Discuss your career goals. What skills do you expect to gain from studying at INSEAD and how will they contribute to your professional career?

Sample One

My long-term goal is to leverage my international experience, marketing skills and project execution ability to start a consulting firm focused on helping governments realize initiatives for economic and cultural change. I envision my firm to be a key player in bringing challenging social projects to fruition by providing multifunctional project management services, while managing communication to relevant government and non-government stakeholders, including the population at-large.

I have seen the difficulties poor people face first-hand, and know that Latin American governments lack capacity to solve these issues. With my leadership abilities, drive to succeed and ability to deliver a vision, I believe I can change things for the better. I represent a small percentage of the population who had the amazing opportunity to study at university, and believe that, if those of us who had this chance do not do something for our country, nobody will.

To achieve my long-term goal I need to complement my existing skills with a more global perspective, greater breadth of business experience, built a strong network of global business contacts, and improve my entrepreneurial fundamentals. An INSEAD MBA and subsequent business development work experience in Europe are fundamental steps towards reaching my goals.

An MBA from INSEAD is critical for me to transition to my near-term goal, and provide the foundations for my long-term goal of pan-American business leadership. INSEAD's strong focus on entrepreneurship will help me develop the mindset of an entrepreneur - able to deal with ambiguity, comfortably handle risk and uncertainty, and discover opportunities for innovation. INSEAD's career services, with counselors experienced in a breadth of sectors, will help me validate the career path I have designed and consider it with a fresh perspective. The one year concentrated study is also a terrific opportunity to gain knowledge, and quickly come back to work and put my experience into practice. Additionally, I am enthusiastic about the opportunity to live and study in France, not only for the cultural and business opportunities, but living in France, will bring my Spanish husband and I closer to his home country, and provide our 2-year-old son with a better education than that currently available in Latin America.

Finally, INSEAD's location and contacts with European companies will help me transition to a business development career in Europe. I look to complement my MBA experience with real life projects and gain experience in regions outside America; I can do this by working in business development with a focus on brand building and inorganic growth for a company in Europe expanding in emerging markets.

In the long term, INSEAD's global reach and global perspective will prepare me to work in a diverse workplace and will help me form a talented group of collaborators for my pan-regional development objective. It will also help me develop a strong network of contacts who will eventually be decision-makers in international corporations and governments who can help me make a difference in Latin America.

Sample Two (Excerpt)

Working with a microfinance NGO in Thailand as part of a college fellowship taught me the power of a small loan to change lives. Inspired by the change that can occur when I help others help themselves, my ultimate career goal is to start my own microfinance NGO in my home country of India, focusing on women’s economic development. My background in finance at Goldman Sachs, and in fundraising at ILO, laid a basis for my future career path. However, to achieve my goals I need to develop my management skills and particularly the operational ability to run my own organization. Immediately after graduation from INSEAD I plan to work as a regional director within a large NGO, preferably in India, to gain the on-the-ground operational skills to start my own organization as my long-term career goal.

Sample Three

As the son of an oil company executive I had lived in seven different countries across the world by the age of 15. In high school we moved from Saudi Arabia back to Houston, Texas where I spent the remainder of high school. Naturally I chose to leave the United States once again to attend university at the London School of Economics. I have been shaped by my multinational background which is the reason I am drawn to the diverse INSEAD student community for my MBA.

My career goal to start my own NGO one day will be served by the curriculum at INSEAD. From classes like Microeconomics in the Global Economy, that will provide a general overview of global trends, to Building Business in India, that will provide a deep dive into one specific economy, I will gain the educational basis to achieve my goals. I look forward to working with a diverse study group to learn about my classmates’ culture, while reconnecting with my own through “Desi” Indian Week. In my free time I plan to connect with my fellow students on the field as part of the INSEAD Rugby Club. As a leader within INDEVOR (an affiliate chapter of Net Impact) I plan to bring speakers I know through my work within the NGO community, like the CEO of an organization that was instrumental in keeping small business alive after the earthquake in Haiti.

Sample Four

When I graduated from college I knew that I had a passion for problem solving and an interest in the tech industry. My hobbies have always revolved around learning as much as possible about the latest gadget, and I spent many hours in high school building rudimentary web pages. My degree in economics and finance turned out to be a great fit for the business development analyst position at TechCo, and I quickly learned how to evaluate potential investments in technology and products.

While working at TechCo I have realized that I am passionate about leading teams and seeing new products find a market. However, I have also observed the inefficiencies that come with a large risk-adverse corporate environment. Many of the products I have worked on could have been developed to be even more revolutionary and customer friendly if the team had been comfortable with failure. I plan to work towards a leadership position in a company like TechCo, and my plan is to encourage as much failure as success. I firmly believe that to develop the products of the future we need to be nimble and innovative, and the fear of taking a real risk ends many innovative ideas before they can be developed. To encourage risk taking I will form small teams that are empowered to spend a limited amount of money on developing as many ideas as they would like and to evaluate them against the principles of customer usability and function. Only then will we apply the pressure of a profit and loss plan. I firmly believe that my technical and business background, along with the education I receive at INSEAD will help me develop my vision into a long and successful career.

Sample Five

My work with Flyline Ventures ended on January 15, 2011 when we were turned down for Series A funding, and the start up funding ran out. The team was disappointed that our networking site for Tweens would need to be downsized, yet the founders remained on the project in hopes that they could find financial backing to hire the product development team back.

Since I left Flyline I have been researching my long-term career aspirations. To learn more about the retail industry I have met with professionals working in women’s apparel and shoes. In the process of getting to know the industry I have shadowed a designer at a small clothing line, met with merchandising professionals, networked with retail shop owners, and spoken with web retailers I know through my prior job. This process has helped me understand the retail business model from creation to monetization, and clarified the courses I plan to attend at INSEAD.

Aside from my professional research I have been ramping up my volunteer work at the Toronto Women’s Shelter. With flexibility in my schedule I have been able to design several educational workshops for the homeless women that are the clients of the shelter – from personal finance to art.

I am continuing to search for product development work as I apply to business school. If I do start full time work before business school I plan to continue my research and preparation to use my INSEAD experience to the full extent possible.