There were no injuries, no blood oozing out, but the 21-year old biker laid motionless. The pulses were regular. Suspicious of the nature of the injury, the Doctor moved his hands around the head. A coin-sized hole punctured the man's skull. Just as he was examining the chest area, a vibration with blue light emitted from the biker's dusty front pocket.
The phone showed "Mom."
The Doctor couldn't pick the phone and share the horrible news.
That evening my brother - the Doctor, had a few extra rounds of whiskey. Last week when I saw him, he has turned into a veteran in managing patients in the Intensive Care Unit.
6 years have passed. I asked the same question I asked him the day we met for drinks, "What upsets you now?"
He gave the same answer, "Young people wasting their life on cheap thrills."
All our major career decisions are made in the teenage years when the pre-frontal cortex - the region of the brain that controls impulses, is not fully developed. So we jump into careers that looks good on paper or for the society and hope to acquire the lifestyle that we envy.
Years pass, you acquire the comforts of life and reach a stage where money is not the motivation anymore.
Spinning "selling sugary water" as "bringing joy," or dumping complex lies as Financial products aren't exactly what you had envisioned as a teenager.
Deep down, you don't believe in your company, but hey, the money is good.
You try to hide the uneasiness with excesses of life, but the emptiness doesn't go away.
You start asking deeper questions - "What is the purpose of my life?"
Purpose
"To create an environment that harnesses technology efficiently and enable a future full of possibility," I shouted on top of my lungs.
"What?" shouted back the cohort of 25 colleagues who joined me for a weekend retreat - Perspective. The goal of the retreat was to find out the purpose of our lives.
"To create an environment that harnesses technology efficiently and enable a future full of possibility".
The statement had gone through 12 edits in 3 hours. Yes, 3 hours taking turns with my colleagues until everyone one in the audience felt that I genuinely believed in my purpose. The emotion, the authenticity and the pitch of the voice should all sound wholesome to get the final approval.
Am I fulfilling my purpose with F1GMAT?
Maybe for some of you. Maybe for many, I am just an eager consultant trying to sell books and services.
The truth is that you don't have one purpose.
When 21-year olds call me and worry out loud about what to do next, I always say - explore multiple career paths, hobbies and volunteering till you turn 27, then develop a plan.
22 to 27 should never be a time when you are tied to one job.
Ask any Entrepreneur what they really want.
They will all unanimously say - time.
Time to test ideas, meet interesting people and change the reality of our world.
Time is your only enemy.
Your financial independence is guaranteed.
Wealth - you have to play the cards right.
An MBA will change your life only if you choose to do so. The exploration is not unending. Even in selecting electives or chance encounters of Global Immersion programs, the choice to expose yourself to a new culture, a new job function or a new industry is yours. Without taking the risk, the pre-ordained path based on return on investment will limit your learning experience.
Not every day you get the chance to work with colleagues from 60 nationalities. Embrace the opportunity, develop a 2-career strategy, and explore with purpose.
Novelty Bias
Career switchers are likely to face more 'what is the purpose of my life' moments in the next 3-5 years even in their dream job. This is not an older guy to young blood truth but the reality of doing something that you love.
If you love something, you will invest the time to learn everything about the industry, the function and the nuances that only an expert can tell. Depending on your learning capability, the 'essential skill' that gives you an advantage over 99% of your competitors can be acquired in a year or two.
Then what will you do?
There will not be any MBA escape routes. You have to reflect, find interesting problems to solve and keep exploring.
Don't take an MBA if you are burned out, or you assume happiness with a new career path.
Take an MBA if you hate your current job - the function, the industry, the culture or the day to day responsibilities that the job demands.
Nobody deserves a life imprisonment for a decision made as a teen.
Take an MBA if you have negotiated unsuccessfully on switching the job function. Employers rarely take the risk. You are an unproven commodity. What made you successful as a functional expert might not make you a great Consultant or a Financial Analyst
Start with your personality and interests before picking an industry or a job function.
Opportunity Cost
When we wrote how to calculate return on investment based on Net Present Value, we put a dollar value on the opportunity cost (the lost salary when you are doing an MBA). That doesn't mean you make every decision based on dollar value.
How does it matter if you are in a job that you hate but you are paid handsomely.
