As we've been reviewing a large number of HBS essays over the past couple of weeks, here are some additional thoughts from one of our alumni reviewers:
- You only have two essays of 400 words each. Make each word count! Avoid repeating or reiterating things or stating the obvious - make sure every word in your essay is necessary and meaningful.
- Write in simple English. Use short sentences, regular words and avoid jargon.
- What you did well:
- Focus more on what you did, less on the peripheral outcomes - e.g., "I got a promotion because.." is important but not at the expense of saying what you actually did
- Explain how and why you went about this differently than other people would have, or someone else in your place would have
- Talk about the results and outcomes as quantitative and objectively as possible - avoid saying things like "my colleagues were thrilled that I had solved... " - this adds very little to your essay
- What you could have done better:
- This is a huge struggle for a lot of people - mentally you need to get comfortable with the idea that you are not perfect!
- Like in the previous section, focus on writing about what you could have done better, instead of finger pointing or spending too many words trying to identify the root cause of what you did
- You can write about what you learned from the experience, but focus less on the sentimentality of what you felt and more on analyzing what happened in the situation.
