I will teach you how to bring your life stories to essays faster with F1GMAT's essay guides. Download below or subscribe to F1GMAT's Service and work with me - Atul Jose, Author/Editor/Founding Consultant, F1GMAT(16 Years of helping applicants gain admissions to M7 and Top 30 schools) Video Essays following the submission of application essays is a great tool for the admissions team to check if the applicant’s voice is authentically captured in MBA essays. It was adopted on a smaller scale a decade ago, but now for 7-20 ranked schools, the video essay influences admission decisions.
One common complaint that the admissions team has shared is that the applicant is too focused on answering the question perfectly that they miss out on injecting personality into the answers.
Here are 5 Easy ways to inject personality into your MBA Video Essays:
1) Highlight your Personal Brand
Your USP will not be clear if you have not trained yourself to understand the IMPACT of your contributions.
In our consulting and editing services, the first thing that I ask clients is to fill the IMPACT table.
The format of the table is such that they are forced to segregate and categorize their achievements on relevance and impact.
At the end of the process, a theme of the applicant’s personal and professional growth emerges.
These milestones define their personal brand.
The process is quantitative initially, with numbers captured to separate the impactful from the least impactful ones. But there are many contributions in volunteering and extra-curricular activities that, by association with the event or organization, evoke a strong feeling, even though the IMPACT might not be as noticeable as being part of a billion-dollar deal.
Here a consultant’s branding hat has a huge influence on positioning the client. It is easy to get carried away by the numbers and forget to understand that peers who are competing also were part of billion-dollar deals.
Once you truly understand what made you different, lean into the branding traits.
These traits need to be consistently repeated and reiterated in essays, video essays, interviews with Alumni, and Interviews with the admissions team.
The consistency of the message has more influence than any other factor. And that can’t be determined if you are asking friends or family to help with your MBA application.
2) Region Focused Narrative
The MBA application pool from locals in the US has been saturated since the cost began crossing the $200,000 mark, and the Finance (PE) and Technology remuneration began catching up with the full-time MBA salaries.
Schools will need to expand their international presence like European schools did a few decades ago if they want to increase their influence on a global network and economies that will drive the next global growth cycle.
Already, Chinese applicants feel isolated from the politics of the two countries, and Indian applicants have a wide range of local alternatives.
As Indian and Chinese applicants begin to look inward for their MBA education, a new demographic from Africa, the Middle East, South America, and Europe will find favor among top US universities.
If your essay has impactful region-specific milestones in Africa, Europe, the Middle East or South America, mention it in your video essay.
Mention City with Atypical Example
A client, used administrating a cricket club in a country where the reach of the sports is below 2% as the biggest challenge he had faced. It was like listening to a masterclass in marketing and branding in under a minute. Although the scale of his impact was below what his day job as a banker was, just by attempting to pursue an ambitious goal and mentioning it in a video essay, the admissions team was curious to know more about him.
3) Break or Accentuate the Halo Effect
I have highlighted breaking down our facial features and complementing them with narrative in F1GMAT’s MBA Admission’s interview Guide.
Essentially, we all are driven by the ‘Halo’ effect.
If I look like a nerd, you will associate all nerd qualities in anticipating my behavior.
Take advantage of the Halo Effect and accentuate your first impression if it is a strength.
Break the Halo Effect if it is a weakness.
One great example I noticed was a banker client, suited in a stereotypical blue suit with a light stripe pattern. Just enough differentiation to break the stereotype but not too much to distract the reviewer.
There are subtle ways to break or accentuate the Halo effect. Find where you will be categorized in first impression – based on profession, ethnicity, or facial features.
4) Authentic accents with Clarity
I tried to fake an American accent and couldn’t let my wife and brother from stop making fun of me for a week. Then I talked like how I talk in real life in my YouTube Videos. It felt more authentic.
Sometimes, the accent is the greatest way to find your unique branding. This is true in International MBA programs that are looking to capture a wider demographic. If you are from regions where schools are looking to expand their reach, play into their preference by using your authentic accents.
No one is looking for a world where everyone talks like James Bond or Tom Cruise.
The only practice you need to do during Video Essays is the enunciation of every word. There are accents that cut certain words in English in a way that makes it tough to comprehend, or the sing-song nature of the style stretches the sound of the words and makes it harder for the admissions person from Europe, the US, or Asia to understand what you are saying.
Be mindful of the influence of your native tongue on pronunciation and make slight adjustments.
You can bring your authentic accent with clarity. But you need practice.
Luckily – most schools have platforms that allow MBA applicants to practice 4-5 times before the actual Video Essay.
5) Adjust your Energy
The best way to add personality is by adding energy to your answers. Not everyone is at 100 on the energy scale. Some are, by default, at 50 or 60. They might be in desk jobs most of the time rarely getting client-facing opportunities. In such cases, adjusting your energy to a video format is the biggest adjustment you must make.
In my mock interviews, I have seen clients, just by adding a little energy to their answers bringing their unique personality to their answers.
You can overdo with a couple of espresso shots or red bulls and talk with twitches or at a speed that clearly shows you were on some energy altering support system.
You don’t need any such energy alteration substances. Just by smiling, you will bring a warmth to your answer that will create the halo effect of uniqueness. The most common expression that I have noticed in mock interviews is the nervous energy of applicants, worrying about the next answer.
Sometimes, it is tough to get out of that mindset if you are serious about performing at your best.
6) Script the Imperfections
The admissions team will discourage you from excessively talking from the notes or using talking points that you have meticulously prepared with the admissions consultant.
The problem is that perfection hides your personality.
If you want to see the perfect example of unscripted answers, look at facial reactions in press conferences of politicians to questions that they weren’t prepared to answer.
The fold of the forehead, the mumbling, or the gaffes are all fodder for memes, but they make the person human.
We are looking for signs of fallibility, of vulnerability – some way to connect with another human being and understand that they are just like us – imperfect.
There is a subtle way to script imperfections.
