How an Interior Design Detour, a 322 GRE & HSBC Background Cracked IESE, Oxford & Cambridge with EUR 35K: Tejal’s Story

[Intro by Arvind Kumar]

Tejal’s career path wasn’t a straight line and that became her strength.

A computer engineer from Pune, she joined HSBC as a software engineer. But two years in, she pursued her passion for interior designing, completing a diploma alongside her full-time job and landing an internship in the field.

Six months later, she realized her true path lay back in tech. She returned to HSBC, became a senior software engineer leading a team of five to six, and started leading an AI project.

Outside work, she volunteered for five years with a non-profit that grew from 10 to over 100 volunteers. And every year, she goes on a wildlife photography trip, tracking tigers.

With a 322 GRE and a story that could have looked fragmented, she needed a cohesive narrative. We worked together to turn her interior design detour from a weakness into a strength: proof of her courage to experiment and clarity to course-correct.

She targeted Europe, spoke to countless students, and discovered that IESE’s community, Adcom support, and collaborative culture outshone even Oxford and Cambridge.

The result? Admits from IESE, Oxford Saïd, and Cambridge Judge : with EUR 35K in scholarships.

Background and Motivation

Tejal: I’m from Pune and I’ve been here pretty much all my life. I did my computer engineering from VIIT, and right out of college, I joined HSBC as a software engineer, where I’ve been for the past three and a half to four years.

However, I did have a short stint where I moved out of IT. I was really passionate about interior designing, so I took a bit of a break to study that and also did an internship in the field. That was actually one part of my profile that I was worried about how to put across during my MBA applications. So yeah, that’s a little bit about my professional journey so far.

Personally, I’m a big animal lover. I really love wildlife photography and it’s something that I do passionately; I go on trips every year. I also have around five years of volunteering experience with a non-profit organization here in Pune. 

Tejal: Right out of engineering, I joined HSBC and worked there for two years. But during those two years, interior designing was something that always interested me, and I wanted to give it a shot, though I didn’t initially know how to go about it. Two years into my software engineering experience, I felt like that was the time I could take a risk and actually experiment with my career. If I didn’t do it then, I would probably regret not trying interior designing later.

I was actually really fortunate to have the opportunity to complete a diploma in interior designing alongside my full-time job at HSBC. It’s something that even my team supported me in, and that’s how I gradually transitioned and eventually landed a full-time internship in interior designing.

After giving that a try for six months, it gave me a lot of clarity about where I wanted to go in my career and what path I wanted to take. I realized that coming back to IT was where I would actually be able to contribute on a larger scale. It aligned more with the things I’m passionate about and things that I’m good at as well. I also realized that I could continue interior designing as a hobby throughout my life. So yeah, that’s how I came back to HSBC, where I’ve been ever since.

Tejal: At HSBC, the first team that I worked with was a staff-based team where we built an application from scratch for the HSBC UK branch staff. Through that, I really got to work with teams across the world, including the UK, China, and India. I worked very closely with business teams, and even though I joined right out of college, I got the opportunity to communicate directly with CXO-level leadership. I think that really helped build my confidence and my communication skills, which is something I continue to do in my role today.

The team I now work for is First Direct, a customer-facing bank in the UK owned by HSBC. I essentially build both the backend and frontend applications that run the online banking platforms for First Direct. Currently, I am a senior software engineer leading a team of five to six engineers to build APIs for our application.

Alongside my regular tasks, I am also leading an AI project where we are focusing on building applications that can improve efficiency for our systems and processes. Additionally, I’ve led three to four hackathons within my team and am mentoring quite a few team members. I try to keep engaged in tasks outside of my regular day-to-day responsibilities as well.

Tejal: Yeah, so regarding the volunteering experience, it was with an organization that was really close to my heart. It was actually started here in Pune by my sister and her friends. I was highly involved right from the beginning when we were just five to ten volunteers going all over Pune to teach English to underprivileged children. We would go and spend every weekend with them, and it was a really fulfilling experience.

