Ace the EMBA:Expert Advice for the

Rising Executive

An Accepted.com Report

by Cindy Tokumitsu

Copyright © 2010 Accepted.com

Copyright © 2010 Accepted.com

Ace the EMBA:Expert Advice for the Rising Executive

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Table of Contents

The Expanded Executive MBA Profile .................................................................. 3

Sponsorship and the GMAT ................................................................................... 5

Program Variety ..................................................................................................... 7

Employment and Career Services .......................................................................... 8

Key Qualifying Factors the EMBA Adcoms Look For ....................................... 10

Differentiating Yourself through Your Essays ..................................................... 12

About the Author ................................................................................................. 14

Epilogue ............................................................................................................... 14

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The Expanded Executive MBA Profile

The Executive MBA profile has changed over the past five years. Allen, a hypothetical candidate described below, represents the traditional EMBA candidate, which is still highly desirable to EMBA programs. Lucia, another hypothetical candidate, also described below, represents a profile that is increasingly common, as does Kareem. No longer does the “Allen” profile reflect the “choice” candidate. Today’s EMBA programs generally seek a wide range of applicants with the common denominator being extensive management experience and/or imminent advancement into senior management.

• At thirty-five years old, Allen has worked professionally for thirteen years, the last eight as a marketing manager in increasingly strategic positions. He is now Director of Marketing and Strategy for his Fortune 1000 company’s new product line. His record of advancement is impressive for someone in his industry, pharmaceuticals, where people of his age are usually a few rungs lower and where some of his peers have MBAs. Allen’s next move will be to a senior management role, and he feels that without a sophisticated management skill set, he will be unable to contribute to his maximum ability as a senior manager. Knowing that this skill set is exactly what EMBA programs are created to provide, he discusses pursuing an EMBA with his boss. Allen’s company, eager to retain him and groom him for a senior position, will partially sponsor his Executive MBA studies.

• After working for a year following college as a technology consultant, Lucia started consulting independently. Initially she provided IT guidance to her local school district as part of a community volunteer program. During this initiative she realized that the public education sector offered unique opportunities as well as challenges in mastering the complex bureaucratic, budgeting, and political maze, and she decided to develop a part-time independent business providing IT consulting to the public education sector, on top of her “day job.” It turned out to be a lucrative and interesting niche, and within one more year, Lucia had enough business to leave her employer and set up her own consulting business full time. Eight years later, she has seven employees, grosses over $6M in sales annually, and has broadened her service line to private schools. At this level, she can barely manage the business. To grow further, Lucia needs to streamline and stabilize her organizational infrastructure while developing a solid five-year growth strategy. She is more than willing to pay for her EMBA at a top program, viewing it as a necessary investment for growth.

• Kareem has been an architect of some of the top products at a global technology firm. He has led numerous high-profile project teams and interacted with senior technologists and executives at Fortune 100 customers. Increasingly he has felt that becoming a senior manager would allow him to best utilize the combined market and technology

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know-how he has accrued, and his employer sees the value in this path as well - and does not want to lose one of its stars. Hence, the company has agreed that Kareem’s next move will be to transition to the business side to manage a new product line he has championed, a role that will include P&L responsibility. Kareem knows he has a steep business learning curve and decides to pursue an EMBA as the best way to prepare for his imminent management role. He will pay the tuition, and his company agrees to accommodate the schedule.

These three candidates now face the challenge of applying to EMBA programs. First, they must select the programs they want to target from an increasingly large and multifaceted selection. Then, although they are all strong applicants, they still must distinguish themselves through their application essays. In this special report, we will explore the changing EMBA options and how to choose among them, and then address the roll-up-the-shirtsleeves part of the process: developing effective essays.

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Sponsorship and the GMAT

The changes in EMBA applicant/student profile that we explored above are accompanied by new trends in the EMBA world. Now we will examine two of these trends: changes in sponsorship and GMAT requirements.

Changing company sponsorship requirements/expectations

EMBA applicants’ employers usually sponsor their EMBA studies, at least to some extent. This sponsorship ranges from paying 100% of the tuition and fees to simply allowing the applicant to take time off from work as needed. However, the sponsorship picture has been changing in recent years, as noted in a BusinessWeek report on EMBA programs.1 Today, 34% of surveyed EMBA students are fully company sponsored, compared to 52% in 2001. Correspondingly, 27% of students are now entirely self-sponsored, up from 16% in 2001. The Executive MBA Council’s 2006 Survey2 echoes those figures: “The number of students paying their own way in both 2005 and 2006 was 32 percent. The number of organizations offering students full reimbursement was 35 percent both years, down from 40 percent in 2003.”

