How to build a strong MBA career goals essay
The Crucial Role of Career Vision in MBA Admission
In every MBA application pursuit, there comes a time when you, my dear MBA hopeful, have to move from thinking to action.
As you spring into action and start creating your MBA application materials, there is one piece that will play an outsized role in whether you pass the evaluation of MBA admission – or not. And no, that piece is NOT your test score.
The piece I am talking about is your career vision.
The Heart of an MBA Pursuit: Understanding the "Why"
Why is having a strong career vision so important in MBA admission?
At the heart of an MBA pursuit is a professional and personal goal. That goal is your reason for wanting an MBA, for wanting to spend a year or two in business school, dedicating a huge amount of effort and making a substantial financial commitment.
That goal is also what the MBA program you enroll in is going to be held accountable to deliver on.
Placement success is a hugely important part of MBA rankings. In the current methodology of the USNWR rankings for example, the four indicators that are part of placement success in total contribute 50% to each school's overall rank.
And in case you are curious, the three indicators are employment rates at graduation, employment rates three months after graduation, and mean starting salary and bonus.
So that “why” at the heart of your MBA pursuit needs to be two things - it needs to be strong and it needs to be clear.
Crafting Your MBA Career Vision: Determining the "Why"
What goes into determining and articulating your MBA career vision?
Defining your “why” – or your career goals if you prefer to think of it that way - means taking stock of where you are now in your career, where you want to be, and what is the gap between the two.
The MBA – the right type of MBA program - should be what bridges the gap.
But until you determine that “why” and analyze and define that gap, you don’t know what MBA program will best serve as your springboard. And if you don’t know that, obsessing over GMAT score ranges, GPAs, and recommenders is a bit pointless.
If you are one of the candidates who is starting their MBA application journey and if you are getting lost in the details and worried about the parts of the MBA application process that you perceive as most challenging, take a step back.
Focus on your “why” until you have a high degree of clarity.
Everything else will follow from your “why” – your school selection, your goal for your GMAT test score, your choice of recommenders, your plan for mitigating any weak parts of your candidacy.
Writing Strong Career Goals Essays: The Essential Ingredients
Now, what if you have already done all this and you are actually writing your career goals essays?
Let’s take a look at what goes into a really strong career goals essay. What kind of content, what building blocks should be present for an MBA career goals essay to be considered strong and clear?
To find the answer, let’s consider a few examples of what I call classis career goals essays.
The Wharton school’s first essay is one:
“How do you plan to use the Wharton MBA program to help you achieve your future professional goals? You might consider your past experience, short and long-term goals, and resources available at Wharton.”
Another one is this Columbia Business School essay:
“Through your resume and recommendation, we have a clear sense of your professional path to date. What are your career goals over the next three to five years and what is your long-term dream job?”
But CBS in particular also asks you this. They call it a short answer question and they give you just 50 characters to answer.
That question is “What is your immediate post-MBA professional goal?”
CBS very helpfully provides examples of possible responses:
“Work in business development for a media company.”
“Join a strategy consulting firm.”
“Launch a data-management start-up.”
The Three Ingredients of a Strong Career Vision and Career Goals Essays
Specificity
The CBS short answer question is a perfect example of how to think of the first ingredient of a strong career vision in general and a strong MBA career goals in particular.
That first ingredient is specificity and this means you need to be able to cite an example of a position, role or function as well as an industry and in many cases even example companies.
Feasibility
If MBA programs are being measured and ranked on placement, then it should come as no surprise that you will need to demonstrate that your goals are possible for you to achieve.
This makes feasibility of MBA career goals the second most important ingredient of your career goals essay.
Feasibility hinges on clarity, self-assessment, and research.
You will need to carefully consider what transferrable skills you’ve already acquired that will be valuable in your post-MBA job.
You will also need to understand the requirements of the job you are aiming for and to what extent your transferrable skills, coupled with the learning and experience you will gain as an MBA student will make you a strong candidate for that job.
The MBA is not some great equalizer that opens every single door you may want to knock on. You will need to build a convincing case for the MBA AdCom that you know what it takes and you have what it takes to get that post-MBA career you are dreaming of.
Fit
In an earlier video, I talked about the types of MBA essays. One of them is a “fit” essay. But I also talked about how the notion of “fit” goes beyond just one type of essay.
Career goals essays are not purely a “fit” essay but a goals essay will always require some amount of demonstrating school fit as you discuss how that particular program with all its features and resources will help you realize your professional vision.
Conclusion: Moving from Draft to Clarity
So here you have it. You now know what the three ingredients of a really strong career goals essay are!
It’s time to start writing, start outlining your motivation for pursuing an MBA.
It’s one of the most important things that you will do in the MBA admissions process. Weak, unsubstantiated goals are among the top most common reasons candidates get denied.
So it’s time to start putting pen to paper and really articulating your “Why”.
If you need some extra inspiration, I have that too! Consider starting with these three big and important questions:
What kind of person do I want to be in ten years?
What business or societal problem am I compelled - or uniquely positioned - to solve?
What environment do I flourish in?
I encourage you – urge you! - to spend a good amount of time reflecting on your experience and future interests.
Don’t worry about the first (or even second and third) draft of your goals essay being messy.
The goal here is not perfection but iterative progress that leads to more and more clarity. Now go write
Onwards and upwards,
Petia