Graduate / 'unique blend of experiences' - Outline your career objectives. MBA essay. [3]

Please outline your career objectives and how the MBA will help you to achieve them

An engineer, a businessman, and a social worker; A qualified software engineer working in a US MNC, a businessman with a vast experience in handling family business and still keeps business as a dream and an active social worker for the past eight years. This unique blend of experiences helps me answer where and why I want to go.

I have worked in family construction business for 2.5 years. This experience helped to develop a strong interest in business and to get valuable practical experience. After completing engineering, I joined in Syntel Inc. as a programmer. From a junior trainee, I moved to a senior software engineer and to leading a small team of six members. My interest in social service prompted me to join KCYM, a church based organisation and I served as president and joint-secretary. These experiences helped me increase my confidence and responsibility and develop my soft skills.

Short Term Goal
Being in one of the best industries in India, I want to continue in the same industry but in a better position, after MBA. For 3-5 years, I will work as an engagement manger or as a delivery director, before continuing with my dream. This experience from an MNC will give practical experience of a big, international business. It will also give an opportunity to apply the learned skills and to understand the various methods and issues of practical business.

Long Term Goal
After five to six years and getting enough experience, I want to start my own business. It may be in the family construction business itself. I see myself working passionately 18-20 hours/day with a dedicated team for the growth of the business. After 10-15 years from now, I will be expanding the business all over the country from its small but successful initial start-up.

Why MBA
An MBA will help me in three ways in achieving my dream. First, it will help me understand the theoretical knowledge and give the foundation of business management; I can concentrate more on entrepreneurship through electives. Second, it will help in personal development and improving soft skills, through dedicated programs, teamwork, and others experiences. Third, it will help my career to progress to a middle management level of a big Software company and get the necessary practical experience before I start my company.

Writing Feedback / review - Position(s) of responsibility you have held [5]

Position(s) of responsibility you have held(not necessarily business related)?

Being an active and energetic person, I handled many responsibilities in my life. The representative of class in school, committee member of technical symposium in college and member of fun-club in company are some of them. The most important are the SPOC in Skillbay and President of KCYM.

In Syntel, my first project was to renovate the portal 'skillbay'. A SPOC (single point of contact) was in charge of each module. We started with the coding after completing the design, but then my SPOC suddenly decided to move out of the company. Since it happened at a short notice, it was not possible to find a replacement at that time and I was given that responsibility.

Normally only seniors were given the charge. It was not easy in the initial stages and I had problems keeping the first deadline. But then, with the help from seniors, I gradually picked up. I started handling the tasks accurately and on time. I also could give a good support to my team members as I was technically strong. And when the project went into production, there were no major issues in our module. That was really an achievement for a novice like me. My first project was a time of great learning experience. My confidence level boosted and technical knowledge improved a lot.

I was the President of KCYM Manjapra parish, for two years from 2005. Previously I had held the posts of Joint-Secretary and Treasurer. But the 'leader of a 45-member team' was a more demanding job. As a person very much interested in social work, I joined the Kerala Catholic Youth Movement, a church based organization for youth, in 2000. As the President, I was able to lead and complete many successful programs during my tenure.

One of the activities that gave me immense satisfaction was the construction of a waiting-shed for the commuters. We never undertook such a big project before. Getting approvals, finding sponsors, completing the work, everything was our responsibility. I formed different teams for each task. My experience in construction business also helped. We worked hard and completed the project within three months and spending just 85% of the expected amount. The social work taken under the auspices of KCYM helped me a lot in framing an improved outlook in life and becoming a better human being. It also gave me a great level of satisfaction, satisfaction of doing something for the society.

Writing Feedback / "In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity"; significant event or achievement [3]

Am I answering the question?

What single event or achievement has been most significant in your life? What were the results of this event or achievement?

"In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity" Albert Einstein

In 2000, our family business was not doing well and our financial condition was very bad. My father was not in a position to finance my education. But because of these financial difficulties, at the age of 18, I got the opportunity to get a first-hand experience in business. For two years I was completely involved in business. It was a life-changing experience, which I think I could not have normally attained even in a five-year period.

My father has a construction business, mainly doing irrigation projects and small bridges for the government. It is a small business with 100-120 employees. During that period, there was a huge delay in getting the bills passed, even after the work is completed. The interest on the loans became a huge burden because of this delay. My father had to spend a lot of time in getting the bills passed, but that affected the functioning of ongoing projects. I was doing my pre-bachelor degree then. I was not interested in business and was planning to go for engineering. But I had to put aside my dream and help my father, even before my exams were over.

Initially my father had given me only the accounting tasks. I had to keep track of the employees and their salaries. I also had to monitor the stock of equipment. I learned many things within short time; preparation and submission of quotations, arrangement of funds, doing the complicated calculations involving kilograms of cement and cubic meters of sand and rubble, and keeping track of work completed and money spent. Gradually he gave me more important duties. After one year, I was responsible for managing employees and monitoring the work. I also began interacting with suppliers and government officials. Since I started taking care of many things, he got sufficient time to follow up and get the bills passed at the earliest. Gradually our business was on the track again.

I still wanted to complete my formal education. After overcoming the financial difficulties, I joined for graduation. Even though I got less marks in my pre-degree, my attitude towards the business was completely changed by that time. I became a new person with added enthusiasm, confidence and experience. My decision to join MBA, to some extend, roots back to my experience in family business.