Ask mbaMission

[user]

Jeremy,

i've had 3 jobs since graduating from college 4 years ago. how do i show my career progression? do i need to mention an accomplish from each job? also, do you have to answer the question in the order in which it is asked? career, goal, then wharton? can i state my goal first and then back into why i took a certain job?

[user]

Jeremy,

sorry about the multiple posting about the wharton essay.. I kept on getting an error message each time I tried to post (and as you may be able to see, I tried several times throughout the day). thanks for the reply.

[ROC]

I'm not sure how to reconcile this situation. I read a number of sample essays for MBA programs and I notice people keep focusing on the word "I did [X], which led to $10 million in revenue for my company. Because of the impact I had on the bottom line, I was promoted to [Y] and feel that my superior skills in [Z] will contribute positively to the HBS environment."

A few questions:

1. These are clearly exaggerations. Most people applying for an MBA program don't singularly have that kind of effect for their companies. In my case, I worked on "Teams" that had a major impact on the company's bottom line, but for me to simply take credit as something "I" and "I" alone did seems disingenuous. Am I incorrect in this assumption?

2. Is it OK to describe a career experience in terms of "we," with "we" referring to my project team? For example: "We realized that we were presented with a significant opportunity to further improve the feature. As a result, we worked cross-functionally across the company to bring together the right expertise and formulate the requirements for Version 2 of the product."

Thanks!

ROC

[MBA Mission]

Thank you for your inquiry.

I can’t speak to the specific scenarios that you have raised and whether they are true or not, but it is important to explain your specific actions and their consequent impact. You don’t need to exaggerate or embellish, but it is important that you be the center of the action in your stories - after all, these are your personal essays, not someone else’s. The school will not measure the dollar values of your project, but the spirit of your actions and the details of them will validate your experiences.

All of that written, you don’t need to be entirely individualistic. You can explain your actions within team contexts and share responsibility for successes, as long as you shine.

Sincerely,
Jeremy Shinewald
MBA Mission

646-485-8844

Website: www.mbamission.com
Blog: www.mbamission.com/blog
MBA Mission Insider’s Guides: www.mbamission.com/store.php
Free Consultation: www.mbamission.com/consult.php

I'm not sure how to reconcile this situation. I read a number of sample essays for MBA programs and I notice people keep focusing on the word "I did [X], which led to $10 million in revenue for my company. Because of the impact I had on the bottom line, I was promoted to [Y] and feel that my superior skills in [Z] will contribute positively to the HBS environment."

A few questions:

1. These are clearly exaggerations. Most people applying for an MBA program don't singularly have that kind of effect for their companies. In my case, I worked on "Teams" that had a major impact on the company's bottom line, but for me to simply take credit as something "I" and "I" alone did seems disingenuous. Am I incorrect in this assumption?

2. Is it OK to describe a career experience in terms of "we," with "we" referring to my project team? For example: "We realized that we were presented with a significant opportunity to further improve the feature. As a result, we worked cross-functionally across the company to bring together the right expertise and formulate the requirements for Version 2 of the product."

Thanks!

ROC

[MBA Mission]

Thank you for your inquiry.

You do not need to account for each and every step of your career in essay one for Wharton. In fact, we suggest that candidates use 350/475 words on their careers in this essay, which would likely limit a full exploration of so many positions. You should play to your strengths and market your most significant achievements. You don’t want to present yourself as a "jack of all trades, master of none."

You do not need to follow the order of the question. Many interesting essays break the mold.

Sincerely,
Jeremy Shinewald
MBA Mission

646-485-8844

Website: www.mbamission.com
Blog: www.mbamission.com/blog
MBA Mission Insider’s Guides: www.mbamission.com/store.php
Free Consultation: www.mbamission.com/consult.php

Jeremy,

i've had 3 jobs since graduating from college 4 years ago. how do i show my career progression? do i need to mention an accomplish from each job? also, do you have to answer the question in the order in which it is asked? career, goal, then wharton? can i state my goal first and then back into why i took a certain job?

[mbahopeful]

Hi Jeremy,

I am working on the Kellogg leadership question that asks to provide key leadership experiences and talk about what leadership areas I'd like to develop as part of the MBA program (2 pages double spaced).

I have 2 such experiences, one of which is work-related and the other is a company I started while I was in college. The college startup is fairly significant, but there's one problem: it was 8 years ago. The experience has certainly shaped who I am today, but given that it was so long ago, is it a stretch for me to use it as an example?

