Tuesday Tip: Thinking Very Big About Your Career
Some applicants have very focused career goals; others don’t know what they want to do at all. Regardless, chances are quite good that you will need to articulate your career goals at some point during your MBA application process. This video will help you as you try to define your short and long terms goals. Teaser – there’s more to life than “getting a job.”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwhsXd_UbQ8[/youtube]
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Transcript for this video:
Hi, I am Stacy Blackman, President of Stacy Blackman MBA Admissions Consulting. Today’s tip is to PLAY BIG.
So when people ask me to describe the types of people that HBS admits, it’s often difficult for me to describe. It’s certainly not something simple like “high GMAT” or “McKinsey consultants”.
One of the common themes I have seen from people who get into schools like HBS or Wharton, is that they think BIG. Their vision for themselves goes way beyond “getting a good job”. It’s more along the lines of changing the world, although getting a good job might be one little step along the way.
Impact is another way to describe the way a future Harvard MBA lives. Not just doing a job, not just doing a good job, but making an impact ”“ everywhere, in everything they do.
When I think about what Harvard is looking for, it’s definitely not looking to crank out 800 management consultants, investment bankers of product managers. Not that these are bad jobs ”“ they are terrific jobs, filled by incredibly sharp, and skilled people. But if your goal is to be one of these people, and you want to get into a top school, you need to think bigger. Make the “job” your short term goal, and then think broader, bigger and about greater impact in the long term. As a successful X, what are you now empowered to do, how can you change the way people work and live, how can you impact the way things operate? This is what you need to consider.
As you think about developing career goals for your MBA application, I encourage you to dream like crazy, think about your biggest, wildest, no way this could possibly happen ideas and then think about ways to make them happen. Because this is the type of person that a top tier business school wants.
Today’s quote is by Mariane Williamson: “Playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking.”
Thanks for watching today. If you liked this tip “like it”, leave a comment below and come back next week! Have a good one”¦
Interested in watching more? Click HERE to access the Stacy Blackman Youtube Channel.
