Sauder MBA/MS Admission Essay

After the completion of my MBA I want to work as management consultant, helping clients tailoring  business strategy, operations, management controls while creating value, maximizing growth and improving the business performance. The nature of work in my current organization has allowed me to work closely with several clients to develop and improve their business processes. I have been providing solutions to complex business situations by conducting analysis, carrying out research and data collection, and finding out best possible options. A formal degree of management in Sauder will help me to learn the nuances of business and would allow me to learn and grow in the international corporate environment.

In a long run I plan to have my own venture. I have already started working on some small ventures along with friends and family. We have set up a small scale technology and services firm and another one is in progress. Before proceeding any further in this business I want to acquire more experience and want know the nuances of strategy, planning, organizing, and execution. I have acquired strong technical skills by doing a full time master’s degree in Computer Applications while my graduation in mathematics has helped me to acquire analytical and quantitative skills that facilitates understanding and structuring solution to complex problems. An MBA now will make me complete in term of what I want to become as a professional.

I’m a guitar player and compose and produce my own music. My journey of music started with a band during my graduation and advanced by playing with different musicians in both on stage and recording sessions. In Cognizant my band “PreCogs” has been performing regularly in all the major events and festivals in the organization. I look forward to have opportunities to contribute the Sauder community musically.

Right from school I have been forefront organizer of several academic and cultural events. In college I took major part in organizing annual festivals by raising funds, scheduling events, and participating myself. During my professional life I have organized several team building events: team outing, team dinner, entertainment sessions for project and domain. The yearly meet of Banking and Financial domain this year was organized entirely by me. These experiences have helped me to grow strong interpersonal and organizing abilities which enable me to become an energetic part of community I live and I am confident to have more such opportunities during my stint in Sauder.

Sauder with vast experience, elite network of alumni and international exposure and recognition throughout the globe is the best fit for me. With its innovative programs and diverse perspectives on management and leadership, Sauder has built a strong reputation across borders and industries. It gives a truly international learning environment with very high percentage of international students. It facilitates worldwide appreciated faculty and best-in-class facility which brings an unique experience of learning to the students.

During the course of MBA I want to learn from the lineage of knowledge crafted through the contribution of succession of leaders and entrepreneurs who were associated with this great institution. A formal degree in management in Sauder will not only hone my capabilities but also keep me aligned with my future aspirations.

A Perfect Lancaster MBA/MS Entrance Essay

• What is your aspiration and what are you trying to achieve?

Throughout my career I have been associated with services and consultancy firms. I love to plan, strategize and execute them. This is where I see myself as a professional from my early age. The nature of work in my current organization has allowed me to work closely with several clients to develop and improve their business processes and provide solutions to complex business situations. This gave me an opportunity to excel my skills to work in challenging situation, manage team ,and handle clients. From here I want to take a leap in my career by doing an MBA which will allow me to learn the subtleties of running a business and understand the nuances of economy and finance.

I have setup a small scale technology and services firm which might generate very low profit in terms of remuneration, but has given me a good idea of setting up a business, acquire and manage talent, negotiate with clients, and executing business models. I also run a blog based website which provides its users free and downloadable materials and I’m planning to convert it to a revenue generating website. This experiences may be small in terms of profit, but have given me knowledge of how things work. I want to collaborate the learning that I have had in different phases of my life to set up a technology and services firm which will cater to clients internationally ,create values while working with its customers and leave a mark on global business.

• Why did you choose a MBA and, more specifically, why the Lancaster MBA? 

MBA will offer me to learn corporate strategy, strategic planning and the technical skills such as finance and accounting which are extremely required to run a successful business. It’s a niche study which will allow me to hone my interpersonal skills, to lead cross-cultural and cross-functional team, to learn accounting, sales, marketing, and operations simultaneously. I have acquired strong technical skills by doing a full time master’s degree in Computer Applications while my graduation in mathematics has helped me to attain analytical and quantitative skills that facilitate understanding of complex problems. An MBA now will make me complete in term of what I want to become as a professional.

I chose Lancaster because of its innovative programs and diverse perspectives on management and leadership. Lancaster facilitates worldwide appreciated faculty and best-in-class facility which brings a unique experience of learning to the students. An MBA in this institute will offer me a truly international learning environment. Lancaster with vast experience, elite network of alumni and international exposure and recognition throughout the world is the best fit for me. This institution has built a strong reputation globally, for its rich, diverse, creative, real-world programs. It has created leaders who have redefined the way business runs.