Virtually all EMBA programs still take sponsorship seriously. Even though they no longer require full or partial financial sponsorship from an employer, they still require that the employer provide a statement of support for the applicant’s EMBA plans. Here are some samples EMBA sponsorship expectations:

• Wharton:3 “Sponsorship ... is a requirement of students admitted to the Wharton EMBA program. It ensures that all students will have the time and resources to maximize the value of their experience in our closely integrated program. This is true whether you are being financially sponsored by an organization or are an independent consultant interested in self-sponsorship.”

• Duke:4 “At a minimum ... you should submit a letter from your company indicating they support your efforts in the Duke executive MBA program and that they will give you the necessary time off to attend classes... If you are self-employed ... we would like some indication that you have made arrangements for the kind of time off and support you will need to complete the program.”

• UNC:5 “At the minimum level your company must support a work schedule that allows you to attend classes and residencies.”

1 http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_43/b3956601.htm 2 http://www.emba.org/pdf/pressroom/2006_research_results_11_18.pdf 3 http://www.accepted.com/zones/Wharton.aspx 4 http://www.accepted.com/zones/DukeFuqua.aspx 5 http://www.accepted.com/mba/UNCMBAProgram.aspx

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• Kellogg:6 “The level of financial sponsorship may vary, but every company must provide the necessary time away. A letter of sponsorship from the organization is required for every applicant and should spell out both kinds of support in detail.”

Although not required, financial sponsorship is a competitive plus for applicants, because it guarantees revenue for the program and virtually ensures your employment after graduation.

Change in GMAT requirements

Another notable trend is that more and more EMBA programs, including some of the highest ranked, including Kellogg,7 Chicago,8 Cornell,9 Ross10 (University of Michigan), and Anderson11 (UCLA), no longer require the GMAT.

And among those that do require the GMAT, it may be possible to obtain a GMAT waiver under certain circumstances. For example, the Stern School of Business12 at NYU13 and Goizueta14 at Emory15 require the GMAT but “will accept waivers for technical degree holders or those with extensive professional experience” (MBA Podcaster, “GMAT Not Required?”16). Some schools with multiple EMBA program options, such as Duke17 and Kenan-Flagler,18 require it for some programs but not others - those programs targeting the more senior, experienced applicants don’t require it.

While you may be relieved to be free of this burden, if you do take the GMAT and score high, it’s worth reporting the score to the schools because it further (a) affirms your preparation for academic work in both verbal and quantitative areas; and (b) shows that you are serious about and committed to the EMBA process. Moreover, if you have a relatively low undergraduate GPA (and don’t have a better grad GPA), you can submit a strong GMAT score to demonstrate academic ability.

6 http://www.accepted.com/zones/NorthwesternKellogg.aspx 7 http://www.accepted.com/zones/NorthwesternKellogg.aspx 8 http://www.accepted.com/zones/chicago.aspx 9 http://www.accepted.com/zones/CornellJohnson.aspx 10 http://www.accepted.com/zones/MichiganRoss.aspx 11 http://www.accepted.com/zones/UCLAAnderson.aspx12 http://www.accepted.com/zones/NYUStern.aspx13 http://www.accepted.com/zones/NYUStern.aspx14 http://www.accepted.com/mba/EmoryBusiness.aspx15 http://www.accepted.com/mba/EmoryBusiness.aspx16 http://www.mbapodcaster.com/MBA_MoreInfo/GMATnotRequired.asp?iEpisode=3717 http://www.accepted.com/zones/DukeFuqua.aspx18 http://www.accepted.com/mba/UNCMBAProgram.aspx

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Program Variety

Not so long ago, EMBA programs were primarily held on weekends and sometimes weeknights, and therefore attracted managers of regional businesses as the majority of applicants. This scenario has changed radically. Now many, if not most, EMBA programs offer a variety of options for both schedules and types of programs. Duke’s EMBA19 is a good example: its Weekend Executive program (students averaging 10 years of experience) meets alternate weekends on campus; its Cross Continent program (targeting “high potential” students with three to nine years of experience) involves week-long residencies in the US, Europe, and Asia and employs distance learning; and its Global Executive program (students averaging 14 years of experience) combines classroom learning, distance learning, and global residencies.

