Essay prompt: Briefly assess your career progress to date. Elaborate on your future career plans and your motivation for pursuing a graduate degree at Kellogg. (1-2 pages double-spaced)
"You came all the way from Israel?" Though my initial reason for visiting Honolulu was in fact a study abroad program at the University of Hawaii, my tour guide at Olakino Life's international headquarters could have been forgiven for getting it wrong. My personal pilgrimage to Oahu to see the birthplace of the firm that epitomizes socially and environmentally responsible business on the Pacific Rim was one of the true highlights and lasting influences of my semester. My conversion was total: I studied Vance Nakamatsu's book "Pacific Healthy," visited Olakino Lifes all across the Pacific Rim, and even sent a letter to Mr. Nakamatsu himself. [Effective word choice ("pilgrimage," "conversion") convinces reader that Vassily is a true believer in corporate social responsibility]
Though I had learned about Olakino Life during my international marketing course at University of Hawaii, it only crystallized a realization that had been forming since my first marketing class at the Jerusalem College of Technology: marketing, not software engineering, was my real calling. [Deftly introduces essay's second theme-marketing-by tying it into story he opened essay with] I was gripped by the world of consumer behavior, brand management, and marketing strategy I glimpsed through that class, and after returning to Israel added a second major in marketing. Since that semester abroad, my career path has become an unconsciously choreographed dance between two themes: corporate marketing and social responsibility. My experiences with Olakino Life and Wolfgang Puck Worldwide have shown me that, with an MBA, it will be possible to fuse these two themes into one. [Wisely ties story into need for MBA at earliest opportunity]
I joined Tel Aviv Consulting after graduation because I knew that as a mid-sized management consulting firm specializing in marketing and sales it would offer me an ideal blend of functional focus and project variety. Over the next two years, I helped grow its first global product marketing strategy project to more than 35 people; rose to manager of the firm's flagship market analysis tool, MarketTouch; and, in my last assignment, helped plan the launch of a new $17 million data security product for one of the firm's largest clients. I moved to Wolfgang Puck Worldwide in 2002 to gain exposure to qualitative, more traditional consumer-focused brand marketing and to work with a corporation with a fully developed corporate responsibility program. Starting with the Market Research department enabled me to lead both quantitative and qualitative consumer research market studies while I learned about the industry. I transferred to the brand marketing team for Wolfgang Puck's Catering & Events Group in November 2002 because I knew working in the company's smallest operational unit would expose me to many different functions and enable me to assume greater responsibility than marketers working on larger brands have. I did everything from manage the marketing campaigns, develop long-term event schedules, and create custom marketing programs to ensure integration between reputation and execution and train the marketing department. [Paragraph deftly interweaves accomplishments with his explanations for his career shifts]
The responsibilities of jump-starting the Catering & Events Group were demanding. Almost immediately after joining Wolfgang Puck Worldwide, I had joined its Community Participation Team for the environment, where I had the pleasure of participating in such events as a local park clean-up and an Earth Day clean-up/celebration. Because the Catering & Events Group was undergoing a transitional period, however, I frequently had to work 12-hour days, which left me virtually no time for the community involvement that gave my career balance
To find that balance I seek a career that will marry my parallel interests in marketing and corporate social responsibility. My long-term career goal is to start or join a consultancy that specializes in corporate social responsibility issues or cause-related marketing/branding like The Wishnow Group or Sutton Social Marketing. By showing for-profit companies how to integrate values and social issues into their brand equity, organizational identity, and daily business practices, I will help firms build sustainable competitive advantages in a socially and environmentally responsible way. Toward that end, my short-term goal is to work for one of the elite socially and/or environmentally responsible companies or brands such as a Brand Manager for Avon or Marketing Manager for Olakino Life or Chiquita Brands. [Compact but meaty description of two-stage career plan]
To establish a foundation to make my career goals plausible, I chose to leave Wolfgang Puck Worldwide in August 2003 and pursue an experience that would bring my dual community and marketing interests back into balance before beginning an MBA program in 2004. In August 2003, I became a member of Points of Light Foundation, a Washington-based volunteer center and national network that recruits and mobilizes millions of volunteers nationwide to solve serious social problems in thousands of U.S. communities. Today, through Points of Light Foundation's Youth & Family Outreach program I analyze data from the national evaluation of the Points of Light Youth Leadership Institute; help create reports to communicate results of the PLYLI evaluation to stakeholders and funders; and help design and format the Service-Learning Impacting Citizenship curriculum.
The Kellogg School of Management--renowned for the excellence of its marketing program and its commitment to community--represents the same fusion of marketing and community I seek in my career. [Nicely establishes paragraph's theme: the tight link between his career goals and Kellogg's program] As a dual marketing and public/nonprofit management major, I can build an in-depth understanding of such advanced topics as product development and design, marketing channel strategies, and sales promotion to prepare myself for a position in brand/marketing management after graduation. To develop a framework for socially responsible business, I will study nonprofit management, social entrepreneurship, philanthropy, and change management among other topics. Supplemental courses in subjects like finance, management and strategy, and organizational behavior will help prepare me for my longer-term interests in consulting and entrepreneurship.
More generally, the accelerated, flexible nature of Kellogg's four-quarter MBA program will enable me return to the workforce as quickly as possible. [Note shift in this paragraph from curricular to extracurricular reasons for choosing Kellogg] I plan to participate actively in such student organizations as the Social Impact Club, Marketing Club, and Business With a Heart. I am also interested in participating in a Kellogg Service Initiative before the fall quarter and in one of the Global Initiatives in Management (GIM) in the winter. Finally, Kellogg's noncompetitive, team-oriented culture is an excellent fit for me. Three campus visits and conversations with Kellogg friends Norm DeVry (Class of '02) and Sharon Weisberg (Class of '00) have already made me feel a part of the Kellogg community. [References to multiple campus visits and specific Kellogg people show true interest] Time and again I have witnessed students' cooperative, supportive team spirit in my visits to the Jacobs Center to attend classes, Social Impact Club meetings, and TGF social events. I am continually impressed by the caliber of Kellogg students and their willingness to help others even during this year's ultra-competitive recruiting season. [Ends somewhat abruptly but only after making very strong case] |