I think one of the biggest learning points was during COVID, when we had to move to an online teaching module. It was something none of us had experience with before, but we were able to do it successfully. Eventually, the organization grew to over 100 volunteers and over 300 students across Pune and other parts of India. I did that for five years, and towards the end, I was the lead for the children’s holistic development curriculum. Unfortunately, due to my recent career transition, I had to leave, but it is something I am definitely keen on exploring and continuing in the future.

Wildlife photography is something I discovered back in 2019 when my sister and I decided to take a trip to Kanha National Park here in India. We absolutely fell in love with the forest and especially with tigers. We went with a group of professional photographers, and hearing their stories, alongside learning from the locals about wildlife conservation efforts, deeply resonated with us.

Ever since, I’ve made it a point to go on at least one trip every year. That experience really helps me meet a lot of people from so many different backgrounds. We all come together for the same passion of tracking and photographing tigers. It is definitely my happy place.

Tejal: When I came back to HSBC, I knew that I wanted to continue building my technical experience, but I also knew that eventually I wanted to move into more of a business-facing role. I realized the importance of having that technical expertise backing me once I moved into a business-facing role.

That is what I’ve built over the past two years after coming back to HSBC. Now, I feel like an MBA is the right next step for me to help me transition into a more product- or business-facing role. Also, because my experience has been limited to building financial applications and technical processes, I want to give myself the opportunity to learn about different industries and explore something else that might really interest me, which is something I’d be able to do through an MBA.

Another point that was really important for me was that I’ve been in Pune all my life, and I really wanted to get out of my comfort zone. What better way than to go for an MBA where the class is an eighty to ninety percent international cohort, where I’ll get to meet so many different people and learn from their experiences as well. 

Application Strategy

Tejal: I decided to take the GRE over the GMAT because the format of it just felt more comfortable for me. I knew I didn’t have too much time to prepare as well; I was actually in the middle of a promotion at my job, so I was a bit busy on that front.

I gave myself two months to study. After a lot of research online, I found online resources to just self-study. I did end up getting a score that was average or a little above average (322). I had a lot of, I had a conversation with you as well about whether I wanted to retake the GRE, but in the end, I decided to focus more on strengthening my essays and my applications instead.

Tejal: Luckily for me, I was really clear that I never wanted to apply to the US. It is just too far away from home. I have actually visited both the US and Europe, and I felt like Europe and the UK aligned better culturally with where I wanted to settle eventually. So that’s how I ended up applying to UK and European schools.

I decided to go with Oxford, Cambridge, and IESE, starting with the basics: rankings and career outcomes. Most of them have quite decent tech recruitment, which is something that I’m aiming for. Once I shortlisted these schools, it then boiled down to speaking with current students and alumni to hear about their experiences.

When I started, I remember conveying to you that my top priority was actually Cambridge at first, because my brother lives there and it was really close to my heart.

But throughout the application process, speaking to people completely changed things. Speaking to IESE students and alumni really changed my perspective, and that community is ultimately what drew me toward the school.

Challenges & Differentiating Points

Tejal: To be honest, initially, I was really overwhelmed. I am a person who doesn’t naturally know how to put words together properly, and that is where I needed the most help. Early on, it was really difficult for me to list down all my achievements and what I had done at work. But through our conversations, you gave me the encouragement to help me understand that the things I’ve done have actually brought me to where I am today.

I remember our brainstorming session, which really helped me think very deeply about everything I’ve done and what my thought process was behind every step. That helped me narrow down exactly what I wanted to bring into the essays.

A key strength during my applications was realizing that I had a lot of things to talk about outside of work as well, which really helped me. Schools want to look at the holistic picture; they are not looking only at your professional experience, they want to know who you are outside of work too.

That ended up being something that I actually really enjoyed writing about and talking about, even in my interviews.

