INSEAD's essay questions cover a good deal of ground, giving candidates ample opportunity to discuss a variety of topics related to \u00a0their interests and experiences. The first two \u201cjob essays\u201d ask for a factual account of one\u2019s current position (or lack thereof) and career progression, while the remaining five call for \u00a0short reflections and discussion of topics that MBA appliance are used to. With careful thought and planning, you can\u00a0 use these \u00a0seven essays to present your\u00a0 well rounded personality.<\/p>\n
INSEAD's\u00a0 Website: \u201cWe evaluate each applicant against four central criteria:: leadership potential and work experience;\u00a0 academic capacity;\u00a0 international motivation; and ability to contribute to the INSEAD experience.\"<\/em> Therefore,when narrating your stories, make sure they bring out these traits along with other qualities.<\/p>\n INSEAD\u2019s first question requests a snapshot of the applicant\u2019s career at present.<\/strong> Keeping in mind that this will be the Ad Com\u2019s introduction to your materials, you might also provide the context necessary for the reader to understand your place within the organizational structure and the work that occupies your days. Please stay focused\u00a0 on the details of your present job and avoid drifting\u00a0 away to your greatest\u00a0 achievements. You will get opportunity to do that in \u00a0other questions.<\/p>\n This question can be challenging and makes you wonder how can I give \" full description\" of my professional career in just 250 words. Not only that, you are also required to be specific about your next step if you were to remain in your present job. Hence brevity is the key here. Your best bet is to\u00a0 focus on\u00a0 each full-time position you\u2019ve held ,explain the reasons behind each move , increases and\/or changes in responsibility , and\u00a0 the lessons\/ skills\u00a0 learned. Remember to use your words as precisely as you can.<\/p>\n This question shows that\u00a0 INSEAD is not excluding unemployed candidates from admission, if they are utilizing their time productively. So INSEAD provides them \u00a0an opportunity to advocate their case\u00a0 and discuss the new skills they are learning , the \u00a0volunteer work they are involved in,\u00a0 any conferences and professional development workshops they are attending , and other efforts they are making to secure short-term employment before MBA. This would validate their growth even during the\u00a0 time they are unemployed..<\/p>\n This question requires you to do lot of introspection. It is important to address all parts of the prompt:\u00a0 strengths, weaknesses , and main factors responsible for your personal development. However, it\u2019s also in your best interest to focus as much as possible on the positive. So you may want to begin \u00a0with two or three positive qualities and then comment on one or two weaknesses . Do not forget to substantiate your personal traits with real- life examples .This question gives applicants freedom\u00a0 to select examples from your personal, professional or extracurricular life , so try to select your examples with a view\u00a0 to presenting a balanced picture of your personality.<\/p>\n You may select either of the following\u00a0 two methods for discussing strengths or weaknesses:<\/p>\n a)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Make statements about your character and back them up with\u00a0 example as 'evidences' of your statements.<\/p>\n b)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Find a single story ( a work project , for example) that will illustrate all of your strengths, and, if possible, weaknesses .<\/p>\n When discussing your weaknesses, make sure to explain how they have\u00a0 affected you and what you are doing now to rectify them. If relevant, mention which B-school resources can help you get over these weaknesses<\/p>\n Note that for each personal characteristic introduced, you should reflect on the factors that have influenced\u00a0 your personality.<\/p>\n \"The stories of hardships faced by my father during his childhood and later his success ingrained in me the importance of hard-work and sustaining through challenges.\"<\/em><\/p>\n This is a\u00a0 straightforward question that clearly stipulates INSEAD's requirement of one personal and one professional accomplishment. Instead of providing a laundry list of accomplishments weave one \u00a0story around your accomplishment in personal life and another one around your professional life. Let your life experience tell the story of your accomplishments.<\/p>\n Also, these accomplishments should tie in to your \"strengths\" essay. \u00a0That is, they should \u00a0illustrate the \"strengths\" you have already discussed in your first essay.<\/p>\n Your accomplishment story should have the four components: the challenge, the achievement, the outcome\/result, <\/strong>and\u00a0 the significance<\/strong>. That is, you should explain why this accomplishment is meaningful to you both in terms of the challenges you overcame ,the results you produced, , and the lessons you learned.<\/p>\n \"Inter-caste marriages are considered taboo in the conservative Indian society. Therefore\u00a0 my decision to marry my girl friend Priya, , a girl belonging to higher caste, met with severe opposition.\"<\/em><\/p>\n To fully address this question, you\u2019ll need to r<\/strong>eflect on a life experience when you could not live up to your expectations .You should describe the situation in detail what went wrong and why. Make sure to clearly address the second part of this question and discuss the personal growth that resulted from your\u00a0 failure\/setback. You might also consider closing this essay with a brief comment about how this lesson has benefited you since the time of the initial failure.<\/p>\n Also, while selecting your failure story, make sure you select a situation when\u00a0 you\u00a0 faced a setback\u00a0 despite your sincere efforts . Dot not confuse between a failure and a mistake story because there is a \u00a0difference between the two: You are responsible for your mistake, so you need to take ownership for it, whereas external factors are responsible for your failure which means you did you best, but things didn\u2019t work out the way you had planned. However, the experience still taught you life lessons.<\/p>\n Lastly, tell \u00a0your\u00a0 failure story \u00a0in such a way that it \u00a0presents you in a positive light, revealing your strengths.<\/p>\n \"Last year, a similar situation developed, and\u00a0 despite clear briefing of motives, many teams again showed reluctance to follow the required\u00a0 measures.\u00a0 This time , I did not hesitate to warn the management who took proactive steps to steer the errant teams into place. Thus, the single setback that I faced in my professional life taught me valuable team- working skills that I am now practicing successfully.