MBA Applicants with Gaps in their Professional Experience need not worry- A Glance at Javier’s Experience
You may have heard about a number of difficulties that people encounter while applying for international studies. Here is a story of an MBA applicant, Javier from Barcelona, Spain who went through a problem that is common to many people when they undergo the application process. Javier, a 30-year old consultant in the Spanish Subsidiary of Accenture was striving to get one of the top management positions in his organization which required him to go for an international MBA program.
His manager supported him in the cause and eventually he reached one of the most recognized MBA programs in the US.
An Overall Interesting Profile
Javier was one of those strong applicants who had a very interesting profile. With a GMAT score of 710, an excellent academic record, writing skills and a strong desire for knowledge and information made him one of the best applicants. Despite this, there was one thing that he was worried about; the fact that there were gaps in his work experience and how it would be perceived by Admission Officers.
He had joined a humanitarian program in Africa where he stayed unemployed for a complete year. Later on, he was also involved in writing a novel and could not work during that time. In short, Javier had everything that an international MBA applicant required except for the work experience where his competitors could beat him.
Looking Out For a Deep Sense of Motivation
At JK, we tend to value the determination of clients who come to us. As far as Javier was concerned, there was nodeficiency in his level of motivation except for the unusual breaks in his professional life which could be questionable.
Javier possessed great personal experience since he had traveled to various places at a very young age and could easily communicate with people from different cultures. Now our job as a consultancy was to put this very fact into successful MBA essays.
Consider Life Experiences as a Part of Learning
The next thing was to focus on the life experiences of Javier. This was our strategy to make his profile stand out amongst all the other applicants. It required a lot of hard work in writing his essays that could highlight his personal strengths.
Thus, on the basis of his strong efforts and writing skills, Admission Committee recognized his talent and eventually, he was offered admission from Harvard, Stanford and INSEAD. However, he chose to study at Harvard on the opinion of his colleagues. Besides this Adcoms were too impressed with his creative writing skills and anticipated his collaboration in future researches.
Experiences as Assets
Thus, Javier's story tells us that it is not important whether you have breaks/gaps in your professional career or that you do not possess certain skills such as writing. What matters is the way you have used your time. Whether you just wasted it or you acquired knowledge and learning out of your experiences.
Therefore, any experience provided adds value to your personality and proves as an asset in the application process of an international MBA program.
Do you have gaps in your professional career but motivated enough to pursue MBA from Top B-School? Let us know in the comments section.