Thanks,
- mbahopeful

[MBA Mission]

Dear MBAhopeful,

Thank you for your question. If the start up experience has lasting relevance for you today, then you should use it, although given how long ago it was I would suggest also using the more current work-related one. The key to making the long-ago experience relevant is to show how it continues to have implications today. Don't just discuss what you learned then, but demonstrate how what you learned then continues to shape your leadership skills today. If you can demonstrate that through the work example or through other more recent leadership examples, all the better.

I hope that helps and best of luck.


Sincerely,
Jessica Shklar
MBA Mission

Website: www.mbamission.com
Blog: www.mbamission.com/blog
MBA Mission Insider’s Guides: www.mbamission.com/store.php
Free Consultation: www.mbamission.com/consult.php

Hi Jeremy,

I am working on the Kellogg leadership question that asks to provide key leadership experiences and talk about what leadership areas I'd like to develop as part of the MBA program (2 pages double spaced).

I have 2 such experiences, one of which is work-related and the other is a company I started while I was in college. The college startup is fairly significant, but there's one problem: it was 8 years ago. The experience has certainly shaped who I am today, but given that it was so long ago, is it a stretch for me to use it as an example?

Thanks,
- mbahopeful

[mbahopeful]

Jessica,

Thanks for the prompt reply. I can definitely articulate how the startup experience has had lasting effects on who I am today. The problem I'm having is that the essay question asks for the applicant to describe key leadership experiencES, implying that we have to have more than one.

I have a number of extremely significant leadership experiences from my current job that are very relevant to my candidacy. If I just stick to those and avoid the startup experience, do you think AdComs will look consider it suspicious that all my leadership examples are career-related, without any in the extracurricular world?

Thanks again.
mbahopeful

Dear MBAhopeful,

Thank you for your question. If the start up experience has lasting relevance for you today, then you should use it, although given how long ago it was I would suggest also using the more current work-related one. The key to making the long-ago experience relevant is to show how it continues to have implications today. Don't just discuss what you learned then, but demonstrate how what you learned then continues to shape your leadership skills today. If you can demonstrate that through the work example or through other more recent leadership examples, all the better.

I hope that helps and best of luck.


Sincerely,
Jessica Shklar
MBA Mission

[MBA Mission]

I am so sorry for the delay i answering. I hope my answer is still useful.

No, I don't think the AdCom will see focusing on work as suspicious, as long as you have your extracurricular activities featured in other essays and parts of your application. But if the start up experience was as powerful and far-reaching as you say, consider finding one or more work leadership examples that are a direct result of lessons that you learned in the start up.

Best of luck.

Sincerely,
Jessica Shklar
MBA Mission

Website: www.mbamission.com
Blog: www.mbamission.com/blog
MBA Mission Insider’s Guides: www.mbamission.com/store.php
Free Consultation: www.mbamission.com/consult.php

Jessica,

Thanks for the prompt reply. I can definitely articulate how the startup experience has had lasting effects on who I am today. The problem I'm having is that the essay question asks for the applicant to describe key leadership experiencES, implying that we have to have more than one.

I have a number of extremely significant leadership experiences from my current job that are very relevant to my candidacy. If I just stick to those and avoid the startup experience, do you think AdComs will look consider it suspicious that all my leadership examples are career-related, without any in the extracurricular world?

Thanks again.
mbahopeful

Dear MBAhopeful,

Thank you for your question. If the start up experience has lasting relevance for you today, then you should use it, although given how long ago it was I would suggest also using the more current work-related one. The key to making the long-ago experience relevant is to show how it continues to have implications today. Don't just discuss what you learned then, but demonstrate how what you learned then continues to shape your leadership skills today. If you can demonstrate that through the work example or through other more recent leadership examples, all the better.

I hope that helps and best of luck.


Sincerely,
Jessica Shklar
MBA Mission

[hit]

Hi Jessica. I'd really appreciate a candid review of my profile...

28 year old Korean American (will be 29 when applying fall 09)

GMAT:
710

College:
B.A. Economics 2007 - graduated in two and a half years
3.78 GPA (community college - 63 credits in 1 year (spring, summer, and fall semesters)
3.14 GPA (University of Michigan - 1.5 years. Worked 30+ hrs a week during my time here - not an excuse by any means, but working did adversely impact my grades.)

