Each year, a significant number of Merchant Navy professionals apply to ISB. This article is relevant to these candidates.
Why this understanding is important
Merchant Navy professionals applying to ISB must have clarity on the post-ISB career options for two main reasons:
i) Essays: Clarity of thought in order to effectively articulate the post-ISB goals in the essays as part of the application
ii) Interview: Defend those goals more confidently during the interviews
While well thought-out essays increase your chances of receiving an interview invite, well-articulated goals will enable you to perform confidently in your interview, thereby increasing your chances of admission. To summarize, this understanding of goals helps candidates at every stage of the application process, including application and interview.
Background
At the risk of generalizing, we have to admit that a significant number of Merchant Navy professionals whom we work with during the ISB Application process, have prior work-experience in the areas of Operations, inventory management, compliance, quality management, safety management, equipment maintenance, and risk assessment. Additionally, global exposure, comfort with ambiguity, and deep sense of accountability are some of the soft-skills that further make Merchant Navy professionals sought after, post their MBA.
Most prominent post-ISB career pathways for Merchant Navy Professionals
1) Supply Chain and Logistics: Even outside the shipping industry, there are abundant opportunities in the field of Supply Chain and Logistics. Industries that require expertise in Supply Chain and Logistics include e-commerce, manufacturing, and Oil & Gas logistics. Prior experience of Merchant Navy professionals, coupled with the MBA education, makes Merchant Navy professionals a natural fit for these roles.
2) Service Operations: This refers to managing the delivery of service, a skill that is highly valued in a host of industries, including hospitality, aviation, healthcare, and e-commerce. Here again, the experience of Merchant Navy professionals in areas such as quality management and safety management come in handy. In fact, ISB offers course(s) in service operations, further equipping the students to take up roles in service operations.
3) Consulting: All major Consulting firms have strong practice in Logistics, Operations, and Supply Chain Management. Further, Merchant Navy professionals exhibit decision-making ability under uncertainty, demonstrate leadership without constant supervision, and have international exposure. Each of these attributes is highly valued in the Consulting domain, making Merchant Navy professionals a good fit role Consulting roles.
4) General Management: These roles require demonstrated ability to lead teams, impeccable execution ability, cross-functional coordination, and willingness to take ownership. In view of their professional experiences, Merchant Navy professionals emerge as a natural fit for these roles.
This is not all!
This is not an exhaustive list. If you are a Merchant Navy professional applying to ISB and if you are wondering what the best post-ISB career pathway would be for you, do not hesitate to get in touch with us to discuss further.