MBA與其他研究所一樣，近年來越來越競爭，因此申請學生更要絞盡腦汁想想該如何表現自己。但該怎麼做呢？當自己的成績跟別人差不多時，甚至比不上別人時，唯一力挽狂瀾的方式就是把Essay寫好和拿到有力的推薦信。這部分就是我們今天要詳細說明的內容，如何把Essay寫好讓學校點頭。
在開始之前，是不是就已經一頭霧水呢？其實題目不難，但往往是申請者容易想太多，導致最後回答的內容文不對題。
MBA題目
大部分的MBA會問的問題核心大多不脫以下四種:
- What have you done/experienced?
- What do you want to do (short term/ long term) and why?
- How will our school help you get there?
- Why now?
在正式進入這四個題目之前，我們不厭其煩地再次強調不要把履歷的內容換湯不換藥的寫進來。
你想想，學校讓你把履歷獨立成一份文件提交，所以他們不需要再花時間讀落落長的文章，現在又把這些東西寫進去，你覺得學校會怎麼想? 知道為什麼不要再重複履歷的東西了吧!
那該寫些什麼? 任何的MBA essay都會包含這四個問題，也許用字上會有變化，但大同小異。其中某些題目可能會花你較多的時間去思考，但如果你能好好的回答這四個問題，就能幫助別人清楚建立對你的概念。
接下來就進入正題，了解MBA各個題目要如何回答。
What have you done?
小心陷阱題!除非題目有明確的要求你詳述過往工作經驗(現在更少學校這樣做了)，否則這部分不應該超過75-125字。學校在其他的文件 (履歷、面試、推薦信等等)就可以知道你工作的相關經歷，所以唯一一個合理在essay裡提到工作經驗的理由是支持第二個問題(你的目標)。
即使學校希望你可以談談你的工作經驗，也不要花超過一半的Essay來描述學校可以在其他文件找到的內容。
所以不寫工作經驗，要寫什麼? 教你一招: 最容易把過去經驗融入內容的方式就是說故事。可以利用整合過往經驗的方式來支持其他三個問題的內容，不要用“I worked as an investment analyst at a large bank for the past five years and pushed papers while juggling other tasks…blah blah,” 這種句子，反而要整合這些內容作為背景來支持你的長期目標。
What do you want to do (short term/ long term) and why?
這一題目有兩大重點必須避免(1)內容過於普遍 (2)無法合理展現出工作經驗與未來目標的銜接。我們知道很多人都是想利用MBA來轉換跑道，但不管是什麼情況，你都得解釋過去經驗與未來目標的關聯性。
那短期目標與長期目標是什麼呢?又該如何在essay中解釋? 學校想知道是什麼讓你感到興奮並願意多花幾年來讀書獲得那個能幫助你達成目標的技能。因此，你必須了解畢業後的明確目標並說明你如何對這份工作產生興趣進而想要做這份工作。所以寫作上不要用“I want to be a manager because…” 或 “I worked in finance and like it, so I want to be a banker.” 這種句子很無聊，而且會讓人覺得你很懶惰，你沒有做好功課也沒有認真思考你真心想獲得的工作。
但也不需要真的指出你想做哪一份工作，因為還不清楚畢業後可以做那些職位，可是至少可以將範圍縮小至與你的既有技能有關連的。如果你真的不清楚畢業後你要幹嘛，那要考慮是否現在就要申請或是寫幾個你已經考慮過的幾種方案。
現在來看看以下的範例。
Not one week into my job as an assistant operational manager at my family’s vertical farming venture, I informed my boss (my father) that his business needed to be completely revamped. To make our business scalable, I realized certain aspects of production needed streamlining. Moreover, I suggested that we reconsider our target audience and marketing efforts. I did not want our business to be a yuppie fad that merely fades away within a few years. Rather, I believed that our enterprise could flourish into a sustainable business that could reach corporate clients in profound ways. Over the next six months, I worked closely with engineers to design new production methods that cut our production time by half and costs by 20%. After this victory, I tackled the larger issue of reshaping our client base by…
When my father asked what additional steps we should take to better position ourselves to target our new potential client base, I realized how much I needed a stronger grounding in business management to more satisfactorily respond to my father’s questions. Armed with an MBA from [School], known for its strong entrepreneurship and family business management, I am confident that I will utilize the skills learned to fully launch our vertical farming venture into the B2B world, in not only a local way, but also nationally and eventually globally.
