How A Developer At Standard Chartered Bank Got An Admit To ISB In His 1st Attempt - Ruchir Saraswat

Ruchir's journey from being an Engineering Graduate to working as a Development Analyst for Standard Chartered Bank GBS allowed him to gain valuable technical skills in Data Base Management, SQL, Web Portal UI Design, Documentation, Development, Testing, etc., and learn agile methods of working. He had developed more than 300 files, delivered automation scripts, and supported cross-functional teams, which has also enhanced his teamwork and understanding of business requirements. He is currently a part of ISB's Class of 2024. In this interview, he shares his journey on how he made it to ISB. Read on!

Hi Ruchir, why did you decide to pursue an MBA ?
In my role at SCB GBS, I felt as if I was stagnated. And I decided that I could not be in this industry 5-10 years down the lane. Working in IT was definitely not what I was looking at. Hence MBA would have helped me to understand the business elements involved and understand the pillars involved in it and help me transition to a career where I would be able to contribute more and also have a sense of satisfaction. In the longer run, I would like to get a hang of consulting and explore various other domains post that.

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Why did you choose Anshul (from FaithCareer) to be your mentor for the ISB application?
So I got to know about Dr. Anshul from an ISB Alum, And then I went on to Google about him and searched for him on LinkedIn, From here the journey began, I didn’t research in detail, I just believed in him and went on to work with him. I wanted someone who had experience in these things and someone who can properly structure my thoughts which would then reflect in my essays. My decision to join him was comparatively late, because earlier I was in the notion that I would do everything on my own. But after discussing with a number of alums who were luckily easily available in my apartment, I chose to work with Dr Anshul.

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What tips you would want to give an aspirant who is writing down the ISB Application?
I would say, that you must be as organic as possible. There is no scope of being pretentious, you need to keep one thing in mind everything you write how is it going to help you or how will it be questioned in the interview. So, introspect, think deeply and come up with points which descries you in the best possible way. There is no shortcut or cheat code to achieve this. There are thousands of applications coming how are you the best candidate and what are you bringing to the table and how efficiently are you able to quantify those things. That would play a major role while you are preparing to jot down your essays. I would suggest to keep thinking about it day by day and come up with drafts every day. The more you think the finer details you would be able to extract.

Dr Anshul will give you some bullet points around which you can focus your thoughts upon, and more or less that will define your structure for the essays. But your efforts would be needed here the most.

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How was Anshul’s mentorship important while writing down the application?
It was really helpful to align my thoughts and accordingly, I was able to put up my candidature. I had a profile that was filled with extracurricular activities and a lot of leadership roles, sports, and initiatives taken at work and in my college days. And initially, I was skeptical about it, as I felt that it is becoming too much of what I had done earlier and a few bits of things which was done in my current role. But Anshul’s mentorship helped me to understand that these would act as my strengths and not weaknesses. This would give me a sense of diversity in my profile since I am an engineer, It will help me to showcase what I have done outside the box. Anshul’s words and strategy regarding the interview gave me the necessary confidence during the interviews.

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How did you prepare for the interview after submitting the application? What all steps did you take to make yourself ready for the interview?
Interview preparation matters a lot, you need to be completely thorough with your application and the long-term goals you have mentioned. Whether it is Prod Man or Consulting, you should at least have a basic idea about the field you would want to go in. Prepare traditional answers which Dr Anshul will guide you and other questions related to your profile. Be thorough with the work you do at your current organization. Also, if possible, keep talking to various alums of the field you would want to go for in the future. I spoke to a number of alums and got first-hand info about their current role and clarity regarding what the job demands. Ask about their interview experiences, it would just unlock different perspectives. Again, interviews are solely dependent on the panel, but it is always better to prepare for all the scenarios. Ask them how they handled the traditional questions of why mab and why ISB? In my case, none of these questions were asked to me.

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What were the questions asked to you during the interview?

• Tell me about your Job Roles and Responsibilities.
• How has the Transition been between the initial days of working/ training to shifting to a Project
• Product Management – You could have taken an online course and achieved this, Then why this?
• What do you identify as your Strengths and Weaknesses
• If given the opportunity, what would you choose OSC or SLC and why?
• What have you done uniquely in your Job Role/ Project
• How do you identify yourself to be a Unique candidate as compared to others when it comes for GSB?
• Since you have a diverse profile in terms of Co-Curricular Activities, doesn’t it give an impression that you are into everything and not focused into one?
• Talk me through various initiatives you have taken in your College / Work life if any?
• What makes you a good leader?
• Who is your role model in Cricket?
• What have you learnt from your role model and how have you inculcated those values in your life?
• Tell me about the hardest thing you have overcome in life?
• If you are not selected in a Leadership Role, how will you then go about it?
• Do you want to be a MS Dhoni of SLC or Ravindra Jadeja of OSC?
• Do you have any questions for us?
• How did you think you performed in the interview?

I would say I was not that nervous. I gave them a proper story, utilised my major life setbacks. Had an amazing conversation with them. I was a bit scared at the end when they didn’t ask any traditional MBA questions. But apart from that, It never felt as an interview to be honest. It was a legit conversation to understand more about myself and what can I bring to the table for ISB and how I can contribute further.

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What are your final ‘To-Dos’ and ‘Not-to-Dos’ for an ISB aspirant?
I would say research properly about the school and about your future goals. Try to be as genuine as you can, If you are putting something on your resume then be ready to justify it very well. Since it won’t take much time to realize that you are bluffing about it.

Also don’t try to act very smart and top of the world kind feeling, be humble and grounded and answer to your best abilities. If you are stuck, instead of making any wage stories, just say that you are not able to come up with an apt answer and move ahead. The idea is to not fake basically, You Can attempt to answer it but be practical about it.