Ask Jon Frank- P69-Q&A:WHY MBA? 7 OVERLOOKED REASONS TO GET AN MBA

JonFrank

Hi, Jon.  I have a question about the choice of recommendator, please.  Which two people do you think is better?
(1) two current senior managers in my company
(2) 1 current senior manager, another guy was a senior manager of my company and recently joined another multinational company as a high level director (in different industry)

All of them know me well and are willing to help in this regard. So...I dont know whom I ought to choose.

Many thanks, my friend.

-- by 会员 肥熊 (2010/12/7 3:49:18)

Hey there!  Hard to make a call with such limited background here.  BUT.  What we don’t want is two of the EXACT SAME recommendations.  So if the two dudes in your company know you in the same capacity, doing the same job, in the same setting…then you will likely wanna mix it up a bit.  And it sounds like the second guy knows you pretty well too.  So that’s what Id do…without any background info.  But that’s what bschool teaches you—how to make decisions with limited information…  ; )


Jon Frank

JonFrank

Hi John

I would like to seek your opinion on the ethical dilemma essay question.

When we dealing the ethical dilemma situation, some of us chose to bend the rules, not to break them, so my question is what the western business cultural would view this practice, as an imaginative attempt or a sign of dishonest?

For example the CEO wants to fire one of my man who is under-performance, but I want to keep him (because of the strong friendship), the dilemma is I can’t inform him that the CEO is collecting the negative evidence against him and ready to fire him (it against the HR policy and rules). But I do want to help him (and give him another chance)to keep his position in the company. In the end, I decide to give him a sign without revealing everything I know. That is how I find the wiggle room and bend the rules.  
But the end of the story is good, that man changes his working attitude, work more efficiently and contirbute more to the Organization.

What is your attitude on bend the rules, not break them? Will it be too riksy for me to use this experience to answer any question about the ethical dilemma?



Hey there—happy to offer some guidance here.  In general, you need to be veeery careful in bending rules.  This is a red flag from a western business cultural perspective.  Especially if you are protecting this dude because he is your “friend.”  That isn’t a good reason to make a business decision, I don’t think, in any culture.
Now, there IS a way to write this story in an acceptable way.  You can say that your boss didn’t like the guy, but you knew that he WAS good at his job.  From there, don’t say that you gave him a clever sign, or gave your boss away at all.  That would be dishonest.  Instead, say that you showed this employee the benefits (for example) of the other group.  You SOLD it to him—you didn’t give away your boss, you actually convinced this guy to leave and go into another group!  On his own!  Now THAT would be cool.  That way, everyone wins.  Your boss gets rid of the guy, your employee keeps his job, and the company benefits.  That would be cool, eh?  Hope this helps.
Jon Frank

JonFrank

Hey Jon!!!
Thank you so much for your input on this forum. Your advice really helps a lot!!!

Can I ask a few questions that I am still not sure about after reading your posts?

My background is blended with Science and Business. I got my BS in China in Biotechnology and Master here in the US in Genetics and have 3-year hands on research experience in graduate school. Then I became a salesman at a Biotech company, which provides service to Pharmaceutical companies. My questions are:

1. career plan
I am pretty clear about my long term goal, which is to build China's Pfizer one day. However, I am not quite sure about short term goal.  I am considering two options now: a. Management consultant in Pharma and Biotech industry. b. Business development manager specialized in licensing in Big pharma. Both options utilize my combined background but which one do you think may sound more realistic and practical to the adcoms in B-school? Apparently there are many more MBA graduates pursue consulting route than BD route so does this mean I should choose consulting? Or can I mention two short term goals in the essay at the same time?

2. Outsourcing
My company is actually outsourcing big pharma's R&D job to China so I am dealing with US and China folks day in and day out. I feel this shows my globalization perspective and experience. However, as you know, outsourcing is sensitive to americans, especially at such bad economy climate. So do you think if it may cause negative effect if I include this part in my essays? Or I could still mention this international experience but avoid the word "outsourcing"?

