哈佛Essay Sample

chipmunk

Original Essay 2 – What are your career goals and potential obstacles?

Upon receiving my MBA degree from Harvard University, I will use my graduate education and marketing research knowledge in the context of the consumer-packaged-goods industry. First and foremost, I look forward to the challenge of successfully bringing a consumer product to market.  Although I will begin working on a product's go-to-market strategy, I eagerly anticipate gradually increasing my managerial context within the company. In addition to these future responsibilities, I am excited about managing a team's motivation and productivity.  

My strategic business marketing experience at Xerox Corporation, coupled with my short-term goal of success in consumer marketing, will build the solid foundation needed to reach my long-term career goal of playing a leadership role in a global company. I am particularly interested in customer focused marketing and am confident that my determination, perseverance and tenacity will lead to the successful achievement of this personal vision.

My greatest obstacle is likely to be my impatience, which is a direct result of hightened professional expectations. When I think of impatience, I recall the customer relationship management (CRM) project I managed for the retail organization at Xerox.  The CRM concept was revolutionary, as was the psycho-graphic, demographic and behavioral enriched customer data we received.  For the first time, we had detailed data on the identity of our end users, and on their purchasing behaviors at certain retail chains.  My job was to communicate both these specific findings and the greater CRM concept to the appropriate decision-makers on the marketing staff.  Because of my impatience, I expected everyone to promptly change.  After several weeks of my road-show, disappointment overcame my enthusiasm.  Although I was convinced that information would give our marketing programs a novel and necessary perspective, nobody jumped- nobody even blinked.  

Later, I discovered that being an agent for change within a large organization takes small steps and, most importantly, patience. Several months after the CRM program was introduced, it caught the attention it deserved.  As a result, I was awarded a new position in the corporate organization at Xerox.

My awareness of this shortcoming allows me both to recognize it in my behavior and to use it to my benefit.  By dividing a larger goal into fundamental pieces, my expectations become more grounded and my progress more measurable.  My impatience will help to accomplish smaller goals more quickly, and the lessons of increasing experience will encourage my efforts.   

I am confident that an MBA degree from Harvard will not only give me the tools that I need in order to succeed, but the necessary personal insight into my own inner workings.  I will maximize my MBA experience by taking advantage of Harvard's cross-functional curriculum, the study abroad opportunity, and the corporate / community network the program has established. Through perseverance and consistent awareness of the obstacles that lie before me, I hope to fulfill my career dream of becoming a true marketing leader.