MBA Career Vision Part 2: Long-Term Vision Vs. Short-Term Goal

A powerful vision for the future reflects your motivations and ambitions— and gives you a roadmap for achieving those ambitions. To craft a compelling career vision for the MBA, you need to present a coherent narrative that convincingly links your past experiences and your reasons for pursuing an MBA with your short- and long-term goals. 

Once you’ve made a solid start on exploring your career vision (see part 1 in this series, Crafting a Compelling Career Vision for Your MBA), it’s useful to distinguish between the long-term vision and short-term goals, both to clarify the differences between them and to understand how they work together. Doing this will greatly enhance your ability to articulate a powerful and persuasive case to admissions committees.

Think of it this way: the time frame of a long-term vision is usually around 10 years out, while short-term goals are your stepping stones on your way to that end goal. Short-term goals include your near-immediate plans for your internship and for two to three years after you graduate from business school. During this time, you should be acquiring specific skills or expertise that will be necessary for you to achieve your long-term vision.

Your long-term vision describes your end goal, the pinnacle of your career — answering the “what you want to be when you grow up” question. For this, you do not need to focus so much on specifics. Rather, your focus should be on the impact you want to have over the course of your career. The admissions committee wants to understand your motivations and values and how you plan to influence an industry or community.

For the short-term goal, alternatively, you do want to be specific. This goal is more important to the admissions committee and needs to be more thoroughly researched — down to the industry, function, and even possible companies you want to be working for. That’s why it’s also important to convey an understanding of the business school recruiting process and what it will take for you to land your post-MBA job. As such, it’s often helpful to have several options, to show that you have a Plan B if your preferred path doesn’t pan out.

Taken together, it’s vital to show a logical thread between your past experiences, the MBA, your internship, and your post-MBA job. You want to demonstrate how the skills acquired from each of these experiences are in service to achieving your vision.

Key Elements of Your Long-Term Vision

• Time frame: 10 years and beyond
• The end goal: what you want to be “when you grow up”
• Focuses more on impact
• Both aspirational and inspirational
• A reflection of your values
• Conveys the motivation behind your short-term goals
• Recognizes that there may be more than one path to get there (plan A, B, C…)

Key Elements of Your Short-Term Goal

• Time frame: internship and up to 2-3 years post-MBA
• Stepping stone to your long-term vision
• As specific as possible, reflecting significant research and thought related to industry, function, geography and potential companies
• Realistic and achievable
• Focuses on acquiring skills, expertise, and experience
• Demonstrates an understanding of the MBA recruiting process

For examples of both short-and long-term goals, check out my Fortuna blog on this topic. And for more tips and insights on what MBA admissions committees are looking for in your career vision and how to get started, check out part 1 of this series, Crafting a Compelling Career Vision for Your MBA.

If you’d like more personalized guidance on formulating your short- and long-term career or coaching on any aspect of your business school can do for you, find out what Fortuna can do for you. Sign up now for a free consultation and a candid assessment of your chances of admission to a top MBA program.

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.