Though the questions that each school asks tend to vary year to year, the two things that every prospective student can count on being asked are “What are your short-term and long-term post-MBA goals?” and “How will Business School X help you achieve these goals?”

This ‘career goals’ essay question can serve as an excellent starting point for those of you who are getting a head start on your Fall 2006 application essays. Not only will you have a working draft of an important document for the application process, but you’ll be well on your way to clarifying your thinking about your objectives and crafting an informative document to share with your recommenders. To help you get started, there are some general pointers:

Whether this essay is 1,000 or 500 words long, the school will be looking for clearly and fully defined long- and short-term career goals, your reasons for pursuing an MBA and for opting to do so at this point in time, and your specific interest in School X and your plans to contribute to the campus community, if admitted.

The key to successfully tackling each of these components is specificity. In presenting your goals for the future and explaining your motivation for seeking an MBA, it is crucial that your objectives be well-defined and sound feasible. The adcom is sensitive to the fact that students need a fair amount of direction at the time they enter the program in order to take the right classes, join the appropriate clubs and seek the best internship in preparation for their post-MBA job, so specifying a specific industry and function for the short-term is of the utmost importance. In addition to telling the adcom what you want to do, it would also be appropriate to explain your interest in your short and long-term plans and comment on what you hope to accomplish.

Admissions officers understand that successful students are focused in their ambitions, and one of the best measures of this is what they have done so far. Some schools ask for this explicity but, if there is room within the word limit, most programs also like to see a brief but coherent career history summarizing your work history to date and ideally creating some continuity between your previous professional experiences and goals for the future. A great essay manages to thoroughly and efficiently address each of these elements, with a nice balance between the ‘career progression’ section, the ‘career goals/why MBA’ section and the ‘why School X’ section.

Speaking of which, the explanation of your interest in a given program is another critical part of the essay, as you’ll need to convince the adcom that you’ve done your homework and are well informed about the school and its offerings. Naming specific classes that are relevant to your goals, recounting your impression of the campus culture based on a class visit, and sharing what you’ve learned from discussions with alumni and students are all good ways to telegraph the fact that you have conducted extensive research and are making an informed decision in applying.

Beyond convincing the adcom that your interest in their program is sincere, it is also important to keep the following concept in mind: any fair trade necessitates mutual benefit. In other words, in addition to showing that School X is the best MBA program for your needs, you should demonstrate to School X that you will enrich its community. Discuss insights and knowledge that you will contribute in class, and skills and interests for getting involved in activities (clubs, organizations, etc.) outside of class.

These general pointers should set you on the path toward crafting a great ‘career goals’ essay, the document that will form the centerpiece of your candidacy. Happy writing!