Welcome to F1GMAT’s #askAtulJose series. I am Atul Jose. In today’s episode, I will share one very important exercise that will make your post-MBA goals believable.

I have shared this tip in F1GMAT’s Columbia MBA Essay guide.

Many times, applicants trying to be contrarian share their post-MBA goal where the industry or the function is unique. They think that by doing so, the Business School will pay attention.

Don’t use this strategy.

Before framing your post-MBA goal, ask these two questions:

1) Is your post-MBA career path too unique for your profile?

There are niche roles, functions, and even transitions that are not possible with an MBA. The first reason is that you don’t have a history of taking on such roles. Nor do you have shown a temperament for taking on such ambitious post-MBA roles.

For example, for someone transitioning from a highly analytical technology role to an equally analytical VC role, the post-MBA goal is feasible if you have domain expertise in a FinTech project or have expressed an understanding of investments and strategic fund allocation through your extracurricular or volunteering.

No school is expecting a 5-year experienced professional to have incredible experiences in their professional life, but there will be sparks of potential in the applicant’s story based on career progression, volunteering, and extracurricular.

If what you are aiming for is completely different from anything you have ever done personally or professionally, don’t mention it as your short-term post-MBA goal. In reality, you might end up getting that role post-MBA, but for admissions, don’t use that goal.

2)  Is your target post-MBA job function and industry represented as a single-digit percentage

Let us say that you are targeting the retail industry, but according to the latest or the past two employment reports, the school’s retail placement as an industry is only 6%, and the school’s placement into a General Management function is 5%. Now in your post-MBA goal, if you mention that you want to enter a General Management function in the retail industry and you are not from the industry, then your post-MBA feasibility goes down drastically. No matter how much you build a narrative around how you will add value to that industry, the school just won’t buy your story.
So, as a rule of thumb, look at the % placed into an industry and function. At least one of them should be in double-digit representation.

I hope you got value from the tip. You can reach out to me, Atul Jose, for help with application essays, career planning, interview prep, and strategies to get into M7 and other top global MBA programs.