Today I will share three stereotypes you must address in your essays to stand out from competing Investment Banking MBA applicants.
1) Dollar or Scale Obsessed
I have seen applicants obsess over deal size, even in essays that require highlighting other aspects of your IMPACT on your team, organization, and your industry. The scale and dollar term value of your IMPACT should be highlighted in the resume, but you must look beyond these two metrics. There are many examples where clients highlighted a process or a tool that improved due diligence. They also shared strategies that found information gaps in a deal. So look beyond the obvious to break the stereotype.
2) No Time Outside Work
Even outsiders know about the 100-hour work week for Investment Bankers. Schools are not expecting continuous non-profit engagement every week, but even sporadic involvement with a local non-profit in a related function like financial education, helping small businesses with fundraising, or even physical activity that built community engagement like housing for the underprivileged or taking part in half marathons are good examples. Any extracurricular that highlights physical activity or creative thinking, or performance arts are all good examples to demonstrate your interest outside of Investment Banking.
3) No Empathy
When you are working in a cut-throat environment where it is all about the margins and deal size, you can accidentally use phrases or words or a tone of narrative that demonstrate a lack of empathy. There is a subtle difference between confidence and a lack of empathy. So when you edit your essays, circle all the ‘I’ used in the narrative, like, I collaborated, I found a gap, I built a tool, etc. Those who are confident about their skills and contributions tend to use a lot of ‘I.’ But you can easily overdo it. Make sure that the frequency of ‘I’ and ‘we’ are proportional to the frequency required for an authentic narrative. If you want examples of essays with authentic narratives, Download F1GMAT’s Winning MBA Essay Guide.
While editing, I have also seen abrupt transitions that can give the impression that the person has no empathy. They don’t use enough words to elaborate on a challenge or a setback mentioned in the previous paragraph. If you need help, share your draft essays with me, Atul Jose, by Subscribing to F1GMAT’s Essay Editing service