Work Experience:
Pre-college:
2 years in East Asia - 1 year teaching SATs and 1 year working in operational/strategic roles at private academies (SAT, AP subject exams, etc).
Post-college: (will have 3 total years by 09 MBA matriculation)
1 year at Accenture (operational consulting not IT implementation: business case, NPV analysis)
5 months (will have 2 years at matriculation) in an internal corporate strategy role at a company with midsized company - $500M annual revenue - (corporate growth strategy, metrics analysis, data driven analysis, financial modeling)

Extracurricular Activities:
Strategy engagement for nonprofit organization. Final deliverables and recommendations include 5 year growth strategy (new services, joint ventures and mergers), competitive intelligence, and industry research/benchmarking. Currently leading one of these work streams.

MBA schools:
I'm planning on applying to CBS, Stern, Hass, Darden, Kellogg, and Tuck.

Post-MBA plans:
Strategy consulting or corporate development/strategy at a large multinational company.

I've considered building an alternative transcript but wasn't sure if it was necessary. I thought about taking 1 or 2 corporate finance classes at berkeley extension or at a local university as I took all the various economics, statistics, and calculus classes as an econ undergrad.


One final thought - I'm thinking about taking another job soon, at a larger company, doing similar type work as I'm doing now but with more of a focus on marketing/sales strategy and corporate development, M&A. But I'm considered about the job hopping stigma.

Pros of taking the job - The new place offers a base salary that's around 50% more than I'm making now and I get a title upgrade (analyst to senior analyst). I'd also get closer interaction with senior executives.
Cons - can only really think of one. I'm concerned that I'd be viewed as a job hopper, hurting my MBA candidacy. If I leave and take this job, I'll only have 1 year at my first job, 5 months at my second, and 1 year and 7 months (at time of matriculation) at this third job. But I'm thinking the job hopping factor might be negated given current economic conditions.

I'd also consider working an additional year at this new job, so I'd have 2 years and 7 months (at time of matriculation) there and a total of 4 years post college experience at time of matriculation.

[MBA Mission]

Hi Hit -
Sorry for the delay in replying; it's been a busy application week.

A few comments on your profile: Although there are other factors to consider in a job switch than how it looks on B-school applications, all else being equal I think I'd hold off on the switch for now. Small business experience is different and interesting, and if the work will be essentially the same you'll be trading a more interesting setting for a less interesting one.

Your GPA is a bit of a concern in that at the big time, you had a 3.14. Your suggestion of taking additional economics or financial courses at a local university is a good one. Your GMAT is strong, but you want to try to offset questions being raised by your grades by proactively addressing them through other classes.

The extracurricular work sounds interesting from what you said; be sure to focus on concrete results in order to have a compelling story to tell.

With the information you've given, you might be competitive at Darden and NYU, but the rest seem like mild reaches.

Sincerely,
Jessica Shklar
MBA Mission

Website: www.mbamission.com
Blog: www.mbamission.com/blog
MBA Mission Insider’s Guides: www.mbamission.com/store.php
Free Consultation: www.mbamission.com/consult.php

Hi Jessica. I'd really appreciate a candid review of my profile...

28 year old Korean American (will be 29 when applying fall 09)

GMAT:
710

College:
B.A. Economics 2007 - graduated in two and a half years
3.78 GPA (community college - 63 credits in 1 year (spring, summer, and fall semesters)
3.14 GPA (University of Michigan - 1.5 years. Worked 30+ hrs a week during my time here - not an excuse by any means, but working did adversely impact my grades.)

Work Experience:
Pre-college:
2 years in East Asia - 1 year teaching SATs and 1 year working in operational/strategic roles at private academies (SAT, AP subject exams, etc).
Post-college: (will have 3 total years by 09 MBA matriculation)
1 year at Accenture (operational consulting not IT implementation: business case, NPV analysis)
5 months (will have 2 years at matriculation) in an internal corporate strategy role at a company with midsized company - $500M annual revenue - (corporate growth strategy, metrics analysis, data driven analysis, financial modeling)

Extracurricular Activities:
Strategy engagement for nonprofit organization. Final deliverables and recommendations include 5 year growth strategy (new services, joint ventures and mergers), competitive intelligence, and industry research/benchmarking. Currently leading one of these work streams.

MBA schools:
I'm planning on applying to CBS, Stern, Hass, Darden, Kellogg, and Tuck.

Post-MBA plans:
Strategy consulting or corporate development/strategy at a large multinational company.

I've considered building an alternative transcript but wasn't sure if it was necessary. I thought about taking 1 or 2 corporate finance classes at berkeley extension or at a local university as I took all the various economics, statistics, and calculus classes as an econ undergrad.


One final thought - I'm thinking about taking another job soon, at a larger company, doing similar type work as I'm doing now but with more of a focus on marketing/sales strategy and corporate development, M&A. But I'm considered about the job hopping stigma.

