When I used to travel to applicant fairs to represent London Business School, I’d commonly be approached by candidates asking, “I want an MBA but don’t have any full-time work experience. Can I study at your school?” While the answer in that instance was “no”, the conversation never ended there. The discussion would then turn…
How an Admissions Committee Views MBA Work Experience
You have made the decision to apply to an MBA program (or two, or 10). Now you need to think about your past work experience and how it all fits into your story. What follows are some thoughts on how admissions committees think about certain types of work experience, and how you may want to…
MBA Admissions Tip: Explaining Frequent Job Switching
You’ve got a strong transcript, a solid GPA, and you aced the GMAT. You know you’re a strong candidate for pretty much any top MBA program. There’s just one thing standing in your way…your resume. You’ve had some good jobs—that’s not the problem. The problem is that you’ve had too many of them, very close…
What Does Your Work Experience Reveal About You in Your MBA Application?
“What Does Your Work Experience Reveal About You in Your MBA Application” is excerpted from MBA Admission for Smarties: The No-Nonsense Guide to Acceptance at Top Business Schools, by Linda Abraham and Judy Gruen. Work experience is important because of what it reveals about you in terms of your character, maturity, and abilities. Even if…
Work Experience in Your MBA Admissions Profile
The last two articles explored the importance of the academic portion of your MBA application, including your undergraduate performance as well as your GMAT. This article will focus on the other, equally important, side of the coin: your work experience. Although more schools are now open to considering candidates without post-college experience, most top MBA…
4 Tips for Demonstrating Professional Growth in a Flat Organization
If you work in a flat organization, how do you demonstrate advancement and growth? After all, your progress will be compared to that of other candidates who have regular promotions with clearly delineated expanded responsibilities. In a flat organization, you may hold the same title for five years. It is a point that your MBA…