INSEAD Fall 2019 MBA Essay Questions
INSEAD has posted the following job and motivation essays within the Fall 2019 MBA application, which is now live.
Job Essays
As the applications instructions state: The job questions are not essays. Hence, the number of words is not so important. People need to be comfortable writing 3 lines or 20. Some applicants work for companies that are well known and only 3 lines are sufficient to describe them; others work for small companies where it is more important to give the full picture.
Job Essay 1: Briefly summarize your current (or most recent) job, including the nature of work, major responsibilities, and where relevant, employees under your supervision, size of budget, clients/products and results achieved. (short answer)
Job Essay 2: What would be your next step in terms of position if you were to remain in the same company? (short answer)
Job Essay 3: Please give a full description of your career since graduating from university. Describe your career path with the rationale behind your choices. (short answer)
Job Essay 4: Discuss your short and long term career aspirations with or without an MBA from INSEAD. (short answer)
Optional Job Essay: If you are currently not working or if you plan to leave your current employer more than 2 months before the programme starts, please explain your activities and occupations between leaving your job and the start of the programme.
Motivation Essays
Essay 1: Give a candid description of yourself (who are you as a person), stressing the personal characteristics you feel to be your strengths and weaknesses and the main factors which have influenced your personal development, giving examples when necessary. (approximately 500 words)
Essay 2: Describe the achievement of which you are most proud and explain why. In addition, describe a situation where you failed. How did these experiences impact your relationships with others? Comment on what you learned. (approx. 400 words)
Essay 3: Describe all types of extra-professional activities in which you have been or are still involved for a significant amount of time (clubs, sports, music, arts, politics, etc). How are you enriched by these activities? (approx. 300 words)
Optional Essay: Is there anything else that was not covered in your application that you would like to share with the Admissions Committee? (approx. 300 words)
Video Interview Instructions
Shortly after completing your INSEAD MBA online application, you will receive an e-mail notification from Kira Talent with a unique link to complete 4 video interviews. Your link will be also available on your dashboard within the application system.
The video should be seen as a unique opportunity for you to share your passions, your motivations and who you truly are. The Admissions Committee is interested in obtaining an authentic view of you as a person, to see how you think on your feet and how you convey your ideas.
The video interviews do not replace the face-to-face interviews with Alumni.
Your application will be considered as complete and ready to be reviewed only once we have received your answers to the video interviews. Please complete your video interviews at your earliest convenience and no later than 48 hours after the deadline to which you are applying. We strongly recommend however that you complete this step before the final date to allow yourself some time to prepare for this exercise.
The MBA admissions overview link includes detailed advice from INSEAD admissions covering timing, practice, and technical requirements. Advice direct from INSEAD adcomm:
- Get ready by practicing. You can practice as much as you want. Practicing will enable you to convey authentic and genuine answers. Practice questions are not shared with the Admissions Committee;
- Test your camera, your microphone, then forget the technology and look at the camera as if you were talking to the Admissions Committee;
- Although we ask you to wear business or business casual attire, the Admissions Committee will not judge your look or your background;
- You may want to prepare a notebook next to you to write down your key ideas; you will have 45 seconds to prepare each answer; you will then have 60 seconds to share each answer with the Admissions Committee.
For additional information on applying, please visit the INSEAD MBA admissions website.
