Indian School of Business (ISB) Essay #2

Describe a challenging assignment you have handled (at work or outside) to date. What were the challenges and how did you handle them? What were the personal learning you derived from this assignment? (300 words max.)

At my workplace, in my first experience as a mentor, I was expected to design and coordinate a new student intern's learning and working experience. After briefing him about the work, I asked him to help me with a project I was working on. However, his dependence on me and expectation to perform the experiments myself meant that I found it increasingly difficult to balance my role as a mentor with my regular responsibilities.

Realizing that this model of working was clearly not working, I took him out for a lunch conversation to understand his perspective. Surprisingly, his difficulty was a lack of understanding of the technology, and lack of direction due to inadequate feedback. Working on this information, I set up a schedule of tutoring lessons. Everyday for about a week, we met for an hour and poured over the system, helping him understand the technology and also its applications and consequences. I also set up weekly meetings to review progress over the previous week, and assigned new tasks for the next. This helped give him a sense of direction and achievable goals to work towards. These efforts quickly brought him up to speed, and he not only provided me with useful data to test my algorithms, but also freed up time to concentrate on research.

My key learning through this experience was the importance of communication. I learnt the importance of understanding the others' opinions and concerns, and to address them in a mutually agreeable way. I also learnt that timely feedback is essential to set a sense of direction and convey appreciation for work performed. This also helps understand the consequence of our work, thus providing a strong motivation for best performance.

Indian School of Business (ISB) Essay #1

Give 3 reasons as to why you should be selected to the class of 2011? These reasons should ideally differentiate you from the applicant pool and should be backed with some data. (300 words max)

In addition to the qualifications expected of a MBA candidate, I believe I possess certain traits that differentiate me even in a highly competitive candidate pool: my professional background, international exposure and leadership initiative.

My work in medical imaging R&D involves a mix of mathematical research, computer programming and customer interaction. These responsibilities have helped me sharpen my analytical and communication skills. Multi-tasking has shaped me as an adaptable and multi-faceted worker, acting as engineer, tester, and customer support specialist as the situation demands. I have also gained valuable experience in the full product development cycle in the medical device industry, a sector primed for growth in the coming years.

In the U.S., I have lived with students from Argentina, Germany and Spain, and worked with colleagues from Poland, Korea, Pakistan and China. I have a supervisor from Hungary and co-workers from Russia and Ukraine. Working with such a diverse group of people across barriers of culture and language has given me a global perspective of events and a spirit of cooperation. I also serve as co-host of the Culture Club at office, where we help learn about cultures through games, quizzes and ethnic foods.

Always keen to meet new people, I have been instrumental in building a group called the Boston Indian Meetup. As organizer, I have coordinated events from movies to dances to adventure trips. I have also injected a sense of community participation by holding clothing and fundraising drives for a local children’s charity. This variety and dynamism has brought in many new members and the group strength now stands at more than 500.

I believe I can enrich student experience at the ISB by contributing my analytical skills, bringing in my cultural values, and actively participating in and initiating social activities that build a sense of camaraderie among students.

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SP Jain Essay #5

Give a detailed description of the roles, responsibilities and achievements at your current/last place of employment (300 words max.)

I work as a Research Engineer for 3M Company, USA. The unit I work in falls under the Health Care Business and is engaged in producing a device that can capture 3D models of teeth. My role in the R&D team at this company is to research and develop algorithms that enable this mechanism, and to develop the software that makes them user-accessible. These algorithms are usually based on mathematical, physics and engineering concepts and address various parameters of the product such as accuracy, usability, stability etc.

My responsibilities include perusing prior literature for relevant academic research, evaluating their suitability to our application using simulations and mathematical models, modifying those methods to fit the specific context, and implementing them in software to be integrated into the product. As such, I am involved in the full product development cycle including feasibility study, design, implementation, testing and verification. Main projects I have worked on include tracking the motion of an object over a video sequence, retrieving a particular image from a large image database by analysing its content, and obtaining accuracy estimates for the 3D models generated by the device.

Socially, I have been instrumental in organizing an informal tennis club at the workplace, arranging evening games for interested players every summer. In recognition of my contributions to R&D, I was twice nominated to receive the Circle of Technical Excellence and Innovation award for 2007 and 2008 in the individual innovator category. I was also nominated for the team award in 2007. These awards are conferred only to a handful among 3M's nearly-70000 employees. In terms of overall significance, these innovations have helped in developing a novel medical product that has been enthusiastically embraced by dental customers.

SP Jain Essay #4

Explain a situation where you have brought about any improvement in either your self, work or society (200 words max.)

Presentations used to be my Achilles heel. Going in front of people - even known people - would give me the jitters. This was particularly evident when I started working for 3M and was expected to make a presentation to the office on an important R&D project that I had been working on. Although I had made significant progress and had much to share, the moment I stepped up to face the audience I became extremely nervous and started to stammer and bumble. Questions made me even more nervous, and in the end the audience walked away with the impression that my contribution and achievement had been negligible.

I then made a conscious effort to improve my presentation skills. I took to meditation keep myself calm, and the habit of sipping cold water to soothe myself before an important interaction. I also learnt that it is important to decouple effort from result, and to remind myself that it was more important to convey my thoughts clearly than to worry about the listener's perception of it. This process has greatly helped me improve my presentation and public speaking skills, and today I feel comfortable in facing up to such situations.

SP Jain Essay # 3

Describe an instance in which you took the strongest stand of your value system. What specific values were violated and what was at stake for you? (200 words max.)

While working for my current employer I was once asked to participate in a project that I found ethically inappropriate.

My company was concerned about a new product launched by a competitor. To address this, I, along with a few others, was asked to go on a "spy mission" to the office of a friendly customer who had purchased the product. We were supposed to disassemble the product, copy its contents, and later to decode and reverse engineer with the express aim of filing patent infringement lawsuits to block it in the market.

Although my team members had no qualms, I did not feel comfortable with the ethics of this exercise. I believed it was an illegitimate attempt to put a legitimate competitor out of business. I was unwilling to participate in it and said so to my supervisor. He was surprised and hinted that not performing what was expected could be grounds for termination. I was also asked to explain my position to the VP and GM. However, after a few days of discussions, my supervisor informed me that my views would be respected and that I would not be required to participate in the mission.

SP Jain Essay # 2

Explain a situation when you were part of a group process and/or the intended outcome failed. What was your role, how did you contribute to the outcome, and what did you learn? (200 words max.)

While interning for a small company in New York, I encountered an experience where collective effort failed due to individual lapses.

I had developed research software to be used by engineers in-house, and assumed a certain familiarity with the product and use protocol. It was later decided to make it available to the end-users as well, and the task of making it user friendly was handed over to a team member. However, each of us did not understand the other's implementation leading to mutual incompatibility. Our supervisor evaluated our work in isolation and hence failed to catch the discrepancy.

A demo of this software by the CEO to an important corporate client resulted in obviously incorrect results. The client was disappointed with the product, which led to loss not only of his business, but also of credibility due to bad publicity. Obviously, everyone involved in the episode received a strong reprimand.

This experience taught me the importance of communication. The situation could have been avoided if we had explained ourselves clearly to the other person. Further, I also learnt the importance of understanding the full scope of a concept, and not restricting myself to a narrow portion of it.

SP Jain: My formative years.... (50 words)

…were educational, informative and a valuable learning experience. Having dependable friends taught me the importance of sharing and thinking beyond oneself. A caring family showed me a society to lean on during difficult times, and my social duties. School instilled in me a sense of principles to live by.