Why are you applying to the HEC MBA Program now? What is the professional objective that will guide your career choice after your MBA, and how will the HEC MBA contribute to the achievement of this objective? (500 words)
Right after I graduated from IIT-Delhi, I joined JP Morgan under its most prestigious graduate hiring program CDP, a leadership development program. I was one of the 30 graduates who were hired in its technology division from entire Asia Pacific region. Within my functional role I learned about various technologies and processes that are used in Investment Banking industry. My role was to provide first level technical support to front and middle offices for reference data applications. Frequent interactions with business users made me more interested in finance, and aroused in me a desire to get an in-depth knowledge of finance. So I enrolled with CFA Institute, which provides one of the best finance programs in the world. I cleared both CFA Level I and Level II in first attempts. Going through a rigorous curriculum of CFA where each level requires dedicated effort of 450-600 hours on an average, I now feel that I have acquired good theoretical knowledge of finance. My main objective of joining an MBA program is to build on top of my existing knowledge of finance and Investment Banking industry and switch to a core finance role in Investment Banking.
Apart from routine work in my functional role, I also conducted a month long training for a group of 6 new joiners to give them functional and technical knowledge about the businesses and applications that my team supports. Now I am mentoring them for last 6 months. On the other hand, CDP, the leadership development program, gave me an excellent opportunity to learn more about Investment Banking outside my functional role. As part of CDP campus recruitment team I organized recruitment program in two colleges, where I acted as the face of my company and as a bridge between the company and the students. I also organized senior management sessions for CDP batch which helped me to build network with senior managers and learn from their experience. By the time I join an MBA Program next year, I would be having an experience of about 3 years. And I feel that exposure to different domains in this industry, along with MBA program will equip me with the skills that are necessary to take more responsible roles and will help me move from an analyst role to a role demanding managerial skills. This is another objective which encourages me to join an MBA Program at this stage of my career.
HEC MBA program has been rated among top MBA programs globally. It will give me an opportunity to learn from world class faculty and some of the brightest students who come from different educational, professional and cultural backgrounds. Industry oriented environment in the university will help me to understand classroom theories in a practical way. Professional clubs like Finance and Asia Pacific Business in HEC will give me platform to share my experience with others and learn from others experiences. French Connection club will help me to understand work culture in French organizations. I believe that these clubs along with Career Management Centre will give me sufficient opportunity to find a job that suits best to my interests.
Hello,
I learned a lot about your work experience at JP Morgan, and more about your desire to switch over into a revenue generating position at an investment bank. MBA admissions officers are well aware of the huge desire of literally hundreds of thousands of back office and tech workers who want to land in the front office. What I didn't get was a strong sense of why Hec? Besides extra curricular clubs, what does HEC offer that will allow you to achieve your goals? This essay needs to be made 10X stronger if you wish your application to be successful.
Hi Kevin,
Thanks a lot for your valuable feedback. I understood that I need to research more about "why I want to do MBA from HEC". Can you please give me some guidance on how and where I can make my essay stronger?
Regards,
Shivam
I would say go for MBA in Rural management OR Agribusiness...
KIIT School of Rural Management (KSRM) offers MBA in rural management in which students get to learn about corporate social responsibility management, rural marketing, NGO management, agri-business, micro finance, and more. KSRM has tie-ups with several organizations and students have been placed in various reputed organizations such as SEWA, Development Alternatives and more. Students doing rural management can work in banking sector, public sector and even corporates for agri-business portfolios.
the Admissions in KSRM (KIIT School of Rural Management) for MBA in Rural Management & Agribusiness program will be through written examination conducted by IRMA.
The scores of IRMA will be used for short-listing of the candidates for admission to MBA (RM) and MBA (Agribusiness) program of KSRM.