The stress of the daily struggle would diminish the quality of your life.
If you are unhappy at a job, you will do the bare minimum to survive. The team loses productivity and eventually the company's bottom line is affected.
Why suffer and cause collateral damage?
A 2-year MBA is the perfect tool to explore a new career path. Shortlist programs that match your attitude and values. Reach out to me for a free consulting session.
Entrepreneurship
A full-time MBA is not for Entrepreneurs. I know that this is not the opinion many Business Schools will share. I have published the case for and against MBA in F1GMAT
Entrepreneurship: 5 Reasons Why MBA is not necessary, ROI is just one factor...Bigger Issues Still Exist
Low Number of Entrepreneurs from Business Schools? Increase Perceived Capability & Address Fear of Failure
Do you need an MBA to become an entrepreneur?
Even a preliminary research on successful Entrepreneurs with an MBA will reveal that they are in the minority. This partly comes from the tremendous pressure MBA students face while accepting or rejecting a $150,000 offer. It is not easy to forgo such remuneration and hang-on to a vision that would take anywhere between 3 to 5 years to see the full potential. The money is too tempting, and you would have already invested close to $150,000 on an MBA. The thought of Return on Investment can derail even the most determined Entrepreneur.
Another reason why MBA is not ideal for Entrepreneurs is the cost of technology. If you look at a 20-year average from 1997 to 2017, the cost of software/technology has come down by 67% in the US whereas the cost of education and housing have increased by 150% and 58% respectively. It doesn't make sense to invest in one of the most costliest education programs (MBA) and sacrifice 2-years when you can utilize the time to develop and test the product/service.
If the nature of your Business need fundraising (over $5M), opting for Schools with a rich history of funding and mentoring Entrepreneurs would be a strategic move. Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Babson and Oxford MBA are five programs known to support Entrepreneurs (Social and for-profit). For every other school, MBA is a death knell for Entrepreneurship.
Cautious Optimism
For Technologists and Functional Experts, an MBA is the transitionary break that will lead you to General Management, Marketing, and Finance, but placement doesn't happen in isolation.
Pre-MBA experience, internships, the utility of the curriculum, networking, industry trends and emerging technology will determine your post-MBA industry.
As a follow-up, read MBA in the US, MBA in the UK and MBA in France - to find programs and industries that match your aspirations.
You can always reach out to me here with our free consulting.
For your Success,
Atul Jose
Editor/MBA Admissions Consultant, F1GMAT
About the Author
I am Atul Jose - the Founding Consultant at F1GMAT.
Over the past 15 years, I have helped MBA applicants gain admissions to Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, MIT, Chicago Booth, Kellogg, Columbia, Haas, Yale, NYU Stern, Ross, Duke Fuqua, Darden, Tuck, IMD, London Business School, INSEAD, IE, IESE, HEC Paris, McCombs, Tepper, and schools in the top 30 global MBA ranking.
I offer end-to-end Admissions Consulting and editing services – Career Planning, Application Essay Editing & Review, Recommendation Letter Editing, Interview Prep, assistance in finding funds and Scholarship Essay & Cover letter editing. See my Full Bio.
I am also the Author of the Winning MBA Essay Guide, covering 16+ top MBA programs with 240+ Sample Essays that I have updated every year since 2013 (11+ years. Phew!!)
I am an Admissions consultant who writes and edits Essays every year. And it is not easy to write good essays.
Contact me for any questions about MBA or Master's application. I would be happy to answer them all
Winning MBA Essay Guide - A Complete Guide for M7 and Top 15 MBA Application Essays
F1GMAT's Winning MBA Essay guide will teach you how to transform your essay into a life journey with trials and tribulations that will move the admission team.
+ Over 245 Sample Essays (Read Previews of F1GMAT's Winning MBA Essay Guide Sample Essays here)
+ Top 15 MBA Programs (Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Columbia, Booth, MIT, Kellogg, Yale, Haas, Darden, INSEAD, LBS, NYU Stern, Tuck, Duke Fuqua, Ross)
+ The Art of Storytelling
+ Leadership Narratives
+ Review Tips
+ Persuasion Strategies
+ The Secret to "unleashing" your unique voice
+ How to prepare and present for the Video Essay
+ How to write about your Strengths
+ How to write about your Weaknesses
+ Leadership Narratives
+ Review Tips
+ Persuasion Strategies
+ The Secret to "unleashing" your unique voice
+ How to prepare and present for the Video Essay
+ How to write about your Strengths
+ How to write about your Weaknesses
Want to try the individual school Essay Guides before upgrading to the Winning MBA Essay Guide? Try below.
