On an average how many students opt for Student Exchange Program with other schools? Can you put in touch with someone who is currently doing/ planning for exchange? Can we use career services at the Partner school? What are the other ways in which these exchanges add value?

Around 10% of the batch ~ 50 students are going on exchange this year. Using career services of the partner school varies from school to school - mostly students get placed through CAS at ISB itself. The main value addition happens through - networking, meeting globally diverse people, new culture and workpractices, classroom and informal interactions.

Apprx. how many students are able to take advantage of Wharton Global Consulting Program in recent years? What is the criteria for selection for WCGP ? How this program added value in preparing for consulting career?

The no. of students varies depending on the no. of projects - last year the no. was 8 , this year's no. has not yet been finalized. Criteria for selection - how can you pitch for a project as a team, what value you bring to the table as a team to deliver tangible results for a project. Its almost like a live consulting project - one thing to note here is that apart from the WGCP there are numerous ELPs and within ISB projects which all give a first hand experience of a consulting project.

 

i have some questions about ISB

how useful is ISB MBA for career switchers? for instance, can an IT guy get into management consulting? if so, how do you guys manage that without even doing an internship?

what kinda roles within the industry does a software engineer with an ISB MBA get into?

ISB is very good choice  for career switching. In better times(2008 and before), 81% of the class was able to switch careers but due to recession, career switching has become difficult at all top bschools including ISB (Reson being employers want lateral hires who can do the job from day 1).
It is certainly true that lack of  internship does hinder switching to few roles like Ibanking, where students w/o background do face stiff competition with students with significant Ibanking/fin/PE type of experience. In 2 year courses, internships do help.
But consulting is a different ball game. Consultanting companies are looking for people who have superb analytical horsepower , have high EQ and have good leadership qualities. So they are background neutral . Hence consulting is really big at ISB and a good number of students land up consulting roles each year. Mckinsey and BCG are very closely associated with ISB (Mckinsey the most because ISB is a result of Mckinsey's vision and former mckinsey CEO is chairman of ISB) and regularly do prep sessions with ISB students to help them prepare for consulting roles. 

There is a significant population at ISB that wants to jump ladders in the same industry. So lets say if you are a techie with 5 years of exp, you can easily join as a senior manager in a tech company with a big team under you. if you bring in significant years of relevant experience several companies offer senior management roles(Director,GM,VP,CXO).

Regarding your s/w eng question, the most popular choice apart from Fin/consulting roles are BD/Sales/strategy and GM/LRP (Leadership rotational programs)


  

thanks for the really useful insight.
Can you help me get in touch with alumni or a current student?
would love to talk to you if you are one.

Please send an email to pgpadmissions@isb.edu and ask them to connect you with a current student/alum of similar profile.

The Business Technology Club (BTC) of the batch of 2010 at ISB is organizing a one day industry event, the Business Technology Conclave, on Friday, the 23rd of October, at ISB. The theme of the conference is “Riding the Asian Elephant – Emerging opportunities in the Asian Technology Landscape.”

 

It’s a great opportunity for the attendees to learn about the technology industry landscape in India and Asia, and to meet people from industry.

 

The event features a key note address by the dean of ISB, Mr. Ajit Rangnekar and two panel discussions organized during the day. The BTC has leveraged its industry contacts to invite guests and the conference is generating a lot of excitement in the ISB student community.

 

Panel 1 (Telecom Panel):
Topic: Improving the bottom-line: Next generation Telecom business models

Panelists:

·         Mohan Moghe, Executive Director, Verizon Communications USA

·         Vinay Goel, India Head, Product Management, Google

·         Manoj Kanagalu, Senior Director, Wireless and VOIP solutions, Nortel

·         Faisal Siddique, Motorola – Head (India and South-West Asia) Mobile Devices

·         Deepak Gulati, President, TataDoCoMo India.

·         Mangesh Kulkarni, Global Strategy head, Nokia-Siemens

·         Anshoo Gaur, GM and India Head, Amdocs India

Panel 2 (IT/ITES Panel):
Topic: Asian Markets – New Hotspots for IT companies

Panelists:

·         Ganesh Natarajan, CEO, Zensar Technologies Ltd.

·         Amit Sircar, General Manager, Microsoft Global Services India

·         N V Tyagarajan “Tiger”, COO, Genpact Ltd.

·         Haragopal M, Global Head – Finacle, Infosys Technologies Limited

·         Srini Komanduri, Director, Deloitte India

·         CEO, Logica India

The registration is free. You can register and get all the conclave information at the conclave webpage - http://www.isb.edu/btc_conclave/

So, please take time out to register and attend BTC’s Business Technology Conclave at ISB to enrich your knowledge and network!

Hi,

I am aiming for the 2011 batch and to be honest, the more I search the internet for information on essays and interviews, the more nervous I get. After reading a lot of blogs and personal accounts on various forums, my understanding is that interviews are stressful with interviewers grilling applicants on their weaknesses. (I will be more than happy if you tell me otherwise)

Anyways, few days ago I came across an offering from ISB alumni on ISB interview training. Do you think I should go for that? Or is there a better way to do it myself?

http://www.general-ed.com/isb-interview-tips.htm

Thanks in advance

hi manjit,

I would say its true that interviews at ISB are typically more rigorous than other top intl bschools(I have cleared both). I would say its more to do with the culture. So do expect to be grilled on your goals post ISB , work ex etc.

Regarding the consultants, I am sorry I wouldnt eb able to comment on their quality. If they are claiming to be ISB HBS etc alums, I am they must be. So do access their quality level before you cough up your money. But to apply to bschools you need not work with consultants.

PE conference at ISB.

http://www.isb.edu/PEConference/

Hi ISB Connect,
My post-MBA goal is i-banking. I was going through your list of companies that visit... and I was disappointed to see almost no i-banks at all. Do you suggest I should apply if I am a 100% sure that I want to work as an associate in an i-bank post graduation?