¶ … post-M.B.A. Or post-M.S. career plans. How does your past education and experience support your career objectives? What aspects of the Simon School program make it a good choice for your graduate

Because of my international background, my experience in positions of leadership, and my experience with charitable activities, my future goals are quite clear. I intend to build on my accomplishments by helping businesses to thrive in a competitive global market by maximizing the use of information systems. I have witnessed personally how businesses can become more profitable and viable when they focus on improving their information systems. For example, I have volunteered with a charity in Taipei called the creation Social Welfare Foundation since I was thirteen. Recently I helped them to save costs by creating more efficient database management systems. I have also worked for a number of years in the executive offices of two different multinational corporations. As executive secretary, I have worked directly with business information systems and systems management and have noticed the amazing potential for businesses of all sizes to grow. Having extensive experience in helping others prosper and thrive in a highly competitive global market, I intend to work as a financial consultant or analyst with a specialty in information systems for multinational corporations. The MBA is essential for meeting goals like mine.

Simon School provides two essential qualities that serve my needs, qualities that will also help me to be an optimal addition to your program. First, Simon encourages independently-directed MBA studies and consequently offers the opportunity for students to create their own program of study. Such flexibility might not be ideal for persons who need more structure but because I have been taught since I was a child to solve problems independently, I will thrive in such a self-directed environment. At the same time, I respect the caliber of faculty working with Simon and look forward to contributing to their work just as they contribute to mine.

I will also work in sectors that will enable me to apply my multilingual and multicultural skills, as I have been doing prior to my admission to graduate school. For instance, I have worked in firms throughout Asia and the United States and have the potential to work well within multinational firms requiring persons to serve as cross-cultural liaisons. Because I specialize in information systems as well as international financial analysis, the skills I acquire while at Simon School will be a continuing source of prosperity for whichever particular company I will work for in the future. In fact, while at Simon School I intend to network with as many people as possible with the intention of finding a specific niche within which I will fit and be able to help others thrive. As either a freelance consultant or an in-house analyst, I will help businesses maximize their potential through by employing the most efficient information systems possible.

2. Discuss three accomplishments which demonstrate your potential as a successful leader.

At 23 years old I am already a seasoned leader with corporate-level leadership experience. As an executive secretary serving two different multinational firms, I am frequently called upon to serve groups in positions of leadership, lead focused teams, and make executive-level decisions. I also give public presentations in professional formats, one of the fundamental responsibilities of any business or financial leader. The following three scenarios demonstrate only a small number of the many leadership positions through which I have been able to serve others

First, working as executive assistant involved several specific instances in which I demonstrated leadership. First I led a team responsible for conducting budget analyses of the company, analyses that helped the company to make fiscally sound changes. Team leadership involved as much interpersonal communication skills and emotional intelligence as it did knowledge of financial data and market jargon. I simultaneously helped the corporate office transition from manual to digital billing systems, a transition that required leadership skills as I had to make frequent on-the-fly decisions. However, leadership within this context came naturally to me because of my good communications skills and my analytical thinking skills. I was also able to help the executives coordinate their travel plans and other functions that require decision-making and communications skills.

Second, my leadership skills came to the fore through my public presentations. As a result of my professional and volunteer accomplishments and my academic background, I have been able to engage in public speaking performances, giving important and inspirational presentations...

My command of three different languages makes me a flexible leader as well as a loyal and dependable one. My executive-level supervisors value my input, as I make decisions independently.
Third, as an undergraduate I helped lead small teams of students collaborating on a business-related project that involved creating a fictitious company. We drew up the marketing, business, and budgeting plan for a skin-rejuvenation product, and included other relevant components like a SWOT analysis, market mix, sale forecast, and budget analysis. The experience was not only academically helpful but helpful on an interpersonal level as well, and both are essential in bolstering my leadership skills.

I would like to conclude by saying that my leadership skills are evident in the ways I have directed the course of my life. I waited tables to save money to move by myself to the Untied States from Taiwan. While working as a volunteer, I also worked for pay as an executive assistant to a company allowing me to participate in the decision-making process through board meetings, trade shows, and other hands-on learning experiences. Being offered positions of responsibility at such a young age has inured me to some of the challenges and pitfalls of leadership and have given me the drive and determination to succeed.

3a. Cite and explain a specific situation in which you demonstrated initiative.

When I was thirteen I started volunteering with the Creation Social Welfare Foundation, where we take care of impoverished persons in a persistent vegetative state (PVS). These people need care and attention but because of their condition are treated as sub-human. Volunteering my services to the foundation for the past ten years has inspired me, offered me hope, and strengthened my self-confidence and my willingness to take initiative in many situations.

My commitment to the foundation continues and will continue, demonstrating my ability to take initiative in accordance with my personal values and ethics. As my involvement with the foundation deepened, I began to volunteer not only my time in helping the patients but also in helping the foundation become more efficient and organized. I took the initiative in suggesting that the foundation improve their use of information systems, not for profit but for improved ability to serve.

More specifically, I helped the foundation to balance their books and minimize expenses through the use of improved financial management software systems. I also helped them to create an efficient digital database system that improved access and organization of accounts payable, receivable, personnel, donor, and client data. As a result, the foundation reduced their expenditures and saved money that could be better channeled elsewhere. The office became more streamlined and efficient and more able to communicate their needs to financial donors.

My initiative was derived partly from the realization that charitable organizations frequently do not have the funds to fire specialists and can often mismanage their funds as well as mismanage their personnel. I had witnessed first hand that the foundation's patients required people like me to take all the initiative in their life, more than any other patient. Persons in a PVS cannot decide what they will eat for dinner or when they will go to sleep or what they want to read; they have lost all ability to take initiative in their own lives. From this experience I learned that selfless service is one of my ethical responsibilities as a leader in any situation and intend to continue taking initiative in similar situations, by helping others who cannot help themselves. My initiative in helping the foundation improve their financial outlook was also dependent on my increasing levels of self-confidence and comfort with working in positions of leadership and teamwork.

Because I continued to work with the foundation in spite of a heavy work load at school and in spite of also working in order to pay for my college tuition, I also demonstrated remarkable commitment and dedication in addition to initiative. I will be a valuable asset to any corporation, which will realize that I am dependable and loyal. I will help corporations navigate through the thorny waters of international competition and financial instability.

3b. Share any information that you think is important in the evaluation of your application, including any concerns you think the Admissions Committee may have regarding your application.

As you read my application and review my resume and transcripts you will have a relatively comprehensive picture of my accomplishments to date as well as an idea of what I hope to accomplish while a student at Simon School. I would like to take this…