The Application Process

Hi -- can an HBS alum or admission expert please help me with the following question regarding the HBS career essay? The essay is worded as follows:

What is your career vision and why is this choice meaningful to you?

Do you think this requires us to specifically state our short/long term career goals (i.e., work for a social venture capital firm, or start a social enterprise) or can "career vision" be more broadly defined (i.e., work within the social enterprise industry)?

Thanks so much!

Good question. When you remain general with your career vision, you always risk coming across as immature and not ready yet for b-school. Business school is not supposed to be where you figure out where you want to go, but rather where you gather the tools you need to achieve the vision with which you arrived. Be as specific as possible, and don't forget that the most important part of the question is the WHY part. They are looking for the origin of your passion and what drives you. Hope this helps.

Hi EChou!

I'm an admissions coach as well as an HBS 2010 grad. I agree with Bryant that it is better to be specific rather than general, but I would add that the beauty of the HBS question using the phrase "career vision" is that it includes more than just the nuts and bolts of what career you want. You can also discuss what kind of work culture you hope to work within, what kind of work you hope to do (e.g. coaching and mentoring, strategy development, influencing through language and ideas, etc.), what kinds of people you hope to affect, what kinds of people you want to work with, etc. It's like painting a picture of what you want your career to be. This includes the short term, the long term, and the wide lens view. When you stand back and look at your career, what do you want the picture to look like?

Hope that helps!
Kaneisha