Hello all. I’d like to start by thanking some of you for the nice comments and emails that were submitted after I posted my last entry. I still can’t believe I put so much of my business out in the street in that last one, but, due to those comments, it feels like the right thing to have done. I just hope my story helped at least a few of you think about the necessity of a true balance between life and work. Once a day is over, we can never get it back, so the best thing we can do is to live each one of them to the fullest…at least, that idea makes sense to me. 
Also, you might have noticed that I changed the template of the blog, but you may not have noticed a new collection of links on the right-hand side of the site. I added in some link to a few of my favorite entries over the years that I’ve kept this thing going. I had a little time tonight and dug up some of the most memorable ones because I realized that most people who visit her nowadays don’t take the time to look through the archived entries. In addition to my last entry, which was probably the most personal one I’ve ever written, I’ve posted some other jewels that will give interested readers more insights into me. Feel free to check them out if you’ve got some time.
OK, let’s get on to the entry for today…the reader below works in India doing business process outsourcing work for a NYC-based hedge fund and he’s looking for ways that he can differentiate himself before applying to business school. I always feel a connection to kids who don’t think their work experience sticks out enough for an MBA application because I felt the same way almost six years ago when I was applying…hold up…it’s been almost six years since I applied to business school?!?!?!?! Oh lawd, The Kid is quickly turning into “The Old Man”
Oh well, let’s see if I can help this kid out with my response.
—–
PA wrote:
“Hi Marquis,
First of all let me thank you for the wonderful work that you are doing for the student community here. I really look up to it. I graduated from college with a BBA in 2008 and am working for the D.E. Shaw Group in India since September 2008. I have interned with the International Crop Research Institute for the Semi Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Google, a local insurance company ICICI, and KPMG. I have held a leadership role in a community organization(elected youth leader which is the highest position for youth volunteers) where I was involved in fund raising for Natural calamities, health care, higher education of under-priviledged members of the community and organizing various activites through out the year. Apart from this I have had several extra-curricular achievements in public speaking, dance and national level business competitions. I would like to apply to Stanford, Harvard, Wharton, Chicago-Booth and LBS for the class of 2013.
Though I have been trying to figure out ways and means to differentiate myself from a group of applicants, I would like some specific advise on the kind of work experience that an Adcom would be looking for. To be frank, the D.E. Shaw group’s India operations are more on the back office side as we support the front end operations in Trading, Investment and recruiting. Given that the work is essentially BPO related, would this seriously impact the application or is it really the work I do here and my contribution to the team that matters more. Also, in terms of extra curricular activities related to community service, can you please list some activities that would be of value for an application to be noticed? I have thought of joining the toastmasters club, would that be of any help? Appreciate your opinion on this.
Thanks,
PA”
—–
My response:
PA,
What’s going on, man. I know it’s been a while since you sent your email, but it’s been taking me a while to work through my Inbox backlog and I’m just now getting to my March 2009 messages. I hope this response is getting to you in time to be helpful as you think through your upcoming business school applications. I’m happy to see that Stanford GSB is among your target schools and, as you might have gathered from my blog, it truly is a special place to spend two years. You seem to have an interesting collection of experiences that could sound great on a business school application, but there are some concerns about differentiating yourself. Based on what you’ve told me so far, you do a great job of differentiating yourself, but you seem to be focusing on your current job as a concern…we’re going to have to dive into that a little to change your perspective on it. Before I dive into this response, I must say that I have NEVER worked for an admissions office, so everything I’m going to say below is just my opinion. Honestly, I don’t even think that someone who HAS been an MBA admissions officer would give you the level of detail that you’re seeking, but I’ll throw some ideas that pop into my head when considering your questions.
