Born and raised in China, Bill immigrated to Canada for his education and work experience at the age of 18. Speaking broken English, he knew no one in his new country.
But he successfully made that transition, the first of several in his 30 years, earning his degree in finance from the University of Alberta with a 3.5 GPA. Bill did several internships, including one with GE Capital, before landing his first full-time job at TD Investments as an account manager, and then moved to the Alberta Investment Management Corp., which manages one of the largest pension funds in the world.
At Alberta, he made another novel transition, moving from finance into software development as a business systems analyst. Self-taught in software, he has racked up four years at Alberta and has become an expert in Calypso, the platform used by investment professionals and banks.
While he took the GMAT five years ago, scoring a 710 on his first try without study, he expects to retake the exam and is aiming for a minimum score of 730. He will need it to become a serious candidate at Harvard Business School and Columbia Business School, his target MBA programs. Bill’s post-MBA goal: To help investors take advantage of the high growth opportunities in China, bridging the challenges of transparency and trust.
In this episode of Friday’s with Sandy, HBSGuru.com founder Sandy Kreisberg and P&Q editor John A. Byrne assess his chances at Harvard and Columbia and provide advice on how Bill can stand out in what is a highly competitive applicant pool this year.
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