Future Short-Term and Long-Term Career Goals - Essay Example

WHARTON ESSAY: SHORT VERSION: 1000 WORDS Required: Describe your career progress to and your future short-term and long-term career goals. How do you expect an MBA from Wharton to help you achieve these goals and why now (1,000 words) My short-term goal is to acquire comprehensive knowledge and expertise in Western business principles and practices. My long-term goal is to start a company of my own in order to become one of China's best businessmen ever, one who should be able to solve practical business problems with the help of the most sophisticated theories, taking my father as a model. My detailed plan has four steps. First, I want to pursue an MBA education so that I can be on the fast track to accomplish both my short-term and my long-term goals. Second, I would like to work in general management at one of my father's companies for one or two years, so that I can practice what I will have learned. Third, equipped with sophisticated management skills, I will move ahead to manage the operation of a company at a higher decision-making level in a way that I can get experiences on how to run a company by myself. Fourth, over the long run, I will set up my own company in order to become a successful entrepreneur on my own right. I remind myself of these goals every morning on my way to work. Due to the fact that my ultimate goal is to become one of China's best businessmen ever, I am glad to say that I have been taking very solid steps towards that goal. As a graduate from a military university, I have received sound management skills. Upon obtaining my Bachelor's Degree, a number of choices were presented to me. I knew that management is an applied science, and one can hardly be a successful entrepreneur without ever managing anything. After my graduation in 2004 as a Medical Doctor, I chose to work at SINA Corporation as the first step of my career for accomplishing my goals. SINA Corporation is the biggest media company and value-added information service provider in China. I worked as a manager in the Business Development Department at SINA Corporation. Working as such a position has given me plenty of opportunities to interact with executives of some prominent Chinese corporations, and I have thereby learned from first-hand experience about the difficulties that they have to cope with the ever intensifying competition in the world economy. Yet I feel that my current knowledge and expertise are not up to the task that I have set for myself. I do not know enough to run a viable business venture on any large scale, yet. I could pursue my career with SINA Corporation and continue to learn business management skills but after I examined my past work and education history I came up to believe that I will have more opportunities if I can receive the kind of comprehensive and systematical business and entrepreneurial training that a MBA program can offer. Compared with other famous business schools in the US, Wharton, a cradle of some of the world's most important businessmen, is my only choice. Wharton appeals more to me because not only of its reputation and legacy, but also because it suits my own needs. I once compared Stanford MBA Entrepreneurship courses, which are also famous worldwide, with Wharton's before I began the application process, and the results showed me that Wharton can really help me to achieve my career goals in a better and more efficient way than Stanford. First of all, Wharton's Entrepreneurship courses suit my backgrounds and current situations. My father is one of the most famous and successful enterprisers in China, and he runs many private companies now. He wants me to help him run part of those businesses in the future, so I have to learn not only the entrepreneurship aspects of a business but also how to run a family business. Entrepreneurship courses in Wharton's curriculum, such as Strategies and Practices of Family-Controlled Companies, are designed for those people who plan to manage family-controlled companies and for those planning a career in a family firm. They are really important and useful to me. They are just like a custom-tailored suit for me. Second, Wharton's Entrepreneurship courses suit my future business grow-up process. Compared with other people, I know I could go very far in business with the help from my father. My father has ran his businesses for at least 20 years, and he has already built wide personal connections including both with businessmen and with government officers, not only from China but also from the U.S, Canada and Japan, who can be a huge asset for me. So I need to learn how to profit from these social assets. Then Wharton's Entrepreneurship and Social Wealth Creation course seems to be the key for solving the problems. This course teach us that many social problems, if addressed entrepreneurially, create opportunities for launching businesses that simultaneously generate profits and alleviate the social problems. Third, Wharton puts more emphasis on teaching than most other American business schools. That is particularly important to me. While I value good research as much as anybody else, as a student I prefer professors who put teaching ahead of other pursuits. Effective teaching methods will probably be the biggest help I can get when I try to transcend cultural and academic barriers in pursuing advanced business training in the US. And I also know your classes are given to around 60 students. By attending such classes, I