Mohit Mehta

The Desautels Faculty of Management at McGill University

School: Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University

“A curious workaholic with a positive attitude and an outgoing personality.”

Hometown: New Delhi, Delhi, India

Fun Fact About Yourself: To state a recent one, I recently had an opportunity to play for the McGill cricket team even before the MBA program began!

Undergraduate School and Major: Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies, Delhi University (Bachelor of Business Studies, Finance Specialization)

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Ernst & Young LLP: Executive – M&A Advisory, Transaction Advisory Services

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: In my previous role at Ernst & Young, I managed an entire fundraising transaction by myself from A to Z – preparing presentations, building a financial model, showcasing the transaction to private equity investors and addressing their queries. Usually senior associates and managers are responsible for showcasing the transaction to investors. This was the first assignment that I handled without the support of colleagues. It was a proud moment for me as it demonstrated my manager’s confidence in me.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? Diverse – this is the best word to describe my classmates as they not only come from different nations, but also come with an incredibly broad range of professional experience.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key factor that led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA and why was it so important to you? McGill offers flexibility in terms of choosing your concentration, including the option to select dual concentrations if you want to learn about more than one field. In my case, I wish to pursue a career in finance, with the aspiration of working in private equity. However, I also want to understand the type of work done in asset management firms, for which the Business Analytics concentration adds superior value.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? I look forward to working with Desautels Capital Management, Canada’s first student-run investment management firm to learn more about investment management, particularly, investments in public equities and fixed income.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? Previously, I had the privilege to study at one of the leading institutions in India and gain constructive exposure in M&A advisory at Ernst & Young. I believe now is the opportune time to augment my career with an MBA from a premier institute. With four years of experience in an emerging economy and having seen the M&A cycle across multiple industries, I feel an MBA will help me take my knowledge to the next level.

Further, one of the most important things I learnt while working was the significance of building relationships. With an aim to work on the buy side of transactions, it is essential to build a network, and an MBA at McGill provides unparalleled access to its vast alumni base. I am at a stage where, on one hand, I have gained several years of high quality work experience. On the other hand, I am still laying the foundation of my career. I believe an MBA at this stage from a stellar school such as Desautels Faculty of Management would provide me with the most appropriate launchpad to achieve my goals!

How did you decide if an MBA was worth the investment? It’s hard to quantify the benefits of education as the utility curve for knowledge does not follow the principle of diminishing marginal returns. Furthermore, with such a strong brand as McGill, the benefits of MBA increase manifold! In my calculations, the expected benefits that students accrue out of McGill along with the invaluable learning and a strong alumni base, the rewards outweigh the investments by far!

What other MBA programs did you apply to? Apart from Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University, I applied to NYU Stern School of Business, the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and Rotman School of Management.

How did you determine your fit at various schools? One of the most important criteria for me was the quality of the faculty members at the school. While most of the schools have similar subjects being taught, the guidance of faculty members makes all the difference. With its strong faculty, McGill excels in this criteria.

Another important factor while selecting a school was the diversity of the incoming cohort in terms of the experience they bring to the group. At McGill, with people coming from various backgrounds such as finance, consulting, entrepreneurship, history and social entrepreneurship among others, students have tremendous opportunities to learn from each other’s experience.

Another key factor that I considered while selecting my school was the post-MBA job situation. With a significant number of its graduates working in finance, the McGill MBA provides significant prospects for people like me who wish to pursue a career in the field. During my research, I took the time to interact with alumni to gauge the opportunities available in my target area.

The best way to learn about a school is to speak with current students or alumni. They have first-hand experience of the school’s culture as well as the internship and placement scenarios. Furthermore, I visited campus to interact with the admissions team and meet with current students in person. Online, I read various blogs to understand the profile of student batches over the years and the placement scenarios in respective geographies.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? I pursued Bachelor of Business Studies during undergrad at a college that also offered a Bachelor of Finance and Investment Analysis. At the time, I wanted to explore several fields and thus chose the broader Bachelor of Business Studies. During recruitment season, by which time I was inclined towards finance, I participated in the recruitment process of a boutique investment bank, competing against my students from the finance program. I was certain I wouldn’t get a job within such a group. However, I was intrigued by the screening process, which required us to prepare documents for an M&A transaction. During this process, I realized I was enthusiastic about investment banking and wanted to pursue it further, even if I wasn’t selected for this particular process. In the end, I was the only one to secure a job from the process. That moment defined much about what I want to do and where I have reached in my career.

What do you plan to do after you graduate? I plan to pursue a career in the private equity. One thing I have learned over the short span of my career is the importance of the amount and timing of funding for any organization to grow. I wish to be a part of that development process. Canada has various pension funds (CDPQ, CPPIB etc.) as well as PE Funds (Fairfax) that are heavily invested in emerging markets such as India, and I hope to add value at one of them with my relevant prior training and experience.

Where do you see yourself in five years? During my stint at EY, I worked in various sectors such as healthcare, metals and mining, and oil and gas. While working on these projects, I realized that even 25 years after adopting an LPG strategy (Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization), there is huge scope for infrastructure development and improving basic quality of living. I would like to contribute to investments in development sectors and I see myself working with a private equity or pension fund focused on investments in emerging markets, especially towards healthcare and infrastructure development.