Last Minutes Community Service

[Stacy Blackman]

When Ali started working with Stacy Blackman Consulting he had stellar undergraduate grades, an impressive GMAT score and consistently growing work experience at a prestigious investment bank. What Ali did not have was any significant extracurricular or community service experience since college. Though his consultant assured Ali that most investment bankers scarcely had time for extensive community service, she did believe it was worth his time to take on a leadership role that demonstrated his interest in helping others.

https://www.stacyblackman.com/2013/07/09 ... y-service/

Ali and his consultant mined his background for relevant activities that would not seem abrupt if he became involved six months before his MBA applications. Other family members did have ties to several non-profit organizations, so Ali spoke with his father and sister about some of the work they had been involved in. After those discussions Ali decided to work on a fundraiser for an education non-profit his sister was passionate about. She was focused on helping girls in the Middle East obtain educational opportunities, and Ali felt passionate about the cause as well. Together they came up with an idea to have young professionals in New York sponsor a high school aged girl in a Middle Eastern country and mentor her in terms of possible career paths after her education. This idea helped Ali have significant involvement while leveraging his sister's ties with the non-profit. Ali enlisted his friends and colleagues to recruit mentors, and launched the first year of the endeavor in early Spring before his applications.

In his MBA applications Ali was able to show that he raised a meaningful amount of money and recruited mentors for the program, which started its inaugural year with 6 mentor/mentee pairs. This activity, while low in time commitment for Ali, was high in impact and assisted him in his successful applications to Columbia, Duke, and HBS.

- See more at: https://www.stacyblackman.com/2013/07/09 ... YuyVM.dpuf

[Busytrying]

Hi Stacy

Thank you for this post. I was starting to think this may be a problem for me too, and I am still not sure what to do about it. If I post my information - could you honestly tell me what you think / how to tackle this?

I used to do voluntary teaching and research, help the comunity theatre and be a class rep and small uni society secretary, however since I graduated from my BA I have had less and less opportunities to continue.

During my masters, I was commuting every day to my university and various libraries for the research (my research topic didn't favour internet / digitalised books or book purchasing as the prices could be exorbitant), and a job. I also had some issues which restricted my ability to walk.
During that time I had to stop volunteering locally in favour of earning a living as it was my only source of income (no external or family support available). However I took part in extra curricular activities (drama at the university, and a business competition which my team won). I assume I can explain that part / not be too worried about the lack of community service.

I completed my masters in end 2011, and since I have not been involved in either extra curriculars such as drama and competitions, or community service. At first, because I had a serious accident in Jan 2013, and had to undergo re-education for several months. The pain was important and genuinely I had no energy outside of my full time job, and again a commute to it. After then, I moved and took a new job where I work long hours, and travel regularly, eaning any community comitment is not really possible as I cannot be sure I'll make it every week in a reliable manner. Where I live now is also in the country side and most activities in the area are entirely church related. This is an issue for me as I have no involvement with any religious affiliations nor wish to seek any. I'd love to run marathons for example to fundraise and the experience seems fabulous, but I cannot run, even having undergone reeducation. I really truly enjoy being involved but not sure what with and at this stage, applying for INSEAD Jan 15 in R1 of applications (end march 14) I would certainly look like I got involved just for application process....

The only thing I can think of is for example at work , I currently provide some support to partner businesses with international community service initiatives (promoting entrepreneurship for example). However in all honesty my role is minor in this and there is no scope to be more involved. My own company does not have such a strong involvement.

Any advice at all, or even feedback on how you interpret the information I've provided would be appreciated. This is a part of my application on which I'm most struggling in terms of introspection and how to communicate it. Probably because I still associate it with the struggles I faced and because I get frustrated when I feel I cannot do what I would like to.