can communicate with more people which can help me to strengthen the knowledge I learned from the teachers, and I can build my personal network of connections bigger. Furthermore, I will maximize my MBA experience by taking advantage of Wharton's cross-functional curriculum, the study abroad opportunity, and the corporate / community network the program has established. I hope that, after two years of focused studies at Wharton, through perseverance and consistent awareness of the obstacles that lie ahead of me, I will have improved my leadership skills, sharpened my financial and operational acumen and expanded my network of contacts. If so, my life will be placed solidly on the right track. While I may still be able to achieve my goals without formal training at Wharton, I am firmly convinced a Wharton education will significantly shorten the distance I will have to travel to reach my goals. WHARTON ESSAY: LONG VERSION: 1655 WORDS Required: Describe your career progress to date and your future short-term and long-term career goals. How do you expect an MBA from Wharton to help you achieve these goals and why now (1,000 words) My short-term goal is to acquire comprehensive knowledge and expertise in Western business principles and practices. My long-term goal is to start a company of my own in order to become one of China's best businessmen ever, one who should be able to solve practical business problems with the help of the most sophisticated theories, taking my father as a model. My detailed plan has four steps. First, I want to pursue an MBA education so that I can be on the fast track to accomplish both my short-term and my long-term goals. Second, upon receiving my MBA degree, I would like to work in general management at one of my father's companies for one or two years, so that I can practice what I will have learned in Business School. But more importantly, I will acquire first-hand knowledge of how a real entrepreneur is supposed to work with this kind of exposure. Third, equipped with sophisticated management skills that I will have learned from this experience, I will move ahead to manage the operation of a company at a higher decision-making level in a way that I can get experiences on how to run a company by myself. Fourth, over the long run, I will set up my own company in order to become a successful entrepreneur on my own right. I remind myself of these goals every morning on my way to work. Due to the fact that my ultimate goal is to become one of China's best businessmen ever, I am glad to say that I have been taking very solid steps towards that goal. As a graduate from a military university, I have received sound management skills. Upon obtaining my Bachelor's Degree, a number of choices were presented to me. As high degrees are revered in China, many of the students, including me, contemplated pursuing graduate studies right away. After toying with the idea for a long time, I eventually decided against it, thinking that I should accumulate some significant hands-on experiences before I should embark on advanced studies and research. I knew that management is an applied science, and one can hardly be a successful entrepreneur without ever managing anything. After my graduation in 2004 as a Medical Doctor, I chose to work at SINA Corporation as the first step of my career for accomplishing my goals. SINA Corporation is the biggest media company and value-added information service provider (VAS) in China. It is the most recognized Internet brand name in China and among Chinese communities globally. With 180 million registered users worldwide, 450 million daily page views and over 42 million active users for a variety of fee-based services, it has significant impact not only on the citizens mind but also for policy makers, government officers and in the field of socioeconomics. I worked as a manager in the Business Development Department at SINA Corporation. Working as such a position has given me plenty of opportunities to interact with executives of some prominent Chinese corporations, and I have thereby learned from first-hand experience about the difficulties that they have to cope with the ever intensifying competition in the world economy. I acquired much professional knowledge and practical project management skills in leadership experiences out of leading and launching several big events such as advertising campaigns and annual ceremonies. I also obtained project management skills by planning and carrying out marketing activities such as the activities to co-operate with many famous companies worldwide. And I got my communication and interpersonal skills by managing day-to-day relationships with strategic partners and developing a deep understanding of their needs and long-term business strategies. Yet I feel that my current knowledge and expertise are not up to the task that I have set for myself. I do not know enough to run a viable business venture on any large scale, yet. I could pursue my career with SINA Corporation and continue to learn business management skills but after I examined my past work and education history I came up to believe that I will have more opportunities if I can receive the kind of comprehensive and systematical business and entrepreneurial training that a MBA program can offer. I need to learn the ways of handling complicated situations, making the right decisions and know how to lead harmoniously a big team. I am sure that a rigorous and well organized training in entrepreneurship and business