GERRY.in | MBA blog | Ryerson University | Ted Rogers School of Management: Mar 30, 2012

Friday, March 30, 2012

eCollegeFinder Top MBA Blog Award ---> My Experience.

From the link: https://www.ecollegefinder.org/mba-award.aspx

My name was automatically entered for an online blog competition by eCollegeFinder from the 22nd March 2012 to 30th March, 2012. It felt good to be nominated. It felt good to be in a contest. I had not planned for this. This fell on my lap! What I did to promote my blog and get votes to win the contest:

Tweet about the contest to get votes from Twitter.
Put blog links on my blog. Since this blog gets a traffic of about 200 per day, some of the traffic converts to votes.
I made a YouTube video about the contest.
I posted about the contest on Facebook and asked my friends from all over the world to vote for me and ask their families to vote for me as well.
I posted on LinkedIn and asked my contacts to vote for me.
I asked everyone I met on the streets to vote for me.
I asked all my classmates to vote for me in the Business School.
I asked everyone in the University to vote for me.
I asked all my school mates all over the world to vote for me.And they asked their friends!
Some of the people whom I have mentored for MBA voted for me and asked all their friends to vote for me.
The power of Social Media is amazing. I have no way of telling the details. I am sure that there is an Analytics software with eCF that can analyze the trends of voting.
But this was good to take part in and promote.
Who knows, this may be a start of something. I may run for some public office in the future, if destiny takes me there!

Here, below are some details about the contest held by eCollegeFinder that took place from 22nd March, 2012 to 30th March, 2012. It was 100% online voting.

PURPOSE:

The Top MBA Blogs Award was created to provide MBA and potential MBA students with a collection of helpful and encouraging blogs from students, graduates, professors, and authorities on earning a Master’s Degree in Business Administration. The nominees that have been included are those that inspire, teach, and encourage student readers and foster a community for those studying business administration at a higher level.

(1 to 22) Top MBA Blogs Nominees

So what did I learn from other websites listed above? I shall type a summary below, for the benefit of the readers soon.

But the most hilarious paragraph and perhaps one that I can connect with the most is this one below by Nick of http://www.mbaaim.com/ What does Nick say, when it comes to the advice the blogger can offer to students aiming to improve their chances of being accepted into an MBA program?? Nick says: "Delete your Facebook account, throw away your TV, and go to study. When you are reading this message your competitor read the textbook. Who will be admitted?"

OMG, when I read this, I laughed so hard! Ha Ha Ha !!! Not only is this hilarious, this is also kinda true :) It is amazing how 2 bloggers from 2 different parts of the world think so similarly! Yup, some of us bloggers are Nerds. But, hey, this is who we are :)

Final Year MBAs, please make sure to have some nice & professional pictures of you for your profiles!

One of the things I think MBAs should do is to have multiple pictures of themselves in professional attire - in suits and formal wear. Since I attended school in a suit yesterday, I got a few pics taken in a suit (using a Blackberry, LOL. I did not have my digital camera with me at the time). I have posted them below.

In my opinion, it is very important for MBA students to use professional pictures on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube and so on. As they say, "Dress for the job you want and not for the job you have!". I have seen some students who are extremely professionally dressed at all times and then, I have seen a few who do not take formal dressing too seriously.

Social Media is extremely powerful. However, not everyone uses it as an advantage. Not everyone leverages Social Media!

W.r.t. the grooming and self-promotion bits, if we can not take care about personal grooming, how can we be take care of companies when we are done with the MBA? Now, I know that in some cultures, we are tought to be very modest about ourselves and not to promote oneself. But hey, we MBAs are supposed to be the masters of Marketing. We are supposed to teach the world how to make sales and promotions. If we fail to do that ourselves, it would be a disaster! We need to lead by example and we need to show the world that we are good at what we do. So, in my humble opinion, NEVER hesitate to promote yourself as an MBA student. Coz you will have to do that for your employer tomorrow and for your employer's products and services tomorrow. I wish all MBAs the very best of luck!
- Gerry.

About making decisions regarding career choices. MBAs have a tough time with this, since they have diverse UG fields from the past, and now a new Business field.

I have been asking a few people for career advise recently. And I did ask them regarding the final choice of career. How does a student choose his exact career path. This is particularly true for Final year MBAs with no specialization - for those doing a General MBA.

While it is tempting to wait for the dream job, even if it means having to reject the other jobs on the way, the current economic situation perhaps tells us to grab whatever offers are available, without the need to think too much. Just go for the first available offer with a decent package, LOL. So the question is:

Should one wait a little longer, but get the perfect job? or
Should one just grab whatever opportunity comes your way?.

When I asked this question to a Prof., he said that only I can make that decision. It is a personal decision. One has to weigh the pros and cons and come to conslusion about what are the personal priorities. Once priorities are established, you have to follow upon them.

With regards to choosing a particular field to work, it has to be something that one enjoys doing - on a daily basis. One can not have enthusiasm in the beginning and then, jump ship midway.

However, once a choice has been made and you have to do your best to network well enough to know who are the movers and shakers in this field. Try and make the connections at the senior level.

For MBAs, it is also important not to stray away too far from the undergraduate degree. Since we already have deep knowledge and core competency in a particular field already, it is good to utilize that as an advantage, rather than let go of it.