As a result of having new options for attending EMBA programs that do not require weekly appearances on campus, applicants can now consider programs beyond their immediate locale, finding it feasible to, say, fly an hour or two every other weekend. At one extreme is a Wharton ‘07 EMBA graduate20 who, due to a promotion, ended up commuting every other weekend from China to Wharton’s San Francisco campus! More reflective of the norm within this trend is UNC Kenan-Flagler’s21 weekend option, which has drawn “senior and middle managers from 22 states.”

These more varied options mean that specific programs are more closely calibrated with an applicant’s needs and experience level, as the above noted Duke programs show. Another example is UNC’s Kenan-Flagler EMBA: an evening option (5 years’ experience minimum, 8 preferred) for local professionals, which requires little to no time off from work; a weekend option (5 years’ experience minimum, 8 preferred) with classes on Friday and Saturday twice a month; and OneMBA (7 years minimum experience, 10 preferred), with classes once a month, global residencies, and online.

The UNC OneMBA reflects another trend as well: partnering among global EMBA programs. OneMBA partners with Erasmus University in Europe as well as programs in Mexico, Brazil, and Hong Kong. Similarly, NYU Stern has joined with London School of Economics and HEC School of Management in Paris to offer the TRIUM Executive MBA.22

While it is exciting to have more appealing options to choose from, these targeted programs make it important to articulate in your essays the reasons you want to attend the particular program in question and why you consider it the right fit for you.

19 http://www.fuqua.duke.edu/mba/executive/formats/ 20 http://www.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/assets/documents/emba_onemba_partnermap.pdf21 http://www.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/programs/emba/mbaprograms/rightmba.cfm22 http://www.triumemba.org/

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Employment and Career Services

No doubt the de-emphasis on sponsorship described above arises in part from the more fluid employment scenario: in 2005, 39% of EMBA students planned to pursue a new job upon graduation, compared to just 17% three years prior. As BusinessWeek23 states, “These days employers are more likely to be focused on trimming costs. And many students turn down company cash rather than commit to two or more years of continued employment after graduation.” This trend shows that, like many regular MBA applicants, EMBA applicants are now planning to use the education for a career transition. They are just doing it at a later point in their careers. To address this trend, EMBA programs have beefed up their EMBA career services. The Executive MBA Council24 reports that member programs offering career counseling jumped from 67% in 2004 to 74% in 2006, and, most important, programs arranging on-campus interviews increased from 18% in 2004 to 31% in 2005. At UCLA Anderson,25 “on-campus recruiting is open to EMBA students in their second year for full-time positions.” Mixing sponsorship with career services, however, may present an ethical dilemma for the EMBA program, as Wharton26 implies: “To be eligible to participate in Wharton’s MBA Career Management services, a student in the Wharton MBA Program for Executives must either: (a) be entirely self-sponsored financially; or (b) provide written permission from his or her sponsor company, submitted on letterhead and signed by the appropriate authority.” If a student meets these requirements, he or she may be eligible to enjoy almost the same career services that a regular MBA student will have access to.

These trends will have a significant impact on applicants’ EMBA research and application process. In fact, the EMBA process has become more complex than the regular MBA process – there are more variables and pre-application decisions. Here are some factors to consider and address based on the above:

• The changes in sponsorship give a competitive advantage to those who will have full or partial funding, because now it is no longer a neutral factor encompassing all candidates but a “plus.”

• These changes in sponsorship open up opportunities for those without funding support. For example, self-funding is an opportunity to demonstrate commitment to professional growth, a good point to underscore (through concrete example/detail, of course).

• The variety of program options likewise opens up both challenges and advantages. The advantages are (a) more programs to choose from and apply to and (b) a better

23 http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_43/b3956601.htm 24 http://www.emba.org/pdf/pressroom/2006_research_results_11_18.pdf25 http://www.anderson.ucla.edu/x14798.xml26 http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/mbaexecutive/careers/development/resources.cfm

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likelihood that you can find programs that closely align with your needs. The challenges are (a) identifying and articulating what you truly want out of the EMBA; (b) devoting the significant time and energy necessary to examine the options and select those best for you; (c) clearly delineating in your essays this excellent “fit.”

• If you are looking to change focus post-EMBA, the upgraded career services are clearly a boon. However, it will take some work to sift through the various programs to identify those that offer actual recruiting as well as the broad support (workshops, professional profiling, etc.) that most offer. And if you are anticipating a change of career or company, it is always imperative to make an airtight case for this change in your goals essay.

• You also have a decision to make regarding the GMAT – if you don’t want to take it, should you target just non-GMAT schools or also make the effort to request a waiver if you feel you have a strong case? If you think you’ll do well on the GMAT, should you expend the time and energy to take it even if it’s not required? If you don’t take the GMAT, make sure that your work record demonstrates quantitative capability.

