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MBA INSIDER: SAMPLE APPLICATION ESSAYS Washington (Olin): Essay 1 QUESTION: Please explain the ways that you anticipate the Washington University MBA experience will impact your life and your career. (400 words maximum)
I've been working in the information technology industry, in particular, service providing. My aspiration is to remain in the same sphere, both for the short and for the long run.
When I think about where I'd like to be professionally, some years from now, I think of John Hagel III, the author of "Out of the Box, Strategies for Achieving Profits Today and Growth Tomorrow through Web Services", co-author of "Net Gain" and "Net Worth". His mixture of experiences in strategic planning and in IT consulting firms led him to work with technology exactly at the same level I'd like to do. I'd like to work in a position in which I could be in touch both with business needs and with technology. These are the two ingredients I'd like to find in my professional experience. What I most like in Hagel's experience is that he reached the perfect balance of the two ingredients, recognizing that a technical background is fundamental in developing a great strategy based on the use of technology. Many consultants are too focused on technology. These are the ones that usually work too much on problem solving and hardly address business needs. Many others are too focused on strategy. These are the ones that project great plans and hardly know how to translate them effectively. I see the opportunity for an interesting career in the appropriate balance between these two ingredients, something that is still difficult to find in the market. The job I'd like to have is not about how specific issues can be addressed by innovative solutions, but rather about how general problems can be addressed by the application of technology which can bring powerful new results. The heart of technology is in the United States. I experienced this firsthand – in the last three years I have had chances to meet people from US companies visiting Italy, to attend conferences in the US, and to visit some companies there. So, first of all, through my MBA courses I'd like to gain an inner point of view from the leading country of the industry. Second and related, during my experience in the MBA courses I hope I will meet other people who have had the opportunity to work in this field and to share with them experiences, ideas and opinions. I want to go deeper from an already interesting academic point of view to the point of view that the mixture of firsthand experience and knowledge can give you. Last, I think an MBA is a clear signal that you can give to inform others of your knowledge and capability.  Get BusinessWeek directly on your desktop with our RSS feeds.  Add BusinessWeek news to your Web site with our headline feed. Click to buy an e-print or reprint of a BusinessWeek or BusinessWeek Online story or video. To subscribe online to BusinessWeek magazine, please click here. Learn more, go to the BusinessWeekOnline home page  | | AUGUST Learn about your online education options |
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