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关于Essay写作,看了很有感悟,急着分享给大家

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发表于 2011-10-17 23:19:51 | 只看该作者 回帖奖励 |倒序浏览 |阅读模式
MBA-ESSAY:Why MBA formula - past + MBA = future
Why MBA formula - past + MBA = future
Why MBA formula: past experience + MBA = future career goals
Manish asked: ‘I have taken up the exams and now it’s time to fill up the forms. These forms require me to write essays about two basic questions- ‘why MBA’ and ‘why an MBA in finance.’ The forms clearly state that some marks are given on the basis of these essays. And that makes me a little nervous. Both the essays have to be in 300 words. I request you to help me out on the same by sending me a specimen of these essays.’
Counseling students for getting their B School application in place has been a long journey for me. It has always been a give and take process; more than what I have taught to students, I have gained in terms of experience. During one of the evening coffee sessions with a student, I said, “I may sound clichéd but why do you want to do an MBA?” Before answering anything, he picked up a few coloured pens and started scribbling on a piece of paper. This is what he made:





The image is self explanatory and makes perfect sense. He said, “The simple formula is past experience + MBA = future career goals. Considering the competition in organizations, it is very important for me to upgrade my skills and qualifications in order to face challenges thrown by the corporate world. I am not denying that I cannot achieve my short term and long term goals without doing an MBA but I might take ages to do it. Also, I cannot deny the fact that new MBA graduates might even get placed at higher positions while I would still be struggling to move ahead in the ladder. Hence, MBA would act as a bridge in my career which would not only enhance my skills but also give me enough employment security. Comparatively, I wouldn’t have to face much problem in finding a well suited job if I am an MBA grad from a good B School than I would have it now, with my current work experience and education.”
评论:我很早以前见到过一个沟通领域的名词,从此就乐此不疲地向朋友们推荐这个概念,这就是上面这张图所展现的:mapping communication。绝大部分申请MBA的同志们都接触过PPT或者类似的文件,甚至不少人还是这方面的高手,你能想象里面全部都是文字吗?最牛的PPT制作者往往使用很少的文字,图形和表格反倒是PPT中不可或缺的元素。
个人而言,我很喜欢上面这幅画,2010年美国国务卿克林顿(希拉里)女士在和中国领导人会谈的时候,用英文说了“殊途同归”这个成语,其实英语里面也有一个类似的名句,翻译过来就是我们常听说的“条条大路通罗马”。我觉得唯一的遗憾就是,画画的人只画了一条路……

Me: “Great! Tell me what are your goals? I mean I don’t want to know about your personal goals, I just want to know your general take on what goals are. Let’s say, I want to be a CEO of XYZ company 10 years down the line. Is this my goal?”
Student: “I would not say that this is a goal. This is a general position that probably you would want to achieve once in your lifetime. A goal would be more niche kind of a thing.Dictionary definition of goal is ‘the purpose toward which an endeavour is directed’. If I talk precisely from a point of view of MBA then this means that I would like to know more about which kind of industry would you like to become a CEO in, what kind of experience would I like to acquire, what would be your target schools, why XYZ school, what skills I have right now and what more would I need to reach, there so on and so forth. I mean I would sound foolish if I say that I want to become a CEO of a company and I have no knowledge even about the roles of a CEO in a company. So a definition of a goal would only make sense if I define the entire process in achieving what I want to achieve.
评论:我很认同上面这段文字,事实上,不少申请人都在如何理解“goal”这个英文词上陷入泥潭。一个general position that probably you would want to achieve once in your lifetime不能和申请人的long-term career goal相等同。
Me: “Well Answered.”
And our light conversation on various topics moved ahead over a cup of coffee.

The ‘Why MBA’ question is more of a “whole purpose” kind of question. One should be able to answer the following questions in order to build up a good answer:

