Ranjan Kumar

I came to Queen’s MBA Program because ...

I come from a small village in Jharkhand, India and I have always believed in chasing new goals in life. For me, life is a journey. From my childhood I saw a huge unmet demand for financial services and that is why I became interested in the field. I was one of the few people who left my village to graduate and to go onto post-graduate studies from a different province and I am the only person to come to North America for an MBA. I came to understand that financial services is mostly about risk and relationship management. I worked for 3 years’ in a subsidiary of Standard & Poor (CRISIL);  I worked in the fourth largest private bank (Yes Bank) for 4 years and was handling a portfolio of more than CAD$ 200 million. I decided that I wanted a new challenge and that an MBA was the right fit. I wrote my GMAT and during this time, I came to learn about this wonderful institution: Smith School of Business at Queen’s University.  I decided to come to Canada to start a new phase of my career and to create a new life for my family.  

I was drawn to the Queen’s MBA for several reasons: its one-year duration, the team-based curriculum, its comparatively small class size and a student’s regular access to the Career Advancement Centre. We have a very cheerful and cooperative MBA office administration team. Kingston Ontario is a very serene and historic city and a great place to obtain an MBA. Kingston hosts a number of events throughout the year, the cost of living in this city is very manageable. There is a very active and optional physical fitness component as part of the MBA (Fit to Lead) offering both physical and mental health coaching to students. There are a multitude of extra-curricular activities as part of this course which enrich your management experience.

• Hometown: Dhanbad, Jharkhand
• Country of Origin: India
• Prior Industry: Banking
• Career Focus: Finance & Banking