEAD had CSR (serious stuff like taking unpaid leave and working with the UN aid agencies in Africa,Indonesia etc for a few months). The level of research one does to plot an entry into a top B-school is ridiculous..usually a few years in advance. Good that now you have added more information. That is why I was critical of your original one liner - "make sure to do some CSR" - and said that is just half information. And especially the way you said it (most of the 'run of the mill'/casual counselors do that), aspirants mis-read it as - let me just add some random CSR experience. Whereas s/he might already be having something more substantial, or something unique - building upon which might prove more rewarding than shifting focus to CSR - just for the sake of it. Let me close it by saying - CSR is just one of the many things you can have in addition of regular work experience. If one has it, at the time of planning application, well and good - otherwise no need to fret over it. And even if you plan it for 2-3 years - there are 1000s of things one can plan to add - it does not have to be CSR. And yes, I know CSR happens to be one of the most typical 'addon', which should be one of the reasons one should look for 'alternatives' - again not just for the sake of it.
zen Posted March 6, 2012 Posted March 6, 2012 That is a good suggestion. I will check. Or may be not tell them :winky: Only if you are confident of pulling it off :winky: Note that MBA's have strict deadlines to meet. Say if you have to submit projects every Monday by 11.59 am then it HAS to be in by that time. If you are suppose to work in teams, then depending upon where your colleague(s) is located you could be up till mid-night. On top of your regular work hours, you have to put in 20-25 extra hours, so w/o company's support/understanding, it could be difficult
zen Posted March 6, 2012 Posted March 6, 2012 Also note that most (if not all) b- schools will require you to submit a corporate time off (esp. for residency modules) support letter for EMBA programs .... It is not required only for full time programs
Holysmoke Posted March 6, 2012 Posted March 6, 2012 Good Luck Holy :icflove: And now get into your books and stuff, and pass on the IPL tickets to me :P Thanks beta. I shall not be in the country for IPL :((
chanakya Posted March 7, 2012 Posted March 7, 2012 Hello chanakya. Ofcourse you'd call it easy, you scored 760. :--D I saw your name and remembered we had a little chat about 3 years back. I believe you were trying Michigan and Haas among other schools? Where did you end up eventually? was trying Michigan, MIT only. Had Hass but it required too many docs so didn't apply. Tanked the Michigan interview first time round. Applied and got through ISB the next year didnt complete the Michigan application... they still called me for an interview :P
zen Posted March 7, 2012 Posted March 7, 2012 Global MBA ^ talking abt online MBA where you can mix work with education, the one above is a good example of a program which is mostly delivered online with 2 one week residency required in Madrid The Global MBA is a specially designed program flexible enough to be studied online from anywhere in the world in conjunction with a full work schedule and family life. With no need to make frequent trips to Madrid or spend long periods away from home the course is completed over 15 months without forcing students to take a break in their career. While fundamentally an online course, two one week residential periods in Madrid provide the opportunity to network with classmates and professors. Additional optional oportunities to connect with students will be offered at various locations throughout the course.
zen Posted March 7, 2012 Posted March 7, 2012 Most successful applicants - atleast for INSEAD had CSR (serious stuff like taking unpaid leave and working with the UN aid agencies in Africa,Indonesia etc for a few months). The level of research one does to plot an entry into a top B-school is ridiculous..usually a few years in advance. U8qV6OhrtUA&feature=relmfu http://mba.insead.edu/home/ I don't think so. I got in a top b-school in about a month (usually rated (at the top) higher than INSEAD on BW. Though this year INSEAD is #1 in non-USA category) Looking at the students in that video, I don't think they had to plot like you said
hari504504 Posted March 7, 2012 Posted March 7, 2012 U8qV6OhrtUA&feature=relmfu Looking at the students in that video, I don't think they had to plot like you said How did you get to that ? None of them seem like they stumbled into INSEAD, notice their backgrounds ? I don't know your background or what B-school you got into, maybe you are just underestimating your effort or things just fell nicely in place for you.
zen Posted March 7, 2012 Posted March 7, 2012 How did you get to that ? None of them seem like they stumbled into INSEAD, notice their backgrounds ? I don't know your background or what B-school you got into, maybe you are just underestimating your effort or things just fell nicely in place for you. If you have less than 5 years of work experience, then I would say you may have to window dress your profile. If you have more experience and been successful in your field (the background like you said), you could pretty much pick the b-school you want to go to. In such cases, you don't need to do a high level of 'plotting' like changing the course of your career just to get in to such B-schools (unless I misunderstood what you implied) For me, I would say things fell into place. But my background is pretty strong so, I guess, I can pick the school I want to go to. I don't know if you would count it as plotting but all I did was market myself properly based on what I have done and connected well with the b-schools. For privacy reasons, I would not like to discuss which school I am going to. But if you are interested, you could PM me :icflove:
Recommended Posts