In today’s episode, I have one advice for all applicants targeting the next MBA admission cycle. And this is something that I observed over the past decade.

Applicants often ask for an initial profile evaluation and end with one of the two questions – what are my chances, and should I do an MBA?

Very rarely, they ask what I should do to improve my profile. Because the answer I give or the plan I make for them requires a lot of sacrifices. The sacrifice of weekends. The sacrifice of time with your loved ones and a complete commitment to achieving the goal of getting into a top school. And with the work-from-home/hybrid model that we have adopted and the economy we are in, everybody is overworked. So no applicant wants to take on any more work.

The corrective step remains a huge gap in the profile. Now, the applicant hopes that the work could be compensated through clever narratives or stories. And it rarely happens. It happens only if your current responsibilities are such that you didn’t get any weekends for volunteering, and your volunteering/extracurricular was in the top 1% in college or your current contributions at work also spilled into volunteering engagements through the company.

I remember a conversation with the supervisor of a client who got into an M7 school. His first comment was that although I gave a great recommendation letter, the client was just an above-average professional. I felt flattered when he praised me for my storytelling, but the truth was that the client was relentless in understanding his weakness. Suppose I scheduled a 10-minute call and pointed out the gaps in his profile. The next day he could come up with a list of non-profits where he could work. Then we would analyze the story that could be crafted around the engagement. Whether it complements or supplements his day job. When he faced rejection in an interview that he was supposed to convert, he came to me, and we analyzed all the answers. We concluded that when the interviewer provoked the client with a stressful question, he lost his cool. He noted down his weakness and requested me to deliberately ask pointed questions. And this time, he managed to keep his cool. He wanted complete and honest feedback on his weaknesses. He was willing to do any corrective work to improve his profile. So when the supervisor commented that the client was an above-average professional, I just wanted to share what he did to improve himself and be in a position to win.

This quality will help you – 100% commitment to improving yourself.

Another common question is how to persuade my supervisor to write a good recommendation letter. This brought back my experience working with three research writers at F1GMAT. One person did the bare minimum, and within a short period, the person just couldn’t handle the creative and productivity expectations. The second person had moments of greatness but burned out fast and required constant motivation. But the third person, who again was just an above-average writer, owned the project. So this, for me, was the best experience I had working with a writer. Because the person made an effort to understand the requirements, follow up, ensure that the objectives were met, and was completely committed to giving an excellent outcome.

And if all three came and asked me for a recommendation letter, there would certainly be a difference in how I write the letter as a supervisor. It is rare to find someone who commits 100% to the task, especially in our highly distracted world. So if you want to persuade your supervisor, May to December should be a timeframe where you get noticed in your team or in your company.
Give your 100%. The supervisor will have no option but to write a great recommendation letter. They will notice your commitment and your work.

I hope you got value from my advice. I am Atul Jose. You can always reach out to me here for advice on career planning or improving your profile. See you in the next #askAtulJose series.