I now understand business more holistically. -
……says Aravind Pillai, a Mechanical Engineering from NIT, Nagpur. He is currently working with Meritor, a leading global supplier of drivetrain, mobility, braking and aftermarket solutions for commercial vehicle and industrial markets. He has also worked with Ashok Leyland & Nissan and played several different roles. In conversation with Reshma Majithia, he talks of his decision to do an MBA form IE Business School, Madrid.
Tell us a bit about yourself?
My name is Aravind. I completed my Mechanical Engineering from NIT Nagpur and went on to work for Ashok Leyland & Nissan in the product development function. I rose from the position of a design engineer to a manager in just 5 years.
However, I still felt the need to equip myself with skill-sets required to gear to take wider responsibilities and an MBA from a good school seemed like a good option at that point.
How did you balance your job responsibilities with GMAT and application preparation? Elaborate on the obstacles faced
Good B schools put a lot of weightage on the way one performs in one’s professional life. I always put my work first. The GMAT preparation took 3 months, and approximately 2 hours per day. I did not find the exam too demanding to have any impact on my work. All I had to do was focus on English grammar as Mathematics seemed to be easy.
The essays in the application play a very important role in making or breaking an application. Aspirants should keep it their top priority. What you write in the essays reveal a lot about you. It took a lot of time and thought process to refine it, and make it presentable to the admission committee. The application essay preparation was tougher than the GMAT.
Did you have any specific country in mind while short listing your schools? Why did you decide to do an MBA from IE Business School, Madrid?
I wanted to do a 1 year program and Europe was my top preference. INSEAD & IE were my dream schools and I was fortunate to make to IE. Diversity was one of the most important criteria. I was looking for in a B School, and IE was one of the most diverse schools with students from more than 85 countries, and from diverse professional backgrounds on campus. Apart from being among the top-ranked schools in the world with a brilliant faculty, the school’s focus on entrepreneurship was another important attraction for me.
What difference in terms of skill sets have you observed in yourself after your MBA from IE Business School? Do you observe significant differences in the way you manage work now as compared to in the past?
From my previous domain expertise in a specific function – engineering, I now understand business more holistically. Technically I have acquired many tools which have given me the confidence to run an enterprise or a business unit.
There is a big difference in the content of work and responsibilities before and after an MBA programme. While earlier I was designing a subsystem of a truck, I now take care of a project in its entirety where I am responsible for meeting several business targets.
After finishing my MBA I got selected for a leadership programme, and I got to work on many different functions with the top management team of the company I am currently employed with.
What is your advice to MBA aspirants?
I have two suggestions for aspirants planning to do MBA from a good international B school
Firstly, build a strong professional career. Put in a good 4-5 years. Try and learn as much as you can at work so that you can. Build a good professional relationship with senior team, who can vouch for you later during the application.
Secondly, the biggest challenge to me when I applied to the international MBA was finances This is true for many candidates from developing countries given the high fees of these premier programs. My suggestion to MBA aspirants would be that let this not deter you from applying. Trust me, you will find ways to get there if you really want to. |