F1GMAT's Essay Guides
Harvard MBA Essay Guide (20 Sample Essays)
Growth-Oriented Essay: Curiosity can be seen in many ways. Please share an example of how you have demonstrated curiosity and how that has influenced your growth. (up to 250 words)Example #1: Persistence Narrative
Background Information: The applicant – a design and music talent, shares her journey through several setbacks. She attributes curiosity to her growth.
Curiosity: Philosophy
Curiosity (Explained): Curiosity as a philosophy is tough to translate into a narrative unless you are from the creative industry or your contributions had an influence on a solution or an initiative.
MBA Essay Strategy: I wanted to capture the humanity of the applicant and her influence in music instead of just highlighting how she overcame multiple roadblocks to gain attention as a designer.
Theme: Persistence
Read: Harvard MBA Curiosity Essay – Life Starts at NO (Growth-Oriented HBS MBA Essay Example)Example #2: International Community Building
Background Information: The applicant, a Machine Learning (ML) entrepreneur specializing in healthcare diagnostics, shares how his curiosity to learn other ML algorithms’ evolution in diagnosing Alzheimer’s, cancer, and heart disease transformed his platform into a global community.
MBA Essay Strategy: I wanted to show the applicant’s contributions in diagnostic from 2020 to 2024 by citing two events. Such examples build credibility instead of engagements that were recent. The evolution of the platform from an AI development community to a community for discussing the application of AI in diagnostics is captured through a ‘curiosity’ angle.
Read: Harvard MBA Curiosity Essay – Growth through Collaboration (AI in Healthcare) (Growth-Oriented HBS MBA Essay Example)Example #3: Culture
Background Information: The applicant, an Entrepreneur from India narrates his first entrepreneurial experience – facilitating exchange of stamps in the late 1990s.
Theme: Culture
MBA Essay Strategy: Instead of addressing the biases in the investor community that could turn preachy, I wanted to focus on the applicant and his entrepreneurial journey by citing two entrepreneurial experiences – a platform(club) for stamp collection and his Grocery delivery App.
Read: Harvard MBA Curiosity Essay – The American Dream (Growth-Oriented HBS MBA Essay Example)Example #4: Addiction
Background Information: The applicant – a beneficiary of the foster home system, captures the sacrifice his adopted grandparents made to save him from a path of addiction. Paying it back through early intervention among teenagers and community engagement is the curiosity narrative.
Theme: Addiction
MBA Essay Strategy: My strategy is to capture a gratitude narrative in the first one-third of the essay to demonstrate motivation for starting the venture and dedicate the latter part of the essay to the unique solution
Read: Harvard MBA Curiosity Essay – Drug Addiction and Gaming (Growth-Oriented HBS MBA Essay Example)Example #5: Scarcity
Background Information: The applicant, an education major, recognizes that 70% of all students in Kenya don’t have a computer. The curiosity that drives him to pivot from one solution to another is the growth narrative.
Theme: Innovation
MBA Essay Strategy: Often, innovation is captured with a ‘hero’ narrative where the applicant is the sole originator of an idea. I wanted to break that cliché and include a person from whom the applicant learned to use a concept called ‘scaffolding.’
Read: Harvard MBA Curiosity Essay – Scarcity (Growth-Oriented HBS Essay Example)Example #6: FinTech
Background Information: The applicant captures a vulnerable moment of a beneficiary to compare his journey of side hustle before a technology giant noticed his talent. Although cryptocurrency is not a flavor for the year, capture niches where innovation is still happening.
Theme: Education, Child Welfare
MBA Essay Strategy: Empathizing with a techno solution is tough without a strong backstory around the beneficiary. For the essay, I wanted to clearly establish the beneficiary – Rami, before the applicant narrates the similarities to his journey and finally shares the solution that emerged from his curiosity.
