MBA Admission Tips for Veterans

Veterans bring a lot to the table as MBA candidates. There are some really huge strengths that veterans have and comparative advantages over other applicants, and there are also some weaknesses that military candidates need to address in order to make their interview/application even stronger.

The strategy that a vet should use in the interview can change depending on who the interviewer is.  If the interviewer is a vet, the applicant should be more straight-forward with the military experience and can highlight other areas of his/her application.  If the interviewer is not a vet, the applicant should explain more of the military experience in civilian terms and can use “war-stories” to really grab the attention of the interviewer.

The strengths that veterans bring, and that should be highlighted in the interview are:

1. Leadership and management skills at a very young age- many veterans will have combat experience and have led Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.  These stories are lay-ups and can really be interesting for a non-military interviewer.

2. Understanding, reading, and motivating people- as officers in the military, vets are exposed to a wide range of man and women from multiple backgrounds, socio-economic status, and education.  For that reason, you must quickly learn how to read and understand people and as an officer you must know how to motivate them.  Often times, vets find themselves helping soldiers with family, financial, and life issues…and as a young officer you are quickly exposed to the role of counselor, mentor, and advisor.  Combine this with the experience of combat and you have a very mature candidate who knows human nature much better than their counterpart.

3. International and Cultural Experiences- this is strength for those who have deployed or have sailed around the world.  The responsibilities of officers in dealing with key leaders in Iraq and Afghanistan are immense.

4. Ability to work in a high-stress, long hour environment- this is another reason why banks and consulting firms hire ex military at large rates from business schools.  Veterans have worked long hours under intense stress and something in combat…Sitting at a desk and doing some excel work isn’t so bad compared to that.

5. Perspective- Being at one of the top schools in the world is pretty easy compared with what veterans had to do before.

Some of the potential weaknesses that should be addressed:

1. Experience and understanding of the business world- any MBA applicant coming out of the military should really do their homework in preparation for the interview.  They must know the differences between Industries and must know what route they are planning to take after school.  Having some specific firms or careers in mind, with a large amount of research done before the interview, will be key to success.

2. Analytical ability and experience- In the military, vets are rarely using excel spreadsheets or financial models.  Any vet who can talk about some sort of analytical ability or experience they had in the military will be in a better position.  Just having an example where they used a logical approach to solving problems will also help (think Hypothesis based research).

3. Using military jargon- you need to drop the military jargon and get to know how to explain your experiences in “civilian” or business terms. Do your research and talk to other vets who have gotten their MBA.

4. Not being comfortable talking about yourself or speaking in the “we”- in the military, it is frowned upon to talk about your successes in the first person…instead solders always mention what they did as a team.  While, this team-oriented approach is strength, not selling yourself to the interviewer can hurt as well.  Vets must be comfortable marketing themselves.