Application Process

Tejal: Yeah, so we started off with the brainstorming session, and we went really in-depth. I remember speaking right from my childhood about what has motivated me, including what motivated me to get into engineering and into interior design. I think that really helped you get an understanding of who I am as a person, and when I was writing my essays, it helped show how I put things across. That brainstorming session was really useful.

The first thing we tackled after that was the CV, so we got that out of the way. Each school gives a specific format, but the core points are similar across all CVs, so it was really easy to just put it across in a point format and set that aside.

Once we started the essays, you gave me the freedom to just write without worrying about the word limit at all. I could just write whatever I felt was appropriate for the particular prompt or question. That really helped in the sense that I literally just wrote whatever was in my head, and then we started trimming it down and narrowing it to what was actually expected from the question.

It was really great that we went back and forth through many iterations; there wasn’t a fixed number of iterations that you expected me to stick to. That was the process up to the essays, and then, of course, we had the Kira preparation as well, which came up after that.

Tejal: After the brainstorming session, you also shared a bank of questions where I had to list down all my experiences and anecdotes. Having that bank gave me one place to refer to, which was really helpful before I actually got into the essays.

Another thing we did was identify that Oxford’s essays covered most of the topics that were relevant to all three schools. We started off with the Oxford essays so that I had the basic anecdotes and structure ready to be used elsewhere as well. That was, again, really helpful.

We went through many iterations. Whatever I felt was the right anecdote, I would list that first. Then, after every iteration, we would have a call and discuss whether it was going down the right path. One thing that I really appreciated was that you always asked me questions instead of just telling me how I should do something. That allowed me to really think for myself and write the anecdotes in a way that felt authentic to me.

Tejal: Yeah, definitely. I think the info sessions are really useful. I would encourage any applicant to ask whatever questions or queries you have during those sessions.

Another thing that was really useful, especially for IESE, I would say, was having a close relationship with the Adcom. Making sure you’re constantly communicating with them, staying in touch, giving updates, and asking questions helps because, in some sense, it keeps you in mind when they are going through and reviewing your application. So that’s something I would definitely encourage.

Also, speaking to students and alumni is how you actually find out things outside of what you read on the websites and online. You get to hear firsthand what they enjoyed during their experience.

One point I’d like to share is that at the beginning of my process, I was randomly reaching out to students and alumni without looking at their background. However, it helps to reach out to those who have a similar background to you, whether in terms of their profile before the MBA or the industry they went into post-MBA, so that it’s more relatable to your journey.

That’s what Arvind encouraged me to do. Toward the end, I remember reaching out to people who were in the tech industry or who had gone into tech post-MBA, which was incredibly helpful.

Working with admitStreet

Tejal: My experience working with Arvind and admitStreet was incredibly supportive. Initially, I downplayed my achievements thinking they weren’t enough, but Arvind helped me see how each experience had genuinely brought me to where I am today by taking the time to get to know my motivations, experiences, and what drives me. 

He consistently pushed me to think deeply and authentically rather than just telling admissions committees what I thought they wanted to hear, allowing me to articulate my journey in a way that felt genuine and compelling while remaining highly responsive and supportive throughout, even reviewing my scholarship essay at the last minute. 

In assisting with my CV, essays, and application components, he helped me understand what the schools were looking for before starting, guided me through multiple iterations with straightforward feedback in terms of questions which helped me think for myself instead of just doing it for me, and performed final checks on every aspect of the application. 

Specific to the IESE process, Arvind shared his personal expertise on doing case studies to prepare me for their unique assessment day, shared a list of potential questions and reviewed my practice videos for the KIRA essays to encourage maximum authenticity, and even introduced and helped me with the application for the IESE FFLA even though it wasn’t part of the core MBA process. 

For Oxford and Cambridge, he encouraged me to do thorough research on the Oxbridge ecosystem and all it had to offer to help me learn the schools better for my essays, and for Cambridge’s specific and personal essay questions, he really heard which stories I wanted to share and helped me structure them. Finally, his mock interviews felt exactly like the actual thing and he provided genuine, actionable feedback that prepared me well to confidently handle the real interviews and convert my admits.

