give a candid description of yourself sample essay

• Skip to content

AdmitSuccess

Business School Admissions Consultants

INSEAD Sample Essay

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. (600 words max.)

At the age of eleven my mother enrolled me in an English language immersion school, where for five days a week I attempted to divulge my thoughts in a language, as distant to my own as the nearest country where it was spoken. I didn’t understand the need to memorize new words or why an English-language magazine replaced my favorite comics. However, with my trademark tenacity, I translated articles, competed with friends in vocabulary quizzes, and put together my first independent phrases, developing skills that would become crucial to success later in life. Though shy at the time, I pushed my timidity aside during after-school conversation classes with my Australian tutor Mike, the first foreigner I had met. As my English improved, we discussed differences between Australia and Poland, his favorite local dishes and my wanderlust to one day visit and ski in his country.

A string of instructors followed –Bob, who found a wife in Poland and invited my entire high school class to his wedding, Mr. Jones, a pastor from Alabama who moved with his wife and three children and spoke about the Bible, and Holly, the first “hippie” professor at my rather conservative high school. Along with improving English, I learnt to communicate effectively with people from backgrounds different than my own and appreciate the new perspectives they brought into my life. Today, I enjoy working in intercultural teams and applying my cultural sensibility to challenges that sometimes arise with differing perspectives. This helps me be a better leader and team player and gains the respect of colleagues and clients alike.

I let passion and intellectual curiosity lead all my personal and professional pursuits. During a trip to France I indulged in my favorite travel pastime – a cooking class. After dutifully researching my options I enrolled in a French speaking class. Undeterred by a lack of fluency (having only studied French for 3 months at the time) and armed with friendliness and a big smile – two traits that always seem to work – I joined my French cohorts for an evening of culinary (and linguistic) adventure. I observed in silence, trying to emulate the chef’s vocabulary but often needing to bridge my lack of fluency with body language and improvisation. The experience served as motivation to further pursue French by way of a private teacher and immersion-study in France; I can’t wait to return to France and test my fluency in Chef’s kitchen.

The same creativity I found in the kitchen also helps me as a business consultant. Although I am well versed in the financial industry, the diversity of clients I work with requires that I apply creativity to frame complex problems, find pragmatic solutions and drive engagements to a successful finish that exceeds client expectations.

Because my hobbies are often individual in nature, I had to rely solely on my own persistence, even stubbornness, to achieve results. Maintaining a strong opinion was paramount to my success in sales and trading where I had to make split-second decisions, often going against general consensus or market trends. But after transitioning into business consulting, I realized that obstinacy could be a weakness that stalls progress and limits consensus driven solutions. Because my next career steps will increasingly lead me towards management and executive functions, I have to be prepared to uphold the right balance between standing my ground and relying on consensus driven decisions, a skill I hope to further cultivate through my INSEAD experience.

Recent News

Columbia business school adds a new program and essay question., talking- it’s still a thing, 2016 columbia business school essay tips and a word about applying early decision.

2023-2024 INSEAD Essay Analysis

May 1, 2023

• Who is INSEAD looking for?
• How should I answer INSEAD essay questions?
• Get expert help

UPDATE : This article was originally posted on August 1, 2018. It has been updated with new information and tips below.

With business increasingly taking place across borders and popular industries (we’re looking at you, tech!) moving at a breakneck speed, INSEAD is a more popular target for business school applicants than ever. 

Though INSEAD offers two intakes each year, the increased attention the school has garnered makes it more competitive than ever to earn a spot at this prestigious business school. 

That’s why we’ve prepared this guide to help you use your INSEAD admissions essays to stand out. We’ve rounded up not only our best tips but have also included INSEAD sample essays to ensure you give your INSEAD application your best shot. 

1. Who is INSEAD looking for?

Source: remessaonline.com

“The accelerated full-time MBA programme curriculum develops successful, thoughtful leaders and entrepreneurs who create value for their organisations and their communities, and we are looking for smart, well-rounded candidates who believe that business can be a force for good.” Minh Huy Lai , Managing Director of the INSEAD MBA Program.

