end of the week closeout!

phew...this was some week..
just returned from the farewell drinks of a very close friend of mine, hez off to Houston for his next posting...and soon the layer of friends all around are going away (every 4-5 years we move to a new country in our business)....so here is another departure...im starting to feel like the old one now...

this week has its ups and ups but there are some downs too...though im excited about my Wharton interview...im not that confident about the results...and the Stanford interview..i just need to motivate myself more to perform well in the interview...and hbs..i think i have put that story down to rest......

have a great weekend folks ! its the carnival this weekend so enjoy...
ciao ciao
Ash out !

The Wharton Interview

So...it happened finally...the much awaited Wharton Interview. It was a hub interview in Paris with Marilyn Yakowitz (yes she is the same lady from OECD when you google her name, which is so cool).

I arrived at the office of Bain and Company at 50 Avenue Montaigne (must say its a nice office, could see basilique mont martre and the louvre from the office over the Champs Elysse...ahh the sight) at 8:30 AM (1/2 and hour before my interview). The wait was interesting, as I was reading about the takeover bid by EON and the oil security crisis in Nigeria (in French). I glanced at my watch at it was 9:05....hmmm...running late...got me a little worried..so here is the first tip..if things run over a little...dont get nervous.

She came over an introduced herself and we walked to a small room for the interview. There was some general conversation to begin with. Then she explained to me what the idea of the interview was and what sort of things she was going to be looking for (which was kinda nice) and that we had 25 mins left from that point on.

1) Instead of asking me the "walk me through your resume", she said that it was a pretty standard question, so why dont i talk about my career progress. During my answers, she mentioned some interesting interactions that she has had in the past with my company (in the 90s) and was queried our company's current position on those topics. The cool part of the interview was that she was familiar with the oil business and its challenges so that made the conversation interesting. She asked me something targeted towards my field (and her interest), sustainable development and how i would implement it. I think i could have done better on that answer, since I gave her my current perspective only, as opposed to telling her what I would do 15 years from now if I became a leader in the energy industry

2) Next was, why an MBA....which is standard

3) Why Wharton, and after i mentioned the collaborative environment bit..and that its one of the more transparent B schools..she did chime in...saying thats the same impressions she has had being on the admissions comm. for the last 3 months

4) What is my leadership style

5) quickly (as we were running out of time), Strenghts and weaknesses...

then she asked me if I had any questions...and i asked her some questions which I have been pondering about...
she then gave me her card and walked me out...
phew....i was a little nervous..kept thinking about negatives after the interview...why did i lean back a little instead of leaning forward...aaaah i forgot to tell her about my latest performance appraisal..aaahh..i could have done better on the sustainable development question.....oh well....its over...id give the interview an 8/10..so now just have to wait till March 16th (1 day before the snowboarding week..so a pissup is guaranteed either way)....

thats the interview bit...two more things to add

A] Paris
My wife and I love going to France...the food..the wine..the shopping..the people...the country side....what was interesting on this trip however was the fact that we did it as non tourists for the first time and it was awesome..aalso this being the off seasons for tourists...everything was so not crowded and nice....we just doddled around...ate a lot of pastries and quiche Lorraine (my eternal weakness).....shopped....but here is where i found something interesting not done before and HIGHLY recommended...we went to the virgin music store on champs elysses...now when u r on this street..people goto sephora..LV..huge boss...etc (avoid the gap store)..but the virgin store rocked my world...its HUGE..and they have these cool machines..where you just need to scan the bar code of the music cd and it plays the tracks for you (do i sound like a small town person...but i have never seen that before)....we listened to a lot of old french music...and it was a lot of fun.....so next time you are in paris do that...ofcourse we then went to the supermarket and stocked up on all the cheese and meat (even though we get good stuff here in NL..variety is always fun)

B] Got an interview invite to Stanford today ! :D

phew...hows that for a long post?

cheers
Ash

wharton interview story coming up!

just came back from Paris after my wharton hub interview...will post the details soon !
:)
-Ash

Few observations

Today is a day of introspection and observation.

1) the last week was the most hectic week I have had in a looong time. Taking care of friend's dog (black and white dog below), pizza man rings door bell, door opens, dog escapes, manhunt launched, not found, 3 hours later hit by car ! shiiiiittttt...nehow we had to take care of the dog during the week....and now she is ok...and will undergo surgery today or tomorrow to have her hip fixed (thank god for dog surgeons)...

2) work has gone nuts ! going to Houston next week to launch my project...and then back for a few weeks and then off snowboarding in the alps...and then got my project deadline in Oman....how am i going to finish all this with the mba thingie going on...i wonder sometimes..perhaps stop time (this is when I wonder why no one ever made a practical invention from Einstein's theory of relativity)

3) I am now on Hella's list, so perhaps more people come to my blog site..so perhaps some responsible journalism is in order...no more slagging Berkeley people (kidding). Also need to start using spellcheek!

4) Wharton interview this Wednesday in Paris...my wife is excited about shopping..and ofcourse the location had to be near champs elysses :(

5) waiting for news from HBS and Stanford....interestingly enough..went to admissions 411 and noticed that all those folks called for interviews so far are either in investment banking...consulting or in "public management"....sigh whatever happens to us engineers????...

enough moping for now..back to work and interview preparation...will let you know what happens on Wednesday in Paris...

cheers
Ash

my dog ! (left)

and the winner is...

me...isnt that truely pathetic....i just had to log onto my page to goto the BW forum and i realise..the winner is me....
so i guess the award still stands...but to user number "1111"
-A

Prize for visitor number 1000

If you are visitor number 1000 on my website, take a screen capture and email it to me at ashblog@gmail.com and I will send you something nice (no, not porn pics, but something interesting, perhaps even cash)

cheers
Ash

oooppss!

just realised that my line manager (aka my boss...provider of all good things like my budget and annual ranking) reads my blogs sometimes...

the email that made my heart skip a beat!

