Shweta Dubey

HEC Montréal

“Ambition to win big, backing it up with the relevant preparation and perseverance.”

Hometown: Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India

Fun Fact About Yourself: I am the first person in my whole family (both maternal and paternal side) to ever travel outside India and staying there.

Undergraduate School and Major: CET-IILM-AHL, Bachelors of Technology in Computer Science (Engineering)

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Sr. Mobility Consultant/Enterprise Sales Manager at Affle India Pvt. Ltd. Affle is a global technology company (HQ Singapore, ~250 employees) with a proprietary consumer intelligence platform that delivers consumer engagement, acquisitions and transactions through relevant Mobile Advertising. It also has a software services division for mobile application development.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: Affle (my last employer) had to react within 3 weeks to prepare for a multi-million-dollar pitch for an end-to-end enterprise platform for Sentosa Singapore in November 2016. I took the initiative and responsibility to coordinate the timely preparation of our detailed and comprehensive 200-page proposal as part of the tender process. Even though being in just a consultant position then, I led the cross functional collaboration and coordination with over 25 people across our R&D teams, Project Management Office, Analysts, Design Teams, Finance & HR Departments – from across Singapore, Malaysia and India, no less. Affle and Accenture were the only two companies who were shortlisted for the final presentation.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? The best quality that describes my classmates so far is diversity. A sub-part of it would be prioritization and time management. The one-year course is quite hectic for us, but no matter how busy we are, they always manage to take a break to socialize, to get to know each other here. It’s the MBA experience that they want to remember and not just the academics. This is clearly a differentiating factor when mixed with the diversity, the experiences, stories, and their lives, It is something I have learnt a lot from.

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? I would say I was inclined towards HEC Montréal because of the position it holds in North America. The ROI, one year aggressive yet comprehensive course and highly competent faculty. I would emphasize more on the quality of the course. It is difficult to compile a full time MBA program in one year, which is usually of two years in other established school. HEC Montréal being unique in itself providing and very well managing the one-year program in English and in French too. The duration was important to me because I did not want a two-year gap in my work experience, I was worried about losing touch and wanted to go back to work utilizing my one year at its best, for which HEC Montréal is the best fit.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? The CDL program – Creative Destruction Lab. It is the country’s largest program for seed-stage science/tech-based businesses with high potential for growth. In five years, this unique initiative has helped more than 100 startups grow, thrive and generate over $1.2 billion in equity value. Being a part of this program, assisting startups with their growth, and leveraging the knowledge gained so far is so valuable. Also, the exposure to meet different startups and understand their approach is one of its kind experience combined with exponential growth opportunity.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? The progressive transition in my professional path was ripe and planned to a great extent; hence it was imperative to further strengthen my abilities, skills and knowledge. The competitive advantage that an MBA (especially from a well-recognized B-School like HEC Montréal) provides is unparalleled in achieving this goal.

How did you decide if an MBA was worth the investment? HEC Montréal ranks top in terms of ROI, with a fixed scholarship for international students, in a one-year program. It is just the best recipe for an international student like me.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? One other program I applied for apart from HEC Montréal, is ISB, Hyderabad. The reason again being that it is a one-year program and it is one of the top ranked B-Schools within India, with a good ROI as well.

How did you determine your fit at various schools? As I mentioned earlier, there was no one to guide my way through the admission processes so the internet was my major source of information. GMAT Club, Poets& Quants and the Financial Times were my major sources of information. Based on the information I gathered, the following will be the major factors (in order of prioritization):

1. GMAT Score
2. The quality and duration of the work experience
3. The diversity of areas of interest one has apart from regular academics like sports, dance etc.
4. The attitude and vision of a person in terms of past experiences and future aspirations

The more I was honest on these points in filling up my application, the more confident I was of my selection.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? I would say my first job. Being from a small town, I had less exposure in terms of different kinds of personalities one can deal with. Initially, I wasn’t performing well and was under pressure always. My managers used to ask questions to which I had no answers. I was crying once sitting outside my office building when I just noticed other people passing by, having conversations and laughing, some looking at me, some ignoring me even if some wanted to come to me and ask they hesitated. It struck me (I don’t know how), that it’s ME who is causing my problems and it’s me ONLY who can deal with it. No one else can help me even if they want to. It’s a small story, but it really helped me then. I focused on areas where I was lacking, worked really hard to be the top performer for straight two years in that organization.

What do you plan to do after you graduate? The first thing that I plan to do after I graduate is, undoubtedly, show my gratitude towards my friends, family, colleagues and professors – without them it would have been extremely difficult (if not impossible!) to successfully complete my MBA. I would also like to take off at least two weeks off between the completion of my MBA and joining my new job. 

Where do you see yourself in five years? I see myself running my own venture, turning my passion of consulting, suggesting new ideas; into a more realistic business platform. I had started an e-commerce platform in India with my sisters, which they are managing currently. In the future, I would leverage my MBA experience and the capital accumulated from my work experience to put into a healthcare tech startup. The ground work for which has already begun, being in Montreal (and networking) which is the startup hub of Canada.

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