Suggestion for short term goal

Question

Hi Everyone, I really need help to decide my short term goal, in a way that does not negatively impact my applications.
GMAT - 760
Indian Male, 32, Law undergrad
Company- EdTech start-up, into training and mentoring. Has operations in 20 major cities.
Experience- 8 years.
Work- Successfully launched offline operations in 8 cities across India. Analyzed the market, target audience, advert requirements, competition activities, human resource requirements and prepared a plan accordingly. Implemented the plan by conducting branding sessions inside schools and college, organizing and hosting big ticket events, recruiting and training the staff for executing the sales targets and building a stellar media connect in these cities. In addition to this, hosted, planned and logistically managed more than 100 city level events pan India in the past 8 years.
Strategized and launched a tie-up program wherein educational institutes were given an opportunity to brand their products inside our ecosystem. As a part of this activity, made presentations regarding the efficacy of the tie up program before numerous institutes across India and after rigorous negotiations.
Part of the team which was tasked to prepare a cogent plan when the company decided to enter the online education space, subsequently developed the online training platform.

Admissionado · Answer

amogh11 :

We are happy to suggest a short-term goal, but it would be helpful to first talk about your long-term goal. Do you have one? Do you want to stay in EdTech?

A short-term goal is a way of helping you shore up an area of lesser experience in either an industry or function. So, in your case let's say you want to become an EdTech CEO. You already have all this operation experience, so perhaps you want your short-term goal to stay in EdTech but help you develop skills in finance, marketing, sales, or a combination of any of those. That would show a strong awareness of where you need to fill in the gaps, all while maintaining the course.

Generally speaking, it's advisable not to change BOTH industry and function. Doing so would make your short-term career goal less credible as it's hard to go to a prospective employer and argue what you can contribute on day one. Consulting and banking are post-MBA exceptions.

MBAGuide · Answer

Hi  amogh11 ,

What is your long-term vision? What would you like to do say 10-15 years from now. Your short-term goals are meant to provide you with skills and experiences that enable you to take up bigger challenges later. To demonstrate a well-deliberated plan for goals, think about what you have gained in terms of hard and soft skills in your prior experience and what are some of the areas you would like to improve on. For example, you have a fair amount of experience in Business development and operations management in the ed-tech space.

If you wish to work in a different industry in the long term, evaluate what new métier knowledge is needed to make this switch now. There would possibly be two ways to go about it then

1. Take up an industry role that enables to get your foot in the door. You will grow from there over the years
2. Take up a consulting role that would provide you opportunities to work across industries

For your essays you should present the entire plan for future to show a conscientious approach to decision making. An exceptional candidate would present a plan A and Plan B, backing both the plans with relevant insights gathered from networking with the alumni, potential recruiters and industry experts.

Best wishes

Suggestion for short term goal

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