Essay 1

 
1) Why are you applying to the HEC MBA Program now? What is the professional objective
that will guide your career choice after your MBA, and how will the HEC MBA contribute to
the achievement of this objective? (500 words max)
 
 
Since my undergraduate days I have always felt exuberant in a leadership role. Whether it
was as the Secretary of Civil Engineering Association or being one of the core members of
the ENACTUS campus chapter, the experience of organizing events especially the budgeting
process and delivering a successful result multiplied my penchant towards management.
During my time at Morningstar, I have led projects and people in various capacities and have
seen these tasks get the best out of me.

With a strong inclination towards management, I wanted to put my undergrad education to

best use by pursuing a role in the construction management field and enhance my
capabilities in financial planning and management. But with a lucky twist of fate, I ended up
in the financial services sector backed by my minor degree in Finance and interest in the
industry. An opportunity to challenge myself while learning skills in a relatively unobtrusive
indexing business instigated me to change my career path and get a sense of what the
corporate world entailed. The importance of planning and management further dawned on
me while pursuing global charters like CFA and FRM while working full time. I learned
various characteristics of both equity and fixed income financial markets while leading
research processes and vendor migration projects within Morningstar. I was promoted to a
Team Lead role and assumed further responsibilities of leading a team of 4 analysts. My
current job profile has made it possible for me to amass concepts pertaining to investment
management as well as introducing me to a mentorship role. However, I feel the need to
return to an academic set up at the very onset, so that I can lay a strong foundation for what
I aspire to be a long and impacting managerial career.

Understanding the necessity of financial management for corporates, and both institutional
and retail investors, in the long run, I aspire to establish a consultancy that would offer
financial planning solutions particularly catering to small and medium enterprises. The
consultancy's objective will be to target the capital allocation issues faced by such SMEs and
provide investment strategies that ensure customization depending on the source of the
capital and efficiency for its deployment. The idea is to target emerging markets like India,
where the traditional approach, especially in tier 2 cities, has prevented small enterprises to
explore unconventional investment strategies, and deliver solutions at an affordable fee.

To materialize my goals, I would require both theoretical and strategic proficiency, a facet
HEC can help me nurture. The research conducted by HEC's Finance department particularly
appeals to my long-term goals. Furthermore, an MBA at HEC would be about empirical
learning and interacting with the assemblage of international students. Networking is
extremely essential in all aspects of life and HEC guarantees an esteemed alumni network,
that I can leverage. I am assured that the expertise achieved at HEC would help me amass
the finesse and network that will take me very close to my eventual ambition. 
 
2) What do you consider your most significant life achievement? (250 words max)
 
I believe my most significant life achievement has been mastering the ability to adapt to
challenges and deliver successfully on all tasks put in front of me. I hail from a very small
town and after facing some initial hiccups was able to adapt to the fast-paced environment
of BITS Pilani while competing with some of the best talents the country has to offer. Post-
graduation, I interned with Morningstar where I was allocated a role within the technology
team. I did not only survive, without any prior programming experience but thrived at it to
convert it into a full-time position. To challenge myself further I shifted to a quant finance
role where I led various projects, from maintaining products having an AUM of more than $4
billion, to developing an enterprise-level region taxonomy scheme. My contributions got me
promoted to a Team Lead role, where I again faced a challenge to not only lead a team of
analysts but to mentor them to support the growing business, without having any prior
academic knowledge or experience of managing people. While still learning from this
experience and enhancing my management skills, my leadership skills were awarded by my
firm with the "Star of the Quarter" award. It is this ability to adapt and the willingness to
tackle any type of challenge makes me believe that I would be able to contribute valuable
insights to the classroom discussions and the projects that I undertake during my MBA.
 
 

 
3) Leadership and ethics are inevitably intertwined in the business world. Describe a situation
in which you have dealt with these issues and how they have influenced you. (250 words
max)
 
One of my superiors once told me, A leader tells a story, but an ethical leader embodies that
story. During my professional career, I have traded with this inevitable interlacing of ethics
and leadership.

One particular situation I would like to discuss here would be regarding one of the headline
processes of Morningstar Indexes, the Equity Market Classification Process, which was
heavily tilted by the decision taken by our biggest competitors. Although we did conduct
research on the countries under consultation, the primary trigger came from the changes
made by these competitors and not from the investors who were really impacted by the
outcome of the process. Realizing my ethical responsibility towards our clients, I came up
with a structured proprietary matrix containing a mélange of qualitative and quantitative
factors, to align it with the firm-wide theme of independent research. I also introduced a
consultation process for our clients and walked them through our research process to get
their comprehensive feedback. I presented these new enhancements to the senior leadership
of my team to get them on board, even if that meant delaying the results of the process by a
month.

In the end, this whole exercise reinforced my belief in prioritizing ethics over delivering a
favorable result and provide me with long-lasting courage to stick to my principles. This also
made me realize that the benefits of ethical behavior are long-term as we ended up pitching
the new framework to the research council for an enterprise-level implementation.
  

Essay 2
 
1) Imagine a life entirely different from the one you now lead, what would it be? (250 words max)

 
If I was to lead a life entirely different from the one I currently lead, I would like to be involved in
a professional role that would involve more travel on the job. Although I do get to travel an
ample amount of time currently, most of it is on a vacation or for personal commitments. The
proposition of traveling to various places, getting to interact with people coming from different
backgrounds and to absorb from their diverse style of working, is a life I can envision for myself. I
believe the benefits of traveling are not just a one-time thing: traveling changes you mentally,
psychologically and broadens your horizon. A wayfaring life like this would not only enhance my
social skills but also teach me appropriate management of my time while pushing me against an
expeditiously moving environment. When you get exposed to such bountiful human diversity,
you become humble to learn how little space you occupy in the world! This humbleness helps you
in becoming more open-minded and become more welcome to newer perspectives, a quality
desirable in every leader. While do enjoy being in my comfort zone, I understand the importance
of getting out of the comfort zone and the role it plays to shape one's personality and outlook
towards life, a novelty provided by the adventure of traveling. There are numerous qualities that
traveling would inculcate in me, good communication skills, adaptive nature, more confidence,
and organizational behavior. 
 
 
 2) What figure do you most admire and why? You may choose from any field (arts, literature,
politics, business, etc.). (250 words max)
 
The figure I admire the most is an athlete, especially Cristiano Ronaldo. Many athletes embody
numerous leadership skills they gained from sports. For example, athletes recognize the
importance of teamwork and trust, knowing how to deal with adversity and conflict, and how to
think strategically. Sports are mostly perceived for being solely physical, but I see athletes as a
blend of physicality, mentality & leadership. For example, Ronaldo puts numerous hours in
training and gym to be in the best physical shape for the season. That means being disciplined
with his diet and daily schedule. Come match-day, he has to rise up to the expectations of the
home fans or rise above the adversity of the away fans. Being an intense 90-minute game, he
needs to know when to shift the gears and when to take the foot of the gas. He must change his
position midway during the match for tactical changes and show calmness in such a rough
contact sport. When in a losing position, as a senior, he needs to motivate the team to put in the
extra effort and turn things around with the clock running against them. All these skills are not
only put to sword during a match but off the field too as he faces the scrutiny of media and
pundits, go through a rough patch, recover from an injury, etc. All these characteristics, which
come in handy in day to day life, raise my admiration for athletes.