Interview Experience

Tejal: I think the KIRA assessments were something really different and not quite what I expected. Some of the questions are pretty random, like asking what you enjoy doing, because they want to know you on a personal level. I feel like you can’t fully predict the questions, but the question bank that you gave me, Arvind, to do the mock practices was quite similar to the ones they asked, so those were really helpful.

You also reviewed my practice video essays for these. Through that, I realized that when I was over-preparing for an answer, it came out looking really robotic and rehearsed. I found out that what works for me is just noting down bullet points and keeping anecdotes in mind so that I can speak in a more authentic, genuine way, which is exactly what they’re looking for.

I remember doing the KIRA video essays, I think it was Oxford first, and it seemed very daunting. You’re just speaking in front of a screen, and you only have 30 to 90 seconds to think. But once you’re comfortable and you know your own application and your strengths really well, it becomes much easier to just speak authentically and genuinely.

Tejal: My IESE interviewer was an alum from the 2024 batch. They had matched me with someone who had a tech background as well, so he could really understand my experiences. Right off the bat, when we started the interview, he told me that he had gone through all my essays and applications. That really came across during the interview because he didn’t ask questions that were repetitive or things that were already covered in my application.

He really wanted to get to know me outside of that. He made me feel very comfortable; it almost felt like we were just having a conversation. He was sharing his experiences and his insights as well. That comfort level he was able to build actually served as a motivation point for IESE as well. If they are able to make you feel so comfortable during the interview, it speaks a lot about the school’s values too. The interview was supposed to be for an hour, but because it was so conversational, it went on for a little longer than that.

Tejal: Yeah, I was just reaching out to people on LinkedIn because I wanted to speak to them, and I think IESE students were the ones that always responded and always gave me the time to speak.

I remember there was this one student I was speaking to who was doing her internship, but she took the time during her lunch break to speak to me. She gave me a lot of resources and information that was really useful for me during my essays as well.

Another point was the Adcom. As I mentioned, I spoke quite a bit to the Adcom for my region and she was extremely helpful. Even during the profile feedback session, she gave me extremely specific feedback on how I should be doing research for my post-MBA goals and how it would help me during the applications. Those specific points are what I applied during my essays, and that really helped me.

Even post-admit, I remember going a little back and forth over the scholarships with her, and she was really helpful in trying to understand what would be beneficial for me from that perspective as well. Overall, they were just incredibly helpful throughout the entire process.

Tejal: All three were extremely different. IESE was with an alum, Oxford was with Adcom, and Cambridge was with a professor. I really got to experience all the different types of interviews.

Oxford, I would say, was the most straightforward and to the point. I pretty much got the standard interview questions that they ask. But again, she made me feel extremely comfortable, and towards the end of the session, when I asked my questions, we had a nice conversation and she gave me a lot of insights.

Cambridge was the most unique out of all three, I would say, because it was with a professor. He had a bit of a tech background as well, so he actually got into a slightly more technical conversation with me, which I had not anticipated, but it was really interesting. We ended up speaking about AI and my AI project and experiences, which definitely stood out to me.

Advice for Prospective Students

Tejal: Yeah, I think definitely, first of all, look outside of just your professional experiences. There are so many other things that we can share to bring our strengths out and show what we are good at. They’re not looking only for professional experience, so that is something that will definitely help.

Speak to a lot of people. I know rankings and the brand name are what draw us toward applying to certain schools, but in the end, the fit is what matters. That’s something I had not expected for myself either, that I would end up making a decision on the basis of that. So just keep a really open mind and do as much research as possible from that front. Arvind is super helpful on that end as well, having gone through the whole European MBA himself.

It is a very stressful and overwhelming process, but having Arvind help me through it was definitely helpful, and I would recommend everyone to do that as well.

Tejal: Thank you so much, Arvind.