Hi There,
Schools know that students are looking to enhance their leadership experience, and many aspiring MBA applicants start doing community work in the 12 months prior to applying. The schools usually don't like this kind of fluffing of one's resume, and they will have doubts about the applicant's seriousness and dedication to his/her community.

Still, doing something can't hurt, but if you want it to be impactful you have to be smart about it - pick a theme or a topic that you feel strongly about and really get involved with it, so you don't want just to be a volunteer at a food kitchen, you want to become the team lead, or improve some of the processes there. Or maybe you pick a topic that is related to your background or career goals, or continue something you have done during college.

Here are a few tips I wrote on how to evaluate whether you have enough community work, especially if you are applying for top MBA programs https://admit1mba.com/2012/04/is-communi ... ation.html


I hope that this helps.
Yael, Admit1MBA
www.admit1mba.com

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Don't always assume it has to be non-affiliated to your job. A lot of great extra-curricular experience can happen via your employe through leading intern classes, lunch & learns, neighborhood clean-ups, various health walks. I think you get the picture sometimes these type of efforts seem a little more authentic than the ones pulled out of thin air.

Hope this helps!

Thanks for the insight. In retrospect this was kind of a silly post. I am more just curious what people in this avenue are doing outside of work in terms of leadership -- not so much how it will be advantageous in the GMAT application process. I have a good mix of leadership experience and community involvement through my current firm that will be worked into my story for applications.

Rmt 99e,

Thank you for sharing your very important question.

Below are three organizations you may consider for outside-of-work leadership opportunities.

1) SCORE
2) Taproot Foundation
3) USA Leadership Corps

These organizations recruit, train, and match emerging professionals like yourself with small businesses and nonprofits in need of business planning or strategy assistance. You will gain a tremendous feeling of accomplishment as you help a struggling local small business.

As you already know, such experiences demonstrate superior communication, listening, and problem-solving skill - which will be of great value to your throughout your MBA career.

Best of luck,

Maxwell Roper
Outreach Director
USA Leadership Corps (USALC)
www usaLeadershipCorps org

Defintely think it is a good idea to start building out some non-work leadership positions. However, since it is relatively "late" in the process, you have to make sure it is genuine and not something you are doing simply to pad your resume. Schools will see right through that. Make sure it is something that ties into your background.