3. Recommender
Many schools (not harvard or stanford) now only ask for two recommendation letters. I will surely have one from my current direct boss. But whom do you think will make a better second recommender, my client, who is a professor in a top university, or my previous supervisor, who may comment on my licensing experience that could be related to my short term goal?

I hope this is not too overwhelming, Jon! Thank you so much in advance!!

-- by 会员 jls (2010/12/9 15:11:18)

Wow!  Lots of questions, and as you can imagine we have lots of answers!  Lets do this in order:

1. Either of your two short term goals are just fine.  If you choose consulting, be sure to explain why consulting is better than going into industry.  But whateeever you do, do NOT list more than one goal.  You will need to pick one (and either are fine) and then youll need to support it.
   
2. Outsourcing is a bit sensitive, but it is also the nature of business these days.  If you DO bring it up, simply be sure (in one sentence) to mention that there are many challenges associated w outsourcing—it doesn’t solve everything of course, there are economic implications, environmental, etc.  Indicate that you GET that.  But once you’ve done that, tell the story.  Tell the truth.  We can take it, we aren’t that sensitive.  J
   
3. Hey there!  Your client would make for a great THIRD LOR for HBS, but you should stick with your supervisor if you can, instead.  The problem with taking recs from clients, peers, even subordinates, is that the adcom may assume that they don’t tell the truth, to gain favor with you.  So be careful there—it’s a great THIRD LOR, but not as a second.
   

Hope this helps.  And good luck!


Jon Frank

JonFrank

Hi Jon,

The Wharton essay " if you were able to create a Wharton course on any topic, what would it be?"  I don't understand what they really want you to say here. Could you give me some insight?

The other one " discuss a time when you navigated a challenging experience in either a personal or professional relationship".  Here the "relationship" refers to the relationship between people, right?  Can you give me some insight about what i need to address in this essay?   Thank you very much.

-- by 会员 chengya (2010/12/12 12:20:27)

Hey there!  First of all, make sure to check out our website—we do have analysis on most of the schools’ essays.  But let me try to shed some light here.  As you write your Course essay, keep in mind that other people need to want to take the class.  So…if you are a specialist in traffic studies, for example, you might be tempted to make a class in “Traffic Studies.”  That way, you could write an essay aaaaall about your expertise.  But here’s the thing—your classmates would need to WANT to take the class.  Right?  Why would your Wharton classmates care about “Traffic Studies?”  Instead, you may need to make the traffic class RELEVENT to everyone else.  “The Business of Traffic in the Developing World.”  Now THAT sounds cool—that could be relevant to many of your peers.  Right?  Anyone interested in China, India, developing markets, entrepreneurs, you get the idea.  So that’s one of the keys to this Wharton essay, remember—it has to be a class that people will wanna take.  J  And yes, the answer to your other question is that the relationship will most likely be between people.  They wanna see how you deal with difficult interpersonal circumstances.  They wanna know that you can solve problems not just w the company, but also…with people.
Good luck!


Jon Frank

JonFrank

Hi Jon,

Thank you for helping here.  I think all the applicants here will be grateful for your inputs.  Most of your answers gave me insights to the application process.

If you got the chance to choose between Columbia, Harvard and Wharton, which would you pick? Is location really important to recruiting and school life? Please do a simple summary of the comparision among these 3 schools. such as pros and cons.

Regards,
christy

-- by 会员 honeybutter (2010/12/13 13:27:32)

Christy, happy to offer up some thoughts here.  Well I would pick…Harvard of course.  After all, that is where I went.  I got into all the schools you mentioned, and chose Harvard because of its reputation, network, and being surrounded by the smartest people…on earth.  Next I would pick Wharton—it has a slightly better reputation than CBS, although still not quite as competitive (or exclusive) as Harvard.  But it is great for finance, and international aspects also.  While Im not a huge fan of specialized programs (real estate, Lauder, etc.) it does offer some benefits in those areas as well.  And finally, there is CBS.  Great access in NYC especially, although not a ton of school spirit.  Remember tho, CBS is VERY hard to get into at this stage of the game—they’ve already accepted a BIG chunk of their class.  As of today, Wharton is most likely the easiest (of the schools you’ve listed) to get into.  J Good luck!


