Schools like to act as a pre-filter for typical post-MBA employers

That way they can check whether you are likely to get a job quickly and be generally satisfied with your investment. This is also a way of testing whether you will be able to succeed in the MBA and graduate 😉 .

There are various ways of breaking down the different skills they look for, but we like to think of them as follows:

Employability Skills

• Analytical Ability
• Leadership & Initiative
• Teamwork & Interpersonal Skills
• Creativity & Passion

For some schools, Community Work will be a separate criterion. We consider it to be more of a means of demonstrating a number of those above skills. In any case we recommend that you use examples from extra-curricular activities as much as possible, especially if you are targeting US schools. See our paragraph in the General Tips below on Community Work / Extra Curriculars.

The same can be said for International Exposure. Some schools with international focus, such as LBS and INSEAD, will have this as a separate criteria but for others it will be a way of demonstrating your leadership or teamwork abilities. Again we recommend using any relevant experience you may have in this area (it’s great for differentiating yourself from other similar profiles) but we do not consider it to be a separate criterion.

Analytical Ability

Of course, a lot of this is based on your test scores – mainly the GMAT/GRE and for some schools the undergraduate GPA. However there are other ways of demonstrating it in your essays, via examples of how you’ve solved problems in your past positions, or how you’ve worked on an analytical based project in your spare time, etc.

Despite what most admissions consultants tell you (keep in mind that it’s in their interest to get you to target lower grade schools to increase their success rates!), a low GMAT score is rarely in itself a discriminatory factor, unless it is 100-150 points below the school average. However a low GMAT that is not compensated by other evidence of your ability to think analytically is a much bigger problem!

It is equally true that a 750+ GMAT does not guarantee you entrance either. If you fail to demonstrate any of the other skills, you won’t get in to your dream school.

Leadership & Initiative

For this skill, even more so than for the others, it’s very much a case of “show rather than tell”. Anybody can say they are a great leader, but fewer can actually provide a compelling example of where they’ve demonstrated those leaderships skills.

It is very important to realize that you do not need to be managing a team of 100+ direct reports to prove your leadership qualities. You can use examples that demonstrate any of the following in your essays or interviews:

• Going beyond your daily job responsibilities, for example by setting up recruitment links with your university, creating a guide of best practices for the team, etc.
• Successfully influencing and motivating others, for example by on-boarding skeptical project members from other departments for a new initiative.
• Adapting well to change, for example by adopting new practices and actively participating in the definition of new processes or ways of working that are required from that change.
• Providing thought leadership, for example by providing opinions on where the industry you are interested in is heading. But please don’t be arrogant! You can have an opinion but still realise you need to learn a lot, and the MBA will help you do so 😉 . 
• Demonstrating high ethical standards, for example by refusing to comply with unethical practices that you may have encountered and dealing with them in a professional way (be careful to not name any people or companies that were involved in such unethical practices – it’s likely to make the committee uncomfortable more than anything else!).
• Taking bold steps to go out of your comfort zone, for example by being the first man / woman on Mars, or perhaps more realistically:  moving to a new country where you have no family / friends / language skills, or quitting your job to start a new company.

Another crucial point: do not assume that leadership needs to equate to success. There are plenty of “failed” entrepreneurs who have been accepted at top business schools by writing about the failed initiatives they took and how they learned from the experience. 

Teamwork & Interpersonal Skills

Here it’s all about showing that you’re not an a**hole and that you have high emotional intelligence (your ability to interact well with a diverse set of people, particularly those who are not your superiors).

You don’t need to have been part of large teams, you can show it by examples of interactions with your colleagues, employees, people from other departments, or your customers, etc. 

Here are some examples of interpersonal skills, for your inspiration:

• Positioning yourself in others shoes, by considering their point of view, even if they don’t tell you it.
• Showing empathy for people when they are having personal issues, and taking that into account in your actions.
• Demonstrating cultural awareness, for example by acknowledging differences in working styles and adapting your behaviour to increase the working relationship efficiency.
• Showing self-awareness and humility, by recognizing your defaults and mistakes and learning from them.
• Being diligent towards your customers needs, for example by going beyond the requirements set by your boss to ensure complete satisfaction from your customer.
• Managing conflict, for example by acting as a mediator between two colleagues who disagree and facilitating an agreement that satisfies both parties.
• Being flexible, by adapting your own style and actions to the various constraints that are set by other team members or their bosses.

Creativity & Passion

You can be a really smart, great leader and team player but still be missing a bit of “a spark” for business schools. Admissions committees are looking for applicants full of drive and who will make the most of the programme and go on to have remarkable careers. And guess what? The two traits are often related as people tend to be more creative on a topic they feel passionate about. They have more energy to go beyond the traditional objectives. 

Below are some ways of showing creativity or passion in your essays.

• Dealing with constraints at work, for example by coming up with ideas to deal with time, money or team resource constraints.
• Identifying ways of improving processes, for example for recruitment, communication, quality control, etc.
• Showing thought leadership, for example by providing your opinion on how an industry may change over the next decade. Yes, this shows both leadership and passion / creativity. 
• Showing that you spend a lot of time on something, for example by quantifying it in your essays (e.g. number of hours, articles, or visits, etc.). But make sure that it’s relevant. Spending 20h a week on Instagram can show passion but you may not want to mention that…
• Conveying it with your writing style, by using enthusiastic vocabulary or exclamatory punctation in your essays. Unfortunately, swearing does not count….be energetic but don’t go over the top!

Again, remember that coherence is key! It’s very important to link any passion or creativity you talk about with your career vision and other skills, making sure your overall application makes sense as a whole. For example it could be your “passion” for defining processes that has led you to realize you should move from marketing into operations, etc. 

Read on

This post is part of the Application Strategy Guide. Click the link to return to it.

• How to show Career Vision (link).
• How to show Cultural Fit (link).
• How to show “Pitching Factor” & Final Application Strategy Tips (link). 

Or if you’re tired with strategy, and want to switch to execution, have a look at the following:

• CV Tips (link).
• Essay Tips (link).
• Interview Tips (link).