MBA career goals and development strategies

¶ … pursued my undergraduate degree at the University of Sharjhah in United Arab Emirates, I had a kind of revelation about the nature of our society. The revelation was this: Success is in the air; you only need to understand how to attain it. Success is not reserved for an elite few. Success is not reserved for anyone. Success, intellectual capital, society; all exist as entities in this world, accessible to those who know which paths will take them there.

I realized that these paths could take a number of forms: entrepreneurism, creativity, hard work, dedication. I also had a certain number of facts in front of me. I wanted experience at a multi-national corporation in the finance sector; I'd need the appropriate skills, problem solving strategies, and confidence. I wanted the job at this multi-national corporation to be international; visa difficulties were thus imminent. Competition among international candidates would be significantly more difficult at the international level. I wanted, eventually, to start my own firm in Pakistan, my home country, which consulted entrepreneurs and early-stage companies on the technicalities of finance and business management. This would require a depth in technical knowledge greater than those whom I consulted.

Success, then, was in the air, and I knew what form it would take: the realization of my professional goals. I knew that success was accessible to those who simply knew which path to take -- that success wasn't 'for' some abstraction, some elite core of individuals. It wasn't a difficult step in logic, then, to conclude that the next direction I would pursue would be an MBA in Finance at graduate program.

Why, though? Why should an MBA be the next step to the realization of my short- and long-term goals? An MBA at graduate program will help me to establish the foundation of technical expertise and problem solving strategies that I'll need to acquire a position and excel in the competitive, fast-paced, international finance sector. If my aim is to land a job internationally, I'm not only going to have to be sharper, more savvy, and more intuitive than my fellow international applicants, but than every candidate in my host country as well.

I'm also going to need to have a solid work ethic. Yet I'm not applying for graduate program's MBA program to develop a work ethic. Anyone can develop a work ethic -- work isn't hard. The trick is to develop a refined, sophisticated working strategy that guides your priorities, decisions, and the moves you make toward the realization of your professional goals. An MBA, I honestly believe, will help me cultivate this special intuition into a program of action that will guide me through my experience in the finance sector.

Moreover, an MBA will set me apart, to a certain extent. That isn't completely true, however -- it will be myself that sets me apart after completing the MBA at graduate program. In other words, MBA's don't mean much on paper. An MBA means what one wants it to mean, and I intend to use it -- its imparted knowledge, experience, and skills -- to make it clear that I'm at the top of my game. Eventually, the skills I gain from my MBA will be part of the foundation of the wealth of knowledge I have when I start my own business in Pakistan.

For the past three years, I've been working as a retail manager at T-Mobile -- dealing with employees, team building, problem solving, and interacting with customers in a professional environment. I've started on the path toward my goal, but I'm not close enough. I desire an MBA in Finance, an international job in the finance sector shortly thereafter, and a CPA. Realizing these situations will take me one step closer to extracting the success from the air around me and eventually helping the citizens of my home country take the path of success. I know success, good business, entrepreneurship is out there. And I know that an MBA is going to be the first step toward getting it. An MBA will help me realize the success I need.

My relevant background consists of two influential, formative experiences: the attainment of my bachelor's degree in accounting at the University of Sharjhah in United Arab Emirates and my three years spent working as a retail manager at T-Mobile. These experiences have created a business-oriented foundation on which I plan to build in the future, and more immediately, during my pursuit of a MBA.

I couldn't have hoped for a better, more enriching exposure to a diverse set of intelligent peers than the one I had at University of Sharjhah. During the course of my experience at this university -- the majority of students at University of Sharjhah are international -- I developed a broad understanding of an array of cultures. The pursuit of my degree at such an internationally-oriented school helped me identify the barriers to communication across cultural boundaries. Conversely, it afforded me with a number of strategies for breaking down cultural barriers and establishing a functioning, efficient line of communication that could be utilized in the efforts of problem solving, team building and goal attainment. Working under pressure to fulfill targets in diverse group settings, almost on a weekly basis -- for periods of time -- I developed, at University of Sharjhah, many skills that I know will benefit my peers and I throughout the course of our MBA programs.

It was at University of Sharjhah that I also successfully worked to acquire the fundamentals of doing business in the international finance sector. At such an institution, one gains valuable insight as the result of working within and among international contexts, rather than national contexts. I believe that, were it not for the diverse, internationally-oriented character of University of Sharjhah, I would be missing much of my international business intuition today.

In our increasingly globalized society, knowing how to navigate the business marketplace on a local level within just one culture isn't enough. At least -- not for me and where I want to go. I believe that my experience as an international student will enhance and broaden my learning at graduate program's MBA program. It has afforded me with a set of capabilities and experiences that have readied me for a future in international team building, problem solving, and professional collaboration. It has framed my business senses within a wholly international and multi-cultural context, and made me a great MBA candidate capable of leveraging diversity to my advantage, rather than stumbling over it in inefficiency.