Jon Frank

JonFrank

Hi, Jon

Here is another question for you from my friend.  How to do the explaination of work gap for a housewife for more than one year if she decides to go back to school and gets her MBA? She had almost 4 years w/e in finance industry and two master degrees both in science and finance before her off work. Any extra infor needed to answer the question? Thanks.

-- by 会员 honeybutter (2010/12/13 13:53:18)

Hey there!  This is…a bit hard to manage.  But if I were you?  I would be…100% honest about it.  I took time off to raise a family.  And this is a benefit to my class—I learned work life balance, I learned AAA and BBB.  Now, beyond just the work life balance stuff, I would also make a point that you did other stuff during this time too.  Like…taking classes?  Learning a language?  What did you do to better yourself during this time?  Hopefully, you have soooomething that you can point to here.  In that way, you can split your answer into two.  Family stuff, and then work-ish stuff.  Not ‘worl’ in the traditional sense, but ways that you were bettering yourself while you stayed home.  Hope this helps!


Jon Frank

JonFrank

Hi Jon, I've been following your tips for long. Thank you so much for the generous sharing! I believe all of us appreciate that a lot! Wanna ask a general question: Some schools' essays or interviews would ask about the strengths and weaknesses of the candidate. "ay too much attention to details" and "pursue perfection" are attributes that are being talked about too often. But for "too little experience", it might not be appropriate if the weakness should be a personality one. Therefore, wonder what do you think are the good answers here? Anything that can be improved via MBA program and at the same time are real weaknesses? Many thanks!

-- by 会员 jueasign (2010/12/12 20:14:30)

Hey there!  Rather than get into the details here, I wanna share our general approach to strengths and weaknesses.  We all have strengths.  That’s easy. Lets call out two for example: creativity, and friendliness.  Just as an example.  THE BEST WEAKNESSES ARE THE ONES THAT REFLECT ASPECTS OF YOUR STRENGTHS.  Now.  This does NOT mean that you should talk about a strength, and try to pretend that it is a weakness.  That is a horrible idea!  What it means is that you should think about what logical weaknesses someone with your strengths would have.  So take “creativity.”  I am very creative. What is a logical weakness?  Well…I lose sight of the details.  Too busy being visionary.  Or take “friendliness.”  I am very friendly.  So what would a good weakness be?  “I have trouble saying no to people.”  Or even, “I take things too personally.”  Those are REAL weaknesses, but they shed some light on your strengths.  So that’s how we like to approach these questions.  Good luck!


Jon Frank

JonFrank

Hi Jon,

The Wharton essay " if you were able to create a Wharton course on any topic, what would it be?"  I don't understand what they really want you to say here. Could you give me some insight?

The other one " discuss a time when you navigated a challenging experience in either a personal or professional relationship".  Here the "relationship" refers to the relationship between people, right?  Can you give me some insight about what i need to address in this essay?   Thank you very much.

-- by 会员 chengya (2010/12/12 12:20:27)

Hey there!  First of all, make sure to check out our website—we do have analysis on most of the schools’ essays.  But let me try to shed some light here.  As you write your Course essay, keep in mind that other people need to want to take the class.  So…if you are a specialist in traffic studies, for example, you might be tempted to make a class in “Traffic Studies.”  That way, you could write an essay aaaaall about your expertise.  But here’s the thing—your classmates would need to WANT to take the class.  Right?  Why would your Wharton classmates care about “Traffic Studies?”  Instead, you may need to make the traffic class RELEVENT to everyone else.  “The Business of Traffic in the Developing World.”  Now THAT sounds cool—that could be relevant to many of your peers.  Right?  Anyone interested in China, India, developing markets, entrepreneurs, you get the idea.  So that’s one of the keys to this Wharton essay, remember—it has to be a class that people will wanna take.  J  And yes, the answer to your other question is that the relationship will most likely be between people.  They wanna see how you deal with difficult interpersonal circumstances.  They wanna know that you can solve problems not just w the company, but also…with people.
Good luck!


