Profile Evaluation Request : Ask Square One Prep

About Me:

Indian Male
Age - 25

Gmat Details

GMAT 2 - 720 ( Q49,V40, IR-2,AWA-6) --- I'm a little worried about my IR score.
GMAT 1 - 680 (Q49, V34, IR-5, AWA-5)

Education summary

B.Tech- Computer Science &Engineering (2014-2018)
CGPA - 9.01/10 (Among top 5% within a batch of 800 students)
VIT UNIVERSITY VELLORE , India --- Ranked 9th Best University In India


12th Standard - 92.8% - Apeejay School Saket, New Delhi, India



International Exposure

• Internally relocated to Cisco Poland (EU headquarters) from Cisco India (internal international relocations are very rare and reserved for top talents within the company) in 2021.
• Established and managed with fortune 500 clients from Europe, Asia-Pasic and Americas.


Target Schools

Kellog -- Applied in R1
Berkley Haas (R2)
UCLA Anderson. --- applying in R1
Dartmouth Tuck (R2 )
MIT Sloan (R2)
CMU tepper --- Applying in R1
UT Austin - Mccombs -- Applying in R1
University of Washington - Foster (R2)
Michigan Ross (R2)

WORK EXPERIENCE
Cisco Systems Inc, Customer Success Division (NYSE: CSCO) Krakow, Poland
Customer Experience Leader (Internal Start-up)12/2021 – Present
Responsible for establishing the internal Customer Experience function from scratch and currently leading a 4-member team.
- Collaborated across engineering, design, and product teams to strategize and execute MVP rollout
- Converted 80% of 60 initial customers and signed 28 new accounts, adding $2M in net revenue
Customer Success Specialist (Cyber-security) 08/2021 – Present
Responsible for driving adoption of Cisco’s solutions and ensuring renewals of customer contracts. Youngest team lead in the Customer Success division.
- Negotiated key deals adding $20M in recurring revenue (23% of EU security portfolio renewals)
- Recaptured 30% of lost market share in Video conferencing by rebranding collaboration and Security as integrated portfolio.
- Led 7-member team to empower and upskill partner channels (300 partners), leading to 40% growth in distribution sales and 27% increase in Success Stories.
- Winner of seven internal awards - youngest in the company to win the most coveted sales award (Recognized as the top 2% of Cisco’s Sales Workforce)
Sr. Technical Consulting Engineer (Cyber-security) . 01/2020 – 07/2021
Technical Consulting Engineer (Cyber-security) 07/2018 – 12/2019
Responsible for driving large-scale security projects for fortune 500 clients.
- Improved customer health index by 38% by devising proprietary stakeholders feedback mechanism to customize offerings and improve project delivery.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

XYZ Technologies LLP DELHI, India
Co-Founder & CEO 03/2022 – present
A boutique security consulting company aiming to simplify cyber-security for enterprises in their pursuit of digitization by building customized, affordable, and streamlined security solutions.
- Bootstrapped the company with an initial investment of $2000; Onboarded 13 clients; Net Revenue earned- $56K; Future contracts signed yet be realized – $120K
- Saved 180 man-hours by optimizing complex security infrastructure and enhancing network visibility for our clients, resulting in direct cost savings by over $320K


Community Service and Volunteering

• Ardent champion of Women Inclusion at Work Places. Acted as the co-lead of APJC centers for Women Of Impact (WOI) chapter at Cisco. Conducted and hosted several events, workshops and skill based trainings for Women in Cisco to help in their career development.

• Led an initiative along with Cisco Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) team at Cisco to architect a career development plan for early in career women at Cisco to provide them guidance and mentorship. We assigned Cisco Women Leaders (with 10+ years of work exp) as mentors who helped newcomers in transitioning into the professional world and guided them to excel in their roles. The program had an immense impact and we observed exceptional women participation in multiple projects happening across APJC centers.


• What is your desired position ?

By 2024, I'd like to launch an all-in-one cybersecurity product, a unique offering in the industry, to supplement our existing consulting services

• What is your long-term career goal ?

Provide organizations with customized cybersecurity solutions and services that are affordable, agile, and easier to manage

• What drives your interest in these goals?

I noticed that most security companies focus on providing generalized security solutions, forcing many industries to defend against threats exploiting their unique infrastructure. I aim to provide customizable security solutions as a fix.



Questions I have -:

I'm aiming to apply for Round 1 and Round 2 for Fall 23 and intake

1. Is my profile good enough for the colleges I'm targeting?
It will be of immense help to me if you can categorize the schools above as
○ Safe
○ Target
○ Too ambitious

2. I'm a little worried about my IR score(2) which is 8 %. Can this effect my chances of getting an admit? I've already trying retaking the GMAT and my score didn't improve. Any insight on this?


3. Is the strategy to apply in certain schools in R1 and others in R2 good, given i'll have more time to polish my essays for the schools and can iterate on any inconsistencies or drawbacks that i find in R1?

Appreciate your help

Hello Personal mba coach,

I would like to share a little bit about my journey,
I'm 33 yo, I have 8 years of experience in renewable energy in France.
I'm a non traditional undergrad, but I juste have finished a master degree with a top business school in France (Emlyon), in parallel with my work. I did that because I have planned to do an MBA in order to switch my career mainly in tech. Currently i work with my GMAT to get above 720.
Can I apply to a top MBA like HSW ? if not, What kind MBA will be the best fit for me.
But it's important for me to get a top MBA because, one day if I return in Europe I need that the MBA can help me outside of The US because of alumni network for example or other.

Thank you for your return .

I'd like to briefly describe my journey. I'm 33 years old and have worked in the field of renewable energy in France for 8 years.
I attended a non-traditional undergrad program, but I recently completed a master's degree at one of the best business schools in France, Emlyon, while continuing to work. I did it because I intended to get an MBA and go to a career primarily in technology. I'm now working on raising my GMAT score above 720.
Can I apply to an elite MBA program like HSW? If not, what type of MBA would be most appropriate for me?
But getting a top MBA is crucial for me because, if I ever return to Europe, I need to be able to leverage the alumni network or some other resource outside of the US.

I appreciate your coming back.