Crafting A Compelling Career Vision For Your MBA Application

Articulating your career vision is one of the most critical elements of your entire business school application.

A strong career vision helps you stand out in the MBA application process; it shows you have truly thought through your reasons for seeking an MBA and are prepared to get the most out of the program. It is also an essential element that you will be asked about in your admissions interviews. Finally, a clear career vision will help you hit the ground running when you begin your MBA, because recruiting and job search activities begin as early as your first day at school.

My Fortuna Admissions colleagues and I have distilled our advice on how to craft a compelling career vision, along with tangible tips for getting started. After collectively reviewing thousands of business school career visions, we know what a strong career vision sounds like, why it’s important, what schools are looking for and how to get started. (View also my related article on how to express your long-term vision versus short-term MBA goals, which includes specific examples.)

Whether you’re in the throes of your application or looking ahead to acing the MBA admissions interview, this guide will aid you with articulating a career vision that’s convincing, clear, achievable, and genuine to you.

WHAT IS A CAREER VISION?

Identifying what you want to do and who you want to be provides a distinct and inspiring direction for your professional life. Your ambitions, motivations, ideals, and beliefs should shape this vision. Conveying a clear vision allows admissions to understand what drives you, in your life and career.

Every MBA program explicitly asks about your career goals in its application; at the interview stage, you will be expected to present and defend these goals. Finding a theme and story around the decisions that have taken you to this point in your career and where you want to go will help create a career vision that stands out from the crowd.

What Is The MBA Admission Committee Looking For?

When deciding between candidates with comparable profiles, admissions committees will look for who is in the best position to leverage their school’s resources.  Your career vision should clearly show the steps you will take to achieve your goals.

Here are five key criteria the MBA admissions committee will be looking for:

1. Clear and Compelling  

You must demonstrate you’ve done the industry and company research that’s essential to convey a vision that’s both strong and realistic. Consider it your first MBA assignment! Articulating a clear and captivating career vision indicates the quality of work — and clarity of thought — you’re able to produce.

2. Ambitious and Inspiring

Admissions committees are seeking future industry leaders and changemakers. An ambitious career vision expresses that you’re aiming for seniority in your chosen industry (no b-school is looking for applicants aspiring only to middle management). An “inspiring” career necessitates that you aspire to impact an industry, community, or society.

3. Logical and Achievable

Admissions committees want to see that the plan you’ve mapped to claim your lofty goals are logical. You’ll need to showcase an understanding of what business school will do for you, and also how the recruiting process operates.

4. Coherent and Persuasive

Along these lines, you want to present a coherent narrative or thread that persuasively links your past experiences and reasons for pursuing an MBA with your short—and long-term goals.

5. Urgent and Essential

You’ll need to be persuasive that an MBA from this program is mission-critical to your future ambitions. Schools also want assurance that they can help you reach your post-MBA targets.

Finally, programs want to know you’ll add value to their school and community. How will your experiences and network help others to reach their career goals and build a diverse incoming class? What about you makes others imagine you can achieve this (your unique background, personal experiences, passions, etc.)?

The career goal development process can be daunting, but a thoughtful methodology will help you enjoy the essential discovery process. For more advice and tips, see my article on the steps to creating a compelling career vision for your MBA application,

If you’d like more guidance on applying to a top business school and a candid assessment of your chances of admission, contact Fortuna to schedule a free consultation.

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Heidi Hillis is a Senior Expert Coach at Fortuna Admissions with more than 85 five-star client reviews on P&Q. She is a Stanford GSB alumna and former Stanford GSB MBA admissions interviewer. For more free advice from Fortuna Admissions in partnership with Poets&Quants, check out these videos and articles.

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