Read: Harvard MBA Curiosity Essay – FinTech as a Tool for Good (Growth-Oriented HBS MBA Essay Example)Example #7: Learning from the best
Background Information: The applicant – a Remote Engineer in the Oil and Gas industry, reflects on a value that has helped her learn from the best regardless of her geographical limitations.
Theme: Learning
MBA Essay Strategy: The effectiveness of the case-study method depends on the assumption that peers in a Harvard MBA class will help elevate your learning experience. For the essay, I have highlighted the applicant’s recognition of this value proposition with three examples.
Read: Harvard MBA Curiosity Essay – Learning from the Best (Growth-Oriented HBS MBA Essay Example)Example #8: Military & Search for IMPACT
Background Information: The most common narrative for US military applicants is to quote 9/11 and the reaction your immediate family had while watching the events unfold. The horrifying moment is captured as a motivation to join the Military. On digging deeper, most applicants would share that their motivations were diverse.
Theme: Career Choice
MBA Essay Strategy: I wanted to quickly highlight that the applicant had the choice of entering any industry. One achievement to demonstrate his curiosity that I shared in the first half is the invention of a game. Since the game is mentioned in the resume and verifiable through search, I didn’t quote the name. By clearly highlighting the person’s curiosity and career options, the family legacy is used as a factor in joining the military.
Read: Harvard MBA Curiosity Essay – Career Choice after a Military Career (Growth-Oriented HBS MBA Essay Example)
Leadership-Focused Essay: What experiences have shaped who you are, how you invest in others, and what kind of leader you want to become? (up to 250 words)Example #9: Small Business Values
Background Information: The applicant - a second-generation Asian American, is familiar with the values of fiscal conservatism, building relationships, and understanding the daily struggles of the community through his family’s department store.
Theme: Customer-Centric
MBA Essay Strategy: The applicant’s role in developing an App for the store is highlighted in the essay at a crucial part of the narrative so that the essay is not all about his father. I have also humanized the journey – by sharing how upset the father was when the revenues fell by 40%. The essay is about the transformation in the applicant’s value from a person chasing productivity and optimization technique to someone who is truly thinking about the customers.
Read: Harvard MBA Leadership Essay – Small Business Values (Leadership-Focused HBS MBA Essay Example)Example #10: Breaking Away from Family Business
Background Information: A unique challenge that applicants whose parents are public figures or CXOs of businesses or entrepreneurs are the pressure to live up to the parent’s standards or milestones. For the leadership narrative, the burden of legacy is established before the narrative addresses his leadership principles.
Theme: Authenticity
MBA Essay Strategy: For the essay, I want to capture an entrepreneur’s journey to rise above his entrepreneur father’s image. But I didn’t want to make the entire essay about this complex dynamics. The narrative is around the applicant’s focus on customers and surrounding with teams who keeps him grounded.
Read: Harvard MBA Leadership Essay – Breaking Away from Family Business(Leadership-Focused HBS MBA Essay Example)Example #11: Creativity and Communication
Background Information: When the overall percentage of users with internet access is 62% in South Africa and the inequality accentuated by the rural and urban divide, the applicant endured the lack of digital infrastructure, and spending close to 22% of the family income on gaining relevant information on schools, global exams, and financial assistance.
Theme: Creativity, Communication
MBA Essay Strategy: The strategy is to share why the applicant values no distraction in a child’s home for optimum education experience. Then I highlight the many roadblocks the applicant’s non-profit faced in receiving fee waiver for their cooperative run ISP.
Read: Harvard MBA Leadership Essay – Non-Profit (Telecom) (Leadership-Focused HBS MBA Essay Example)Example #12: Mental Health
Background Information: The applicant like most didn’t pay much attention to the mental health epidemic until tragedy hit home.
Theme: Communication, Innovation
MBA Essay Strategy: A question we frequently get from applicants is whether they should cite tragedy in the family as a motivation for a venture or a non-profit initiative. As long as you don’t linger too much on the tragedy and offer a balanced narrative, there are no restrictions on leveraging unique stories from your life.
Read: Harvard MBA Leadership Essay – Mental Health (Leadership-Focused HBS MBA Essay Example)Example #13: Trauma, Healing & Finding Authentic Self
Background Information: The applicant narrates the absurdity of war in the narrative about the duties in Kabul, and the trauma. Instead of wallowing in on the horror, the applicant takes what makes military applicants strong and guides unprivileged children build life and leadership skills.