management will launch me onto my desired career track. Furthermore, I am confident that an MBA degree from a famous business school will not only give me the tools that I need in order to succeed, but the necessary personal insight into my own inner workings and the personal network connections with a lot of talented people.Also, receiving training at this stage of my career will be good for my personal growth. Compared with other famous business schools in the US, Wharton, a cradle of some of the world's most important businessmen, is my only choice. Wharton appeals more to me because not only of its reputation and legacy, but also because it suits my own needs. I once compared Stanford MBA Entrepreneurship courses, which are also famous worldwide, with Wharton's before I began the application process, and the results showed me that Wharton can really help me to achieve my career goals in a better and more efficient way than Stanford. First of all, Wharton's Entrepreneurship courses suit my backgrounds and current situations. My father is one of the most famous and successful enterprisers in China, and he runs many private companies now. He wants me to help him run part of those businesses in the future, so I have to learn not only the entrepreneurship aspects of a business but also how to run a family business. The regular Entrepreneurship courses in some MBA programs, such as those in Stanford University, are mainly focused for people who may become entrepreneurs in the future, and merely teach them how to manage a company that belongs to others. Entrepreneurship courses in Wharton's curriculum, such as Strategies and Practices of Family-Controlled Companies, are designed for those people who plan to manage family-controlled companies and for those planning a career in a family firm. Those courses not only focus on the strategic planning from a resource-based perspective and the financial and market-driven options for long-run competitiveness, but they also focus on the shareholder decision-making processes, organizational structures and management team issues in transition planning for the corporate entity, wealth, leadership and relationships, family dynamics and communication issues, and leadership empowerment. They are really important and useful to me. They are just like a custom-tailored suit for me. Second, Wharton's Entrepreneurship courses suit my future business grow-up process. Compared with other people, I know I could go very far in business with the help from my father. My father has ran his businesses for at least 20 years, and he has already built wide personal connections including both with businessmen and with government officers, not only from China but also from the U.S, Canada and Japan, who can be a huge asset for me. So I need to learn how to profit from these social assets. Then Wharton's Entrepreneurship and Social Wealth Creation course seems to be the key for solving the problems. This course teach us that many social problems, if addressed entrepreneurially, create opportunities for launching businesses that simultaneously generate profits and alleviate the social problems. This approach generates social wealth as well as entrepreneurial wealth, which are becoming more and more valuable in China. Third, Wharton puts more emphasis on teaching than most other American business schools. That is particularly important to me. While I value good research as much as anybody else, as a student I prefer professors who put teaching ahead of other pursuits. Effective teaching methods will probably be the biggest help I can get when I try to transcend cultural and academic barriers in pursuing advanced business training in the US. And I also know your classes are given to around 60 students. By attending such classes, I can communicate with more people which can help me to strengthen the knowledge I learned from the teachers, and I can build my personal network of connections bigger. I would dearly love to have the opportunity of communicating with diversified talented people in the classroom. I will come over to Wharton equipped not only with positive attitudes towards diversity and confidence in cross-cultural exchange but also detailed knowledge and profound insights on China's Internet Industry and Healthcare System, which can be a potential market with huge profits. I look forward to sharing my experience with the professors and students at Wharton, just as I look forward to learning from their experiences and opinions. All this will be accomplished -I am sure- in the case studies and group projects on which Wharton apparently places strong emphasis. Given my experience, I will probably be much more able to appreciate the different backgrounds and experiences that bring people together. Furthermore, I will maximize my MBA experience by taking advantage of Wharton's cross-functional curriculum, the study abroad opportunity, and the corporate / community network the program has established. I hope that, after two years of focused studies at Wharton, through perseverance and consistent awareness of the obstacles that lie ahead of me, I will have improved my leadership skills, sharpened my financial and operational acumen and expanded my network of contacts. If so, my life will be placed solidly on the right track. While I may still be able to achieve my goals without formal training at Wharton, I am firmly convinced a Wharton education will significantly shorten the distance I will have to travel to reach my goals. Read More