INSEAD's Job Essays: Do They Matter? Dr. Shelle's View

­From Dr. Shelle (Shelly Leanne), http://www.mbaadmit.com, email: [email protected]

Sign up for a FREE Profile Evaluation directly from Dr. Shelle Leanne, a Harvard and Oxford graduate with Harvard admissions experience and over 30 years of work with INSEAD applicants. Send your LinkedIn profile or resume to us at [email protected] or fill out the Profile Evaluation form on our homepage at http://www.mbaadmit.com. Dr. Shelle will let you know if she thinks you can be successful as an applicant to a top MBA or EMBA program.

MBA Admit.com: Proudly offering among the most affordable EMBA consulting packages of all top companies!

Why pay $5,900 for one application? Work one-to-one with Dr. Shelle. Check My Essays service, $545. Comprehensive rates beginning at $985. (Prices expire 4/30/24) 

 
When you read various articles about the INSEAD full-time and EMBA admissions processes, you might notice that many writers only cite INSEAD’s required Motivation Essays as they discuss the required application essay topics. Therefore, some candidates are very surprised once they begin the application form itself to find that there are additional required essays that INSEAD refers to as “Job Essays” listed within the application form. INSEAD’s full-time application includes three Job Essays of 300 words each. INSEAD’s Global Executive MBA application includes four Job Essays ranging from 100 to 300 words.

Below, we have pasted the Job Essays and Motivational Essays for both INSEAD’s full-time MBA program and its Global Executive MBA Program.

Are the Job Essays important? Yes! Do not minimize the importance of the Job Essays. Remember, the admissions committee members will read the Job Essays before they get to your Motivational Essays, so along with your resume and the information on the application form itself, you are creating a very important first impression.

Often, when I work with a candidate on the INSEAD application, candidates deliver the Job Essays to me in a state that is dry, uninspiring, and enough to put one to sleep! You should be striving for the exact opposite! Use the essays to convey how important your work is, how exciting your industry space is, and how you contribute excellently to your company and other people – whether employees, clients, or other stakeholders. Use the Job Essays to showcase your leadership skills. Take the opportunity to present a compelling set of short-term and long-term goals. The admissions committee reader should be impressed, feeling you have much to share with INSEAD classmates.

One of the reasons my company, MBA Admit.com, has a 98% success rate with INSEAD applications over 25 years – both at the full-time MBA and Executive MBA levels – is that we take full advantage of the Job Essays. We make sure the admissions committee members, through the Job Essays, are largely sold on our candidates long before they begin to read the Motivation Essays. We use the Job Essays, among other components, to ensure INSEAD Admissions Committee members are excited to bring in our INSEAD candidates for interview.

JOB ESSAYS

Briefly summarise 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. (200 words maximum) *

What would be your next step in terms of position if you were to remain in the same company instead of going to business school? (200 words maximum) *

Please give a full description of your career since graduating from university. Describe your career path with the rationale behind your choices. (300 words maximum) *

Discuss your short and long term career aspirations with an MBA from INSEAD. (100 words maximum) *

If you are currently not working or if you plan to leave your current employer more than 2 months before the programme starts, please explain your activities and occupations between leaving your job and the start of the programme. (optional)

MOTIVATION ESSAYS

Give a candid description of yourself (who are you as a person), 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 (maximum 500 words). *

Describe the achievement of which you are most proud and explain why. In addition, describe a situation where you failed. How did these experiences impact your relationships with others? Comment on what you learned(maximum 400 words). *

Describe all types of extra-professional activities in which you have been or are still involved for a significant amount of time (clubs, sports, music, arts, etc). How are you enriched by these activities? (maximum 300 words) *

Is there anything else that was not covered in your application that you would like to share with the Admissions Committee? (maximum 300 words) 
 JOB ESSAYS

Please give a detailed description of your job, including nature of work, major responsibilities; and, where relevant, employees under your supervision, size of budget, number of clients/products and results achieved. (300 words) *

Please explain your career evolution and career choices since you started your professional life. (300 words) *

Please give your objectives for attending the INSEAD Executive MBA Programme. What would you like to achieve over the next 5 years, and how could the INSEAD Executive MBA contribute to achieving these plans? What are your alternatives to INSEAD? (300 words) *

MOTIVATION ESSAYS

Give a candid description of yourself, stressing the personal characteristics you feel to be your strengths and weaknesses. (300 words) *

Please answer either question a) or question b) in 300 words a) Have you ever experienced culture shock? What insights did you gain? b) Describe the ways in which a foreigner in your country (Region) might experience culture shock. *

Is there anything else that you would like to share or to clarify further (for example: family situation and number of children, interests outside of work, gaps in professional experience...) (300 words) 

 MBA Admit.com was established in 2001 by Dr. Shelle Leanne, a graduate of Harvard and Oxford who has experience with Harvard admissions and served in Stanford University’s Office of the President. Dr. Shelle, who has over 30 years of admissions advising experience, works one-to-one with clients. She is an accomplished writer whose works have been translated into 25 languages worldwide, and she has previous work experience with McKinsey & Company and Morgan Stanley. Her clients rave about her services and impact. Each year, nearly 95% of her clients receive scholarships, totaling over $10 million last year. More about Dr. Shelle here: https://mbaadmit.com/about/about-dr-shel/.


LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/drshelle

Dr. Shelle (Shelly Leanne)
President, MBA Admit.com
http://www.mbaadmit.com
Email: [email protected]­