{"id":3009,"date":"2010-04-22T22:54:11","date_gmt":"2010-04-23T06:54:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/?p=3009"},"modified":"2010-04-24T23:04:13","modified_gmt":"2010-04-25T07:04:13","slug":"getting-your-mba-goals-in-shape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/getting-your-mba-goals-in-shape\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting Your MBA Goals in Shape"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Knowing they\u2019ll have to write essays about their goals, most b-school applicants have identified their goals prior to starting the application process.\u00a0 But I\u2019ve found that \u201cidentified\u201d often has a very narrow scope, too narrow to effectively serve the purpose of the essays.<\/p>\n<p>With some moderate effort now, you can flesh out your goals message, so that you can spring into action when the essays come out in summer.\u00a0 You\u2019ll need details to make the essays credible, interesting, and individualized, and clarifying your motivation also furthers those ends.<\/p>\n<p>Here are some steps to take to fully prepare for writing outstanding goals essays.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Identify short-term, intermediate, and long-term goals.\u00a0 For each, fill in the details:\u00a0 what would be your likely or desired positions(s) (note titles), what types of companies (with specific examples), what industries.<\/li>\n<li>Develop a vision for each of these phases.\u00a0 In other words, what do you want to accomplish, what impact do you want to have?\u00a0 Too often people focus on what they want to get out of it for themselves.\u00a0 That\u2019s secondary.\u00a0 What external impact will you aim to have?<\/li>\n<li>Research the desired companies: what kinds of post-MBA positions they offer, their hiring trends, products and\/or services, structure\/organization, market status, competitive concerns, etc.<\/li>\n<li>Research your industry: what are its challenges, how is it adapting to globalization, etc.<\/li>\n<li>Reflect on your motivations for pursuing your particular goals and be prepared to present them succinctly as part of your goals essays. While most questions won\u2019t ask about it, your motivation is an essential part of creating a message and story that will engage the adcoms.<\/li>\n<li>If you are a career changer or even if you are just shifting career emphasis, have informational interviews with people in your chosen field or function.\u00a0 Utilize your college alumni network and perhaps other professional and\/or social networks to identify possible people to ask.\u00a0 Not only will you glean valuable insight, but you also can discuss taking this proactive step in your essays.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Taking these efforts now will enable you to write goals essays that are informed, thoughtful, distinctive.\u00a0 And you can hit the ground running when you start writing!<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: black\" lang=\"EN\"><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/aboutus\/editors.aspx?editorid=3\" target=\"_blank\"><span class=\"full-image-inline ssNonEditable\"><\/span><\/a>By <\/em><\/span><em><span style=\"color: black\" lang=\"EN\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/aboutus\/editors.aspx?editorid=3\" target=\"_blank\">Cindy Tokumitsu<\/a>, co-author of <a href=\"https:\/\/accepted.com\/ecommerce\/ebook2.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">The Finance Professional\u2019s Guide to MBA Success<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/Ecommerce\/ConsultantsGuide\/ConsultantsGuide.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">The Consultants\u2019 Guide to MBA Admission<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/Ecommerce\/mba\/EMBAEssay.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">T<\/a><\/span><\/em><em><span style=\"color: black\" lang=\"EN\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/Ecommerce\/mba\/EMBAEssay.aspx\" target=\"_blank\"><em>he EMBA Edge<\/em><\/a><em>,\u00a0and author of several articles and the free, email mini-course,<\/em><\/span><\/em><span style=\"color: black\" lang=\"EN\"><span><em> \"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/mba\/embaadmissionscourse.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">Ace the EMBA<\/a><\/em><\/span><em>.\"<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Knowing they\u2019ll have to write essays about their goals, most b-school applicants have identified their goals prior to starting the application process.\u00a0 But I\u2019ve found that \u201cidentified\u201d often has a&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6],"tags":[39,446],"class_list":["post-3009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-career-reviews","category-current-events","tag-mba-admissions","tag-mba-goal","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3009","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\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3009"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3009\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3011,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3009\/revisions\/3011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}