Need mentoring for my career

[Anand_rao]

Hi ppl,

I am looking for guidance and mentoring for my career.
I am Mechanical Engineering Graduate who shifted to Software Engineer when i got the oppurtunity. I did so in college and I have been working in IT industry for past 3 years. I have a good academic background and have performed well in my job. I have always been invoved with IT for a financial services company and have devloped a reasonable understanding of Banking/capital markets domain.
Going forward, i am looking to pursue an MBA. I am interested to move to business consulting leading to more involvement in strategy in future, while utilising the knowledge that I have gained in IT/Finance fields.
What specialisation should i be pursuing?
I am looking to work for one of the big 5 consulting firms in future, thats where I want to be.

I am planning to apply for MBA in US to some of the best business schools, what chance would i stand? I plan to write my GMAt soon and quite confident of clearing 700.
I would appreciate if someone could guide me on this.

Thanks,
Anand

[Anand_rao]

Hi,

I guess i didnt post my queries clearly enough, so here they are. would appreciate if someone could help me out with these.

1. What specialisation should I pursue.
(I have noticed that MBA in US has many majors and minors that yuo can choose from. One of them i want to choose is strategy. If there is some thing to do with IT'll choose that but lot of good B-schools don't have a separate IT major...
I have noticed that most ppl who do go into consulting choose marketing & Strategy... I am not interested i picking marketing...

2. What are my prospects for the top B-schools??
my Acad GPA is approx 3.9(B.e. mech) , 3 yrs work ex (IT industry) GMAt not yet written, lets assume 700. Do i have a chance for tier -1, or should i apply to some tier 2 schools?
any suggestions for the b-schools?

3. If someone has applied for US mba, or already pursuing it, i need lot more info and assistance.

thanks,
Anand

[philipwhite]

You have a good GPA and if you score 700+ on your GMAT it wouldn't hurt applying to top ten schools. The cost of an application is a lot less than the cost of a MBA program. :) I would pick out a few teir 2 schools that you like and apply to them as well. There are a lot of great schools with good name recognition in the top 50.

GPA and GMAT are just two small factors that go into the mix. Just about everyone that applies to top 10 schools has good academic credentials. You have to be able to stand out from the mix.

[Anand_rao]

I guess i miscalculated my GPA. We have a percentage system and I have 78% aggreate in my engineering. How do i convert this to GPA?
1. Also I am a Mechanical engg graduate shifted to Software Engg. Would this affect my chances.
2. Interms of future plans I would like to go into IT consulting and further in Strategy. I am currently working as a team lead and would soon be playing client facing role. (Moving to Us for some time). I am somewhere in b/w a technical and managerial role. How would this affect my chances?
3. Finally I have been involved primarily with in Mainframe technologies and have not got any experience in Enterprise applications, e-commerece and other interenet related application that are the buzz words today. hoow would this affect my chances for MBA in consulting and job oppurtunities thereafter.

Would appreciate if you could answer this for me.

[philipwhite]

78% would probably be about a 2.95-3.0 GPA. It depends on schools. Where I went to college they used straight grading without +-. So if you scored 79% you still got the 2.0 C rather than a a higher mark (2.5?) or half scale for a C+.

100% = 4.0
80% = 3.0
70% = 2.0
60% = 1.0

You might be looking at a slightly harder challange getting into a top 10 school with your grades.

Enterprise Applications and E-Commerce are not really buzz words. They are a part of the fundamental technologies that busineses use to function. A buzz word is usually a word that is short-lived. I think both will be arround for some time. The technology behind them changes rapidly but their functions have become integral to todays business.

What you need to know about an application or technology is directly related to how close you are to it. For example if you are the sales consultant for a high end software package you only need a low level of understanding of the product's core language. If you are a technology consultant on an implementation team you need higher understanding of the technology.

[Anand_rao]

Hi Philip, thanks for your help and guidance.
I am currently working as a team lead(not project lead) and do get involved in other activities where I have shown initiative and leadership to some extent. However I am performing a team lead cum technical role with good understanding of Business domain/ processes. reason for pursuing MBA is to take up consulting type of roles and also involve myself in business development. How would the admission commitee look at this? I have arnd 3 yrs work ex, would be close to 3.5 when i apply.

My IT knowledge is limited to Mainframe technologies and going forward I would not get to learn other technologies unless i change jobs. however in this job i would be soon getting chance to play client interfacing roles and more mangement responsibility. How should i view this wrt to my MBA aspirations.

Most b-schools websites say that they are looking for proven leadership skills. I am not sure how exactly that can be shown at this early stage in your career. Should I wait another year before applying.

Also I am thinking of taking help from admissions consultants in filling my forms, what kibd of assistance tdo they provide, and how much might it cost?

Sorry for flooding with so many questions, more answers i try to find, more questions that arise in my mind.
P.s. I found from some seniors that GPA is not a problem as the adcom directly look at percentages where applicable. In india 78% in engg is very good and should count more than a GPA of 3.0.