I’m going to break your profile into two parts: your work experience and your extra-curricular activities. I’ve written in several entries that an MBA application is made up of a collection of items, including these two, but, right now, we’re going to focus on these two because they appear to be your biggest concerns. Also, these two will form the foundation of your MBA application positioning and, as such, are very important for you to wrap your mind around correctly. Now, let’s start digging into the important stuff:
- Career/work experience: I’ll start by saying that I’m not going to be able to tell you about the type of work experience that an Adcom is “looking for” for two reasons: (1) I don’t know what they “look for” and (2) I don’t think they particular “look for” anything at all. I think that they are interested in what you’ve done in your career up to the point of applying and what you plan to do after the MBA. You’ll have to package everything together into a compelling story that grab the Adcom’s interest and convince him/her that you are the right fit for his/her program. So, let’s think about your work experiences…you’ve had a varied collection of internships with some top-notch names like Google and KPMG and you’re working for one of the foremost hedge funds in the world…yeah, I know you’re on the operations side, but I still think that is a great firm to have on your profile. So, if I were to close my eyes and imagine your resume, you’ve got some winning companies listed on it. If it’s this easy for me to see that, why isn’t it just as easy for you to see it? The problem may be that you’re focusing on the nature of your work being back office operations as if that’s a bad thing. Focus on the quality of your work and your contributions to the DE Shaw team when forming your MBA positioning and writing your essays. Think about it like this…nothing that your company does on the front-end would run as well if you weren’t doing what you do on the back-end. So, in a way, you’re part of the “special sauce” that makes your company into the big-time performer that it is…right? Everyone can’t start off as a consultant or a banker prior to business school and the vast majority of us don’t. Hell, I was a Java programmer with absolutely no business experience prior to the GSB and I didn’t turn out half bad. You can’t change the past and the career choices you’ve made up to now, but you CAN figure out the best way to describe them to the admissions people to make yourself look like a rockstar candidate.
- Extracurricular activities: In terms of extracurricular activities, I don’t know if there is the “right” set of activities that’ll guarantee admission. So, instead of trying to pick the “right” ones, I always recommend that people pursue activities that interest them or are related to topics about which they’re passionate. I wrote a pretty detailed entry about choosing extracurriculars a few months ago, so, instead of writing a lot about it here, I’ll leave it to you to look through my archives for that entry. Based on the first paragraph of your email, I’d say that you have a good set of activities in your background and I’d guess that they all touch areas that interest you, which is key. Participating in Toastmasters might help, but I don’t know how it would fit into your overall story. Just make sure that the activities you choose say something about YOU because it’ll be an important part of your introduction to the admissions committees.
I hope the advice I’ve provided in this message is helpful to you. I know that it must be scary to think about the prospect of applying to Bschool and making yourself stand out in a crowd. I would recommend checking out some of my old blog entries from late 2007 and early 2008 to find some detailed comments on developing your MBA story and positioning. I have a feeling that you’ll find those entries as good thought-starters as you approach the application cycle in the Fall. Take care and good luck on your apps.
Marquis
Also, you might have noticed that I changed the template of the blog, but you may not have noticed a new collection of links on the right-hand side of the site. I added in some link to a few of my favorite entries over the years that I’ve kept this thing going. I had a little time tonight and dug up some of the most memorable ones because I realized that most people who visit her nowadays don’t take the time to look through the archived entries. In addition to my last entry, which was probably the most personal one I’ve ever written, I’ve posted some other jewels that will give interested readers more insights into me. Feel free to check them out if you’ve got some time.
OK, let’s get on to the entry for today…the reader below works in India doing business process outsourcing work for a NYC-based hedge fund and he’s looking for ways that he can differentiate himself before applying to business school. I always feel a connection to kids who don’t think their work experience sticks out enough for an MBA application because I felt the same way almost six years ago when I was applying…hold up…it’s been almost six years since I applied to business school?!?!?!?! Oh lawd, The Kid is quickly turning into “The Old Man”
Oh well, let’s see if I can help this kid out with my response.—–
PA wrote:
“Hi Marquis,
First of all let me thank you for the wonderful work that you are doing for the student community here. I really look up to it. I graduated from college with a BBA in 2008 and am working for the D.E. Shaw Group in India since September 2008. I have interned with the International Crop Research Institute for the Semi Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Google, a local insurance company ICICI, and KPMG. I have held a leadership role in a community organization(elected youth leader which is the highest position for youth volunteers) where I was involved in fund raising for Natural calamities, health care, higher education of under-priviledged members of the community and organizing various activites through out the year. Apart from this I have had several extra-curricular achievements in public speaking, dance and national level business competitions. I would like to apply to Stanford, Harvard, Wharton, Chicago-Booth and LBS for the class of 2013.
Though I have been trying to figure out ways and means to differentiate myself from a group of applicants, I would like some specific advise on the kind of work experience that an Adcom would be looking for. To be frank, the D.E. Shaw group’s India operations are more on the back office side as we support the front end operations in Trading, Investment and recruiting. Given that the work is essentially BPO related, would this seriously impact the application or is it really the work I do here and my contribution to the team that matters more. Also, in terms of extra curricular activities related to community service, can you please list some activities that would be of value for an application to be noticed? I have thought of joining the toastmasters club, would that be of any help? Appreciate your opinion on this.