Every year, INSEAD searches the globe for outstanding, globally-minded professionals. More than 75 countries are represented in INSEAD’s MBA class . With a strong emphasis on diversity, collaboration, and global mindset , there is a lot of variation in the INSEAD class, with previous work experience ranging from 3 to 8 years . 

Beyond the impressive statistics, though, INSEAD is a highly values-driven community that values diversity, adaptability and teamwork — and professionals who are adept at putting these values into practice in their daily lives. 

According to INSEAD’s admissions committee:

 “The MBA Admissions team are looking for people with intellectual curiosity, personal qualities to contribute to the many INSEAD activities and a desire to stretch themselves in a rigorous academic programme. We welcome applications from around the world regardless of race, religion, gender, colour or financial status. Our aim is to build an exciting, dynamic and diverse student body.​”

If this sounds like a community in which you’d be right at home, you’ll first have to prove you’ve got what it takes by successfully answering INSEAD’s highly varied, challenging  admissions essay questions. 

2. How should I answer INSEAD essay questions?

Writing any admission essay is a tough task. However, INSEAD requires applicants to submit a highly-challenging set of nearly a dozen essays that discuss everything from strengths to failures to personal characteristics to future plans to extracurricular activities. 

Keep reading for a more in-depth look at how to turn this advice into outstanding essays!

2.1. Motivational 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. (500 words)

Considering the fact that you only have 500 words to present yourself , this essay can seem like a daunting task. However, we have found that the following structure helps this essay flow nicely and perfectly nail the brief. 

We suggest including two strengths and one weakness (in any order you prefer), and a theme to connect them all. 

As you can see in Motivational Essay Sample Set 1 (available for download below), the author uses his passion for digital as the theme for his essay, comparing various technical processes to strengths and weaknesses in his personality before ending by stating his working to become version 2.0 of himself. 

Many people argue initially that their personality should be enough of a theme. This can definitely work, however, we have found that a more robust theme that integrates with and connects to your characteristics makes for a more interesting, cohesive essay . It will also help you discuss what led you to develop the unique characteristics that make you you! 

Finally, please ( please !) do not use a fake or made up weakness. Your weakness should be thoughtful , yet appropriate for business school. 

Talking about how you often fight with superiors, for example, is not appropriate for business school, since the experience is inherently collaborative and teamwork driven, so make sure you don’t build an argument that you have a hard time relating to others. Furthermore, answers like losing your temper easily or being lazy are not good choices. 

You also don’t want to stray too far to the other side, choosing answers like “I work too hard.” Instead, choose real, well-considered weaknesses and include information about why this personal trait is a weakness. 

REMEMBER: your weaknesses should be an obstacle to other strengths and NOT one of your inherent flaws. 

For example, if you tend to get lost in the details, show the adcom that this has led to negative feedback at work, where you’re increasingly asked to take care of your team’s big picture responsibilities. 

Finally, end by showing how you are working on this weakness. The important thing here is not to show you are a “perfect” person, but to show them that you are mature, self-aware, and focused on self-improvement. 

TOP TIP: There is a lot of space for repetition with Essay 2, so we suggest planning out all your examples for all essays and double-checking for any conflicts before you start writing. 

Need more guidance? Our MBA Resource Center has dozens of past successful INSEAD essays and a detailed brainstorm to help you plan out a winning INSEAD essay. Our library also includes guides for all top global MBA programs, detailed essay brainstorms, interview tips and mocks, CV templates, and recommendation letter guides. Click to join ! 

2.2. Motivational 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. (400 words)

For many of our clients, this is the most difficult essay to write, considering the sheer amount of content applicants must cram into a 400-word essay. 

However, with the right approach , this essay can be much less daunting. 

First, we suggest you brainstorm a list of your greatest accomplishments and greatest failures.  

After doing this, filter out examples that are contradictory to Essay 1 (for example, your achievement revolves around being an excellent presenter and your weakness in Essay 1 is presentation skills) or that overlap with stories you are telling in other essays. 

