The Pioneering MBAs In The Class Of 2019 by: Jeff Schmitt on August 27, 2017 | 110,484 Views August 27, 2017 Copy Link Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email Share on LinkedIn Share on WhatsApp Share on Reddit Rakesh SahaĀ Yale School of ManagementĀ Describe yourself in 15 words or less:Ā A very curious Philomath who firmly believes that even the most complex, systemic societal challenges can be solved. Hometown:Ā Bangalore, Karnataka, India Fun Fact About Yourself:Ā I am a Certified Mixologist. I enjoy experimenting with different flavors and making a variety of cocktails and shots. Undergraduate School and Major:Ā Ā Bachelor of Engineering – Computer Science Employers and Job Titles Since Graduation: Microsoft Technology Intern (6 Months) EllucianĀ (A global ed-tech software products and services company) Senior Build and Release Engineer (4.5 Years) Make aĀ DifferenceĀ (AĀ 11-year-old, pan-India non-profitĀ focusingĀ on ensuring equitable outcomes for children in shelter homes) Volunteer Teacher (1 Year) Fellow – Child Care Program (1 Year) Director – Program Development (3.5 Years) Director – Board of Directors (2 Years) Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far:Ā While volunteering with Make aĀ Difference in 2013, I, along with a few peer volunteers, piloted an after-school support program for children living in a shelter home in India. The success of this pilot motivated me to join Make aĀ Difference full-time and attempt to scale this programās impact and reach. Within 10 months, we were able to scale the program from 1 shelter with 10 volunteers supporting 40 children, to 67 shelters across 23 cities in India, with 2400 volunteers supporting 34,00 children. Looking back onĀ your experience, whatĀ one piece ofĀ advice would you give toĀ futureĀ business school applicants?Ā My advice would be to invest some time in drawing up a rich-picture of your long-term goals and creating a competency and experience roadmap before you start the admissions process. The rich picture I ended up creating contained not only the positions I wanted to hold or the organizations I wanted to work for, but more importantly, what I wanted to be able to ādoā within the next 7 to 10 years. This, along with a roadmap that charted out the skills I needed to develop and the experiences I needed along this journey, helped me identify which business school was right for me. This process can get arduous and time-consuming but, for me, it was instrumental in creating a compelling application. WhatĀ was the key factor thatĀ led you to choose this program for your full-time MBAĀ and why was it so important to you?Ā Ā Well, what I loved about Yale SOM was that the school clearly recognized that leadership is contextual (there is no specific preferred type of leadership) and leadership is essential to all aspects of society.Ā So,Ā it doesnāt really matter whether you are interested in non-profits or technology. What does matter is for you to be able to get a more holistic, deeper understanding of how complex, global organizations function. Since this was my primary drive to pursue management education, Yale SOM was the perfect choice for me! What wouldĀ success look like to you after your first yearĀ of business school?Ā Ā Well, I am probably one of the more socially awkward people you would meet at business school and I definitely want to change that. So,Ā I guess one aspect of success for me would be to be able to form meaningful relationships with my peers and faculty at Yale SOM. Related Stories In Our Meet The Class of 2019 Series:Ā The Pioneering MBAs In The Class of 2019 Duke Universityās Fuqua School of Business Georgetown Universityās McDonough School of Business Vanderbilt Universityās Owen School of Management London Business School University of Southern Californiaās Marshall School of Business Notre Dame University Mendoza College of Business UC-Berkeleyās Haas School of Business New York University Stern School of Business University of Texas-Austin McCombs School of Business Previous PagePage 33 of 33 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33