Career transition or career switch is among the best examples of the curiosity and growth Harvard MBA Essay. But I see very few applicants venture into capturing the emotions and motivations behind the decision.
One reason why career change is the perfect curiosity narrative is because we typically change careers 2 to 3 times in our lifetime. Even schools have short-term and long-term goals to hint that you might start a venture in 10-15 years. That is a different career from what you plan to do in the short term with a Harvard MBA.
For anyone from a creative, military, or academic career switching to traditional technology, finance, or consulting roles, there is a huge potential to capture why the decision was correct initially, the growth, and the stagnation or a motivating event that finally made you realize that perhaps it is time to change industries.
For the Military and the Search for IMPACT Harvard MBA Essay, I wanted the applicant to stand out from a typical journey that a person experiences before joining the military. To create that impact, the opening line had to be about the applicant’s unique combination of learning strengths in machines, math, science, and leadership in sports.
The motivating event for pivoting from the military to the healthcare industry is through one encounter in a mission. That event changed his belief in what courage is.
Find ways to capture an event that you curiously introspected before making the final decision to change careers.