After this, go through the list again and remove examples that have nothing to do with other people. 

This is incredibly important because this essay is not asking you to discuss your life’s absolute greatest mess up, it’s asking you to talk about a failure and discuss how it influenced your relationships with others . 

For example, while brainstorming this essay, many of our clients suggest writing about not passing at their top choice undergraduate university for their failure. Though this is certainly a crushing blow, it’s hard to talk about how this impacted the way you relate to others. An example like not asking for help and failing to deliver on a project, on the other hand, is a much better choice. 

As such, be absolutely sure that you choose examples that allow you to answer the full question. 

Finally, given the short word count, you may want to consider a situation where you experienced a failure, learned from it, and turned things around to lead to your greatest achievement. Though you certainly don’t have to follow this model (and many of our successful clients have not), it can help shorten the word count by eliminating the need to provide context for two situations. 

TOP TIP: STAR-format examples work best here. If you’re not sure how to achieve this, check out this post , designed to help you use the STAR methodology easily and effectively in your essays. 

2.3. Motivational 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? (300 words)

Here, we suggest choosing a few different activities you currently participate in (or have meaningfully participated in previously). 

These can be a range of activities, from hobbies to community service to sports, etc. If you can, try to choose activities that reinforce you’re a globally-minded, team-oriented person and use this space to highlight new elements of your profile that you did not discuss elsewhere. 

No matter what you choose, you must justify how each activity has enriched you . 

You don’t have to get overly dramatic here and state that soccer saved your life (if it did, though, write about that!), but make sure to show a mature, thoughtful analysis of how this activity has led you to grow as a person. 

2.4. Optional Motivational Essay

Is there anything else that was not covered in your application that you would like to share with the admissions committee? (300 words)

As with nearly all elite business schools, INSEAD does not want to see a summary of your profile or a restatement of why you want to attend INSEAD. Considering they give you 8 other essay questions and a video essay , you have plenty of space to make your most important arguments within the confines of the application. 

However, if you have extenuating circumstances that merit additional explanation (a good overview of what kind of circumstances qualify can be found here ), make sure to explain them clearly and directly. 

2.5. Job Essay 1

Job Essay 1: Briefly summarise 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. (200 words)

For this question, the most important thing is to answer all elements of the question and maintain focus on your current role . 

You’ll have plenty of room to discuss your past career choices and future ambitions in other essays, so make sure you give the adcom a full picture of what you do on a daily basis. 

If you’re currently working on a particularly interesting project, you can include information about the project and your related responsibilities, but don’t bog your reader down with an exhaustive list of every project and result you’ve ever obtained in your current role. 

Should you feel a little bit of context is necessary to understand your current role, feel free to provide it. Keep in mind, however, that you’re given an entire essay to discuss your career choices leading up to the present day. 

Finally, make sure to include the data they ask for, specifically related to the budget and the number of people you manage. 

2.6. Job Essay 2

What would be your next step in terms of position if you were to remain in the same company instead of going to business school? (200 words).

Depending on how complex this next role will be, this might be a very short answer or a slightly longer one. 

Here, focus on your next logical step in your current organization ( whether you intend to return post-MBA or not ). By asking this, the committee is attempting to gauge your career progress and momentum thus far. 

Thus, highlight how the complexity and scope of your position would increase, especially making sure to note any additional leadership or management responsibilities. You may also want to mention a feasible timeline for being promoted to this role. 

2.7. 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. (300 words).

Here, INSEAD does not want a 2-page dramatic retelling of your CV, so make sure you start writing this essay with your ultimate goal in mind. 

We suggest applicants take this opportunity to show the “whys and hows” of their career choices thus far, specifically focusing on what led you to move from one company or role to another and what you learned. It’s also a good practice to highlight any of your “blockbuster” moments to establish a track record of excellence in your career. 

Furthermore, show the adcom your career is on an upward trajectory by including information about increased responsibilities with each new role. 