After addressing the practical impacts of recent EMBA trends, we can tackle the application process itself

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Key Qualifying Factors the EMBA Adcoms Look For

After you decide which programs you’ll apply to, you’re ready to start the hands-on application work. As you plan your essays and choose recommenders, keep in mind several “qualifying” factors that the admissions committees want to see in applicants they consider for acceptance. In other words, these factors will “put you in the running” for consideration; they’ll make you a viable candidate. Throughout the application, but primarily through the essay(s), you should address these key questions:

Are your goals credible and do they contain the right blend of feasibility and ambition?

• Appropriate goals will place you within senior management, since presumably you are already at a mid-management level (or a comparable position) if you work for a company. If you are a business owner, your goals should clarify not only your plans for the business, but also the specific role(s) you intend to undertake – i.e., your own professional growth path. In addition, the adcoms want to be assured that the graduates will be a credit to the program! All EMBA applications require a goals essay. You should be prepared to discuss immediate, intermediate, and long-term goals. Not all goals essays ask for this breakdown, but many do – and even if a question doesn’t ask for it, it will hardly hurt to present such a progression.

Do you have the knowledge and skills to succeed in the EMBA academic program?

• Even if your goals are credible and appropriate, you will need a fundamental familiarity with business operations plus quantitative skills to handle the coursework. If you are a high-achieving mid-level manager with budget responsibility at a “name” company, your resume itself will essentially “cover” this point. However, if you are closer to the “Kareem” profile or an entrepreneur, you may have to explicitly clarify that you have this basic understanding. While Kareem did not have a business role and could not be expected to fully understand, say, corporate finance and management principles, he would certainly have understood his company’s customers’ business needs and interacted substantially with marketing and product development at a fairly senior level. You can ask your recommenders to address this point, you can work it into your essays, and you can take the GMAT if you believe your score will validate your capabilities.

Will you contribute to the program (professionally and/or personally, during and after)?

• This is a two-pronged point: (A) Do you have something to say – do you draw insight and meaning from your experiences? (B) Do you share – are you a team player/

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collaborator? EMBA programs are learning communities, and thus require willing contribution from all parties. While your recommendations can and should shed light on this point, your essays will be the primary vehicle to communicate your prospective contributions both as a student and as an alumnus/a.

Do you have the right level and amount of experience to fit the program (both its student body and its coursework)?

• As we indicated earlier, EMBA programs and their various sub-programs/options are looking for specific amounts and levels of experience. And these two items – amount and level – are inter-related. In the “classic” EMBA candidate, the “level” will be achieved in a certain amount of years, showing the candidate to progress at a quick if not necessarily breakneck pace. You may have achieved the desired “level” with fewer years of experience, or you may have taken longer to achieve the desired level. Of these two deviations, the former is preferable to adcoms generally, because it portrays a high achiever. However, someone in the latter situation may well have good reasons for the slower pace – family matters, previous career transition, etc. Often, entrepreneurs seek the EMBA education when their business is poised for a new level of growth, which will involve greater organizational and financial complexity.

Do you understand the demands of studying while working and do you have a workable plan for fitting the EMBA studies into your life?

• Some EMBA applications have an essay question specifically targeting this point. The last thing the adcoms want is for someone to leave the program before completion, or to “get by” academically without being a full participant in the learning community. And it’s very easy to underestimate the demands of studying and contributing while maintaining one’s professional and personal responsibilities. While you may or may not be asked to address this point directly by an essay question, it is important to demonstrate your time management skills and also that you have juggled multiple responsibilities effectively. Of course, the essays are the ideal place to make these points, followed by the recommendations (if you have a say in their content).

With these qualifying factors covered, we will now examine how to go from “qualified” to “accepted” by differentiating and distinguishing yourself as an applicant.

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Differentiating Yourself through Your Essays

After demonstrating that you are well qualified, you face the biggest challenge: differentiating yourself. You must show your uniqueness as an individual and as an applicant in a way that is relevant to the EMBA program.

While some differentiating factors might be apparent from your resume, e.g., if you work in an industry or function that is relatively underrepresented, in most cases the essays will be where you portray your distinctiveness.