內容不只展現了熱情也讓我們知道他的想法，更進一步擴展了履歷所沒有提供的資訊。而這些環環相扣的細節實際則告訴我們申請者是個細心並思緒周到的人，也讓人知道他在讀完MBA之後大放異彩的潛能。
說明長期目標的時候，記得要帶出與短期目標間的關係，但不能單純只說我接下來幾年想當品牌經理，再轉到資產管理。想轉換跑道的話，可以利用自然的興趣發展來帶出領域轉換。拿上面的例子來說，我們會合理認為該公司將由當地市場發展到全國，接著國際化。又假設有一個人想在社會企業當人資，後來想出來創業當管理顧問公司老闆來建議公司們可以利用不同的方式來活化當地經濟。
How will our school help you get there?
這一題比之前兩題簡單了，而這一題學校想知道的其實是“why our school and not another.”，盡量展現出這所學校就是最適合你的那一所。最好不要用一般的用詞像是“your school.”，會讓學校覺得你複製貼上其他間學校的申請內容。
建議找你想在那間學校上的兩到三個課程並解釋這樣的課程能夠讓你獲得什麼經驗。此外再挑一到兩個學校提供的課外活動並解釋透過這樣的活動能如何豐富你的學習體驗還能幫助你往夢想更邁進一步。最後找找該校的強項與宗旨，說明這些原則如何與你想從學校方面獲得的東西相同。
將以上的元素包含進去之後，就能表現出你能如何融入學校並詳細的解釋了為什麼你選了這間學校喔。
Why now?
如果學校特別問你為什麼想現在讀MBA，要針對問題回答。簡單來想，就是說你已經試過很多方法，但現在職涯就是卡住了，如果不透過正式訓練你就無法再進步，所以你必須現在去上學。同樣的，如果你正在尋求職業轉換，那麼離開現職去進修將是一個休息，你可以在這時候進行正規教育，接著過渡到另一個領域。
Your MBA application essay in a nutshell
寫essay的時候，記得學校想看到什麼。學校希望申請者是個有著厲害決策技巧的積極行動者，在學習進步的同時，也能回饋學校與其他學生，互相學習成長。抽象一點來說，就像是畫一個圖而這個圖不管是缺了你或缺了學校，這個圖片都不再完整！下文我們提供寫作範例
Prompt: Describe how your experiences, both professional and personal, have led to your decision to pursue an MBA at the Wharton school this year. How does this decision relate to your career goals for the future?
Throughout my life, I have observed two distinct career paths, my father’s and my uncle’s. My father completed his engineering degree and secured a government job in India, which he continues to hold to this day. My uncle’s path began similarly; like my father, he earned an engineering degree. My uncle, on the other hand, continued his education by moving to the United States to earn an MBA, then started his own venture and became a successful businessman in Los Angeles. Evaluating their experiences helped me understand what I wanted from my life and create a ‘master plan’ for my career. While I appreciate the excitement, flexibility, and independence my uncle has in his life, I value my father’s proximity to his family and culture. I now realize that a career as an entrepreneur in India could provide me with the “best of both worlds.”
With the objective of learning about business, I completed my bachelor’s degree in Commerce and joined KPMG in the Audit & Business Advisory Department. I believed that a career with an accounting firm would serve me in two ways: first, by enhancing my knowledge of accounting — the language of business — and second, by providing me with an excellent introduction to the business world. My decision seemed to be a sound one; in my first two years at KPMG, I worked on a wide variety of assignments that not only strengthened my analytical and problem-solving skills, but also taught me how large businesses managed their sourcing, manufacturing, and distribution functions. After enjoying this productive and educational experience for two years, I decided I wanted greater opportunities than what the audit department could offer.
Thus, when the Management Assurance Services (MAS) practice was established in India, the challenge of working in a new service line and the opportunity to help improve the risk management mechanisms of businesses influenced me to join it. In the last three years, I have improved risk management capabilities of clients by addressing strategic, enterprise and operational risk issues. I have also assisted the MAS practice in tailoring our international portfolio of services to the Indian marketplace by conducting risk management surveys, interacting with professionals in other developing economies, and conducting interviews with senior client management. Besides becoming skilled at process risk consulting, I have also significantly improved my project management and ‘new service’ development abilities in the last three years.
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