Jon Frank

-- by 会员 JonFrank (2010/12/13 0:08:31)

Thanks for your advice, Jon. I read the articles on your website. They are really great. But I still have a question on this Course essays. What I should write there? Explain the content of the course? or explain why I want to create this course? What kinds of business mind should show here,  leadership (doesn't sounds like), innovative thinking or others?


I can think of a course I want to create, but I am not sure what kind of content I should write about this essays? BTW, i am in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry.  Thank you very much.

-- by 会员 chengya (2010/12/13 9:52:50)

Oookay.  Lets get a bit more specific.  Beyond the fact that you need to make the course approachable to lots of peers, you also need to get good and specific.  So for example, how many modules will the class have?  Who will teach it?  What will the grading process be?  Why?  How will the course be laid out?  Case studies?  Will there be a field trip?  Describe a real course here—don’t just get lazy.
Now.  One other thing that you CAN do, if you wanna get fancy, is find a way to talk more about your passion, background, interests, etc.  After all, to do that in the 300 words only (essay 1) would be quite hard.  But always fight the urge to be so specific that nobody (but you) would take that class.
Hope this helps…and good luck!


Jon Frank

JonFrank

Hi, Jon

Here is another question for you from my friend.  How to do the explaination of work gap for a housewife for more than one year if she decides to go back to school and gets her MBA? She had almost 4 years w/e in finance industry and two master degrees both in science and finance before her off work. Any extra infor needed to answer the question? Thanks.

-- by 会员 honeybutter (2010/12/13 13:53:18)

Hey there!  This is…a bit hard to manage.  But if I were you?  I would be…100% honest about it.  I took time off to raise a family.  And this is a benefit to my class—I learned work life balance, I learned AAA and BBB.  Now, beyond just the work life balance stuff, I would also make a point that you did other stuff during this time too.  Like…taking classes?  Learning a language?  What did you do to better yourself during this time?  Hopefully, you have soooomething that you can point to here.  In that way, you can split your answer into two.  Family stuff, and then work-ish stuff.  Not ‘worl’ in the traditional sense, but ways that you were bettering yourself while you stayed home.  Hope this helps!


Jon Frank

-- by 会员 JonFrank (2010/12/14 0:21:34)

Hi Jon, If I show I learned photography, travel, fashion and cooking during the year which are all not workish or job related, will diversified hobbies imply the applicant is distracted?  Will too many hobbies hurt?

BTY, I doubt any housewife will sharpen her excel or financial skills daily.

-- by 会员 honeybutter (2010/12/14 4:03:05)

Ha!  I am quite sure you’re right, although my mom always was responsible for balancing the check book every month.  J  I wasn’t suggesting that a mom would be doing financial analysis—only that if we can show some targeted passion—perhaps pursuing a modest arts career on the side, leading some community activities, etc.  THAT is the stuff that we would like to talk about.  In the instances where we have worked with housewives successfully, there has always been something beyond “just staying home” to discuss.  Some projects to speak of.  Not a bunch of hobbies, but one or two targeted ones.  Something that she has accomplished.  That would be ideal, anyway…

JonFrank

Hi Jon, Out of curiosity, do you have a profile on linkedin I can take a look?

-- by 会员 honeybutter (2010/12/14 5:57:30)

Hey there!  Sadly no, I don’t do Linked In.  But I can walk you through my resume quickly.  I graduated from Brown University in 1999.  From there, I worked with ING Real Estate in NYC for two years, before going out to Cincinnati to work for a real estate development company out there.  I built about 1,000 units of new construction across the US during those two years, before going to HBS.  After graduating from HBS, I worked at Trammell Crow Residential for 2 years.  It was there that I founded , but I still worked another job for three more years, after I moved to Chicago working for another RE Development firm, Village Green.  When grew so quickly (about 18 months ago) I quit my real estate job (I had been promoted to Vice President), bought a few multifamily buildings here in town (which I redeveloped and now manage) and now I run full time—and we just got back from doing a speaking tour in China!  Feel free to drop me a line if youd like more info about me…


Jon Frank