Pursuing your MBA

Marketing yourself effectively to a top business schools takes thought. Not only must you maximise your strengths and minimise your weaknesses, but you must also show that you will fit in at the school, while at the same time standing out as an individual.

The starting point must always be to learn as much as possible about the programmes best suited to your needs. And, just as importantly, you should know what your chosen schools look for in their candidates.

Follow these suggestions to ensure that all the components of your MBA application best reflect your skills and aptitude.

When applying, you have the opportunity to show your objective data—credentials and experience—in their most favourable light. Pay attention to how you present yourself. Take care that what you say is consistent with how you are presented in the essays, interviews and recommendations. Similarly, don’t overlook the opportunity to advance your case by showing, for example, the steady increase in your responsibilities and accomplishments.

Essays

Don’t be fooled into thinking that your numbers—GMAT score, degree class, salary, and so on—are all you need to gain admission to business school. The essay questions are the heart of the application. They are designed to find out who you are, how you are unique, what you have accomplished, why you want an MBA and where you are headed.

Your essays will inform the admissions officers about more than just your writing skills. They reveal your honesty, maturity and uniqueness, as well as your understanding of what the programme offers and requires, and how well you would contribute to it.

The better the school, the more likely it is that your essays will heavily influence the final decision.

Schools generally ask for two recommendations. It is usually best to obtain both from business employers or colleagues, who can address most of the important issues, rather than from former professors, who can seldom add much to the picture that emerges from your university transcript.

There are three cardinal rules for choosing your recommenders:

• Choose people who know you well. Don’t choose people who are famous or important if they cannot discuss your candidacy and performance in detail. Instead, select people who can make the recommendation credible by illustrating their points with anecdotes that show you at your best.
• Choose people who genuinely like you—they will take the time to write a polished, carefully considered recommendation.
• Choose people who can address more than one of the key subjects: your intellectual ability, your managerial and leadership potential, your personal attributes and your career plan.
• It is often worthwhile to schedule a formal meeting with your recommenders, and give them written information about your goals and reminders of your accomplishments. At a minimum, you should explain why you want to take an MBA and why you have chosen the schools you have. You might also give them an outline of what you want discussed, including the examples that you think best demonstrate your capabilities and performance.

Interviews offer schools an ideal opportunity to learn much more about you. Some things are not readily apparent without a face-to-face meeting, such as your charm, persuasiveness, presence, and business manner. The greater emphasis upon soft skills in MBA programmes means that personality and social skills are considered more important than they were in the past. Interviews also provide an opportunity to probe any areas that were insufficiently explained in the application.

• Establish your objectives. Make a good impression, convey your strengths and explain what you can bring to a programme.
• Prepare. Be ready to explain why you want an MBA, why you want it now, why you want to attend the school and what you can contribute.
• Research. Know the programme and the school, and be ready to ask questions. The school wants to see that you are curious and enthusiastic about its programme.
• Practice. Undertake mock interviews with friends who are applying to similar programmes. Consider arranging your first interviews at the schools that matter least to you, so you can gain experience and confidence.
• Take the hint. In the interview, listen for clues as to what the interviewer values. Picking up on these values will help you to establish a rapport.

Most applicants underestimate the amount of time that a successful MBA application requires, thinking that they can do it in a long weekend or two. The reality is that many of the necessary steps, such as contacting and briefing a recommender, are time consuming. You should begin the application process at least a year before you want to start at business school.

Schools generally require that applications be submitted 5–10 months before the start of the programme. Apply as early in each school’s application cycle as you can, unless you expect your credentials to improve dramatically later in the application period (for example, if you expect a promotion).

Succeeding in the MBA application process requires strategic thinking, sound planning, organisational skill, persuasive ability and plenty of hard work. In other words, it is good training for the MBA itself.

• Not having a marketing strategy. You need to know how to get the most out of who you are, what you’ve done and where you’re headed, in the light of what a particular school values.
• Not understanding your strengths and weaknesses relative to the applicant pool for a given school.
• Dramatically overestimating or underestimating your chances, and ending up with an inappropriate list of schools.
• Failing to integrate each of the pieces into one unified application.
• Mentioning the wrong school in an essay (when reusing earlier essays).
• Not managing the whole recommendation process.
• Applying late in the game.
• Starting your MBA without knowing what you intend to achieve and how you will do so, thereby limiting its value.