     **Why do you want to do an MBA now?

     **What are your short term career goals?

     **What are your long term career goals?

     **Do you think you would be able to make a good fit in a XYZ School?All the four questions need a bit of soul searching and no one else can answer the questions better than you yourself can. But if one is not able to answer either of the questions, you have not done enough research to be able to come up with convincing answers.
Keep the following things in mind while doing your research:
Long Term Short Term Career Goals- Mostly when I ask candidates (especially Indians) about their profiles, they tell me- Male/ Indian/ IT and when I ask “why MBA?” The most common answer that I get is “Engineering Sucks” HA!
Trust me, each candidate has story to tell and each story is unique in its own way, you just need to believe it. List down all your short term career goals, long term career goals and your present skills/accomplishments on a piece of paper, all you need to do is to connect your present skills with your future professional goals and how would an MBA help in achieving your goals. Stating that “My short term goal is to do an MBA in marketing” is a vague statement. “Which specialization in marketing,” “what specific role would you like to play in an organisation” and probably “which company would you like to work in” would bring forward your clear focus. Also note that a long term career goal may not be as specific as a short term career goal but your reasons should make a perfect connection between how would achieving a short term career goal help you in moving ahead towards achieving a long term career goal.

Target B Schools/ Specializations: While choosing the B Schools, consider the following-
Class profile- Whether you want to join a class with bigger strength or smaller. For example, Harvard has a class size of 900 students while Tuck has a class size of 240-250.
Location- Rural or urban? For example, Tuck is known for its close community, small class size and rural set up- it may be make a good fit for a lot of students but someone who has always lived in an urban set up would find it difficult to adjust in Hanover;
Diversity: look at the class profile of the previous year and you would get a rough idea of number of like minds that you might come across- I mean a single engineer stuck among 30 arts graduates would be a little non-adjusting situation(Okay I am exaggerating but if is happens, it is pretty scary). Conside the points from “Is Harvard really diverse?” while searching for the diversity at B Schools,
Specializations: For someone who wants to specialize in Finance, Wharton or Chicago Booth may be a good selection but the same may not hold true for someone who wants to do a specialization in Entrepreneurship.
Clubs- There is a life beyond classrooms and projects, why not take a look at the clubs that would help you to take your passions and hobbies even at a Business School. May be there is something that you have longed to learn but never got chance to and an XYZ Business School offers it.
And finally!
Take look at the courses offered by school and how would they add to your profile.
All the aspects combined should help you weave a unique story, which would give you a better definition about yourself than just “ Male/Indian/ Techy”.
I’d be soon be writing another post on short listing B schools, trust me it’d be different than what I have written so far.
Take a look at an excellent article on “Why Chicago GSB?” written by Paul Jan. He starts by saying: “Never judge a man until you’ve walked a mile in his shoes. After that, judge all you want: he’s a mile away, and you’ve got his shoes.”

Quick Questions.
I am not a writer, should I pay someone to write my essays?
A strict ‘no’. You can hire some for editing you essay but don’t ask someone to write essays for you. No one can write your story as passionately as you can. Your essays should have your personal touch and not someone else’s. Do a thorough research on the above mentioned areas and you’d be surprised how you’d start knitting your ‘Why MBA’ essay.
What does ‘be yourself’ means while writing an essay?
The only suggestion here I’d give is that you write your essay yourself and don’t get them reviewed by more than 2-3 people. The more you get reviewed, the more suggestions you’d get, the more editing you’d do and in the end, the ‘You’ would get lost from the essay. Take feed back on grammar errors and what more you could add in an essay. Period.
Should I never go beyond word limits?
Read this post- I Like To Break *Word/ Page * Limits
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沙发
发表于 2011-10-18 15:54:42 | 只看该作者
文章写的很好,多谢分享.
板凳
发表于 2011-10-18 17:04:52 | 只看该作者
受教了,谢啦
地板
发表于 2011-10-22 15:52:56 | 只看该作者
多谢~很有用的文章
5#
发表于 2011-10-22 16:18:44 | 只看该作者
The only suggestion here I’d give is that you write your essay yourself and don’t get them reviewed by more than 2-3 people. The more you get reviewed, the more suggestions you’d get, the more editing you’d do and in the end, the ‘You’ would get lost from the essay. Take feed back on grammar errors and what more you could add in an essay. Period.

BE YOURSELF
6#
发表于 2014-8-24 18:41:28 | 只看该作者
非常好!感謝
7#
发表于 2014-8-25 09:04:44 | 只看该作者
Thanks a lot.
8#
发表于 2014-8-25 10:41:11 | 只看该作者
图看不见啊
9#
发表于 2014-8-25 10:55:34 | 只看该作者
“you write your essay yourself and don’t get them reviewed by more than 2-3 people”
Really? I heard loads of stories on CD that successful applicants typically have their essays reviewed by dozens of friends, colleagues, teachers and relatives.
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