When you see an email from HBS admissions in your inbox, it definitely gets your adrenaline rushing. And then it was the email below....just a process update....oh cruel fate you...nehow i have to prepare for the Wharton Interview (EXACTLY 6 days 23 hours and 53 minutes from now)...and sit back and hope for the interview invites from HBS and Stanford....

sigh...
ash
----------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Ash:

Greetings from Harvard Business School MBA Admissions! Thank you for submitting your Round 2 application. We'd like to take this opportunity to provide you with an update on our admissions process.

Process Update

We appreciate the time and effort you invested in completing the application. Since the Round 2 submission deadline in January, we have been working hard to thoroughly review every application we received.

As we continue to review applications, we have begun to extend interview invitations. We will continue to do so up until the Round 2 notification date of March 29th.

Should you be invited by the Admissions Board to interview, you will receive an email with the subject line: "HBS Interview."

Admissions decisions will be available on the Apply Yourself website at noon on March 29th. All candidates will receive an email communication from HBS on the 29th directing you to the Apply Yourself website to view your decision.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at admissions@hbs.edu. <mailto:admissions@hbs.edu>

Sincerely,

The MBA Admissions Board
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field Road
Dillon House
Boston, MA 02163

Phew.....finally! something from Wharton

Just when I was thinking of how the "ding" letter would be written out, I still had some hope as i was checking my email every 30 mins. And then sitting at the dinner table as I was preparing for a presentation tomorrow, my wife started going out loud
"Dear Ash, your admissions...."...
my heart skipped a few beats....could it be a ding or was it an interview invite? Atleast thats the nice thing of having my gmail activated on her computer too....well..immediately logged into my account, and we had two people sitting in front of the computer with our fingers crossed...my dog joined in too ! :D
the good news....it was an interview invite ! phew........finally....
I know the last few weeks have represented an emotional roller coaster...not just for me but also for a lot of folks around me (and also in the blog world)....so all i can say is...keep the faith... :D
so....9 days to interview....the good news is that we get the day off in Paris! (my hub)..and need to start preparing SOON!
cheers all
Ash out !

here we go again!

The last 6 days, though hectic (average amount of sleep/night = 4 hours) were awesome....I was in Oman on business there (my 16th trip actually in 4 years now)....the problem was the work was so interesting that i had to work till late in the night to get stuff ready for the teams the next day...however the weather was so nice that after finishing up with my work...id sit on the beach with some mates and drink a few beers and have a swim till 2 in the morning... sigh...we need to move to a warmer country soon...

on the MBA front....still no news from Wharton (assuming a ding sandwich with ding-a-ling sauce to be served soon)...though im not surprised about Wharton...as I do not have some of the "essential ingredients" required by that school.....H/S...now thats a different story...expect to do better there..especially since interview invites have started to trickle in...

so thats that...and back to work now...and its cool..as I am managing a global technology delivery project....because of which I'll get to implement some exciting technology across the whole group....and get to travel all over the world this year...cant complain !

-Ash out

Am i losing it?

Well...we are into day 11 of the 21 day (working days) in the Wharton process (almost half way). HBS has not yet started off and Stanford has started to trickle in.

And I have almost accepted defeat.....I wonder why ! I do not check my emails with enthusiasm any more...i just feel like im losing hope..even though its not late in the process...and given my app is not that weak (I cannot determine that my app is strong, but its unique atleast - dont see many folks from the oil business who hop all over the world wanting to get into B schools)....

so I need to do something to get myself out of this rut....any suggestions?
the only thing is that Im atleast going to Oman for a week, getting away from this gloomy cold weather...maybe that will lift my spirits a bit...

sigh...
Ash
PS: sorry for spreading the depression...if it exists...

Tagged .....

For those of you who are unaware, there is a tagging game going on in the community of MBA bloggers. I have been tagged by MBABlogger

Four jobs I've had in my life:
Teaching Assistant - Solar Energy
Gardener
Summer intern at chemical plant
Petroleum Engineer


Four movies I can watch over and over:
Austin Powers (any or all of em)
Godfather (any or all of em)
Monty Python (any or all of em)
Friday (any or all of em)

Four places I have lived:
Palo Alto
Houston
The Hague (Holland)
Dubai (UAE)

Four TV shows I love to watch:
24
Sopranos
Trailer Park Boys
South Park


Four places I have been on vacation:
Tuscany (Italy)
East Africa (kenya & Tanzania)
Oman
Pampalona (Spain)

Four of my favourite dishes:
Pork Vindalo
My wife's mutton curry
La Lanterna's Pizza Mafiosa
Alex's Tarte Flambee

Four websites I visit daily:
CNN
Times of India
Yahoo Finance
MY Blogsite


Four places I would rather be right now:
Selous - Tanzania
San Francisco - USA
Goa - India
Ischgl - Austria

Four bloggers I am tagging:
Dave
RedWolf
LaserLikeFocus
SoreBrek

And Stanford wins.....

Based on the poll conducted on my website...and based on the visitors who answered it...STANFORD wins....
new poll of the week...to the right !
cheers
Ash