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Career goals in essays

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mikekennyb
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Career goals in essays [#permalink] New post   14 Oct 2010, 13:57
Would love to hear some opinions on an issue I'm facing on the career goal piece of my essays.

Currently I work in finance in the public sector, and am hoping to work in business development in the private sector post-MBA. Frankly, I don't have a ton of experience in the private sector outside of part time work in and immediately after college. That was mostly investment/finance related. So I don't have a particular industry in mind. I'd love to work in tech, but have no basis on that beyond the fact that I think tech is cool and like to read stuff like Wired! For my short term goals, would it be better to be ambiguous in regards to the industry I'd like to work in, or should I go ahead and put an industry, like tech, down even though I don't have a technical degree or any work experience there?

Thanks!
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jordanhendrix
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Re: Career goals in essays [#permalink] New post   14 Oct 2010, 14:04
I think its never a good idea to be ambiguous. If you can display genuine interest in tech and you want to work in tech i dont see a problem.
People get dinged because they ambiguous
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wmcrockett
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Re: Career goals in essays [#permalink] New post   14 Oct 2010, 14:20
I've heard differing opinions on this - it's great if you know exactly what you want to do post-MBA and can articulate it well, but with finance jobs becoming harder and harder to find, adcoms want to see that you are flexible and would be willing to expand your horizons beyond "XYZ company in XYZ industry."

It might be best to write a compelling essay on what you're passionate about doing after graduation, but also having a backup plan if you can't find a job in said industry.
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mikekennyb
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Re: Career goals in essays [#permalink] New post   14 Oct 2010, 14:24
Thanks for the quick replies guys.

Unfortunately, I've already submitted a couple of apps being somewhat ambiguous (basically said I want to transition from public sector finance to private sector, fortune 500 caliber business sector role). The rest of my essays I'm going to try and integrate something for short term goals along the lines of: "Pursue biz dev in tech due to my interest in it, but not limit myself to a particular industry if the right opportunity comes along."
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Jeanette
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Re: Career goals in essays [#permalink] New post   14 Oct 2010, 15:21
Even that sounds kind of wishy washy for my tastes, but I may be in the minority here.
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mikekennyb
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Re: Career goals in essays [#permalink] New post   14 Oct 2010, 16:31
Jeanette wrote:
Even that sounds kind of wishy washy for my tastes, but I may be in the minority here.


Would you suggest mentioning particular companies? Not having the out of being open to other industries?
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Jeanette
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Re: Career goals in essays [#permalink] New post   14 Oct 2010, 16:51
mikekennyb wrote:
Jeanette wrote:
Even that sounds kind of wishy washy for my tastes, but I may be in the minority here.


Would you suggest mentioning particular companies? Not having the out of being open to other industries?


Oh, maybe i didn't quite understand. If you meant "I want to work in position X at Google, but I'd be open to other types of X positions in similar companies" by all means, go for it. that's not wishy washy. If, on the other hand, you say "I'd like to go into finance but I'd be open to other opportunities," well, I think you're not quite keying in on it enough.
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mikekennyb
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Re: Career goals in essays [#permalink] New post   14 Oct 2010, 17:02
Jeanette wrote:
mikekennyb wrote:
Jeanette wrote:
Even that sounds kind of wishy washy for my tastes, but I may be in the minority here.


Would you suggest mentioning particular companies? Not having the out of being open to other industries?


Oh, maybe i didn't quite understand. If you meant "I want to work in position X at Google, but I'd be open to other types of X positions in similar companies" by all means, go for it. that's not wishy washy. If, on the other hand, you say "I'd like to go into finance but I'd be open to other opportunities," well, I think you're not quite keying in on it enough.


Gotcha. On my previous essays I had put that I'd like to work in business development, but hadn't put the "I'd be open to other opportunities". Going forward, I'll be more specific in regards to particular companies (like Google, since I'd love to work in tech).

Thanks for the feedback! I don't know many MBA's, so this whole process has left me flying somewhat blind in my pursuit. Resources like this forum have been indispensable.
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Re: Career goals in essays [#permalink] New post   14 Oct 2010, 17:45
Speaking of Google, it'd be really interesting if schools starting using Google-like questions for their essays!

"Design an evacuation plan for San Francisco."
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Re: Career goals in essays [#permalink] New post   14 Oct 2010, 18:03
Not that I'm an expert in this area but my guess is any goals essay just needs to answer the following 3 questions:

1. What?
2. Why?
3. How? (Obviously some element of the "How" has to include the school you're applying to - if you can answer the "How" without mentioning the school, you have no need to go there!)

After you draft your essay ask someone to read your essay and see if he/she can answer these 3 questions.
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Re: Career goals in essays [#permalink]
14 Oct 2010, 18:03

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