You may have 8 years of work experience and a 700+ GMAT score, but you must also have a very good profile to make the cut for Top B-Schools. So what consists of a good profile? Below I am outlining some things which will help you boost your profile. Remember Profile is something which is shown in your essays which I will talk about in later articles, but this will give you a good idea on what more you may need to do to make an attractive profile. I have tried to put these points in what I think is their order of importance:

- Work-ex: Work experience is ofcorse a very important part of your whole profile. Your work experience should show growth in your career, substantiate your ambitions/decisions, your dependability and progress. [Later in when I discuss about Essays, I will discuss in detail about this]. The more work experience you have the more probability that you can put the above parameters in the right perspective. If you have ever been in a lead position that will certainly help.

- Challenges: Challenges faced by you in life and at work, how good were you at handling them. The challenges could be interpersonal like firing a close friend, or during work like Gail Waynand fighting for Howard Roark [FountainHead by Ayn Rand, a very interesting read, I highly recommend it]. If you pulled through the challenges and still have a balanced career then thats a commendable effort. The difficult situation actually made a better person out of you. This will give your essay a good garnish, but you need to have something (like a certificate) to back this up.

- Diversity: Diversity of cultural, social and technical know-how is a much appreciated skill. Ofcorse too many jumps from one job to another shows instability and indecision. But wider experience in the profession, international exposure etc give a huge boost to the profile's attractiveness. Good understanding of the culture, languages and history of the internationally visited countries adds a lot of gun powder into your profile.

- Community Service/Voluntary services: Being active in community services, volunary organizations is a globally appreciated quality. Great regards are always due to those who take time off and help others. MBA committee is no different. The greater participation you have in community service, the greater respect your profile holds. Apart from participation if you have managed an even such as a blood donation drive, vaccination drive etc, extra value is added to your profile since it gives the idea that you are driven and capable of management.

- Sports: Sports give an all rounder feel to the personality [All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy]. Solo sports are good to have, but excellence in team sports shows that you are a team player and this is an important quality of a future manager. Well at least in the eyes of the Ad Com it is. If you have captained in a team sport its another star added to your profile and if you have ever won a tournament as a captain, there is another star for you. Make sure you make a note of these in your resume too.

- Languages: A very very handy tool on your resume. Speaking ability of more than 1 language gives quite a thrust to your chances of impressing the ad com. Especially if you are looking for non-US (non-English) B-School like Insead, your capability of communicating in French will give you an edge over other applicants. Similarly if you want to apply in a top Chinese school, your familiarity with Mandarin will go long ways in the eyes of the adcom.

- Entrepreneurship: Ever tried doing a business of your own? If you did, this shows a lot about you. Even if you failed, the effort counts. Failure does hamper the effects a bit, but it can be attributed to in-experience, finances ... or other things. The important point is that you showed the business acumen and gained some valuable experience from it. This definitely helped you in becoming a better person, which in Ad Comms eyes is a good thing.

For more guidance, you can always visit MBA Guidance portion of Scorechase website where their alumni [Top B-schools] will answer your queries.