Graduate / MBA Dream from India - does this SOP sounds more like a Personal Statement? [4]

Hello everyone!

I just finished writing the first draft of the SOP for MS in Management Program and thought of including this one paragraph. This is something that comes straight from my heart and had a major impact on my life decisions. However, I am skeptical about the idea of sharing personal life details. Does the SOP have to be entirely formal/academic? Your inputs will guide me in the right direction. Thank you!

determined to give my best

I come from a marginalized section of India- a section that accounts for roughly 70% of Indian population, with 68% still living under the poverty line. Despite being one of the fastest growing economies in the word, the foundation of the society is rife with social and political norms, racial discrimination and petty corruption at all levels, one would find hard to rise to heights. My determination for pursuing higher education was inflicted in me at an early age. My father always wanted to study, something he was unable to do owing to lack of monetary support. Nevertheless, he cultivated this dream in me and I made a lifelong goal to give back to the society, in every possible way I can. I grew up with a sense of self-abasement due to the subtle shades of societal bias inveterate in all forms of life, where obsession with "light skin" was associated with the perfect and elite. Although these things seemed petty and irrational as I gained maturity and sentience with age, the inferiority complex did impact my outlook then. Despite being among the best students in the class, well known and applauded among teachers, much of the appreciation I received came off as worthless. As a result, I distant myself from much social life and found refuge in books. My career goals and education became my ultimate ideals and I became determined to give my best in whatever endeavor I chose for myself. The experience witnessed during school, however, positively transformed my personality, making me benevolent and accepting towards divergent opinions. I afforded myself a place in the top most university of Northern India where an undergraduate program in commerce provided me with a catholic view of varied business management areas including taxation, corporate and cost accounting, operations research and business economics. Determined and systematic efforts further gave me an opportunity to realise my MBA dream at one of the leading business schools.

Graduate / Master of Science in Human Resource Management - Statement of Purpose [2]

Hello Friends! Below is my Statement of Purpose for a Master's program in HRM. Please review and suggest changes. Thank you!

Master of Science in Human Resource Management - Statement of Purpose

my learning path

Half knowledge is dangerous and I am at a juncture in my life where I consider myself neither a dilettante nor an expert. Interplay of Social behavior and Organizational effectiveness is emerging as a paradigm shift in the field of management - the application, however, still remains concealed in many businesses due to the theory-practice gap. Hence, my inquisitive desire to build my research capabilities aims at articulating management dynamics through understanding, presentation and judgement and this has become my objective of pursuing a management science degree. Having realized that continuous research focusing on a business's unique problems is one of the success pillars, I aspire to become a competent researcher in area of Strategic Human Resource Management and Organizational Behavior so I can bring human resource understanding to the business place not in the capacity of an "end user" but rather as a "contributor of knowledge". My ambition is to work for a global consulting firm such as Deloitte as a Human Resource Consultant before embarking upon a PhD in Management. My long term career goal is to be in academia, where I can concentrate on both of my passion areas, imparting knowledge and increasing my own knowledge base with a view to resolving organizational dilemmas.

Upon graduating from high school, I afforded myself a place in one of India's top universities - Panjab University where a Bachelor's program in Commerce provided me with a catholic view of varied business management areas including Business communication, Taxation, Corporate and cost accounting, Operations research and Business economics. Competition was tough and over-emphasis on academics pushed me to excel in studies. I was ranked among top 10% in the class and graduated with first class distinction. Determined and systematic efforts further gave me an opportunity to realize my MBA dream at one of the leading business schools.

The two-year time of the post graduate studies was rather a period of awakening and soul searching. Graduate school allowed me to broaden my creative and analytical skills via active participation in case studies, group discussions and inter-school debate competitions. Under the influence of the university's laudable academic atmosphere, my potential was developed as I received numerous honours and performance certificates in Seminars, Quiz competitions and management games. Continuing the pace, I consistently maintained first rank in my batch consecutively for two years and was honoured with a Gold medal for "Excellent Academic Performance". I radically enjoyed guest lectures from renowned IIM professors and senior management professionals from Indian giants like Indian Oil and Hindustan Liver. From the much glorifying "All India Women Entrepreneurship Symposium" to the escapade of "The American Starbucks Culture - A classroom Case study", pedantic initiatives deepened my understanding and accelerated my interest in the multidisciplinary area of management. An amazing leadership opportunity came my way when my college conducted the "2nd International HR Conference - Exploring non linear growth through HR driven strategies" in 2012 where around five hundred delegates from various corporate and universities around the world participated. While most students were reluctant to take the responsibility, I (with two other classmates) took the onus of materialising the task alongside the Head of Department. We helped our professors in corresponding with senior academicians and corporate executives and lead a group of batch-mates and juniors, hosted the two-day conference in addition to planning various cultural performances. The planning phase was about one month and on many occasions, we stayed back after college hours. Now reflecting back, the experience reminds me about how the then-learnt leadership, inter-personal and time-management skills became my life-assets.

