Free 'Why MBA?' Essay Samples
When this type of essay, the candidate has to make it clear to the admission committee why an MBA is a crucial step for him in order to achieve his career goals.
Mainly you need to explain:
- What skills you still lack in order to achieve your stated goals, and how the MBA/school will enable you to get each of these skills?
- What knowledge do you still lack in order to achieve your stated goals? Will the MBA enable you to get this knowledge? For example: I still lack knowledge of X to achieve my goal Y.
- What else do you still lack in order to achieve your stated goals? Experience? Contacts? How will the MBA enable you to get these things?
Your candidacy is likely to be stronger if you are more specific about what it is exactly that you are lacking in light of your goals. For instance, what exactly within marketing do you need to achieve your stated goals? Positioning? Distribution? Advertising? Strategy? Pricing? Etc.
My long term career goal is to become Senior Vice President and Head of Global Information Security Group in a major Information Security corporation such as $25 billion Cisco, $5 billion CheckPoint or $5 billion Netscreen. I plan to achieve that position after acquiring the necessary tools and experience required to manage a large-scale global business by completing my MBA, starting as Product Manager and working my way up.
I find the information security industry exciting; it is ever-growing, ever-changing and provides a huge technological challenge in adapting to new technologies and attacks. Data security was a crucial element to business managers worldwide deciding to connect their intra-nets to the Internet. This made the transformation to a global-commercial network possible. I am proud to take part in maintaining the Internet’s revolutionary role by making individuals who use it feel secure. I hope to harness my motivation, technological ingenuity and managerial skills in developing the industry.
My fascination with business, direct interaction with clients, strategic overview, and the view of a company as provider of products that meet customer needs has motivated me to move from technical roles to business positions. Both my current position as Group Manager in the military and my desired post-MBA position as Product Manager require team management. While today I use intuition and experience to guide my activity, I plan to strengthen my skills by learning formal methodologies at Tuck and benefiting from personal experiences of classmates and faculty. I feel that such knowledge will help me do my job effectively and achieve my long term objectives.
In future positions I will be faced daily with situations which require interpersonal skills: interviewing a job applicant, rewarding an employee, providing constructive criticism, etc. While there is sometimes a suggested textbook solution to these situations, great skill is required to adapt the general solution to the particular case. I look forward to improving my "soft skills" by taking classes like "Leading Organization" or "Organizational Culture and Culture Change". Here, I can refine my skills with "hands on" experience in a forgiving environment.
Product management and my subsequent positions also require close interaction with departments such as finance, marketing, sales and R&D. I will need to understand the activities of these departments, best practices for interacting with them and how to take them into account in decision-making. Tuck's Global General Management approach towards teaching business, providing the "CEO perspective", will allow me to obtain knowledge on this.
I learned that an important part of being a manager is developing vision, knowing not only what your business unit is doing next month but also what you think it should do three years from now. The job requires developing a road-map and setting milestones that will lead to long-term objective while keeping short-term goals in mind. Knowledge gained through courses like "Global Strategy and Implementation" and "Top Management Teams" will allow me to take these considerations into account, balancing it with reality.
I feel that Tuck is the place to receive my MBA education. The close community, the unique geographical location and the strong emphasis the MBA program has on team players and teamwork creates a special atmosphere. I feel most comfortable learning and exchanging ideas in this type of environment. Its informality allows me to easily open up and express my opinion or risk making a mistake. This special trait reflects also in the Tuck alumni community. Talking to Tuck students and Alumni, I was impressed with their willingness to go to great length to assist each other.
Aiming to get back to the Information Security industry I am thrilled with Tuck's opportunities to expand my education in a technologically-oriented environment through programs like the Tuck Global Consultancy or the Glassmeyer/McNamee Center for Digital Strategies. I plan to take advantage of the fact that Tuck is part of Dartmouth University. The opportunity to enrich my education through classes in Physics, Psychology or History is something I look forward to as I feel this would allow me to develop a multi-disciplinary creative approach that will provide be with a better framework to achieve my goals.
During undergraduate school, while focusing on finance, I also took special interest in studying management. Constant interaction with people makes any type of management an ever-changing, thus interesting, occupation.
Towards the end of my first college year, I started working in one of the largest mortgage bank in my country. One of the first questions I asked during the job interview was whether the bank offers management training programs. Almost two years later, the organization's training center publicized a tender for a new "Future Management Course". The requirements included, among others, having commercial-banking experience, as well as a college degree – two demands I did not meet at the time. I did not let this stop me, however.
Knowing that I wanted to become a manager, I was determined to apply for the program. My supervisor supported this and gave me a recommendation for the tender, yet, he claimed that in such a large organization, applying without fulfilling all requirements was pointless. I had to persuade the admissions committee that I could handle participating in the program while completing my college education, and overcoming gaps in professional knowledge. The effort paid off. I was accepted into the program, thus creating two precedents: I became the first person to be accepted into this program before completing a college degree, and the first to do so without any previous experience. The program required that I move from the Mortgage Department to the Commercial Division, where I am currently employed as a Private Accounts Manager.
