Darren

Have a mediocre (or alarmingly low) GMAT and need to show more evidence of your quant skills? Check out Fortuna's comparison of MBA Math, HBS CORe, UCBerkeley MATH X402, UCLA MGMT X110 and Imperial EdX Pre-MBA Essentials: fortunaadmissions.com/pre-mba-math-r…

Your MBA application is a movie preview of what's to come – a pitch for your candidacy. How can you get admissions officers to remember you, care about you, believe you and act on your application in a positive way (let's interview her!)? touchmba.com/make-your-mba-…

Schools want “collaborative” leaders. Don’t write: “I’m collaborative.” Show it. One applicant had her recommender say: “Doctors fight to work with her on tough cases.” That’s louder than any buzzword. Embody what schools look for

If another applicant could copy/paste your “Why This School” paragraph, you’ve wasted space. Tie the school's resources to your unique story. "X's faculty of social science & medicine will help me understand the Chinese healthcare system." Specific. Personal. Undeniable.

4 Tips to Show Fit #1 MBA applicants: Stop saying “X is the perfect school for me.” Admissions directors aren’t looking for love-bombing. They want maturity. Say: “X is my top choice because…” Then prove it with specifics. Fit isn’t a declaration. It’s a conversation.

What does IESE look for in MBA applicants? How does IESE evaluate your academic aptitude, post-MBA career goals, leadership potential and fit? Check out my comprehensive interview w/ Patrik! touchmba.com/iese-mba-admis… @iesebschool

“Instead of listing accomplishments, you want to help others understand the journey that led to those accomplishments and where it’s taking you next. This creates an emotional connection that pure credentials cannot.” touchmba.com/crafting-a-per…

Airbnb founder Brian Chesky on how to interview and reference check new hires Brian’s first piece of advice comes from Steve Jobs: “Start with the results and work backwards to the people. Most people start with resumes. They start with brands — ‘Oh, this person worked at Google.’ But you should actually ask yourself: What products do I admire? And then who built those products?” With respect to actually interviewing them, Brian’s first tip is to ask follow-up questions: “Ask them to explain how they did something, and then the key is to ask two follow-ups. You never want the first answer. You always want the third answer. And if people don’t know what they’re talking about, they struggle. They might be able to follow-up, but the second follow-up, they become absent of details.” But more important than interviewing, Brian argues, is references: “I prioritize references over interviewing, especially with executives who have more experience BSing you than you have experience detecting their BS.” Brian recalls that Andreessen Horowitz would tell him to do 8 hours of reference checks per employee: “[That’s] probably over the top, but you should probably spend as much time referencing as you do hiring.” He also believes the CEO should interview and reference check new hires as long as possible. Brian interviewed the first 400 people at Airbnb, but he wishes he interviewed longer. And with respect to tactics for reference checks, Brian offers the following advice: “A lot of people are polite. They’re afraid of the feedback getting back. So the first thing to say when you start the call is that everything is off the record — and it should be off the record. It should never be attributed to them. The more it’s unattributed to them, the more honest they’re going to be.” On this topic, Brian recommends avoiding disqualifying questions: “A lot of people don’t want to say somebody sucks or is not good… Say, ‘Okay, separate from this topic, I just want to know who’s the best person you’ve ever worked with?’ Do they say the person’s name you just asked about? They usually tell the truth and if they don’t say that person’s name, they’re not the best, right?” And then ask for specifics: “They said they’re amazing — well why are they amazing? What would you point to? If they have no specifics, maybe they weren’t really good… Then ask questions like, ‘Okay, what do I need to watch out for if I were to hire them?’ or ‘What’s the one area of development you would give them?’ If you say that, they have to tell you something because they’ll feel like they’re not thoughtful enough…. And then you ask them at the end who else you should talk to: ‘Can you give me two more names?’ And then you use that to build a network.” Brian believes recruiting should be more like building a talent network than a sales pipeline.

@iesebschool MBA Admissions Director Patrik Wallen reveals how one of Europe’s top MBAs selects future leaders — and what truly makes an applicant stand out. touchmba.com/iese-mba-admis…

He got into INSEAD & London Business School! 🤯 This episode is packed with actionable advice: ✅ Cherif's 5 key success factors for admissions success ✅ How to craft a coherent narrative - despite having worked 5 jobs ✅ Tips to ace your interviews touchmba.com/five-keys-mba-…

My key takeaway: embrace AI with curiosity & a playful mindset! Experiment, learn its capabilities & understand its ethical implications. AI is here to stay, using it effectively is a huge advantage for future business leaders.

Is AI coming for MBA jobs? Just dropped an episode with Sabine King, Director of Career Accelerator at AGSM, on how AI is impacting MBA careers. touchmba.com/ai-mba-careers/ #MBA #AI

👇Our massively updated guide to the best MBA programs in France. Compare top schools head-to-head & save hours of research! Super international & high ROI programs are France's specialty: touchmba.com/best-mba-progr… @INSEAD @HECParisMBA @ESCP_bs @EDHEC_BSchool @EMLYON @essec

Ambitious episode where I shares 3 design thinking exercises from Bill Burnett & Dave Evan’s Designing Your Life (@DYourLife) that will help you build a joyful life – AND find MBA programs you are excited about: touchmba.com/design-your-li…

We're Number 8! 😜

Ann-Marie & Colleen from @FrankfurtSchool share admissions & recruitment insights that will help you materially strengthen your application to the Frankfurt School Full-time MBA: touchmba.com/frankfurt-scho…

Prof. DeKrey and I discuss: - the value of top MBA programs in Asia - how applicants can stand out - who should apply to Full-Time MBA, Part-Time MBA & EMBA programs - whether leadership can be taught. So many great tips! touchmba.com/stephen-dekrey… @HKUSTmba

Melody, Co-Founder of @vantagepointmba, shares great questions to help you differentiate yourself from other applicants with strong stats. Don't miss this one! touchmba.com/triple-your-ch…

Do you have 10+ years of work experience and are looking for mid-career MBA alternatives? Richard Campbell from @10Adventures shares his experience going through HBS's PLD, LBS's Sloan Masters in Leadership & Strategy, and 500 Global's Accelerator: touchmba.com/mid-career-mba…