Essay 1: Please make a strong case to differentiate yourself from an exceptional set of applicants applying for PGP 2013-14. You could cite personal/professional achievements to present your case. (300 words max)
This is a pretty straightforward question. Last year’s essay prompt was to detail your two most significant accomplishments. This year they are being more specific in directing you to share only those accomplishments that would distinguish you from the applicant pool. At ISB, you will be competing with the traditional IT applicant pool, so your best bet will be not to select an accomplishment that demonstrates your role as team leader in an IT project.Try to select your achievements that showcase your ability to face challenges in other roles e.g. your adaptability to changes in the global world, your talent to convince others of executing your innovative ideas, your courage to take calculated risks that yielded results and so on.
You may choose one accomplishment from your professional life and one from your personal life to present your well- rounded personality.
Please do not begin your story with. "My greatest accomplishment is" or "one thing I did well was... "Let your story/ experience speak for you.
The ‘how’ part of your accomplishment is as important as the ‘what’ part. So, never tell the whole story in the first sentence itself. It is like telling the climax of the story in the first sentence itself.
Make sure your accomplishment story has the following four components:
the challenge,
the achievement,
the outcome/result,
the significance.
Do not forget to explain why this accomplishment is meaningful to you both in terms of the challenges you overcame, the results you produced, and the lessons you learned. In the following example, the applicant wraps up his story by outlining its significance for him.
Example:
“Today I recall XXX as one of the most memorable projects. From revenue perspective it was not the biggest project I handled, nor was it the most complex project. However, it was the most challenging project: in terms of saving my company and my own reputation in front of the mounting unforeseen challenges.”
Lastly, and most importantly, be as precise as you can in presenting your stories. With 300 words maximum words allowed, you only have approximately 150 words each for detailing two of your most significant accomplishments.
This is a pretty straightforward question. Last year’s essay prompt was to detail your two most significant accomplishments. This year they are being more specific in directing you to share only those accomplishments that would distinguish you from the applicant pool. At ISB, you will be competing with the traditional IT applicant pool, so your best bet will be not to select an accomplishment that demonstrates your role as team leader in an IT project.Try to select your achievements that showcase your ability to face challenges in other roles e.g. your adaptability to changes in the global world, your talent to convince others of executing your innovative ideas, your courage to take calculated risks that yielded results and so on.
You may choose one accomplishment from your professional life and one from your personal life to present your well- rounded personality.
Please do not begin your story with. "My greatest accomplishment is" or "one thing I did well was... "Let your story/ experience speak for you.
The ‘how’ part of your accomplishment is as important as the ‘what’ part. So, never tell the whole story in the first sentence itself. It is like telling the climax of the story in the first sentence itself.
Make sure your accomplishment story has the following four components:
the challenge,
the achievement,
the outcome/result,
the significance.
Do not forget to explain why this accomplishment is meaningful to you both in terms of the challenges you overcame, the results you produced, and the lessons you learned. In the following example, the applicant wraps up his story by outlining its significance for him.
Example:
“Today I recall XXX as one of the most memorable projects. From revenue perspective it was not the biggest project I handled, nor was it the most complex project. However, it was the most challenging project: in terms of saving my company and my own reputation in front of the mounting unforeseen challenges.”
Lastly, and most importantly, be as precise as you can in presenting your stories. With 300 words maximum words allowed, you only have approximately 150 words each for detailing two of your most significant accomplishments.