As for size, try to keep it short, but use your best judgment. If you’ve had 10 positions since graduating university, your essay will likely be longer than someone who has had 2-3 positions at one company in the same amount of time. 

Though this is not a traditional goals essay, you may find it helpful to think of this as the “setup” section of a goals essay, since you’re required to demonstrate how your trajectory thus far has prepared you for the goals you plan to pursue post-MBA. 

2.8. Job Essay 4

Discuss your short and long term career aspirations with an MBA from INSEAD. (100 words).

Unlike many other schools, INSEAD poses a very straightforward goals question that asks you to discuss your short-term and long-term goals, as well as your need for an INSEAD MBA. 

Considering the fact that you’ve just told the admissions committee about your past experiences, we recommend jumping right in and starting to discuss your short-term goal, namely, the job you hope to have right after graduation. 

Then, continue by discussing why you want to pursue this goal , before moving on to stating your long-term goal (this varies, but somewhere in the 5-10 year range is a good target) and the reason for wanting to pursue this goal as well. 

Though it can be tempting to be vague or generic here, that’s not going to help your application.

INSEAD, like all elite business schools, will use this essay to determine your career risk (i.e. the likelihood of you getting the job you’ve said you want after graduation). As such, specificity is an absolute necessity (include both title and industry). 

Finally, if you’re pursuing goals that are very loosely related to what you’ve done thus far, make sure you fully explore why you’re making such a drastic change and give any evidence you can that you’ll be successful in making this big shift. 

Show the admissions committee you recognize that you still need to grow as a person and as a professional in order to successfully reach the goals you’ve laid out. To do this, consider key skills that you need to build or develop that are specifically related to your plans. 

For example, if you’re planning to pursue partnership at a major consulting firm, pitching clients will become a huge part of your job description, so improving your abilities to do so is important. 

On the other hand, if your post-MBA goal requires managing a huge team, you may want to think about how you need to grow as a leader and manager to successfully rise to the occasion.

After you’ve identified your skill areas, show how specific elements of the INSEAD experience will help you develop. 

Finally, it’s worth mentioning how and why you might benefit from being part of INSEAD’s highly global MBA. Regardless of what you choose to write about, make sure you do extensive research into the INSEAD program and deeply reflect on your future goals before you start writing. 

TOP TIP: Not sure how to define your goals for your MBA application? Check out our guide on the topic here !

2.9. 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.

If you are currently unemployed or plan to leave your position early, make sure to show how you will use this time off to develop your skills and bring yourself closer to reaching your short-term and long-term goals. 

Ensuring you offer specifics about what you’ll be doing and showing how you intend to be enriched by your activities will be a convincing argument in showing your commitment to pursuing an MBA and your goals beyond. 

If you’re not sure if you’ll leave your job early or not, we recommend not writing this essay. 

3. Make Sure You Get into INSEAD

Are you almost finished with your application but are still worried your essay is not quite perfect enough to send? 

At Ellin Lolis Consulting, our goal is to add more value to your application than you ever thought possible by giving you the tools and positioning you need to write outstanding essays that help you gain admission to a top MBA program.

If you’re struggling to put your core values into words, or aren’t sure you’ve really nailed the brief for INSEAD, let our award-winning editors use their expert storytelling abilities to help you transform your essay from average to attention-grabbing and land an INSEAD interview. 

That’s how we helped our recent client Georgia navigate her application. 

After all, you don’t get into a prestigious business school without standing out!

4. INSEAD Deadlines

INSEAD has two deadlines each year, one for the September intake and one for the January intake. Please check INSEAD’s website directly for the most recent information about deadlines! 

You can start your online application by clicking here . 

Real MBA Essays That Got People In

School-specific sample essays that got our clients accepted

Get Access Now

98.9% Success Rate

With our expertise and 98.9% success rate in placing our consulting clients in at least one of their target schools, we can add more value to your application than you ever thought possible.

Recent Articles

Ellin’s Top 7 Essay Tips #2 – How to Discuss Extracurriculars

May 24, 2024

UPDATE: This article was...