\"\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n This is the standard 'goals' essay expecting you to specify your short term and long term goals and INSEAD's role in helping you achieving them. This question has two parts with specific word count. Therefore, you need to be extra careful in adhering to the prescribed\u00a0 word limit. INSEAD expects you to not only have a clear sense of your goals but also of their connection to INSEAD's offerings. So you should have a thorough knowledge of the school\u2019s curriculum, faculty, special programs and extracurricular activities, and explain how you will use them to achieve your goals.<\/p>\n Additionally, even though the prompt doesn't ask you about your contribution, you may throw in a sentence about the value you will add to the school (if space permits).<\/p>\n \"I am confident that with my academic potential, team-working abilities, innovative spirit,\u00a0 leadership skills , and global outlook I will\u00a0 add significant value to the INSEAD community.\"<\/em><\/p>\n This question is designed to gauge an applicant\u2019s cultural sensitivity and ability to conduct business in an international setting, because INSEAD,\u00a0 is a highly international program.<\/p>\n a) <\/strong>The first option asks you to recount a trying experience in another country that demanded significant amount of adjustment \u00a0resulting in personal growth .<\/p>\n b) <\/strong>The second option asks you to reflect on the unique characteristics of your own culture that might not be acceptable to a visitor.<\/p>\n In both responses, you need to demonstrate cultural flexibility, offering examples\/ evidence of your ability to operate well with teams of diverse cultures. Remember to outline the struggles you went through in the process of cultural adjustment, and the lessons you learned in the process.<\/p>\n An optional essay is an opportunity for you to give the Ad Com\u00a0 relevant information that you\u00a0 could not give\u00a0 in other essays or other parts of your application. This question is also meant to shine a spotlight on an experience or side of your personality that has\u00a0 not been revealed in the other parts of your application: essays, recommendation letters and resume.<\/p>\n Even though INSEAD has provided you enough ground to cover about your candidacy, you may still use this essay in a variety of ways to further strengthen your candidacy. First, you may \u00a0use this question to reveal your non-professional side. For example, if you have significant extracurricular accomplishments (sports, music, writing, painting etc.) or a community welfare activity that you initiated or led, you should\u00a0 share those stories. You can also use optional essay \u00a0to address a weakness in your profile, like low GPA or GMAT , a gap in your job history, or your inability to get a recommendation from your current supervisor.<\/p>\n \"The private tutoring job that I had to take up to support mine and my sister's education required me to spend 30 hours\/ week and left me with hardly any time to focus on my studies. This\u00a0 eventually ended up\u00a0 pulling\u00a0 down my grades to 70%.\"<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n .<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" INSEAD’s essay questions cover a good deal of ground, giving candidates ample opportunity to discuss a variety of topics related to \u00a0their interests and experiences. The first two \u201cjob essays\u201d…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":141,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[113],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-applications","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/141"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14519"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14522,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14519\/revisions\/14522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Job Description Essays<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Essay 1: Briefly summarize your current (or most recent) job, including the nature of work, major responsibilities, and, where relevant, employees under your supervision, size of budget, clients\/ products and results achieved. (250 words maximum)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\u00a0Essay 2: Please give us a full description of your career since graduating from university.<\/em>If you were to remain with your present employer, what would be your next step in terms of position? (250 words)<\/h2>\n
Essay 3: If you are currently not working, what are you doing and what do you plan to do until you start the MBA programme? (250 words maximum)<\/h2>\n
Personal Essays<\/h2>\n
Personal Essay 1: Give a candid description of yourself, stressing the personal characteristics you feel to be your strengths and weaknesses and the main factors, which have influenced your personal development, giving examples when necessary. (600 words maximum)<\/h2>\n
Example:<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\u00a0Personal Essay 2: Describe what you believe to be your two most substantial accomplishments to date (if possible specify one personal and one professional), explaining why you view them as such. (400 words maximum)<\/h2>\n
Example:( An example of Personal Accomplishment)<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\u00a0Personal Essay 3: Describe a situation taken from your personal or professional life where you failed. Discuss what you learned. (400 words maximum)<\/h2>\n
Example:<\/strong><\/h3>\n
6. Personal Essay 4: a) Discuss your short and long term career goals. (300 words maximum) and b) How will studying at INSEAD help you achieve your vision? (250 words maximum)<\/h2>\n
Example:<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\u00a0Personal Essay 5: Please choose one of the following two essay topics:<\/h2>\n
a) Have you ever experienced culture shock? What insights did you gain? (250 words maximum) or<\/strong>
\nb) Describe the ways in which a foreigner in your country might experience culture shock. (250 words maximum)
\n<\/strong><\/h2>\nExample:<\/strong><\/h4>\n
(An example of culture shock an Indian applicant employed in a Middle East country received )<\/em><\/h4>\n
\"I vividly\u00a0 remember that morning when as usual I went to office canteen for\u00a0 breakfast and\u00a0 found\u00a0 it closed. I was\u00a0 told that the canteen remains closed in the month of\u00a0 Ramadan.\u00a0 I was shocked to learn that even\u00a0\u00a0 restaurants don\u2019t serve meals in daytime during Ramadan.\"<\/em><\/h4>\n
\u00a0Optional Essay: Is there anything that you have not mentioned in the above essays that you would like the Admissions Committee to know? (200 words approx.) This essay is optional.<\/h2>\n
Example:<\/strong><\/h4>\n
<\/h1>\n
<\/h1>\n
<\/h2>\n