Smart Advice for This Year’s Applicants

3. Beef up your work leadership

Business schools seek candidates who have a strong leadership track record. Applicants can demonstrate their leadership capabilities in various ways. Examples can be by highlighting how they improved the culture of their team, introduced an innovative product, changed a business process, or simply influenced the team to adopt a new strategy. For applicants who are completing their two-year analyst program, the summer is a good opportunity to explore a new position where they will be given greater autonomy and responsibility. Don’t shy away from seeking positions that are outside of your comfort zone, especially if they will offer opportunities to challenge and stretch your leadership abilities. Avoid jumping on bandwagons and chart your own course. The important thing is to be able to provide a clear rationale for why you chose the position you did.

For example, Aly, an applicant to business school left her Wall Street banking job to join a start up investment firm in an emerging market country to expand her international experience. While living there she realized that there was little resource to support professionals moving back to the country. With the help of a couple of friends they started a nonprofit organization that helps young expatriates transition smoothly to the region. By making this move she was able to gain some experience in a region where she plans to work in the long term (giving her credibility for her career goals) as well as expand her leadership skills.

There are ample opportunities to demonstrate leadership capabilities for those of you remaining at your jobs. For example, you could mentor interns working at your firm during the summer. Besides that, there are often opportunities to help lead the training programs designed to develop new employees. If your firm doesn’t have existing programs, this may be a good chance for you to fill that void by creating one. You can also volunteer to work on an important project within your firm that cuts across different divisions and functions to gain greater leadership exposure and responsibility.  If there is an opportunity to own a part of a project, sign up for that. Can you get on an overseas assignment? Doing so will develop your global exposure. Regardless of what specific option you select, make sure you can identify examples from the experience which highlight your leadership capabilities.

4. Expand your commitment to others

A challenge many applicants face is the lack of current community involvement. Many applicants were involved in service organizations while in college but this commitment has stalled due to their 80 hour work week. While this may be a hole in your story, it does not have to derail your application. Make sure that your essays are well balanced between “I achieved ABC” and examples that show how you have helped other colleagues become successful. If your entire application focuses on you with little reference to others, this can be a red flag for the admissions board. Your commitment to others can also extend to your family. For example, individuals who have had significant responsibility for helping their younger siblings/relatives succeed can share stories from this experience. It can also come through from examples from work where you stepped in to assist a colleague to succeed. For situations where you genuinely have a passion for an organization, you can get involved today to contribute to that organization’s success. While the admission board can be skeptical about an activity that you recently became involved with, if you can show earlier ties to that interest, you will be in a better position to convince them of your genuine commitment.

Here two different examples to illustrate commitment to others. Daniel, an applicant from a rural community, felt that his school offered little support for high school students to pursue college outside the confines of the region he came from. He started the first mentoring program at his high school to support students through the college application process to give them greater exposure to a world outside what they were used to. Daniel was already involved with this organization but he needed to deepen his involvement. So while applying to business school he also invested more time in the organization, enabling him to deliver more tangible results. Michael, another applicant, chose a different way to demonstrate commitment to others—he focused within his firm. While working in private equity, he noticed that a colleague was struggling and was likely to be fired if things didn’t change. He took up the opportunity to work one-on-one with him for several months without the knowledge of anyone in the firm. The colleague’s technical gaps were strengthened, his confidence grew, and he was able to change his outcome at the firm.

Each applicant’s story differs. Tell your own story. Don’t assume these examples are the tried and true stories and therefore be tempted to manufacture information; doing so will only sabotage your application. Take the time to evaluate your brand (by asking yourself what you are passionate about, what you value, the impact you have had in every environment you are in, and the goals you have). The more clarity you have about all of these things, the more successful you will be in presenting the examples that best differentiate you from your competition.  I wish you great success with your application!

Chioma Isiadinso is a 12 year admissions veteran who served on Harvard Business School’s Admissions Board and was a former Director of Admissions at Carnegie Mellon University School of Public Policy and Management. She is the founder and CEO of EXPARTUS and the Author of The Best Business Schools’ Admissions Secrets Amazon. Chioma regularly fields questions on Poets and Quants’ Ask Our Expert.

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