{"id":44007,"date":"2018-11-18T06:00:09","date_gmt":"2018-11-18T13:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/?p=44007"},"modified":"2018-11-15T01:25:47","modified_gmt":"2018-11-15T08:25:47","slug":"what-exactly-are-goals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/what-exactly-are-goals\/","title":{"rendered":"What Exactly Are Goals?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-44008\" src=\"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/What-Exactly-are-Goals.jpg\" alt=\"What Exactly are Goals\" width=\"700\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/What-Exactly-are-Goals.jpg 700w, https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/What-Exactly-are-Goals-300x150.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want to move from the buy side to the sell side.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/blog.accepted.com\/mba-admissions-advice-career-changers\/\">I want to shift<\/a> from technology consulting to investment banking.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Not goals.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>An engineer once said to me, \u201cI want to go into either finance or consulting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Not goals.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A goal isn\u2019t something you want, it\u2019s something you <em>do<\/em>, something you want to achieve, an impact you want to have, and the process you plan on implementing in order to get there. Therefore, a goal needs to be specific. Start with two key components:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li class=\"spacing\">Industry<\/li>\n<li class=\"spacing\">Function<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>A third key component for many people is geography, if it is integral to the goal (e.g., developing solar energy in northern Africa).<\/p>\n<p>Then add the \u201cdo\u201d part \u2013 what the work will actually consist of, and what you hope to accomplish.<\/p>\n<p>Here are some examples that incorporate the above elements:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"spacing\">I plan to return to operations but work at a higher, decision making level, such as Senior Operations Manager, in an East Asian semiconductor firm or a related industry. In this role, I would, for example, oversee $XXX operations, a global high-tech supply chain, and manage a diverse range of technical and business professionals.<\/li>\n<li class=\"spacing\">Currently I\u2019m a BPR consultant; I plan to shift to strategy consulting at a top global firm such as Bain or McKinsey, ideally focusing on clients in the pharma\/biomedical space, and help them set up operations in Eastern Europe.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>To wrap up this section, I\u2019ll add a couple of cautions about this phase of the process:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li class=\"spacing\">It\u2019s true that your short-term goals operate as a means towards achieving your long-term goals, but don\u2019t simply focus on what you will learn, the experience you will gain, and the people you will meet; short-term goals should also include the elements noted above \u2013 what you want to do and accomplish\/contribute.<\/li>\n<li class=\"spacing\">Ensure that your goals really require the MBA education. Of course, <em>any<\/em> learning is helpful for almost any endeavor; but the adcoms want to see that you really need the resources they offer, which they view as precious and not to be squandered. (And they\u2019re right!)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><b>Do you need help identifying, defining, and writing about your goals? Work one-on-one with an expert admissions advisor who will help you clarify your goals and present them to the adcom so you get ACCEPTED. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/mba\/services\/consulting\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Learn more about MBA Admissions Services here. <\/a><\/b><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cWhat Exactly Are Goals?\u201d<\/em>\u00a0is excerpted from the Accepted\u00a0guide,\u00a0<em>Why MBA?<\/em>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/reports.accepted.com\/mba\/why-mba\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Click here to download the\u00a0complete guide.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/reports.accepted.com\/mba\/why-mba\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-34577 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Why-MBA.png.jpg\" alt=\"Get your guide!\" width=\"600\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Why-MBA.png.jpg 600w, https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Why-MBA.png-300x100.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/service-request-cindy?utm_campaign=Blog&amp;utm_medium=blog_bio_cindy&amp;utm_source=blog\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-8104\" title=\"Cindy Tokumitsu\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.accepted.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/cindy.jpg\" alt=\"Cindy Tokumitsu\" width=\"70\" height=\"70\" \/><\/a><\/em><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/service-request-cindy?utm_campaign=Blog&amp;utm_medium=blog_bio_cindy&amp;utm_source=blog\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"author noopener\">Cindy Tokumitsu<\/a>\u00a0has advised hundreds of successful applicants, helping them gain acceptance to top MBA and EMBA programs in her 15+ years with Accepted. She would love to help you too.\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/service-request-cindy?utm_campaign=Blog&amp;utm_medium=blog_bio_cindy&amp;utm_source=blog\">Want Cindy to help you get Accepted? Click here to get in touch!<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related Resources:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">\u2022\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/reports.accepted.com\/mba\/great-admissions-tips\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">MBA Admissions A-Z: 26 Great Tips<\/a>, a free guide<br \/>\n\u2022 <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.accepted.com\/importance-defining-mba-goal\/\">The Importance of Defining Your MBA Goal<\/a><br \/>\n\u2022 <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.accepted.com\/your-mba-goals-essay-get-ready-get-set-think\/\">Your MBA Goals Essay: Get Ready, Get Set, THINK!<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.accepted.com\/goals-in-mba-admissions-defined\/\">This article<\/a> originally appeared on <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.accepted.com\/\">blog.accepted.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Applying to a top b-school? The talented folks at Accepted have helped hundreds of applicants get accepted to their dream programs. Whether you are figuring out where to apply, writing your application essays, or prepping for your interviews, we are just a call (or click) away.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Contact us, and get matched up with the consultant who will <a href=\"https:\/\/hubs.ly\/H01gxJF0\">help you get accepted<\/a>!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cI want to move from the buy side to the sell side.\u201d \u201cI want to shift from technology consulting to investment banking.\u201d Not goals. An engineer once said to me,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,939,775,113,243],"tags":[1221,1067,276,1163,2004],"class_list":["post-44007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mba","category-accepted","category-admission-consultants","category-applications","category-blog","tag-long-term-goal-essay","tag-mba-career-goals","tag-mba-goals","tag-mba-goals-essay","tag-short-term-goals-essay","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44007","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=44007"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44007\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44009,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44007\/revisions\/44009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}