I’m sure that at Lancaster I will enhance your knowledge and perspective and will have a life-time experience which will not only hone my capabilities but also give the opportunity to move forward in the direction I want to.

A Perfect Lancaster MBA/MS Entrance SOP

I’m applying for full time MBA in Lancaster Business School. I’m a graduate in Mathematics and master of Computer Applications, and currently working with Cognizant Technology Solutions, one of the elite services and consulting firms in Information Technology sphere.

I look for a specific profile after the completion of my MBA. I want to work as a management consultant, helping clients to tailor business strategy, operations, and management controls while creating value, maximizing growth and improving the business performance. A formal degree of management in Lancaster will help me to learn the nuances of business and would allow me to learn and grow in the international corporate environment. In a long run I plan to have my own venture. I have already started working on some ventures along with friends and family by setting up a small scale technology and services firm. Before proceeding any further in this business I want to gain more experience and want know the nuances of strategy, planning, organizing, and execution.

During my stint in Lancaster I look forward to opportunities to contribute to the community musically and culturally. My journey of music started with during my graduation and went forward by playing with different musicians in both on stage and recording sessions. In Cognizant my band “PreCogs” has been performing regularly in all the major events and festivals. Right from my school days I have been an avid organizer: organizing several cultural and educational events ranging from annual cultural festival to team outings and from ice-breaking sessions to domain meets. These experiences have helped me to grow strong interpersonal and organizing abilities which enable me to become an energetic part of community I live in.

During the course of MBA I want to learn from the lineage of knowledge crafted through the contribution of succession of leaders and entrepreneurs who were associated with this great institution. A formal degree in management in Lancaster will not only hone my capabilities but also keep me aligned with my future aspirations.

An Interview Question Answer

Are you responsible for a managing or working with budgets?

As a programmer analyst I have not handled a budget at the professional level. However each day in life has a budget to be handled – and like everyone else I also have one on a daily basis.

I have organized several events in my school, college and the organizations I have work for. In these events I have to take care of the fund raising and expenses. I have organization annual meet of Banking and Financial domain sponsored by Cognizant. It was an event that included several projects from different locations. I had to organize everything from food to commute and from booking the venue to sending the invitation. I was given a fund of Rs. 100,000 INR to manage an event attended by 200 executives from Banking and Financial domain in Cognizant. I conducted the entire event successfully and managed to save Rs. 10,000 INR after the event was over which was handed back to Cognizant.

A Critical MBA Entrance Quesion Answers

Are you or have you been responsible for managing specific projects or teams within an organisation. Please tell us the size and nature of the tasks and people you have managed?

I believe in order to succeed in business world one has to have a team spirit and when a group of professional work as a team they can take the best of everyone in the team and do something extraordinary. The nature of my responsibilities allows me work with others all the time. Since I work for services and consulting organization my day to day work include interaction with several individuals and group which includes team members, managers, higher management, clients and many times vendors of different technology and services that we use.

Specifically I’d like to mention one of experiences while working with my previous employer CMC Limited. I joined CMC Limited soon after completion of my master’s degree and was inducted to Tata Business Support Services project. Two of the seniors who were handling the major proportion of work of this project for the last three years left the organization within 15 days of my joining to the team leaving me and few more new joiners to take care of the entire project. Due to issues with budget and management the higher management asked me to take care of the entire software system in lieu of replacing the vacancies with experienced professionals. I took it as a challenge. In addition to developing the IT system I had to take care of everything from planning, scheduling and assigning works to negotiate with the clients for the requirement. For gathering requirements I had to negotiate with the client and during deployment of every new version I had to communicate with several teams seated in different geographic location. To keep the new joiners updated I organized several knowledge sessions.

After overcoming initial difficulties I managed to take care of the entire system successfully in matter of 15 days. Then I went on to maintaining the existing system I introduced six new products to the system in three months. This experience during the beginning phase of my career prepared the ground for my subsequent days in Information Technology and Consulting sphere.

Your Business Critical Decisions and Day to day Decisions

Are you or have you been expected to contribute to decision-making processes in your role? what kind of decisions? were they business-critical decisions or day to day?

Business Critical Decisions

-        Scheduling the activities for the team according to the teams performance and ability to deliver within defined time line.

-        Approach to be followed to resolve a complex business situation.

-        Cost calculations and Impact analysis of a business issue.

Day to day Decisions

-        Handling queries of the clients and providing support to clients regarding the system that has been implemented.

-        Base-lining the requirements for a business solution.

-        Communicating with support groups to resolve issues with network, software, and technologies.