Virtually every MBA program (with the notable exception of HBS, whose career-goals question is now optional) requires that candidates write an essay on short- and long-term career goals. We find that many candidates truly need an MBA to advance in their careers, but they still struggle to identify their personal post-MBA path(s). However, even those who are determinedly pursuing a specific position can still benefit from an informational interview or job shadowing — especially those entering competitive fields, such as banking or consulting. Because many candidates aspire to careers in these fields, the sincerity of your interest can make the difference.

So, what is an informational interview? Essentially, it is an interview arranged through your network, with someone who is in your proposed field of career-interest and in a post-MBA position. It can be as causal as a coffee or as formal as a meeting in the person’s office. Regardless of the venue, it is your mission to get to know the nuances of the position and gain a more profound understanding of what this person does each day, each month, each year. Further, your session should give you an opportunity to discover more about their industry and its hiring needs. Hopefully, you will end up not only understanding what you like/dislike about such a position, but will also be able todetermine whether you would be a fit for it.

So, what is job shadowing? Job shadowing is essentially a long informational interview, where you not only ask questions, but also follow the individual throughout the course of a half-day or a day to truly experience his/her position. Via this hands-on experience, you should have an even more nuanced view of your target position and thus should be able to write your essays with depth and confidence.

Throughout this series, we have focused on freeing candidates from all other constraints so that they can pay careful attention to their essays as the questions are released. Short answers – the small sections within the application forms themselves that pertain to your work history, community accomplishments, scholarships and criteria, etc. – do not change much from year to year. While many choose to put off these “details,” you can rid yourself of a headache now by taking the time to complete these sections. Furthermore, similar in benefit to your resume, by completing this step early on, you may contemplate and discover stories that will be quite useful in writing your essays. An abbreviated version of HBS’s short answer on work history follows:

Job Description:

Job Title:

Your Responsibilities: (200 characters only)

Key Accomplishments: (200 characters only)

Most Significant Challenge: (200 characters only)

Reason for Leaving: (200 characters only)

Again, if you need to complete these forms thoughtfully for several positions and then complete several other similar sections for your volunteer and extracurricular experiences, this can be time consuming as you approach the deadlines. By completing them now, for all of your applications, you will have a brainstorming tool in hand and a small obstacle out of the way.

Firm-sponsored candidates are quite appealing to Admissions Committees, as the committee knows that these candidates will be employed upon graduation and that their post-MBA goals are within reach. Furthermore, the Admissions Committee will sleep better at night, knowing that their BusinessWeek responses will see a small statistical benefit in the “percentage of candidates employed upon graduation” and possibly even “average starting salary” categories. Firm sponsorship is almost always an asset.

We have worked with unsponsored clients, of course, but we have also worked with many clients who have been unaware that their firms sponsor employees. For that sake, we have worked with clients whose firms did not have sponsorship programs, but created them when our candidates brought forth the idea.

So, first things first, you need to discover if your firm has such a program and then, if they do, you need to learn all you can about the process for earning a firm scholarship. We have worked with international clients who have needed to apply internally 1.5 years before their proposed programs would begin; obviously, in such cases, you do not want to be applying at the last moment. Similarly, if you are going to “invent” your company’s program, this might take months of bureaucratic haggling and decision making. This is certainly a process that you should start now.

We offer specific pre-application services for those interested in charting a clear course to their MBA.

A simple exercise that can be quite helpful in addressing your strengths and weaknesses is reviewing previous applications to programs that you are certain you will apply to in the future. While the essays may change in the coming year, you can still learn a great deal by reviewing the questions and anticipating how you might have answered them. By contemplating your profile, you should come to a better understanding of your distinctiveness and marketability and target areas for improvement.

1. What would you like the MBA Admissions Board to know about your undergraduate academic experience? (400-word limit)
2. What are your three most substantial accomplishments and why do you view them as such? (600-word limit)
3. Discuss a defining experience in your leadership development. How did this experience highlight your strengths and weaknesses as a leader? (400-word limit)
4. In your career, you will have to deal with many ethical issues. What are likely to be the most challenging and what is your plan for developing the competencies you will need to handle these issues effectively? (400-word limit)
5. What is your career vision and why is this choice meaningful to you? (400-word limit)
6. What other information do you believe would be helpful to the Board in understanding you better and in considering your application? (400-word limit)

After taking some time to consider your answers to these (or any other school’s) essay questions, consider whether you are offering a diverse picture of your own experiences; try to understand whether you are able to offer something new and interesting in each essay; try to understand the entirety of your profile. It is possible that if you are lacking certain dimensions, repeat certain stories or are forced to place too much emphasis on one area of your life, you can target certain weaknesses and improve upon them going forward by taking on new activities.

We offer specific pre-application services for those interested in charting a clear course to their MBA.

