Background Information: A PE associate narrates the challenge of onboarding an older candidate to the team. The person had an illustrious career in Technology but was a newbie to the NFT fund the team was managing.
Even with the history of recruiting non-traditional candidates from different backgrounds – the age (45+) bias, skepticism against a region known for its conservative values, and a warped view of the socio-economic exposure the candidate had, all culminate into resistance from the team in fully embracing the candidate’s ideas.
Theme: Understanding Identity and Perspective-Taking, Creating an Inclusive Environment
Theme (Explained): The contrast between the candidate’s worldview and the team’s perspective is the core of this PPIL Essay that touches Understanding Identity and Perspective-Taking and Creating an Inclusive Environment. Through the two principles, the applicant sets a precedent for creating a truly inclusive culture.
Profile: Private Equity Associate
Industry: Finance
Similar Narrative (Industries): Investment Banking, Venture Capital, Technology
MBA Essay Strategy: The Strategy is not to make bias the only reason for a team or a person’s behavior. In real-life it is never the case. Multiple values and factors contribute towards the person’s lack of openness to diverse viewpoints.
Opener: I want the reader to understand the culture of the organization and how diverse perspectives have helped the company grow. By starting with the opener, the rest of the narrative is more believable – to realign the company culture back to its strengths.
Sample Columbia MBA PPIL Essay: Onboarding a non-traditional Candidate (250 Words)
Our unique culture of welcoming non-finance candidates across geographies has given us a strategic advantage in the NFT (non-fungible Token) market.
An Engineer with an illustrious 20-year career in technology was onboarded to evaluate the feasibility of the technology running the NFT marketplace and the marketing strategy we had integrated into the App. Although ..
