How to Define Your Goals for Successful MBA Applications

UPDATE: This post was originally published on March 27, 2020. It has been updated with new tips and information below. 

Admissions committees are looking for applicants who can show that they have considered how to create meaningful and realistic impact – this is the easiest way for them to see whether you will use your spot at their school wisely and purposefully. You want readers to come away thinking, “Wow, this person’s goals are really important!” 

While it is important for you to demonstrate your strengths and capacities, none of this means much to adcoms if those ideas don’t work towards a bigger purpose. That bigger purpose is both what motivates you to pursue your career and also what motivates them to open one of their limited spots for you, so you can go forward and give their school a good reputation.

Considering that you are competing against thousands of others for a selective spot, it’s important that you give a very clear picture of what you want to do with your MBA and how that will make a notable impact. This will be essential in helping you stand out from the other candidates.

Therefore, you must think long and hard about how to communicate your goals as actionable tasks that are solving a specific problem or targeting a certain issue.

 

What makes a goal clear?

Your goals should be clear and focus on an achievement, not just something you’re interested in, as they are your most important argument for your application. 

Clear goals are concrete and specific. Your goals should express exactly what you will do with the degree that your school(s) of choice can provide you. 

For example, “My goal is to become a leader in tech to drive innovation” is quite abstract and unclear. In comparison, “My goal is to become a product development partner at McKinsey, pushing for integration of automation into top financial firms’ systems to ease customer experiences” paints a vivid picture of what you will be doing in the future.

Good goals are also realistic. If you have strengths in analytics with an engineering background, it doesn’t make sense for you to have a goal relating to employee engagement within the human resources department. Stick with goals that align with your previous experience and strengths (unless you can find a way of justifying a big switch by discussing your lessons learned). 

Similarly, well-formulated goals are actionable. This means that you recognize that you understand your position as an individual, and that large-scale impact will require you to work alongside teams and within networks to achieve change. It doesn’t make sense for you to argue that you will single-handedly solve climate change; however, it is more believable if you say you will lead disruptive transformations that reduce companies’ emissions by integrating a new kind of technology into their production process.

Goals are also clear if they come off as sincere. Showing that you are passionate and motivated about what you want to do will prove to the readers that you will remain driven to achieve your goals in the long run. 

For example, compare “In the short-term, I want to work in a startup focused on providing accessible housing opportunities, as this is an important issue in my region” with “In the short-term, I want to work in a startup with demonstrated impact on housing equality in my region, such as Housing Lives, utilizing my strong negotiations skills to attract long-term angel investors who can ensure that our social impact grows healthily.” 

Not only does the latter example offer more detail, but it shows the reader that you have carefully and deeply thought about the changes you want to make. 

 

How to brainstorm your goals?

Before you start constructing your goals statement, it will be helpful for you to brainstorm some ideas first. Take some time to sit down with a pen and paper so you can organize your thoughts. Here are some guiding questions to consider:

Think about what motivates you and your strengths: 

• What has been the connecting thread behind your career choices so far? 
• What sparked your interest in your field? 
• What are the main problems that you want to solve in your work? 
• What do you excel at and how can you use this to create change?
• Through which personal or professional achievements have you felt most fulfilled? 

Taking a look at your CV and responding to questions like these will help you think about what will continue to drive you forward post-MBA. 

Contemplate your biggest achievements and lessons learned: 

• What results or impact are you most proud of and why? 
• Is this the kind of impact that you hope to expand in the future? 
• What have you liked and disliked about past jobs?
• How have you made concrete and tangible impact in the past?
• When have you taken the initiative to go above and beyond the scope of your responsibilities?

Think about the things that  you have been able to change in your career so far, and how you might want to bring that forward with you. Make a list of what you would like to be more involved in, what you want to avoid, and why.

Consider your extra-professional interests: 

• What kinds of activities do you engage in during your free time? 
• What do you think is valuable about them, or what contributions have you made? 
• Why are these activities meaningful to you? 

Remember that personal or extra-professional experiences can sometimes be the greatest motivators for your career goals. [EF1] In fact, many candidates we work with discovered what really drives them when they were outside of the office.

