There are three important steps to be followed to emerge with a successful recommendation:

Selecting the recommender: The best recommender is a supervisor  who has interacted with you closely. Recommendations from CEOs or CFOs are absolutely useless  unless you have closely worked with them on several projects. A supervisor who can talk about your strengths, weaknesses and really knows what you are made of is one of the best choices. A peer review is sometimes sought by schools. But when the recommender selection is left as an open choice, I would say a supervisor is preferred over a peer.

Selecting the right school is one of the important things in the application process. I consider the following aspects important in the selection process.

Curriculum and Electives: Check what a school offers as a part of the curriculum. Do the electives offered meet your career goal and aspirations?

Placements: How good is the recruitment in the field of your interest. If you are an international student make sure to know the companies that are willing to sponsor work permits. Not all companies are inclined to recruit international students.

From my experience I would suggest the following:

A complete and thorough retrospection of WHY an MBA would help with essays and interviews too. Know very well what you stated in your essays and ensure you reinforce them in the interviews.

WHY MBA, WHY MBA NOW, CAREER GOALS, ABOUT YOURSELF (show a career progression and also showcase extra curricular activities), WHY XYZ SCHOOL (bring out the match between your goals and what the school has to offer. Also what you can contribute and how you can continue to pursue your other interests) are typical and must be handled VERY VERY well.

Wondering what schools expect when they talk of extra-curricular activities?  Well, be it any domain that the school is concerned about, they look for one key trait; leadership!  In fact, one need not have held any lead roles in terms of designations in one’s work experience.  The initiatives you took and your leadership instances count.

We have been hearing “It is the best to apply when you and your application are ready”.  But, why not get ready for early rounds? Even if your stars don’t turn lucky for you, you would still have many doors open if you are an early bird. Yes, people who are not happy with the offers they get in the first round decisions always stand a chance to apply to their next set of schools’ second admission rounds in the very year rather than wait for 365 days!!! This is more appropriate for international students who are typically allowed to apply only to certain rounds of admission, most likely the first couple of them. First round generally spans from Oct to Dec. But certainly, as said, ensure you are all set when you apply. You may go through the MBA Checklist post to measure your readiness.

Here is a step wise approach to mission-MBA. This is designed by logically prioritizing each of the activities that make up the whole process. I hope this will be of help to address each task in a timely manner.

• Identify your career goals and identify why you would want to get associated with an MBA.  (Read “MBA? Where do I Start?”)
• Choose an MBA program that make the best fit for you in terms of mainly your career goals and other factors like the student body, class size, teaching methodology, placements, student clubs, location etc…

GOSH!! I know. It’s so confusing! #@$% Chill… Read on and I’m sure you’ll feel better.

The first and foremost step that an MBA aspirant should get past is…no, definitely not the GMAT.  It’s introspection and cheers to those who guessed it right!  Of course, a tedious phase but the most important of all. Yes, know why exactly you landed on this blog!  Where are you heading?  Why are you looking for an MBA?  Just augmented career options or fat pay packets cannot be the only reasons.  Identify a specific career path you wish to tread…Which industry? Which function? What designation? What in the short run? What in the long run? Now, think if getting back to school will help you achieve these goals?  Once done, you will have a focused eye that will help you look in the right direction in the right way. This process will also help a great deal in writing your applications and also in interviews.  So, get set!

If you’re one of the lucky ones to have secured an interview at one of your top choices, don’t be afraid. It’s time to showcase your speaking and presentation skills in a forum that will make or break your candidacy.

Face-to-face communication is losing its cache because of the time we spend networking online.  Ironically, business deals and admissions decisions are often based on how you present yourself in-person, and not necessarily online or on paper. The more time we spend online or using technology, the less time we have to advance our interpersonal communication skills in a “people setting.”  Good admission interviewers are looking for confident, credible, and in many cases, experienced speakers and presenters when they conduct MBA interviews.  Did you know that 90% of face-to-face communication is non-verbal? Experienced professionals and interviewers can see right through uneasiness, ignorance, and fear.  Don’t be one of these interviewees.  The only way to nail the interview is to prepare.