The vast majority of MBA applicants seek a business degree with the primary purpose of advancing their careers and earning considerably more than they did prior to b-school. But many MBA hopefuls don’t realize that the career services department at their target business schools often has an outsized impact on their acceptance or rejection into the program.
Career placement and starting salary factors heavily into many of the well-known MBA rankings, so it only makes sense that the admissions committee and career services staff regularly team up to make sure the admissions offers they make go to candidates who won’t be difficult to place and thus bring down the school’s employment stats.
[Discover the 10 MBA programs where graduates find jobs quickly.]
The admissions team will often ask for career services to weigh in if the applicant is significantly above the average years of work experience, if his or her stated professional goals seem far afield from previous experience or if those ambitions will be challenging to achieve through the school’s available resources.
Input from the career services department also lets the admissions team know exactly what recruiters are looking for in new hires. Armed with that information, the admissions committee can then create the most competitive class possible.
It’s really a matter of providing the best service to its customer — the potential student — because no school wants to admit students who will have little chance of landing their dream job after they’ve spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on the degree.
Post-MBA employability is one of the most important aspects you must prove as an applicant. You need to do all you can to convince the admissions team that you’ll have no trouble finding a great job following graduation.
[Explore five hot jobs for MBA graduates.]
How to Demonstrate Employability
You must have clear, logical and realistic career goals to be a successful MBA applicant. The best and most obvious way you can let the MBA admissions committee know it should have no concerns in this area is by showing how much your previous employers have valued your workplace contributions. Your resume, interview, essays and references can all work to support your employability.
In your resume, highlighting a healthy career progression and multiple promotions, bolstered by glowing recommendations from supervisors, will show that you are employable and put the committee ‘s mind at ease.
[Here are three ways to sell yourself with an MBA resume.]
The MBA essays offer another opportunity to showcase an applicant’s well-thought-out career goals. Explaining how you plan to make good use of every tool at your disposal during the program — from specific classes or concentrations to student clubs, study abroad options, competitions and more — lets the admissions team see how well their program fits with your goals and shows that you will capitalize on the school’s network and resources.
Recruiters have noticed that even students from the best schools can’t always communicate well or don’t know how to express their concerns tactfully during presentations. Many rejected applicants also face this hurdle and don’t understand why they didn’t get in even though they scored a 790 on the GMAT. If you’re applying to business school in the fall, you’ll impress the admissions committee immediately if you can demonstrate that you already possess strong communication skills during your MBA interview.
In b-school admissions , as with job interviews, there will always be many more qualified candidates than spots or positions available. One way the powers that be make a decision among equally qualified applicants is by looking at their soft skills, people skills or emotional intelligence.
Some interviewers employ a version of the so-called “airport test,” where the interviewer gauges whether he or she would enjoy being stuck chatting with you during a layover or would rather be swallowed up by baggage claim. Show that you have those soft skills that future employers will value highly by captivating your essay reader or interviewer with a unique or compelling anecdote that sticks in his or her mind long after you’ve left the table.
With competition for a seat at one of the top schools as tough as it is, you’ll need to use every tool in your arsenal to win over the admissions committee — and career services members — deciding your fate.
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Sell MBA Admissions Committee on Your Employability originally appeared on usnews.com
