UPDATE: This article was originally posted on April 27, 2020. It has been updated with new information and tips below. 

Values essays may be a challenge, but business schools use them for a reason: they want to see who can truly and genuinely justify their career path and goals.

For a number of MBA applications, such as Stanford’s “What matters most to you, and why?”, Kellogg’s “What values are important to you and how have they influenced you?”, or INSEAD’s “Give a candid description of yourself,” you are required to self-reflect and find the values that underlie your career goals and experience. For those who are used to solely emphasizing tangible accomplishments, this can be quite a difficult task. 

This is why we’ve compiled some suggestions for communicating values clearly so that you can leverage these kinds of essays to your advantage. By answering the following questions, you can build a foundation to illustrate yourself as a unique candidate through your values.

 

What makes you YOU?

Try to write down the core aspects of your personality, including strengths and weaknesses (especially as many applications require you to discuss weaknesses and failures, as this shows humility and growth). Think about your main accomplishments or challenges, and how aspects of your personality influenced you to act. Consider the things that people you work with and care about most have mentioned to you about your personality.

You don’t need to limit yourself to the professional sphere – in fact, it is better to illustrate both personal and professional examples and ideas in these kinds of essays (as the adcoms want to see the things that really drive your actions overall).

If you’re having trouble getting started, or aren’t sure you’ve really identified the right path forward, family members and close friends can be an excellent resource to help you zero in on the best topic. Ask them what are the most defining aspects of your personality and to provide some examples of when they have observed this.

 

What has driven your personal and career choices?

Take a look back at your personal and professional experiences to identify the “tipping points” in your life. Think about the main choices in your life, and why you made them. What has led you to the point you are at now? 

Thinking about this progression and writing down the main mile-markers that have guided it will be very helpful in thinking about the most important crossroads of your life and what motivations lie behind them. 

 

What are the most impactful moments of your life?

In what moments in your life did you feel most engaged or fulfilled? Have you overcome any challenges that marked your identity? What events have really touched you or made you think differently about your life and/or career? 

Questions like these can help you get to the heart of the ideas that resonate with you most, and will help you discuss the motivations and influences that are behind your own desired future impact.

 

Why does all of this matter?

Once you have decided on the main ideas that are the most relevant to your application, you can start to expand upon those and prepare to write about them by establishing their importance. 

Doing this is necessary to prove your points and show the reader the bigger context of your values. 

TOP TIP: Regardless of which topic(s) you choose, make sure they are genuine and that you can point to specific moments in your life during which you have acted on this value. Without concrete examples of your motivations and values, your essay will neither be convincing nor memorable.

For each of your main values and characteristics, write down why they matter. In doing this, try to think about change. What changes have these concepts brought to your life and career, and how does this demonstrate progress? Or, what lessons have they taught you and why are those lessons significant? Then, try to establish how you will use these lessons/changes in the future – in what ways will they change your future actions and what impact will this have?

 

How do your main characteristics and values relate to your top schools?

Now, depending on the schools you are applying to, you will have to decide which of your top values and characteristics relate best to the school’s values and opportunities. Therefore you will first have to do some research for each school to determine what they are looking for. 

For example, if you are applying to Kellogg, where community service is a core value, it would be advised for you to focus on values like “giving back.” If you are also applying to INSEAD, where diversity and globalism are key, it might make more sense to switch your focus a bit to focus on “inclusivity.” 

TOP TIP: choose a theme for answering these essays so that your values and personality traits make sense to the reader. Even if you choose multiple traits or values to highlight, it will be a lot easier for you to write a coherent essay if they are all related somehow. For example, if you want to focus on your values of empathy and integrity, you can connect these ideas by saying that you are a good team-player because of these facets of your personality. 

What should you avoid in values essays?

Values essays are particularly difficult to write, so there are a lot of common mistakes that applicants make in writing these kinds of essays that fail to make them stand out from the rest. As you brainstorm how you will write about your values and characteristics, it’s important to think about some of these easily committed errors.

 

Don’t be vague  

Values are inherently abstract and subjective, so it is extremely difficult to paint a vivid, memorable picture to the adcom about how you implement those values in your own life and career. However, you must find a way to illustrate them clearly. 

Although the value itself may be a vast concept, throughout your response you will show the reader what it means in your context through examples and lessons learned. 

 

Don’t choose too many ideas for one response

Another way you will write a coherent essay that sticks in readers’ minds is by keeping the structure simple. 

Depending on the response, you want to focus on one, and no more than three, main values or characteristics. This will ensure you have the space to elaborate on what your values mean to you, give examples, and discuss lessons learned.

 

Don’t use cliches

While you may think that common hooks like “I want to make a difference” or “I am passionate about social impact” may engage the reader, in fact, this is not the way to highlight your uniqueness. Instead, be specific, stick to your own context and lessons learned, and be yourself.

 

Crafting your ideal values essay

In many cases, a question that asks you deeper questions is a great opportunity to really shine and discuss the significance of your personal approach, experience, and goals. However, we know this can be an overwhelming process.

If you still find yourself struggling with these issues, we are happy to help! Our MBA essay editors at Ellin Lolis Consulting have the expertise you need to identify the right stories and approaches to discussing leadership for each school you’re applying to. We can help you polish your essay to really make your leadership experiences shine. 

Even more importantly, we can help you effectively highlight your desire to grow as a leader in your top MBA program and the global world of business beyond. After all, as Kellogg’s admissions point out, growth is a challenge confronted by every organization – and every leader.