In Episode 127 of The mbaMission Podcast, mbaMission Senior Consultant Harold Simansky talks with Patrick Mullane, executive director of Harvard Business School (HBS) Online and Executive Education, and Simeen Mohsen, senior managing director of HBS Online. Together, Patrick and Simeen describe what HBS has built beyond its degree programs over the past decade and where artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to take these offerings going forward.
You look around your office and think to yourself: “I wish my coworker were not applying to the same school as I am. They can’t take two people who sit at the same desk. Also, their GPA is 0.15 higher!” On the surface, this reasoning may seem logical, and it can thus cause anxiety for some candidates—especially for those who are in positions for which an MBA is virtually a “must have” to move forward, such as in consulting and banking.
However—not to worry—this thinking has two significant flaws:
When admissions officers read your MBA application, they want to feel inspired by your personal statement; they want to know that you have a strong sense of purpose and will work energetically to attain your objectives. Thus, you must ensure that you are not presenting generic or shallow post-MBA goals. Although this problem is not industry specific, it occurs most often with candidates who propose careers in investment banking or consulting but do not have a true understanding of what these positions entail.
Many candidates who approach us are concerned that they cannot get their stories out in one sentence or worried that their personal branding is too muddled. Some candidates feel that they must have a single narrative and continuously speak to it to make an impression on the admissions committees. But, of course, you are not a simple product with just one or two attributes—a Budweiser beer, for example, which can be represented with a straightforward slogan, “The Great American Lager.” MBA candidates are far more complex than consumer products. So, presenting yourself as one-dimensional (“I am an entrepreneur in everything I do,” “I am a finance guy”) is definitely a mistake that prevents you from revealing your depth of character and experience.
In Episode 126 of The mbaMission Podcast, mbaMission Senior Consultant Harold Simansky and Founder Jeremy Shinewald welcome back Jim Caruso, chief innovation officer at Elevate and a graduate of the Michigan Ross Online MBA program. Jim has built and sold companies, leads innovation for sports and entertainment brands, and now teaches artificial intelligence (AI) as an adjunct instructor at Montclair State University. As a result, he can view AI and its development from the perspective of the undergraduate classroom, the C-suite, and the MBA world.
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