All of these questions can help you think about important approaches or achievements that you might want to integrate into your goals statement. 

 

How should you structure your goals?

As you prepare to start writing your essays, we recommend creating both short- and long-term goals. Your short-term goal is what you will start working on immediately after your MBA, usually within around 2-3 years, while “long-term” is anything beyond that time period. 

TOP TIP: Your short-term goal should not be to join an MBA program. The schools want to see what you want to do after graduating from their program. 

Most schools ask you to separate them this way anyway, but even if you are not prompted to do so, it’s a good idea to show that you have an idea of what steps you will take to achieve your bigger objectives. Your short-term goals should align directly with your long-term goals, as if you are climbing a staircase and you must take one step before the next. For each goal:

• Make it clear what problem you are trying to solve or what issue you want to address.

This can inform both your short- and long-term goals – and functions as the foundation behind all of your future career actions. Try to make this as specific as you can. 

For example, some clients discuss their experiences with the limited life prospects that students who cannot afford a private education in Brazil face, which is what informs their goals.

1. State what role you want to take on and the company or industry it would be in. 

It is best to state this information explicitly for both your short- and long-term goals. You can also include the main responsibilities you expect to have.

For example, if you want to join a top consulting firm, you should include the name of your target firm and the exact role you hope to take on post-graduation. Examples include: project manager, associate, or client relations consultant.

• Clarify what you want to achieve by leveraging your position.

In the short-term, this could mean either how you want to change the problem/issue you’ve you hope to impact, and/or how you will be further prepared to achieve your long-term goal.

In the long-term, this is the bigger impact or change that you want to make. This should involve something outside of you – a certain change in society, such as improving literacy rates in your country, or promoting a progressive practices like corporate environmental responsibility.

Here are a few examples of good goals that we have seen in the past:

“Currently, incumbent banks in Latin America fail to offer small businesses credit and insurance services, limiting the competitiveness of the market. Post-MBA, I shall take on a product management role at a top Latam fintech. In this role, I will learn how to lead innovation tracks and develop state-of-the-art fintech solutions for a wide range of stakeholders. This will prepare me for my long-term goal of starting a firm focused on financial inclusion for “underbanked” small businesses in Latin America.”

“I aspire to empower women by increasing their access to fertility preservation services. My diligence at FIRM has shown me the lack of low-cost options in the fertility market. I believe that increasing access and destigmatizing fertility preservation would lead more women to gain the flexibility to advance their careers at a time traditionally overtaken by biology. I plan to deepen my operating and investing experience with consumer-facing, distributive healthcare businesses as an operations manager at a growth-oriented healthcare fund. Having gained that experience, I then plan to launch a fertility platform that offers low-cost fertility services.”

 

What should you avoid when defining your goals?

Vagueness. Many clients come to us with goals that simply state the industry they want to switch to or the role they want to occupy in the future. However, this does not give the reader an idea of how they will use their MBA. 

If you do not illustrate a clear direction for your career post-MBA, the adcom will not think you are prepared for their school or are just looking for a name on your CV. 

Misaligning your goals with the school. Each school has its own idea of who is a good ‘fit’ for their community, with strengths and unique aspects in different areas. If you focus your goals on an aspect that is not prevalent at the school, the adcom will know that you haven’t done your research and assume that you don’t particularly care about where you go. 

Stating a goal that doesn’t require an MBA. If you already have a business background and want a simple promotion that you could achieve without going back to school, then it’s very unlikely the adcom will make space for you. Make sure you are showing that there are gaps in your skillset or expertise that require aspects of the program you’re applying to if you want to achieve your goals.

After all, you might want to be the first person to live on Mars, but an MBA really can’t help you get there! 

 

Need guidance on defining your goals?

With a wide range of experiences under your belt, it can be very hard to define a focused path forward. That is what we do best – our expert team can help you organize your thoughts and create the optimal goals formula that combines your strengths and motivations into a compelling statement. 

That’s why 98.9% of our clients secure admissions to at least one of their target schools. 

If you’re interested in working with us, apply to have us support you during your MBA application journey here.