8 effective strategies to build a highly impactful MiM profile

MiM (Masters in Management) programs offer an incredible array of opportunities for recently graduated students or students with 0-2/3 years of experience to access the benefits of a B-School education, leverage its network and offer the opportunity to work with the best employers in some of the most advanced countries across the globe. Traditionally, while MiM programs have been rather popular across Europe, with the increasing need for junior-level managerial talent, many US schools are also offering MiM programs. In fact, some of such programs are even STEM-enabled. 

More information on STEM enabled MiM programs

In this blog, we will delve into some of the most frequent queries around how candidates can structure their profiles for impactful MiM applications. We will be discussing the various aspects of the candidate’s profile which assumes significance for AdComs and what it takes to go for a successful MiM application.

However, before discussing all the major aspects in detail, it’s crucial to understand that for many MiM programs (such as the LBS MiF program, and others) no specific cut-off is mentioned for GMAT, GRE, IELTS, or TOEFL. Naturally, a higher score improves the applicants’ chances – part of this is on account of the fact that in the case of an MiM application, AdComs do not have a lot of core professional work experience to count on. Thus, test scores offr one of the limited means to AdComs for assessing a lot of the critical thinking and analytical skills on which the candidates’ profiles are assessed. 

Moreover, for selection in any top MiM program, a candidate needs to have an overall robust profile based mainly on three key factors: 

• The results of the GMAT or GRE; 
• The GPA in the Undergraduate Program; and 
• The Evaluation of the CV/ Resumé and Personal statement – This involves highlighting the more qualitative parts of one’s profile and is a significant factor in any B-School application. Oftentimes, this is the differentiator for most applicants. 

In order to compensate for the lack of substance in one of the factors above, you will need to be excelling in other key factors in your overall profile. For example, if you have a low overall GPA, you need to excel in your GMAT and fine tune your profile to increase your chances at the school through highlighting skills such as leadership, community impact, diverse academic and work experiences, participation in ECAs, so on and so forth.

MIM REQUIREMENTS

RESUME

It’s important for candidates to understand that they require a well-drafted resume with ECAs (extracurriculars), academic and professional accolades, internship experiences, or part-time/full-time work experience as well as mention volunteering or additional certifications earned. To build an overall robust profile with great ECAs you must be able to align with the values of programs, and be able to connect dots between your professional experiences, ECAs and skill-set to form a network-like structure in your resume. Following such a strategy in resume building will definitely help book a spot at any top B-School.

ESSAY QUESTIONS

Essay Questions play a very important role in providing the aspiring candidates with an opportunity to bring a good narrative out of it. It’s your best chance to characterize yourself as someone who wants to alter the primitive social systems, someone with a sense of social justice, risk-taker and unique in his own ways. The essays can add additional points to your overall profile hence I would suggest every candidate deliberately to work on making your essays elegant unique and try to mold them into a story to catch the attention of the adcom.

Although each MiM program would have its own set of essay questions depending upon the set criteria, the questions are generally built around a similar theme and just twisted in form of new questions 

Some of the most common criteria are namely,

• The post-MiM goals, 
• The need for MiM 
• How a MiM degree from the respective school will help the applicant attain their goals.

LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION

Letters of Recommendation: Issued by your supervisor at work (whether a job/ internship) or a professor at college under whom the applicant has studied/ worked with on research projects, etc. This is a significant part of the application and acts as proof of your skill-set and work experience.

The internship experience is a crucial segment for your overall MiM profile; however, it’s not irreplaceable,

Now, in terms of your work experience, as a marketing intern, you may explain the hurdles you’ve faced and the positive impact you’ve had on the company. Working in a tech startup must have provided you with invaluable experience. You may certainly describe your involvement with ECs during your undergraduate studies, as well as the activities and duties you took on. And your leadership abilities must be evident in the responsibilities you performed as president of several societies. Finally, you should highlight the cloud kitchen service; stories or personal experiences connected to this will help you and Adcoms start a pleasant conversation.

elaborate more on your roles and responsibilities and try to share your experience both as a work cum study and a permanent employee. Mention the differences in roles, responsibilities, work pressure, and working environment 

In your ECAs, highlight the relevant skills acquired. Also, elaborate on your volunteering experience, how you overcame the challenges, what was significant about your role, and what relevant skill-set did you develop? Try to mold your ECAs in a way that it showcases your selfless nature, your leadership abilities, your communications skills, and your sense of social well-being.