Throughout this series, we have repeated a simple mantra – get anything and everything (class visits, coursework, GMAT exams, etc.) done now so that you can focus on your applications come July. Your resume can be constructed now, and the final update to your most recent position can be added in October during the latest stages of the process. Aside from the obvious timing benefits in completing your resume now, you will also benefit from reflecting on your accomplishments, a process that will help you brainstorm essay ideas and enable you to remind your recommenders of your major achievements.

As you strive to write a standout resume, you should think to yourself, “What are my accomplishments?” not “What were my responsibilities?” By rehashing your responsibilities, you will essentially be offering only the most basic information about your position. Many candidates choose to write something like: “Responsible for managing $10M media campaign, supervising staff of five junior brand managers, monitoring daily sales volumes and ensuring consistent supply of product from five production facilities in three countries.” The problem with simply stating responsibilities is that the reader has no understanding of whether this individual was effective in his/her position. Was the media campaign successful? Did the staff of five progress? Did sales volumes increase? Did the supply of products reach its destination?

By breaking each of these bullet points down, elaborating on each task and then showing the clear consequences of these actions, the reader learns of decisive maneuvers and, more importantly, results.

Instead of “responsible for managing $10M media campaign,” offer more details on the task:

• Initiated $10M television/internet “Island Vacation” promotion to introduce new Shine brand detergent…

Then, offer clear results of your efforts_

• …surpassing first-year sales targets in three months.

By following an action/results formula, you will offer the reader a consistent record of success and show that you have excelled in your work, which is, of course, your goal for your resume.

We offer specific pre-application services for those interested in charting a clear course to their MBA.

MBA programs are far more forgiving of previous academic problems than virtually any other graduate discipline. For most, candidates’ academic experience is far in the past and their GMAT, references and work experience are better indicators of their potential for success. This is not to suggest that poor grades don’t matter; this is to suggest, however, that poor grades can be mitigated.

If your academic performance is worrisome to you, you should certainly consider enrolling in some additional coursework immediately. In particular, if you did poorly in math courses (even if your overall GPA is quite high), this will raise concerns about your ability to manage a heavily quantitative workload. Thus, you should consider a calculus, statistics or linear algebra class. Furthermore, in order to show an aptitude for management studies, you might want to consider taking an accounting, economics or corporate finance class. Needless to write, it is quite important that you get As in these courses to show not only that you have the aptitude but also that you have matured and take your academics quite seriously.

It is important to remember that additional coursework is not solely the domain of the “academically challenged.” Even those who did quite well in their undergrad classes might explore the option of taking additional coursework. Liberal Arts majors with 4.0s and no quantitative background can benefit from two As — one in a math discipline and one in a management discipline – which will enable them to make strong statements about their competencies for their coming studies.

Again, you do not want to be going to classes while writing essays and applying to a variety of schools. So, it is important that you understand what is available to you and do your utmost to get these courses done before the applications become available in July, if that is still possible in your area.

We offer specific pre-application services for those interested in charting a clear course to their MBA.

As we have noted in previous posts, it would be ideal for you as a prospective candidate to have nothing but your applications to manage come July (when most applications are released). While many take their GMAT and TOEFL exams by June in order to focus on their essays starting in July, few realize that there is a tremendous opportunity to visit campuses now — both to learn about specific programs of choice and to ensure that the fall schedule is not too busy. It is difficult enough for many candidates to manage their professional, personal and community lives; the addition of five class visits in five different cities during a one- or two-month span can often be stressful and too much to manage.

Many schools (Stanford, HBS, Chicago, Kellogg, etc.) still have campus visit programs in place until the end of their respective academic years, and some offer visits throughout the summer, depending on their academic calendars. By visiting several of your schools of choice now, you will not only save yourself the stress in the fall, but you will also benefit from the visit itself.

Campus visits are not just checked boxes for the Admissions Committee, but are tremendous opportunities for you to gain an intimate understanding of various academic methodologies and academic and social environments. While your campus visits may help you choose which schools to apply to, they will also help you frame your thoughts and write far more personal essays. There is only so much that you can learn about a school via its website. Your campus visit will enable you to experience the true character of your MBA program of choice and then discuss your connection to it in a profound way. You can express a certain sincerity, if you can write about your personal interactions with professors and students as a catalyst for your decision to apply to a certain school.

Similarly, by meeting with any alumni or current students, you can gain a more intimate understanding of your school of choice. Current students in particular will have an awareness of specific programs and classes that may not hold a prominent place on their school’s websites, but may be quite appealing to you and may enable you to strengthen your case for attending a certain school. By meeting with students and alumni and visiting classes and taking thorough notes on your experience, you will have a variety of data points that will help serve as a foundation for you to persuade the Admissions Committees that their school is most suitable for you, in a way that few others will be able to do.

If you do not have connections with current students and alumni, you can politely contact current students who are heads of the clubs that are of interest to you and ask them for a few moments to discuss their school’s attributes. If you aspire to be an entrepreneur, for example, speaking with the president of the Entrepreneurship Club will enable you to quickly understand the various offerings at your school of choice and may even result in your finding an advocate for your candidacy.

