Adding Personality to your Application

Getting started with your application? Here is a post to help you get that one key ingredient into your application – a personality. Ever wondered what the fundamental difference is between your resume and your business school application? Other than the fact that your application is a lot more detailed, it is also expected to demonstrate your personality.

Most of us at the time of starting the application pick our resume and begin detailing it out. That is not a wrong approach, per se, but that alone is not sufficient. For your target school the purpose of your application is not only to understand your work profile and achievements but also to know you as a person. This is important to assess the overall value that you bring to your candidacy. In a number of cases, the personality, directly or indirectly, ends up as the defining factor to choose among otherwise similar looking profiles.

There is another way to look at it. The decision to call you for an interview, or not, is made without meeting you in person. You have to get your evaluator to ‘like’ you to help her make a strong case for your candidacy. In such a scenario, it becomes even more important to effectively demonstrate your personality in your application, to get your reviewer to ‘like’ you – beyond just your credentials.

Let us discuss some effective ways of adding personality in your essays:
• Tell your story: Make use of your essays to tell a captivating story, without losing the context. Let there be clear themes to your essays. Move from one point to other in a seamless manner to keep the reader (evaluator) captivated. Do not reduce the essays to a bunch of bullet points. In essence, the reader should be able to understand the central theme of your answer. This will stick with her when she ultimately evaluates you.
• Add Humor: Wherever possible, add humor to your essays. Obviously, it has to be in good taste and in context. A person with a good sense of humor is very likely to be a confident person who can handle pressure situations. These are very important traits that a school wants in their candidates.
• Don’t shy away from adding trivia: So, if you like to cook and serve – please go ahead and mention it in your essays. While the admission team will not select you for your cooking skills but they surely add few points to your social skills. So, it always helps to share limited amount of such trivia, but not at the cost of important information.

In conclusion, the evaluator will make an impression of your personality in the application and that will influence her decision. Inject ‘your’ personality into your application, and capture those additional points. All the best!

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Anshul Gupta