Pros of taking the job - The new place offers a base salary that's around 50% more than I'm making now and I get a title upgrade (analyst to senior analyst). I'd also get closer interaction with senior executives.
Cons - can only really think of one. I'm concerned that I'd be viewed as a job hopper, hurting my MBA candidacy. If I leave and take this job, I'll only have 1 year at my first job, 5 months at my second, and 1 year and 7 months (at time of matriculation) at this third job. But I'm thinking the job hopping factor might be negated given current economic conditions.

I'd also consider working an additional year at this new job, so I'd have 2 years and 7 months (at time of matriculation) there and a total of 4 years post college experience at time of matriculation.

[mundra.saket]

Hello,

Could you please evaluate my profile and suggest some realistic schools in Canada and EU. I wish to join a school with strong focus on Finance and entrepreneurship.

GMAt Score - 690 (Verbal 40, Quant 44)

Education]
1) B.Eng (Honors) in Computing from Asia Pacific Institute of Information Technology, Staffordhsire University from 2001 to 2005. GPA is 3.5 out of 4. Also, I ranked second in a Batch of 80 students.

2) Pursuing CFA - Waiting results for Level 2

Professional Profile

1) Entrepreneur at Genesis Financials from November 2007 - Present
2) Research Analyst at an Emerging Markets Hedge Fund , Mumbai from April 2008 - March 2009
3) Software Engineer at Tata Consultancy Services Limited from January 2006 - March 2008

PROFESSIONAL ACHEIVEMENTS

1)Enhanced Expected Portfolio Returns by 5% and reduced Risk by 3% using Portfolio Optimization and Diversification at VCAM Investment Manages in October 2008.
2) Received Certificate of Customer Appreciation twice for reducing System Downtime by 100% in October 2006 and February 2007.
3) Promoted to role of Module Lead within 6 months of joining TCS to lead a team of 4.
4) Re-engineered monitoring processes for VSNL’s CRM Systems, reducing escalations by 25% and resulting in savings of Rs. 1 million for TCS.


Extra Activities
1) Contributor at Financial Forum Seekingalpha.com
2) Taught underprivileged children with City Education Society (NGO) in Delhi in June 2008 and August 2005.
3) Active member of TIE Delhi.
4) Chief Conference Coordinator - CNFE 2005, Annual Technical Festival at APIIT, Panipat, India.
5) Won Re-engineering contest, Moksh 2003 - Annual Cultural Festival at NSIT (Formerly DIT), Delhi University.
6) Volunteered in organizing Innovision 2003 - Annual Technical Festival at NSIT (Formerly DIT), Delhi University.

[chintanjpatel]

Hi,

Wonderful thing u guys r doing over here by helping the needy like us. I request u to go through my profile and evaluate my chances at my targeted univ.

I am Chintan Patel, 28 yrs old, an indian, just moved to canada a month back.

Gmat - 680(Q-49,V-34,AWA-4).

Work - Exp:
Subhiksha retail - 1 yr 4 mths. Deputy manager - stores operations.
Samsung electronics - 1 yr. Senior executive - Appliances sales and marketing.
Videocon Industries - 2 yr. Sales officer-Consumer Electronics.

Academics:
MBA - ICFAI Business School, Hyd - 8.18/10
BBA - SPU, 60%

As u can c it above, i have already completed an MBA from India but had to move to canada due to perosonal reasons. I am very serious about my career growth and it seems i need to get a canadian mba to make a good career in here. With above profile, what r my chances at the top canadian univ.. ivey, wilfred laurier, york, mcmaster, mcgill.

[supratims]

I have a query regarding letters of recommendations here. When they say two "business references", do they mean supervisors (when not explicitly specified) ?

I want to provide one reference from my manager, and another from a peer. This is because they are the ones who know me from close quarters in my current job and hence can write about me.

Is this advisable ?

[mbamission]

Hi, thanks for your inquiry. While "business reference" does not have to be a direct supervisor, it cannot be a peer (unless the school specifically asks for a peer reference). The schools want to see someone senior to you who has been able to review your performance from that perspective. I don't mean formally review - but a senior manager who led a project you worked on, or another senior person you collaborated with, will be able to offer the schools the perspective they want. Submitting a peer recommendation will most likely hurt your application.

Regards.

Jessica Shklar
mbaMission

www.mbamission.com

I have a query regarding letters of recommendations here. When they say two "business references", do they mean supervisors (when not explicitly specified) ?

I want to provide one reference from my manager, and another from a peer. This is because they are the ones who know me from close quarters in my current job and hence can write about me.

Is this advisable ?