We offer specific pre-application services for those interested in charting a clear course to their MBA.

While you may be like many others, worrying about your recommenders’ titles, what is far more important is that you select an individual who knows what is demanded of a recommender. Recommenders need to write very personal and intimate letters, discussing your talents, accomplishments, personality and potential. If the President of your firm can only discuss your work in vague and general terms, he/she will not help your cause. Conversely, if an Associate who is senior to you and supervises your work can offer powerful examples of the impact you have had on your company, he/she will help your cause far more.

As you contemplate those you will select, try to gather some intelligence on your potential recommenders. Has he/she written letters for anyone else? Is he/she generous with his/her time when it comes to employee feedback and review sessions? Generally speaking, is your superior a good supervisor/boss? One of the best windows into your potential process will be previous colleagues, with whom you may want to speak to discover how your supervisor managed the process. By identifying those who will be helpful and generous, you will alleviate the potential stress of missed deadlines and unpredictable letters.

While you should spend time right now doing your homework on your recommenders, another important step that you can take is getting in touch with previous supervisors with whom you have fallen out of contact. You do not want to be in a position where you are calling a former supervisor for the first time in years and asking him/her for a massive favor on a tight timeline. If you can identify a former supervisor whose time you will need, then make contact now and keep the relationship warm for the next few months. You will be far better off when the letter-writing process begins.

You need to be careful in terms of whom you ask to write on your behalf, especially when you are contemplating someone from your past. Certain individuals, such as military commanders, can often provide very valuable feedback, even if their experience with you was from years ago. Again, in the case of a former commander, you may need to locate him/her or warm that relationship up, after years of it being dormant. Under very particular circumstances, certain coaches and professors may also offer unique insight into your candidacy, but again, you may need to spend some time locating them and reestablishing your connection. Now is the time to make your connections; come September, it might be too late.

We offer specific pre-application services for those interested in charting a clear course to their MBA.

Similar to your community endeavors, personal achievements enable you to differentiate yourself from the indistinguishable masses. While every candidate has his/her work experience and academics, you can offer a far more diversified and remarkable picture of yourself through descriptions of your volunteer and personal accomplishments.

In terms of personal achievements, you should focus on accelerating the timeline of existing endeavors. If you have always intended to publish a certain article and are almost finished with a final draft, then finish it. If you have always intended to complete the CFA exam and only have Level Three left, take the final test this year. If you can run twenty miles and have always dreamed of running a marathon, run it this year. I am not suggesting that if you have never run a mile in your life that you start training for a marathon now, however; I am suggesting that if a goal is in sight and it will be otherwise achieved, accelerate your timeline and ensure that you have completed it before the first-round deadline.

Beyond the examples above, other areas of personal accomplishment include language study (achieving fluency), adventure travel (completing a certain hike/climb, etc.), professional and extracurricular certifications (CA, EMT, etc.) and more. Many candidates often exclusively pursue community activity in the months before submitting their applications, but personal opportunities can also significantly affect your profile and separate you from the field.

We offer specific pre-application services for those interested in charting a clear course to their MBA.

Many candidates are already looking toward next year. Thus, we are reposting our series on Long Term MBA planning, with a keen eye toward helping candidates seize the next few months to maximize opportunities and mitigate problems. Our second entry follows:

As we noted in our previous post on Establishing Application Milestones, if you have not yet become involved in a community organization, now is the time to get started. If you start to volunteer in September, your gesture will seem far less sincere, and you will lack the track record to credibly discuss your experiences in your essays.

When considering volunteer activities, you should – first and foremost – become involved in an organization about which you feel passionate. If you are excited about your volunteer experience, you will be more committed, have a more profound experience and have a far more genuine story to tell.

Ideally, you will have a record of community experience that complements and supplements your profile: the accountant who volunteers with Junior Achievement is complementing his existing profile, showing a commitment to his professional path and the desire to give back in this area; the accountant who coaches soccer in his community is supplementing his profile in that he is offering a new window into his personality. Your community activities have the power to show a true passion for your field (complementary) or enhance the committee’s perspective (supplementary) and thus differentiate you from many others.

In the example above, we use Junior Achievement and soccer coaching to illustrate our point; while a solid commitment to any organization will be helpful to your candidacy, the more esoteric the organization, the more distinct you become. While you should not volunteer in a completely obscure organization just to be different, if you are truly passionate about both soccer and antiquities preservation, you should consider volunteering in the latter field, thus increasing your opportunities to discuss this unusual hobby/interest. Regardless of the organization and the nature of your activities, if you can (to cart out a cliché) “make a difference” within your organization and show true leadership in doing so, you should be able to add an entirely new dimension to your application.

We offer specific pre-application services for those interested in charting a clear course to their MBA.