My research interest in Human Resource practices came about in a serendipitous way. My Summer Internship research project at one of the leading Fertiliser company (KRIBHCO - a public sector unit of govt. of India) was increasingly opportunistic in enabling me to conduct an open training needs analysis (Person analysis level) to abridge the gap between expectations and reality. I applied exploratory research design and used self-constructed structured questionnaire to interview employees and understand their viewpoint on the topics to be covered during periodic training events. I adumbrated various factors that fails to identify training needs of employees appointed at the state marketing units and branch offices like 1) limited learning due to redundant training practices 2) Training focus was confined to top management 3) Neutral level of satisfaction regarding training opportunities. The most significant finding revealed that 30% of the employees at marketing offices had never underdone a training program and of those who did were only restricted to language learning skills to enable them to perform basic writing tasks. The study suggested that there was an intense need to introduce people skills at all levels to strengthen the planning structure in addition to replacing traditional methods with advanced technology based training curriculum.

Extending my learning from the internship research, I performed a dissertation on the topic "Competency mapping and knowledge management" at KRIBHCO's main headquarters. Via simple random sampling, the study sought to gain an idea of the prevailing status of knowledge management on the basis of seven distinct parameters like job related knowledge, vision and purpose, people development skills, task proficiency, communication skills, job related competencies and knowledge level competencies. I found that the concept of competency mapping and knowledge management was between the introduction and the growth stage. "Lack of understanding of knowledge management and its benefits" and "Lack of top management commitment to knowledge management" were the biggest hurdles. Recommendation was made to utilise the excellent IT network through standard knowledge management application.

After graduation, I was excited to start my professional journey at a multinational consulting organization that offered me a campus placement. As a Talent Acquisition Consultant, I was dealing with a wide spectrum of responsibilities from building rapport with a diverse workforce in a multi-cultural setting to devising creative and strategic thinking for our fortune 500 clients. My work ethics improved in equal proportion to my recruiting skill. I was constantly applauded for my focus, continuous and timely delivery on all assignments. Shortly after eight months of starting on the job, the company rewarded me with my first independent account (the "New Business Development" initiative consisting 25 new clients); I lead a team of five, single-handedly took care of manpower requirements for Deloitte and Internal Revenue Services and showed 100% client delivery record. I was able to successfully drive the team's profitability and surpass my yearly targets with a good margin. During a direct interaction with the CEO who came to our India office during a business visit, our team discussed business performance data and shared alternatives to cope with market adversities. The conversation was very perceptive and I immediately knew I needed an advanced global perspective of analysing business solutions.

Recruitment- both passive and active, relies heavily on independent research and the everyday encounters helped me gain profound insights into the behavioural aspect of human management. I never realised how rewarding and fascinating the practical application of marketing was (a subject that never seemed interesting during MBA) until I engaged myself in client relationship building. Seeing co-workers and myself deal with an excessive amount of emotional stress during a project deadline enabled me to reflect upon the intricacy of human emotions, self-awareness, pro-activeness and need of controlling thought processes. One specific problem was - how to deal with the ethical dilemma of sharing a blunt interview rejection with my consultants? Managers would often advise us to refrain sharing a direct feedback which lead to a ubiquitous unethical practice across the organization. However, I decided to engage myself in an open dialogue with consultants and was able to share a much stronger bond as they appreciated my candour. An incorporation of many facets pushed my boundaries making me a self-reliant decision maker. Unfortunately, learning at my second employer was limited as I was operating within the rigid structures with no scope of widening my horizon beyond recruitment. A few instances of employer flattery motivated me to write a conceptual paper on the title, "Employee sycophancy - can it be perceived as the next management issue?" which was published in the international journal of IMS Manthan.

My corporate exposure encompasses only the recruitment aspect of HR, therefore, I have been actively studying for advanced level certifications like HRCI-PHR to keep myself abreast with broad ranged competencies. I recognize the fact that management research in India is still nascent and while relevant work is being continually published by practitioners, low investment in R&D initiatives makes it difficult to replace the outmoded practices. American education system is considered a hallmark of the management research breakthroughs and I believe an advanced subject matter will help me overcome the lack of confidence with which an Indian researcher has to operate. My long term research interest is in the field of organizational behavioral issues pertaining to workplace power and politics, leadership and motivation in a fast paced environment. I am also interested in studying the correlation between emotional intelligence and leadership styles (Transformational) comparing gender differences in the Indian context. In the short term, however, my goal is to gain an understanding of why organizational culture matters the most when it comes to recruiting the best talent and to what extent cultural-fit impacts the recruiting capabilities.

In selecting XXX University, I was primarily motivated by the unique nature and flexibility of the curriculum. The thesis track will prepare me for a research deliverable and give me a sense of first-hand analysis. Experiential learning, study abroad programs and cooperative education will ensure that I get the best of the latest trends in HR across various industrial settings. As the university is known for its multiculturalism, I look forward to experience a diversified environment of learning and interaction. Working alongside experienced professionals and faculty, the degree will serve two useful purposes -HR analysis and strategic courses will allow me to gain skills necessary to work within a consulting environment and will teach research methodologies that are a crucial component of doctoral pursuit. Furthermore, the course leverages technical side of HRM like instructional design, HRD assessment and Information system which will challenge me to my full potential. In return, I desire to offer the best of my ability to the institution. Having an exposure to the Indian corporate culture, I will bring an understanding of the loopholes and shortcomings in the management system to the classroom. Social relationships are equally integral in any management endeavor, hence, I am confident that my ability to articulate ideas and opinions with a varied population will enable me establish friendly and cooperative relations within the peer group.

I am still on a path of learning and the master's program at XXX is one step closer to realising my short term dream. One can only succeed if the focus is on the negative because that is where driven efforts will be utilised to bring change. This outlook has kept me enthused through the years and with the same enthusiasm, I look forward to continue my academic journey at your esteemed university.