Monday Morning Essay Tip: Overrepresenting Your Overrepresentation
May 26th, 2008 | Posted in Monday Morning Essay Tips, Blogroll
Many in the MBA application pool – particularly male investment bankers and Indian software engineers – worry that they are overrepresented. While applicants can’t change their work histories, they can change the way they introduce themselves to Admissions Committees.
Example 1: “As an investment banker, I….”
Example 2: “Managing a team to code a new software product for ABC Corp., I….”
In the brief examples above, each candidate mistakenly introduces the reader to the very overrepresentation that he/she is trying to avoid. Many candidates feel it necessary to start by offering their titles or company names, but this can immediately give the reader pause: “Here we go again.”
Overrepresented candidates need to consider their introductory lines quite carefully. Instead of stating the obvious, a candidate might immerse the reader in a situation or offer as aspect that stands out in his/her position.
Example 1 (launching into a story): “At 5:30 pm, I could rest easy. The deadline for all other offers had passed. At that point, I knew….”
Example 2: (stand out): “As I managed a multinational team, half in Silicon Valley and half in Pakistan, I….”
In the first example, the banker avoids the drab self-introduction and immerses the reader in an unraveling mystery. In the second example, the software engineer introduces himself not as a “coder” but as a multinational manager. While the situation is particular to the applicant, every candidate can work with his/her story to avoid the pitfalls of overrepresentation.
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