Thanks,
PA”
—–
My response:
PA,
What’s going on, man. I know it’s been a while since you sent your email, but it’s been taking me a while to work through my Inbox backlog and I’m just now getting to my March 2009 messages. I hope this response is getting to you in time to be helpful as you think through your upcoming business school applications. I’m happy to see that Stanford GSB is among your target schools and, as you might have gathered from my blog, it truly is a special place to spend two years. You seem to have an interesting collection of experiences that could sound great on a business school application, but there are some concerns about differentiating yourself. Based on what you’ve told me so far, you do a great job of differentiating yourself, but you seem to be focusing on your current job as a concern…we’re going to have to dive into that a little to change your perspective on it. Before I dive into this response, I must say that I have NEVER worked for an admissions office, so everything I’m going to say below is just my opinion. Honestly, I don’t even think that someone who HAS been an MBA admissions officer would give you the level of detail that you’re seeking, but I’ll throw some ideas that pop into my head when considering your questions.
I’m going to break your profile into two parts: your work experience and your extra-curricular activities. I’ve written in several entries that an MBA application is made up of a collection of items, including these two, but, right now, we’re going to focus on these two because they appear to be your biggest concerns. Also, these two will form the foundation of your MBA application positioning and, as such, are very important for you to wrap your mind around correctly. Now, let’s start digging into the important stuff:
- Career/work experience: I’ll start by saying that I’m not going to be able to tell you about the type of work experience that an Adcom is “looking for” for two reasons: (1) I don’t know what they “look for” and (2) I don’t think they particular “look for” anything at all. I think that they are interested in what you’ve done in your career up to the point of applying and what you plan to do after the MBA. You’ll have to package everything together into a compelling story that grab the Adcom’s interest and convince him/her that you are the right fit for his/her program. So, let’s think about your work experiences…you’ve had a varied collection of internships with some top-notch names like Google and KPMG and you’re working for one of the foremost hedge funds in the world…yeah, I know you’re on the operations side, but I still think that is a great firm to have on your profile. So, if I were to close my eyes and imagine your resume, you’ve got some winning companies listed on it. If it’s this easy for me to see that, why isn’t it just as easy for you to see it? The problem may be that you’re focusing on the nature of your work being back office operations as if that’s a bad thing. Focus on the quality of your work and your contributions to the DE Shaw team when forming your MBA positioning and writing your essays. Think about it like this…nothing that your company does on the front-end would run as well if you weren’t doing what you do on the back-end. So, in a way, you’re part of the “special sauce” that makes your company into the big-time performer that it is…right? Everyone can’t start off as a consultant or a banker prior to business school and the vast majority of us don’t. Hell, I was a Java programmer with absolutely no business experience prior to the GSB and I didn’t turn out half bad. You can’t change the past and the career choices you’ve made up to now, but you CAN figure out the best way to describe them to the admissions people to make yourself look like a rockstar candidate.
- Extracurricular activities: In terms of extracurricular activities, I don’t know if there is the “right” set of activities that’ll guarantee admission. So, instead of trying to pick the “right” ones, I always recommend that people pursue activities that interest them or are related to topics about which they’re passionate. I wrote a pretty detailed entry about choosing extracurriculars a few months ago, so, instead of writing a lot about it here, I’ll leave it to you to look through my archives for that entry. Based on the first paragraph of your email, I’d say that you have a good set of activities in your background and I’d guess that they all touch areas that interest you, which is key. Participating in Toastmasters might help, but I don’t know how it would fit into your overall story. Just make sure that the activities you choose say something about YOU because it’ll be an important part of your introduction to the admissions committees.
I hope the advice I’ve provided in this message is helpful to you. I know that it must be scary to think about the prospect of applying to Bschool and making yourself stand out in a crowd. I would recommend checking out some of my old blog entries from late 2007 and early 2008 to find some detailed comments on developing your MBA story and positioning. I have a feeling that you’ll find those entries as good thought-starters as you approach the application cycle in the Fall. Take care and good luck on your apps.
Marquis
Marquis, Why are you not linking your posts.. Man, that’s why the web is for.
Knight17, I’m not sure if I’m understanding your question correctly. Are you saying that I should provide links to my own posts in my responses to people?
You have said in the above post, in the Extracurricular session :
“I wrote a pretty detailed entry about choosing extracurriculars a few months ago, so, instead of writing a lot about it here, I’ll leave it to you to look through my archives for that entry. “
Instead of guiding people to search the archives, you can mark it with a link to that post.
Don’t you think it is convenient? It will also improves the no of hits to your pages.
Another thing I like very much is writings where links to outside sites are present. By that, I get to read informative articles related to the topic I am reading also.
– SJA/knight17