Of course, one may use the logic - "If others can do it, I can do it!" If others can master Finance, I can master Finance as well, even if one does not have a Finance background. But the issue here is that there are people who have been doing this for years. Competing against them is not easy. The world is full of job applicants with multiple qualifications and certifications and no job, or not happy with the job and are looking.

So, it is important to tailor your own way to success, create your own recipe - that consists of - what you shall enjoy, your personal priorities and what you expect out of the career path you choose. This might seem vague, but to complete the discussion in one sentence:

Yes, it is a tough choice to make (future career path). But it is a personal choice that the individual has to make. It better be a wise choice!

List of sample behavioral-based interview questions:

From the link: http://www.quintcareers.com/sample_behavioral.html

Describe a situation in which you were able to use persuasion to successfully convince someone to see things your way.

Describe a time when you were faced with a stressful situation that demonstrated your coping skills.

Give me a specific example of a time when you used good judgment and logic in solving a problem.

Give me an example of a time when you set a goal and were able to meet or achieve it.

Tell me about a time when you had to use your presentation skills to influence someone's opinion.

Give me a specific example of a time when you had to conform to a policy with which you did not agree.

Please discuss an important written document you were required to complete.

Tell me about a time when you had to go above and beyond the call of duty in order to get a job done.

Tell me about a time when you had too many things to do and you were required to prioritize your tasks.

Give me an example of a time when you had to make a split second decision.

What is your typical way of dealing with conflict? Give me an example.

Tell me about a time you were able to successfully deal with another person even when that individual may not have personally liked you (or vice versa).

Tell me about a difficult decision you've made in the last year.

Give me an example of a time when something you tried to accomplish and failed.

Give me an example of when you showed initiative and took the lead.

Tell me about a recent situation in which you had to deal with a very upset customer or co-worker.

Give me an example of a time when you motivated others.

Tell me about a time when you delegated a project effectively.

Give me an example of a time when you used your fact-finding skills to solve a problem.

Tell me about a time when you missed an obvious solution to a problem.

Describe a time when you anticipated potential problems and developed preventive measures.

Tell me about a time when you were forced to make an unpopular decision.

Please tell me about a time you had to fire a friend.

Describe a time when you set your sights too high (or too low).

STAR method of answering Behavioural Interview questions for MBA students

I attended a mock interview recently at a major big name Management Consulting firm in Toronto and got some practice regarding answering behavioural interview questions. It was an excellent experience and I am glad that I attended. I was very impressed by the ambience, by the feel of the place, by the way people were dressed (so elegantly), groomed and behaved. I felt that I would like to work in such a big name firm and learn not just the technical skills, but also learn about life in a big firm. The experience shall add so much value.

These days, the concept of behavioural interviews is gathering steam. The resoning behind this is that "Past behaviour is a predictor of Future behaviour". What a person has done in the past is likely to predict what the person may do in the future.

I also learnt about the STAR technique to answering behavioural interviews. Details below:

S - Situation
T - Task
A - Action
R - Result

S / T - Describe the situation that you were in or the task that you needed to accomplish. You must describe a specific event or situation, not a generalized description of what you have done in the past. Be sure to give enough detail for the interviewer to understand. This situation can be from a previous job, from a volunteer experience, or any relevant event.

A - Describe the action you took and be sure to keep the focus on you. Even if you are discussing a group project or effort, describe what you did - not the efforts of the team. Don't tell what you might do, tell what you did.

R - What happened? How did the event end? What did you accomplish? What did you learn?

More about STAR interview technique: One strategy for job-seekers preparing for behavioral interviews is to use the STAR Technique, as outlined below. (This technique is often referred to as the SAR and PAR techniques as well.) Read up on the technique. Here, below, is a sample STAR interview response:

Situation (S):Advertising revenue was falling off for my college newspaper,the Stetson Reporter, and large numbers of long-term advertisers were not renewing contracts.

Action (A):I designed a new promotional packet to go with the rate sheet and compared the benefits of Reporter circulation with other ad media in the area. I also set-up a special training session for the account executives with a School of Business Administration professor who discussed competitive selling strategies.

Result (R):We signed contracts with 15 former advertisers for daily ads and five for special supplements. We increased our new advertisers by 20 percent [quantities are always good] over the same period last year.

Scramble is on, for MBA internship placements.

As we final year MBA students near the finish line (we have just 2 weeks of classes left!). My last test is on 12th April, 2012. I have 4 more written assignments remaining + 1 week of classes remaining. After that, I shall be done with a significant chunk of the program and this Winter 2012 term shall end.

A few of my classmates have already secured internships and a few students are in the interviewing / waitlisting stage. Many are still applying. The job market is not the best and jobs / internships are not very easy to comeby. Moreover, a lot of companies make decisions about internships in the last stage.

What are my plans for internship + MRP (Major Research Paper)? For now, I am focusing on completion of the term. I need to get decent grades and complete this term having learnt the fundamentals well. After April 12th, I shall probably focus on starting my own company. I have enquired with the Career Services Department and I guess it is ok to start my own business and show that as internship. I can submit a business plan and a written record to prove work done.

So I personally am not worried about my internship. I will be ok :)

MBA photo session yesterday.

We had a photo session of MBA students at our B-School recently. The images shall be used as promo matierial. It was a fun experience to dress up in formal wear and have pictures taken.

I hope that the promos turn out well. We have a great B school. The world needs to know that!

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