Verbatim

 

Experts’ Global: Hi Nishant, thank you for agreeing to this interview! Could you kindly share your story in your words?

Nishant: My journey to the MBA started in 2017. My boss at the time was an ISB graduate, and seeing his career path inspired me to pursue my own business education. I began reaching out to other MBA graduates to understand the process they followed to attain their goals. Recognizing the GMAT as the first hurdle, my research led me to the Experts’ Global’s GMAT online course, and I went on to take their application assistance as well and secured my own MBA admit.

 

Experts’ Global: In your opinion, what actions of yours made all the difference?

Nishant: Doing my own research on my targeted schools and going through student testimonials helped me understand each school’s culture and frame my profile presentation accordingly. Thereafter, developing clarity on my post-MBA goals, assisted by the conversations I had through my research outreach, helped me come up with a convincing story to showcase my growth. Further, taking help from an MBA admissions consultant was a good decision as well. This yielded benefits even during my GMAT prep as I was able to get guidance on how to improve on my weak conceptual areas.

 

Experts’ Global: In hindsight, what mistakes do you think you committed in the process?

Nishant: I started off by looking at my GMAT prep as more about solving a large number of questions daily to practice one’s concepts. However, for working professionals, this is not always feasible. Further, I did not take the time to reflect on my mistakes and so could not see much improvement in my performance over time. Thereafter, I thankfully saw the problem in my approach and altered it to involve more introspection and emphasis on learning from my errors.

 

Experts’ Global: About your GMAT prep, what resources did you use and what advice do you have for other candidates?

Nishant: While there is a free GMAT mock available on the GMAT website, make sure to purchase the paid ones as well. Your approach to GMAT prep should focus on accuracy and understanding the root cause of the errors you are making. Once your accuracy is in place, repeated practice will make sure that your speed of answering questions also rises.

Further, you have to solve practice questions almost daily because your GMAT prep will likely have to be completed within three to four months at most. Further, keep taking mocks at regular intervals to judge your progress. If your first attempt at the GMAT yields a score that is unsatisfactory for you, be aware of how your profile as a whole is just as important to your admissions success as your GMAT score. Be sure about the need for a higher score before you attempt the exam again.

 

Experts’ Global: What, according to you, is the frequency and number of mock tests an applicant should take?

Nishant: Take a GMAT mock right when you begin your prep, to understand where you stand beforehand. Thereafter, create your GMAT mock testing schedule relative to your application deadline. You can purchase a series of good GMAT mocks after due research. I decided to take one mock every three weeks until a week before my actual GMAT. That last week, I took one mock daily to get my body into the rhythm of sitting through the entirety of the real thing.

 

Experts’ Global: What would you like to say about your lessons from managing the application timeline?

Nishant: Early in my application journey, I did not pay much attention to the big picture of how my career until that point as driving me toward an MBA. Only when I started writing down the things I had accomplished did I realize that there was a narrative to my life, and that narrative could reflect well in my application materials. Further, working within a tight five-month deadline to complete my GMAT prep, take the exam, and create applications tailored to each of the schools I was applying to helped ready me for the rigor of the MBA itself.

 

Experts’ Global: How would you describe your business school interview experience?

Nishant: One of the key aspects of the MBA interview is that they often dive deep into the essays you write. In my case, the interviewers often asked about my club engagements in undergrad, and how I impacted the interest group while also taking value from it for myself. I was also asked about how I saw the academic aspects of the MBA as giving me a leg up in my professional growth and how the location of the school fit into my future plans and why I chose a particular school. During your MBA interview prep, make sure to come up with intelligent questions to ask the interviewers as well.

 

Experts’ Global: How would you describe your MBA experience?

Nishant: The MBA experience has been life-changing. Having spent the entirety of my life in India prior to the MBA, I chose to go for a Singapore-based program to get international exposure. I got to interact with peers from all over the world, and from a great diversity of functional backgrounds as well. This variety in my cohort helped me understand better the many moving parts and different individuals that integrate to make successful organizations.

The extracurricular life on campus was quite vibrant as well. Joining an MBA club, one cannot be a passive member, and instead taking initiative is a necessary condition. Getting to work with your fellow club members to create goodwill amongst corporate sponsors and ideate and organize relevant events is a lot of fun and good practice for life after the MBA.

Networking and relationship building is a huge part of the MBA experience as well. Interactions with your peers will give you a good insight into the trends and growth areas in other spheres, even as alumni outreach will help you build a brand that will come in useful in the post-MBA job search.

The post-MBA job hunt abroad is quite unique in that you get a good job based on the kind of network you have developed. Conversations that begin as fact-finding missions about the pressures and challenges of a particular domain evolve into discussions about how your career can evolve in the domain of your choice. Often, your outreach will not pay off immediately with respect to employment, but you can never know who would put in a good word for you or alert you to a job opening unless you get out there and have those conversations.

 

Experts’ Global: What common mistakes should all GMAT and MBA aspirants look out for?

Nishant: Before you begin your MBA journey, you need to have a plan in mind about how you are going to allocate time for your GMAT prep and your application work relative to your school deadlines. Choose the right resources to hasten your GMAT prep. The official material on the GMAT website should always be your guiding light. As far as essays and the like are concerned, do your best to tailor them to the culture of your targeted school.

 

Experts’ Global: Thank you for this illuminating conversation, Nishant!

Nishant: My pleasure, and my thanks to Experts’ Global for putting this together!