There are three key avenues for differentiating yourself: 1 - factual points such as industry niche, unusual experience like managing through a global merger, unique challenges like dealing with heavily regulated industries or an unusual organizational structure; 2 - your individual perspective, for example you’re a manager in a high-tech firm and you have developed a fresh idea for how such firms must approach market expansion in the future; 3 - your goals.27

Factual Points

Not everyone will have differentiating factual points, but to the extent that you do, you should highlight them and maximize their impact. How to determine whether an aspect of your experience is a differentiating factor? Reviewing the class profiles of the EMBA programs, which provide information on industries and functions, is a good place to start. These profiles will show percentages of students from given industries. While that information will provide you with an overview, you may have to extrapolate further to make it meaningful and relevant to your case. For example, if you are in consulting and see that 24% of students come from that industry, it may not seem like much of a differentiator. Nevertheless, good judgment, common sense, and/or further research via discussion with the adcom or current students will indicate that consulting in IT strategy for the defense sector would be differentiating, even though general management consulting might not.

To get the most mileage out of a differentiating fact, in your essays don’t just state the fact, but provide illustrative detail and anecdote to show what is special and different about it.

Your Individual Perspective

Individual perspective is a way in which everyone can differentiate himself. In most essays you will have to reflect on your experiences to some extent. When doing so, don’t just highlight the facts and accomplishments – identify the key learning, growth, and/or insight you gained from each change or important event; clarify your decision process when taking career steps. This individual view is

27 http://blog.accepted.com/acceptedcom_blog/2007/6/8/mba-admissions-what-is-a-goal.html

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inherently unique, even if the experience you are describing may seem commonplace. However, be sure to keep such perspective relevant; to make a successful application, it must align with your goals. So, don’t just throw in every insight you’ve had, but weigh its importance vis-à-vis your goals and be selective in adding it according to that criterion.

In your essays, you can either weave this individual perspective and insight into the narrative, or present the narrative and then add a paragraph focusing on your reflection.

Goals

The goals essay will be the backbone of your application. Previously, we discussed the minimal skeleton for your goals. For each phase of your goals, in the essay you should discuss (a) what you expect to do at that level, (b) what you hope to learn, and (c) what you hope to accomplish. Provide specifics: desired titles or positions, specific markets, likely number of people to manage, budget size or P&L responsibility, etc. Also describe how this particular step builds on your previous experience.

How do you make your goals do “extra duty” by differentiating you? Provide a clear motivation for why you want to pursue these goals, and, most important, a vision for what you want to achieve, what impact you want to have. While there will likely be other candidates presenting similar goals, only you will present these specific points. For example, if your goal is to become a senior manager at a major pharmaceutical firm, don’t just present the facts that make this a logical and likely step. Get the reader excited about the prospect of your taking this role. Perhaps you perceive certain trends in the regulatory systems or certain production opportunities in developing regions… Being a decision-maker addressing such issues will allow you to maximize chances for your company to continue innovating and marketing new drugs.

For effective goals essays,28 keep three short words in mind: what, how, and why.

28 http://blog.accepted.com/acceptedcom_blog/2006/6/30/the-struggle-for-a-compelling-mba-goals-essay.html

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About the Author

Cindy Tokumitsu29 is co-author of The EMBA Edge,30 The Finance Professional’s Guide to MBA Success,31 and The Consultant’s Guide to MBA Admissions.32 Her EMBA clients have been accepted at top EMBA programs including Columbia, NYU, Kellogg, Wharton, Fuqua, Booth, UNC, LBS, IMD (Switzerland), and also at MIT and Stanford Sloan Fellows Programs.

Epilogue

We hope that our Ace the EMBA: Expert Advice for the Rising Executive special report will guide you through the EMBA application maze. If you are still not confident about your ability to write effective essays, or just want to save your time and nerves, please contact Accepted.com.33 While our experienced professional editing staff won’t write your essays for you, we can help you34 from the beginning, as you’re defining your topics and themes, or we can edit your essays35 to ensure that your application is as strong as it can be.

If you have any questions about this report, or questions about admissions in general, please feel free to post them to our Facebook wall.36 We would be happy to answer your questions!

29 http://www.accepted.com/aboutus/editors.aspx?editorid=330 http://www.accepted.com/Ecommerce/mba/EMBAEssay.aspx31 http://accepted.com/ecommerce/ebook2.aspx32 http://www.accepted.com/Ecommerce/ConsultantsGuide/ConsultantsGuide.aspx33 http://info.accepted.com/service-request?Requested_Editor__c= 34 http://www.accepted.com/services/approach.aspx 35 http://www.accepted.com/services/mbaservices.aspx 36 http://www.facebook.com/Accepted#!/Accepted?v=wall