Top graduate schools value multi-skilled candidates, with leadership always near the top. It is well-established that business schools emphasize candidates’ leadership skills. But leadership skills are also prized by technical programs, such as computer science. Many CS Master’s programs offer practical development projects, such as teams assigned to build a mobile application that helps users navigate a location. Beyond raw programming skills, the admissions team will be interested in candidates with a demonstrated ability to delegate responsibilities, oversee system architecture and design, complete iterative development with weekly sprints, drive regular code reviews and integration, testing, and bug fixing, and deliver the final presentation. This prepares the candidate to work as a Software Engineering Manager in the future, guiding and mentoring software engineering teams.
Leadership-Related Essay or Interview Questions
Some essay or interview questions request a leadership example. Younger applicants’ best example is typically obvious, as they may not have had many significant leadership experiences. In this case, they will do their best to show how their leadership pushed a team toward its goal.
Many applicants haven’t managed a team and may not have much direct project or competition leadership experience. In such cases, we recommend that the writer identify other ways in which they have demonstrated leadership. Some examples might include sharing a story about stepping up to help a team solve a problem, which demonstrated leadership without a formal title, or taking the initiative to improve a work process. Seeing the need for a contribution or change and taking action is a form of “leading by example”, or “servant leadership”.
On the other hand, those with multiple extracurricular and professional leadership experiences sometimes struggle to finalize their choice. Here are a few ideas to guide people in this position:
- Consider the type of leadership style you wish to convey. You may want to align this approach with your career ambition. For instance, post-MBA, you aim to work as a digital transformation consultant at a top firm, where your objective is to drive change in client organizations. Positioning yourself as a transformational leader, and citing an example that features you bringing about change and inspiring followers to exceed ordinary performance levels could be a winning formula.
- Don’t Forget to Shine the Light on Others. While you are likely the hero of your leadership story, do not forget to mention the other players. An example that is 100% self-focused with no other contributors may seem unrealistic or insincere. Since no leader ever achieved great things alone, give others credit for their contributions. More importantly, don’t miss the opportunity to assert that it was a great team effort, a team that you orchestrated, but a team nonetheless, that came together under your leadership to achieve the goal. It is impossible to send this message without introducing the other group members and stakeholders.
- It Does Not Have to Be a Success Story. As discussed in our previous blog posts, failure and setback examples can be memorable stories. Commonly, one’s most salient leadership experience ended in failure or disappointment. Do not shy away from exploring this experience and reflecting on how it molded your character, informed your leadership style, and was a catalyst that led you to subsequent successes. For example, perhaps you led a team to enter an entrepreneurship competition with high hopes for winning a medal, only to be eliminated in the second round. While disappointing, the growth you experienced in this competition may have formed the foundation that propelled you to establish and effectively lead a startup a few years later.
Discussing Leadership Indirectly
You may elucidate on your leadership ability even when not explicitly requested to do so. Here are other opportunities to highlight leadership abilities and experiences in the application process:
The “Self-Introduction” Interview Question. When asked to introduce yourself, you have broad discretion to provide information that creates the image or impression you wish the interviewer to see. If you feel leadership is a key strength, when introducing important life milestones, you may point out key leadership experiences. While you will be unable to dive into a long story, those short anecdotes could pique the interviewer’s interest and lead to follow-up questions.
Statement of Purpose (SOP) Essay. Like a self-introduction question, SOP prompts afford a wide latitude for information pertinent to the applicant’s background, motivations, experiences, or ability to contribute to the program. The SOP may be an ideal forum for the applicant to inject an example or two of leadership relevant to the program or their future career plans.
Online Application. Many online applications, such as London Business School, Cornell Johnson, UCLA Anderson, and Duke Fuqua, request detailed explanations of extracurricular activities. This is a great opportunity to not only discuss involvement, but also leadership roles assumed or projects, or teams that you managed.
Conclusion
When the time comes to consider which leadership stories to present in an essay or interview, evaluate a variety of options as a way to convey personal strengths and solid alignment with your career goal or readiness for leadership responsibilities in your graduate studies.