Theme: Resilience
MBA Essay Strategy: Capturing PTSD in an essay, the healing process, and the cues that helped the applicant are too sacred to be shared in a Harvard MBA application essay. However, with the right motivation and narrative arcs, you can capture the essence of your journey without sharing the darkest secrets. That is what I did by merging two stories – the horrors of the war with a non-profit engagement.
Read: Harvard MBA Leadership Essay – Military & PTSD (Leadership-Focused HBS MBA Essay Example)Example #14: Addiction, Setback and Leadership Mantra
Background Information: In this narrative, the applicant captures Peru’s Silver mining boom of 2006. The growth experienced in her father’s business shifted the family’s economic status to a new stratosphere. Through the changing economic and family dynamics, the applicant finds her voice in a unique way, initially to record her unheard voice but later as one of the youngest subject matter experts in mining and commodities.
Theme: Failure
MBA Essay Strategy: For the essay, the strategy is to show how life’s unpredictability is a blessing. By narrating two setback events, the essay demonstrates the applicant’s resilience and her acknowledgment of people who made a comeback possible.
Read: Harvard MBA Leadership Essay – Addiction, Setback and Leadership Mantra (Leadership-Focused HBS MBA Essay Example)Example #15: War, Immigration and Starting Over Again
Background Information: Despite a raging war in Syria, the family of the applicant was unblemished by the chaos. The strategic government assets near the applicant’s house would have made the region an easy target, but it was not. The calmness of her journey is shattered in one event. From the privileges of a cocooned life, the applicant is forced to think about survival, her sister’s future, and her future in the US. The second half of the narrative captures the change that was forced on her.
Theme: Gratitude, Resilience
MBA Essay Strategy: I consciously chose not to start the essay with a dialogue or trauma. Two lines are allocated to set up the narrative before the trauma event.
Read: Harvard MBA Leadership Essay – War, Immigration and Starting Over Again (Leadership-Focused HBS MBA Essay Example)Harvard MBA Business-Minded Essay: Please reflect on how your experiences have influenced your career choices and aspirations and the impact you will have on the businesses, organizations, and communities you plan to serve. (up to 300 words)
Example #16: Creative or Finance
Background Information: The applicant starts the narrative with the origin of her talents. The unbridled enthusiasm receives a reality check when in high school, the applicant’s father has a conversation with her about academics. While the applicant picked up her quant skills, she was reaching over 50,000 loyal fans, and her videos captured 1 million views.
Theme: Passion, Talent
MBA Essay Strategy: Capturing vulnerability is the toughest part for Harvard MBA applicants. For this essay example, I have captured the applicant’s uncertainty about career choice throughout the essay. Here the goal is to show vulnerability in the career choice essay while for leadership and growth essay, I could capture one example each from creative and PE industry respectively to balance the narrative. So don’t follow this example without a strategy.
Read: Harvard MBA Business-Minded Essay – Creative or Finance (Business-Minded HBS MBA Essay Example)- Stanford MBA Essay Guide (24 Sample Essays)
- Columbia MBA Essay Guide (21 Sample Essays)
- Wharton MBA Essay Guide (15 Sample Essays)
- INSEAD MBA Essay Guide (19 Sample Essays)
- Darden MBA Essay Guide (21 Sample Essays)
- Yale SOM MBA Essay Guide (15 Sample Essays)
- Tuck MBA Essay Guide (15 Sample Essays)
- Haas MBA Essay Guide (18 Sample Essays)
- NYU Stern MBA Essay Guide (15 Sample Essays + 6 Examples - Visual Essay)
- LBS MBA Essay Guide (6 Sample Essays)
- MIT Sloan MBA Essay Guide (6 Sample Cover Letters + 3 Sample Video Statement Scripts + 3 Sample Optional Essays)
- Kellogg MBA Essay Guide (11 Sample Essays)
- Chicago Booth MBA Essay Guide (12 Sample Essays)
- Ross MBA Essay Guide (31 Sample Essays)
- Duke Fuqua MBA Essay Guide (10 Sample Essays + Two 25 Random Things Samples)
- Cambridge MBA Essay Guide (12 Sample Essays)
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