Scholarship / Chevening is looking for individuals who have a clear post-study career plan. [4]

Your comments will be highly appreciated. I am someone who have over 13 years of experience and looking forward to be a chevening Scholar and will need your help . Word count:502.
Knowledge is gained with the inquisitiveness to learn and it can be considered one of the best investments that an individual can bet on .This statement characterizes my beliefs. Ever since I started working I have nurtured a dream of becoming part of top level management team of a large multinational consulting firm and also to open my NGO working towards the cause of education for children. In recent years, business world have become rapidly integrated and anyone with high ambition is expected to have an international perspective and be aware of the realities of different international arenas.

My immediate career plan is to work with a large consultancy firm and to work for a social cause. If I am privileged to be a chevening scholar I would take the initiative of both the countries forward. As UK supports India's cause towards poverty eradication, towards education and towards proper sanitation, I would be working towards the cause of education being the "ambassador of change" .

As stated I have a vision to start my own NGO which would work towards education, I would carry this vision working towards children's education in far flung places. Having said that I have already started working towards the cause of education in a small Village "Langkyrdem" in the state of Meghalaya from the last one and half year. The village have schools which runs till 8th standard and post that children's have to travel almost 100km to attend school. They cannot complete their 10th standard due to financial constraints and most of them do not continue their education.NGO would definitely take its time so I explored my thoughts and requested two of my affluent friend to accompany me to the village and start funding for two students initially .They extended their hand to reach out to other people. So all three of us started a cause and we funded 6 student who would go to the nearby school this January '18. It is indeed a big sense of achievement for me no matter how successful I was professionally but the sheer happiness of seeing a life being made gave me the greatest joy. I also started drawing classes for the children's of the village free of cost every Saturday and Sunday. All books and drawing materials were supplied with a small fund collected. From just 8 student to start, now I have 52 students who attends the drawing class. This I believe is the start to my social cause and I would like to take this forward

One of my highest aspirations or a long term goal is to be one of those who establishes and be in the chair of a large consultancy firm like Mckinsey and also to take my NGO in the global arena supporting the cause of education.

With an MBA my strength would be elevated and it would invariable help me succeed personally and professionally, personally-through more confidence, through effective communication, thorough culture and professionally-through rightful knowledge, through real life learning.

Scholarship / One instance (out of many) where I've displayed what it takes to be a good leader and influencer [3]

Appreciate your comments . Word count is more than the max limit will strike off few after inputs

leadership essay - chevening

I have been working for 13 years and 10 years have been in leadership role. Almost a decade of being a leader , I have led team and worked on projects but I would like to outline one such instance out of many where I believe I have displayed invaluably what it takes to be a good leader and influencer.

In my current roles as Sr. Manager-XXX India my responsibility is to oversee the COCO stores and XXX mini stores spread across 7 state capitals. When I first took over the charge from my previous role at XXX, I was assigned the task of expansion. There were 3 COCO store and 216 XXX mini stores and I had to take the count from 3 to 10 COCO stores in a span of 8 months. This was a herculean task as this not only requires huge investment but also cross functional coordination-right from the commercial team for identification of the property to negotiating, Brand team, IT team to HR. Ideally one store had a TAT of 3-5 months which means I was asked to do the job at 3X speed. The first approach I took was to draw a roadmap- first to the last task. Then assigned task with deadline to respective stakeholders. I took the approach of demand rather than request. I set up calendar each day of the week- Monday -commercial, Thursday -Brand, Wednesday-HR, Tuesday-IT. I send out email at the beginning to all stakeholders with the business case and timeline. Since I was responsible to extract revenue from these stores I had to keep the budget & ROI for myself. I figured out the person from finance team to assist me. Every 15 days I had a presentation with the functional heads. Each store costed roughly 80 lacs and to set up 7 stores costed 5.6 crore (56 million) .The one thing I did was to stick to deadline and lead from the front. I travelled to each location to finalize with commercial. They saw me as someone who was leading and not delegating. I sat on interview with HR to finalize candidates so that they see my involvement. I connected circle marketing team with corporate marketing team through several VC and they were delighted to get the exposure. I sat down with commercial team to negotiate with vendors which was never expected. I worked every day for more than 12 hours to get this entire piece together. I went to the extent of reading the agreement with legal. Every day was a step ahead and I had my own calendar for every single day. I used to tick mark everyday on a task completed. We launched the first two stores in a record 2 months. I took a stand of appreciating each one. 5 stores were opened within the deadline but had to take one month extension for two .When I look back I realize that I build faith in people who worked together .I demanded but the demand never looked like conceit but realistic. Most important was the team work and making each one believe that it's going to happen. During this entire project I worked with senior people as well but they have seen me as leader. I could put forward my demand and I never hesitated to approach. I see people responding to my idea.

I have worked for more than a decade and I have confidence that I have lot more in me to be future leader and influencer. It is just the right knowledge and exposure that will take me a long way and chevening definitely can give me the opportunity to develop and expand my reach. I can be the leader of tomorrow and I am very poised of same.

Scholarship / I need an MBA that has both traditional and practical approach to learning. I chose my universities. [6]

Outline why you have selected your chosen three university courses-chevening scholarship

please share your input

the platform to grow

A Graduate in Computer Science, and 13 years of experience in the telecom and finance sector, I presently lack an MBA degree which is an accepted and required credential for career advancement and increasing my contribution to the sector. Ever since I started working I have nurtured a dream of becoming a part of the top level management team of a large multinational organization as well as gaining some insights to entrepreneur approach for my future plan for my NGO. In recent years, the business world has become rapidly integrated across and anyone with high goals is expected to have an international perspective and be aware of the realities of different international arenas.

At this point of my career I need an MBA that has both traditional and practical approach to learning. Based on this I chose my universities:

1.Cass Business school(City university London):Located in the City of London with unparalleled links with international businesses, the Cass Business School Full-time MBA programme is one of the most highly respected and prestigious MBAs in the UK and Europe. The program structure have a good mix of lectures, workshops, live projects and overseas ventures which rightly fits to what I was looking forward. The program structure carries electives which have a good blend of management and entrepreneurship. It has triple accreditation and is well ranked and recognized globally.

2.Birmingham business school (Birmingham University): Having read and understood the program structure of Birmingham MBA, the program along with the practical approach is very unique. It includes ideal mix of theory and real life experience. it is internationally-acclaimed, constantly ranked in global ranking tables and accredited by leading bodies AACSB, AMBA and EQUIS .In conclusion, I believe that studying at Birmingham business school will be a great experience.

3.Exeter MBA (university of Exeter): The Exeter One planet MBA builds on the track record of leading innovation in the MBA market. The business school is part of the Russell Group Business School. The MBA program highly focusses on personal and professional development and also lays its emphasis on real life learning with most of the modules on live projects which helps in practical knowledge. The program also focused on how global economic, social, environmental and technological challenges are impacting on business and the workplace which is the interesting part. It is triple accredited and is well ranked. The program also have modules and electives on entrepreneurship and overall the program take care of both the routes.

After carefully selecting the above three universities I am confident that it will take care of my future aspiration by enhancing my skills and knowledge. All the three universities can provide me a platform to grow and transform my life. I can be a better leader, an entrepreneur and a global citizen. The universities have a good mix of students from many countries which would help to understand different markets and get firsthand experience of different economies. All of these universities have a well selected cohort with a decent student to professor ratio. If I am privilege to get the opportunity to study at any of these universities through chevening scholarship I am sure it would help me grow both personally and professionally through rightful knowledge and bring the best out of me.