Also, elaborate on your ECAs, highlight the relevant skills you learned that would help you during your program, and post it!  As a  matter of fact, we would love to help you with your essays and make your profile more robust so, If you wish to connect or need any further help regarding your application, in that case, you could always reach out to us for more in-depth professional help. 

About your internships and ECAs, you have a solid foundation in both; all you need is some fine-tuning to highlight the relevant skills developed, leadership roles played, and the impact generated. 

ACADEMIC RECORDS

It’s important to understand that often enough candidates applying for MiM are recent college graduates or in the final year of their graduation hence, have zero to very little work experience so, MiM places high value on GPA along with academic accolades to gauge your potential. Hence, candidates need to mention relevant accolades on their resume, and even specific B-schools coils also request copies of transcripts demonstrating your performance at the UG degree level (or graduate degree, if you have directly gone to graduate school after completing the undergraduate degree). 

VIDEO QUESTIONS (1 OR 2)

As of now, many B-Schools issue video questions as part of their MiM application process. This additional option to upload a video statement could be a game-changer as you could very well describe how you will contribute to the MIM program and add your personal experience of success & leadership and your learnings during your internship & job tenure. This is where you could create a huge impact by mesmerizing the adcom! Imagine it as an interview in which you already know the questions have enough time to answer and if not satisfied and go for retake after retake! 

This is one of the crucial aspects of the B-School application as they offer the closest opportunity to the candidates to show themselves and how applicants fare at the program in person.  

GRE OR GMAT SCORES

Whether it’s MBA or MIM, the GMAT is always considered one of the most crucial elements of your overall academic profile. Moreover, since the work experience criteria for MiM is low compared to MBA, the adcom relies heavily on your GPA and GMAT scores as a display of your academic potential, critical thinking, and analytical abilities.

Also, as mentioned in the above paragraphs, many schools avoid mentioning any benchmark for GRE & GMAT scores hence it’s essential to increase your chances, you must aim for a score of around 700+ as most MiM programs have an average GMAT score of 650+ and a good GMAT score is required for an applicant to be considered in the program. Similarly for GRE, a score of 320+ is definitely above average and would fare well in your support.

TOEFL OR IELTS SCORE 

TOEFL or IELTS scores are a way to test the proficiency in English of a candidate as most MiM programs around the globe are offered with English as the primary mode of communication. However, this requirement is more specifically suggested for candidates whose native language is non-English and who haven’t had English as a subject or primary mode of instruction in their UG degree. Hence, for applicants who come from an English background or whose undergraduate degree education had taken place entirely in English, the TOEFL/ IELTS is not required. A good score for TOEFL is considered around 95+ in a total of 120 whereas for IELTS a score of 8 or 7.5+ is considered the average score whereas, for a score of 6.5 IELTS or lower, you could always reappear.

POST-MIM GOALS

It is crucial for applicants to have spent considerable time prior to submitting the applications thinking around their career choices post the MiM as well as their long term perspective on the same. Most applicants feel like the post-MiM goals they need to come up with are the absolute final goals for what they actually want to do. This is a misunderstanding – it is perfectly fine to believe in what you believe in now, and ride with it convincingly. You may change your mind once you enter the MiM program, and that is entirely okay. The key aspect here is to ensure that your goals are your own, that you believe in them and that you feel like the school in question will help you reach those goals.

Naturally, thinking through your goals and building the entire profile around what you have been upto in the past, your experiences at undergraduate level and at internships/ community activities, and how these align with what you plan to do during and post the MiM (both long term and short term) is key to a solid pitch. Applicants should research on what courses interest them, and how they seek to leverage the resources available at the target school to achieve their goals.