I've decided to apply for business school (won't go into reasoning here), which means I'll need to take the GMAT. Well, to be honest, I've already taken it twice and plan for one more attempt. Studying for this exam has been a grind, especially with everything else going on, but I've actually grown to enjoy it and have great respect for this test.

The GMAT Focus Edition has three sections -- Quant, Verbal, Data Insights -- each 45min long and can be taken in any order. Initially, I approached it like any other test (though it's been a while since I've taken one), via brute force: heads down, study hard, and perform on the day of. However, I was quickly humbled by my first attempt where I was unable to finish the Quant and Data Insight sections within the allotted time. That forced me to give in to the 'meta' of the test. It's computer adaptive, where blanks cost more than dings (granted you make them up) and the strategic approach is to bail on any questions that take longer than {30s}.

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As I'm flipping through my flash cards, I can't help relate these skills to my current job as a Product Manager. The quant section tests on things like number properties, powers, fractions, etc -- all of which builds a foundation for intuition. I was never strong at mental math and studying has been a great way to exercise what's additionally been atrophied due to a reliance on calculators. I've begun seeing relationships between numbers (add number theory to my list of things to explore) and using tricks / shortcuts to perform quick calculation. All this is giving me confidence in dealing with numbers that I see on a daily basis in the form of business metrics and financial projections.

Amazon has a strong writing culture, and a lot of my time is spent in documents, writing and comprehending business proposals. This section has actually become my strength, something I wouldn't have believed back in high school. I put concentrated effort in this area after switching into the business role from engineering, so it's cool to be validated with a high test score.

The Data Insights section has highlighted my next area of growth. Digesting data quickly and accurately is a core competency for a leader, and the GMAT does a great job presenting data in different ways and asking you to draw conclusions. I've always believed myself to be a visual learner, but I get easily overwhelmed with a lot of data and numbers, but I'm determined to get better.