Ellin’s Top 7 Tips #1 – Your MBA Goals Essay

May 23, 2024

UPDATE: This...

Impress the Adcom: 5 Steps to Killer MBA Essays

May 20, 2024

Are you gearing up to apply to business school and feeling overwhelmed by the essay writing process? You're not alone. Many MBA applicants struggle to convey what makes them unique in a way that truly sets them apart from the competition. The stakes are high, and a...

Ready to start your MBA Success?

Customized for You

Track Your Progress

Practice Pays

Practice thousands of GMAT questions with top expert solutions.

Identify and improve upon mistakes efficiently using our Error Log.

Get the latest tips and news from our top GMAT professionals.

- it’s free and easy!

Thank you for using the timer! We noticed you are actually not timing your practice. Click the START button first next time you use the timer. There are many benefits to timing your practice , including:

We’ll give you an estimate of your score

We’ll provide personalized question recommendations

Your score will improve and your results will be more realistic

How to Get a Perfect 805 GMAT Focus Score with Target Test Prep

MBA Application Review by Experts

Tuck on the Road in Europe

MBA Admissions Consulting Q&A Session: Unlock Top-Ranked MBA Insights!

­The GMAT Club Podcast - My Journey to GMAT 100 Percentile After ISB Rejection

Free Consultation Event From Vantage Point

Profile Evaluation and Enrichment

MBA Spotlight Fair

08:30 AM PDT

09:30 AM PDT

01:00 PM PDT

02:00 PM PDT

03:00 PM EDT

04:00 PM EDT

09:50 AM PDT

11:00 AM PDT

10:00 AM PDT

12:00 PM EDT

01:00 PM EDT

08:00 PM IST

09:00 PM IST

05:30 AM PDT

12:00 PM PDT

INSEAD Essay 1 (Strengths & Weaknesses): Tips & Winning Essay/ Sample

The post is bookmarked successfully

INSEAD Essay Tips and Examples

August 29, 2023

Jeremy Shinewald

INSEAD candidates must respond to four short career-focused queries (a fifth one is optional) and provide three motivation essays (with an optional fourth).  Applicants are also tasked with completing a video component for which they answer four questions as four separate video recordings. Given the total number of prompts, tasks, and questions involved, some candidates could find INSEAD’s essay gauntlet a bit intimidating and likely arduous as well. Read on for our full analysis, which we hope will make the process a little easier to manage.

INSEAD 2023–2024 Essay Tips

Job description 1: briefly summarise 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. (200 words maximum)  , job description 2: what would be your next step in terms of position if you were to remain in the same company instead of going to business school (200 words maximum)  , job description 3: please give a full description of your career since graduating from university. describe your career path with the rationale behind your choices. (300 words maximum)  , job description 4: discuss your short and long term career aspirations with an mba from insead. (100 words maximum)  .

For the school’s job-related mini essays, we encourage you to start by very carefully parsing exactly what data the school requests for each. Together, these four prompts cover many of the elements seen in a traditional personal statement essay, including info about one’s career to date, interest in the school, and professional goals. However, the topics are clearly separated among individual submissions rather than covered in a cohesive single essay, and INSEAD also asks applicants to comment on their expected progression within their current firm were they to remain there rather than entering business school.

The first prompt requires that you outline roughly six different aspects of your current or most recent position. Be sure that you address each of the elements the school lists, and do not skip any just because you would rather write more about some than others. You might also want to consider providing a very brief description of your company or industry, if the nature of either might not be readily clear to an admissions reader. For the second question, your response should be fairly straightforward. If your firm has a clearly defined management hierarchy in which one position leads directly to a higher one—and you would be interested in adhering to that system—you simply need to explain this and perhaps offer a short description of the new responsibilities your next position would entail. If your company does not have such an arrangement or you would want to move in a different direction, simply explain what your preferred next role would be and the duties involved. 

