What are the 2 or 3 strengths or characteristics that have driven your career success thus far? What are the other strengths that you would like to leverage in the future?

Sample One

My diverse upbringing and career choices have provided me with a broad skill set that I intend to further cultivate in business school. My analytical and interpersonal skills have been integral to my success, and I aim to further enhance these skills while also honing my leadership abilities at Kenan-Flagler.

Analytical skills are instrumental in my role as a planner at Fossil Inc where I combine historical sales metrics with current trends to forecast sales opportunities and maximize sales potential nation-wide. Working on a tight budget, I scrutinize sales and inventory reports to make the most accurate allocation and purchasing decisions. My precision in forecasting has led my team to achieve the most productive product assortment of any Fossil merchandise category. Most recently, I architected the Holiday 2010 Sunwear assortment purchase for North American stores by determining which silhouettes sold best in different geographies and which price points were the most effective in certain regions. For instance, large round shaped frames are not as productive in many west coast and Hawaii stores as these shapes do not fit Asian faces as well. Also, customers are less price-sensitive in Las Vegas and New York, as most of the customer base is tourists who are willing to pay higher prices. Because of my precise analysis of purchasing trends, I created a highly accurate assortment purchase and led my team to achieve same-store comparative sales of +6% in October, a result that had not been reached in over 14 months.

Interpersonal skills have also driven my career success to date. When working with the international planning department, I was quickly recognized for these skills and was selected to serve as an ambassador to our international counterparts when they visited the corporate headquarters, directing them to meetings and organizing break-out sessions with the individual planning groups. Due in part to my strong interpersonal abilities, I was moved to the domestic planning team where I have relished the challenge of more corporate and executive exposure. I quickly became the contact person within the stores planning department for the entire Sunwear business, partnering with our wholesale teams to discuss best practices and sales drivers.

While I have also been recognized for my leadership skills, leadership is a strength I intend to leverage in the future as I progress up the management ranks. Recently at Fossil, I assumed an ad-hoc leadership role on my team and was selected to be the new store coordinator based on my performance. Organizing meetings, communicating critical milestones and ensuring flawless execution of product delivery, I have led the store planning team in the opening of 18 new global sites in 2010 and will lay the framework to open an additional 50 sites in 2011. At Kenan-Flagler, I plan to continue my leadership development by assuming the role of team leader on a STAR team, where I will gain unmatched real world and leadership experience and skills. I also intend to leverage the “continuous learning cycle” method and the leadership development program at Kenan-Flagler to evolve into a recognized leader in my newly launched career.

Sample Two


Leadership ability is one of my greatest strengths. The most vivid example of this ability was my role spearheading the move of our $3 billion Wealth Management business from Matstone to GTR amid the chaotic financial system meltdown and the collapse of our firm in 2008. My attention to detail, organization, and capacity to adapt quickly resulted in significant progress, but it was my ability to effectively delegate responsibilities and empower team members that enabled us to be successful. As a leader, my open-minded, results-driven style made me more productive and respected and I used feedback from my team to make effective changes in my management style. My versatility and self-awareness elicited a positive response from my team members, which was reflected in their attitudes and in the quality of their work. The end result: today we operate as one of the largest and most successful teams at GTR.

Another area of strength is my communication skills, which are essential to building and fostering relationships in the financial services industry. The dynamic interrelationships of markets and the growing complexity of financial products regularly exceed clients’ levels of sophistication and it is my job to interpret and explain these investments in a language they can easily understand. During Matstone’s bankruptcy, I interacted in person and over the phone with our panicked clients to comfort and reassure them we were actively seeking the most accurate information and consistently looking out for their best interests.

An additional strength is my ability to think analytically across a wide spectrum of interrelated disciplines, from trading to developing investment solutions, to estate planning and operations. In Wealth Management, decision-making occurs in real-time and requires the ability to proactively synthesize large amounts of information and react accordingly. I earned the CFA designation in 2008 to further develop my analytical skills and it is this critical thinking ability that has drawn clients to seek my advice and perspective, adding value to our team and to GTR. I look forward to leveraging my creative and teambuilding skills while capitalizing on the diverse curriculum offered at Kenan-Flagler. The STAR program, for example, will provide me with an entrée into the consulting field and the opportunity to work collaboratively with students and global business leaders, turning real world business challenges into profitable business solutions. As a varsity “athlete” at Kenan-Flagler, I am also eager to utilize these skills as an active participant in case competitions, leading my team to a first place finish over Duke University in the "Battle of the Blues."

Philanthropy is also an integral part of my life and I intend to leverage my extensive non-profit leadership experience while continuing my commitment to community service at Kenan-Flagler. As a leader of the Kenan-Flagler Habitat for Humanity Project, an organization for which I have done extensive work, I can contribute to an MBA culture that exemplifies a positive impact on society and supports leadership development on campus and in the UNC-Chapel Hill community.

Sample Three

Leadership ability, strong work ethic, and communication skills have driven the success I have achieved throughout my career. These characteristics feed off one another on a constant basis and each of these strengths enhances the others.

I have been a leader in every stage of my life: captain of every high school sports team, president of my college fraternity, founder of a nonprofit foundation, and an initial team member of the my firm’s Mergers and Acquisitions Group. My leadership ability is driven by my confidence and intense desire to succeed in everything I do. I always seek to gain the most from every task and challenge presented. For example, at my firm, I seek to learn as much as possible on a daily basis to position myself for success and career progression in the future. Similarly with my Foundation, I seek to give back to society as much as possible and promote others to do so as well.

Through my intense desire to succeed and learn, I have always possessed a strong work ethic. At an early age, I realized the joy and fulfillment of working hard and giving my all in everything I do. A strong work ethic reveals passion and demands respect from not only peers, but also those senior and junior. Without a strong work ethic, I simply would not have been promoted in my career, much less successful as a leader.

My strong communication skills also contribute to my effectiveness as a leader. To me, communication is both sharing one's ideas and feelings as well as listening to others’ ideas and feelings in an effective manner. By employing these skills, I have become a better leader and team member, and gained the mutual respect of many, while maximizing efficiency and productivity.

Going forward, I plan to leverage my creative ability and networking skills. Given that most jobs I have had consist of a very rigid job description, which, in turn, demands consistency and commonality of work product, I believe that my creative skills have been somewhat overshadowed. Creativity is essential in distressed investing, the industry I plan to enter post-MBA, as the distressed market is complex, includes almost every industry, and involves numerous investment strategies. Also, given the high demands of my job, and subsequent long hours, I have not had the opportunity to network as much as I would like. When investing in or owning a company, one must have a deep network of advisers, vendors, and other industry professionals to call on throughout all stages of an investment.

While attending Kenan-Flagler, I plan to use the school's abundant resources to hone my strengths of leadership, work-ethic, and communication while significantly enabling and enhancing my creative skills and networking ability. Given Kenan-Flagler's unmatched academic reputation, coupled with its strength of faculty, student-body, and alumni, I believe that my goals and expectations will be far exceeded. I look forward to becoming more professionally well-rounded through the personal and intellectual growth that I will experience.