What do you think of when someone uses the phrase professional statement? For most, a professional statement is a one-time document you create as part of an MBA application. But I know you pretty well, and I know that you can do a lot better than that. Why not create something that has use far beyond your MBA application? Why not create a STORY that has use over your entire career? Watch the video below to understand the importance of a professional STORY.
Don’t get me wrong, a quality professional statement is good. Actually, it is necessary. Still, for too many people the document has short term scope. MBA applicants spend so much time on their professional statements only to throw them away once they are admitted. The assumption is “I’ll revise it once I get settled in school”. Little do they know, that time never comes. MBA students are busy! School work, job search, and social activities eat up whatever time previously thought was going to be used to revisit career goals.
And because there are so many interesting jobs offered to MBAs…students end up running around like a kid in a candy store “looking at all the cool jobs”. They choose the coolest one, graduate, and one year later are wondering where the “cool” went. This brings them right back to their professional statement. They may not re-write it, but they certainly revisit their career goals in order to clarify their career path.
When I talk about a professional story, I am talking about looking at your MBA career with a long term perspective. It’s like having a living, breathing professional statement. Take a look at the video above to see what I mean. Agree? Disagree? Would you like to hear more? Post below to let me know.
Tags: assumption, candy store, career goals, career path, job search, jobs, mba applicants, mba application, mba career, mba students, personal statement, phrase, professional statement, professional statements, professional story, talents, term perspective, time document, work job