MBAPrepCoach I’m 25 and I’m an Italian master's degree student. I’ve started looking for an MBA at a top school. I’ll complete my master’s degree at 26 and I'll apply for the HBS 2+2 program this year.
[*]internship and/or work experience
Almost 5 years of part-time working experience in marketing (all 5 in Italy), of which 4 in consulting. The main issue (imo) is that all my experience is in small-size companies, definitely, not big names to put on my resume. On the other hand, this allowed me to take much more responsibilities and develop entrepreneurship and expertise in several industries and functions, having worked in different areas of the company. I also have entrepreneurship experience. I had a leadership role for one year in a tech startup that I've cofounded. It wasn’t so successful, but I learned A LOT. The coolest thing we did was completing the pre-seed and pitching to Y Combinator.
I'll copy my resume for further details:
Company A | Fintech Start-up - Co-Founder and Head of Growth - 13 months part-time (Remote, Worldwide)Responsible for the business, growth, and marketing strategy.
(achievements here are good, but I don't want to share them publicly for confidentiality)
Company B | Consulting Boutique - Consultant–Digital Advertising Specialist - 13 months part-time (Italy) Worked for two consulting firms owned by the corporation. Provided strategic and marketing consulting, relationships with clients, and advertising management for all the clients of the two firms. In charge of the training of junior consultants.
• Autonomously designed, developed, and implemented an advertising automation system that increased budget efficiency by 598% in the first month, saving 25.000€ annually.
• Managed and brought a minor business branch from 24,8% to 87,3% project margin through advertising automation and changes in the branch’s commercial strategies, while decreasing clients’ churn rate by 60%.
• Oversaw a +50.000€/month advertising budget and spent on digital channels, being responsible for the advertising strategies and spending of all the +100 clients of the two consulting firms.
Company C | Consulting Boutique - Consultant–Marketing Specialist - 30 months part-time (Italy)Provided strategy and consultation for marketing projects working with local, national, and international brands.
• Planned and implemented digital marketing and advertising strategies for clients in fashion, food, retail and B2B industries.
• Managed relationships with clients for consulting, leading to 90% contract renewal, with 3 significant upsells.
Company D | Winery - Junior Marketing Specialist - 20 months part-time (Italy)
Completed apprenticeship in marketing and the daily management of the firm. Participated in various activities, such as new product development, financial management, e-commerce management, and sales.
• Developed the whole online presence of the winery (e-commerce, marketplaces, and social media) in the first 6 months.
[*]school, major, GPA
Master’s Degree: I’m currently enrolled in a Double Master’s Degree program:
- MSc in Management at Bocconi University (4.0 GPA)
- Master of International Business at the Darla Moore: University of South Carolina (4.0 GPA).
This summer I’ll get both degrees.
- Bachelor: BSc in Digital marketing from a not-ranked university. Good GPA 27.7/30 (Italian grading system), final grade 107/110.
[*]test scores, GMAT or GRE
I've already taken the GMAT for the Bocconi application. I scored 710 (Q49, V39).
I will take it another time with the focus edition since I can still manage to score in the 90th percentile with no additional training. Hopefully, I’ll get a score in the 95th percentile, which can help my application. (The goal is a GMAT focus score of 705+)
[*]language test scores
Italian: Native
English: Cambridge CAE 196/200 (C1 Level), I will take the IELTS soon
Chinese: HSK1 (155/200)
Spanish: I will take the DELE B1 or B2 test but I don't know if I can do this before the application
[*]country of citizenship
Italy
[*]international exposure and languages
Worked in English for 1 year in the startup I co-founded.
I'm spending 1 year in the US for my double degree.
[*]all leadership experience, duration and role
- Head of growth at the startup I co-founded (13 months)
- Automotive professional master - Team Leader of the project work (3 months)
- Start-Up Weekend - Team Leader of the Start-up during the competition. (1 weekend)
[*]all community involvement
Pro-bono consultant and volunteer in a cultural association (musical association)
Just started volunteering at an orphan assistance center
[*]goals
My goal after the MBA is to work in management consulting firms / premium automotive brands / Private equity or startups.
Long-term goals (in 20 years) are: C-suite/board member (I love corporate strategy) | PE or VCs
[*]unique background factors
A lot of work experience, considering that I'm a 2+2 applicant,
Start-up experience,
Double master's degree in two different countries.
[*]your best guess at what you will discuss in your main essay
Entrepreneurship, start-up experience, and the fact that I worked during all my studies to grow professionally and be financially independent.
Thank you in advance!