During college, I decided that when the time was right, I would acquire an MBA education. Now is the perfect time for me to do so. On the one hand, I have gained several years of work experience. On the other hand, I am still at the beginning of my career and believe that an MBA degree from a world-class business school such as Stern will help me mold an effective managerial style.
In addition to these considerations, I would like to make a career change. In my current, position I recruit new clients and market financial products. In the future, I hope to engage more with the essence of finance, rather than the marketing of it.
Upon completing my MBA, I hope to work as a financial consultant in a leading investment bank such as Goldman-Sachs or JPMorgan. More specifically, I would like to help companies develop their equity structure and financial strategy in order to maximize their financial utility. As a consultant, I will gain experience developing economic strategy by doing financial analysis, profit-cost considerations, and research regarding competing firms.
I hope to grow within my organization and become involved in the financial management of the firm, eventually reaching the position of CFO. In this role, I will be called upon to set the financial agenda of the bank, determining policy and deciding which industries to get involved in. I will be required to successfully manage dozens of people, having to motivate and guide them toward executing our strategy. Yet my aspirations do not stop there.
After gaining expertise in capital and equity finance, and acquiring leadership experience, my dream is to man senior positions in the public financial sector. I was raised on values such as actively contributing to my country's security and future; my grandfather, a building construction contractor, helped build some of first towns in my country. He, my father and I have all been called upon to defend the country during wartime. While my grandfather built the country with a saw and hammer, I would like to build up its financial strength by developing its capital markets. I hope to assume leadership roles in such bodies as the Ministry of Treasury or the Israel Securities Authority. The path of gaining experience and expertise in international financial institutions, and then taking positions in the public sector, has been followed by a number of key figures.
My current position as a commercial banker has given me experience working with businesses from different industries, making credit decisions, motivating employees, and managing campaigns. To succeed as a financial consultant however, I will need to acquire skills in analyzing capital markets and quantitatively evaluating investment possibilities. An MBA from a program which combines a rigorous grounding in quantitative analytical tools will give me these skills.
My long-term professional goal is to start my own medical technology venture. Many of the projects I have been working on in the Technology Unit of the Intelligence Directorate utilize technologies that are applicable to medical devices. Over the years, out of research and personal interest, I have come up with several innovative ideas that I believe can improve diagnosis and procedures in fields of dental health and cardiology.
The roles I have held in 10 years of military service have required me to implement and develop my teamwork, management and leadership skills, as well as my cognitive and engineering skills. My strong understanding of the challenges introduced by technology, gained through all levels of involvement in interdisciplinary technological projects, from an engineer, through team and department leader, to project manager, will contribute to the success of the initiative.
However, I need an MBA to learn how to transform my ideas into a viable business. I must learn skills related to finance, marketing and strategic planning, in order to participate in the entire process of developing new technologies, and I believe that Columbia Business School offers unparalleled opportunities in the fields of entrepreneurship, product management and healthcare.
I feel now is the right time for me to take all that I gained from my significant military service experience, as well as my initial foray into entrepreneurship, and take it forward with me to the world of business. Since I feel that my military service has already enabled me to make a significant contribution, and since I have grown and developed over the past 10 years, I have now decided to challenge myself in new ways. An MBA at Columbia Business School is the best way for me to transition from the military arena to the world of business, with the help of such organizations as the Military in Business Association.
The Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Management Program offers great focus and opportunities in the field of healthcare. I found that the emphasis put on an entrepreneurial mindset, combined with healthcare-specific courses, fit exactly with my goals. The Pharmaceutical Development and Commercialization Workshop, which covers the entire lifecycle of a product, will give me a broad understanding of how a healthcare product is developed and marketed. Also, after some research about the Healthcare Industry Association, I have learned that HCIA works closely not only with the administration and the director of the healthcare program at CBS, but also with alumni industry professionals, and arranges the CBS healthcare conference annually.
In addition, HCIA’s networking events, career opportunities, panels and support in the recruiting process make it a strong advantage to students who are interested in developing in the healthcare industry. I would love to contribute to this club, since I believe it can enhance greatly the influence of Columbia Business School in the field of healthcare, and can strengthen Columbia’s reputation as a gateway to the healthcare business industry for students who are interested in that field.
The school’s location in the heart of New York City, a city I love and have visited several times, is appealing for both my partner and me. I am relocating with my wife, and her interests and career opportunities are a significant factor in my program selection. She has many professional and academic opportunities in the city. Regarding me, the fact that NYC is the home to some of the world’s largest healthcare corporations is a major advantage.
In order to learn first-hand about the unique CBS spirit and atmosphere, my partner and I plan to include a campus visit on our honeymoon trip this October.
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