The third prompt is rather self-explanatory with respect to detailing the various stages of your career to date, but do not be remiss in responding to the “rationale” and “choices” aspects of the query. The school wants to know that your progression has not been passive, with you simply accepting the next good thing to come along, but rather that you have made thoughtful decisions with clear motivations and intentions behind them. For the fourth question, you will need to present your professional goals within the context of an INSEAD MBA education. Do your research on the school to identify specific resources it offers that relate directly to the skills and experiences you need to be successful in your career, thereby illustrating how INSEAD would help you achieve your aims. Above all, be sure to show determination and direction—that you are focused firmly on your intended end points and will not be easily deterred. 

For all your job description responses, avoid using any acronyms or abbreviations that would not be easily recognizable to most people. Using shortcuts (in the form of abbreviations/acronyms) and skipping basic contextual information could make your answers less understandable and therefore less compelling and useful to an admissions reader, so do yourself a favor by depicting your situation as clearly as possible. 

As we have noted, these questions cover many elements of a traditional personal statement, so we encourage you to download a free copy of our  mbaMission Personal Statement Guide . In this complimentary publication, we provide a detailed discussion of how to approach such queries and craft effective responses, along with multiple illustrative examples.

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. 

With this essay, INSEAD hopes to see signs of your interest in ongoing self-improvement, knowledge or experience collection, and/or giving back. Whether you are choosing to leave your job a few months before the beginning of the MBA program or are asked to do so by your employer, simply explain what you expect do and gain in the interim. The admissions committee wants to know that you are the kind of person who takes advantage of opportunities and to understand what kinds of opportunities appeal to you. For example, perhaps you plan to complete a few quantitative courses to be better equipped to hit the ground running in your related MBA classes, or perhaps you want to spend some time with family members or volunteering in your community because you know that your availability to do so will be limited when you are in school, and you want to maintain those important connections. Maybe you want to focus on improving your foreign language ability before coming to INSEAD, given the importance of this skill in the school’s program. Or you might arrange informational interviews, job-shadowing opportunities, and/or unpaid internships, which could help in various ways with recruiting and job selection. Whatever your goals and plans, clearly convey how you anticipate that your experience(s) will add to or change your character, enhance your skill set, and/or increase your understanding of yourself or others—all of which are valuable in business school.

Motivation 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 (maximum 500 words).  

Although INSEAD’s request for “main factors which have influenced your development” comes in the latter half of this essay prompt, we feel you should actually provide this context for your formative experiences before discussing the strengths and weaknesses you derived from them, because showing a clear cause-and-effect relationship between the two is important. The school asks that you offer examples “when necessary,” but your essay will be strongest if you present anecdotes to illustrate and support all your statements. Still, your essay should not end up being a hodgepodge of unconnected anecdotes that reveal strengths. Instead, focus on two or three strengths and one or two weaknesses in the mere 500 words allotted.

As always, be honest about your strengths (do not try to tell the committee what you think it wants to hear; truthfully describe who you legitimately are) and especially about your weaknesses—this is vital. Transparent or disingenuous statements will not fool or convince anyone and will only reveal you as someone incapable of critical self-evaluation.

Motivation 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 (maximum 400 words).  

For this essay, you will need to offer two anecdotes that reveal different sides of you as an applicant, describing a high moment from your life and a low moment. Because the school also asks you to address how these incidents subsequently influenced your interactions with others and what lessons they taught you, you must identify stories that not only involve a significant incident but also affected you personally in a meaningful and long-lasting way. These elements of your essay are just as important as the accomplishment and the failure you choose to share; your unique thoughts can differentiate you from other applicants, and showing that you recognize how these incidents changed you and your relations with others demonstrates your self-awareness and capacity for growth. Steer clear of trite and clichéd statements about your takeaways, and really reflect on these situations to uncover your deeper reactions and impressions. For example, everyone gains some level of resiliency from a failure, so you must offer something less common and more compelling and personal.

Be aware that the best failure essays are often those that show reasoned optimism and tremendous momentum toward a goal—a goal that is ultimately derailed. In most cases, you will need to show that you were emotionally invested in your project/experience, which will enable the reader to connect with your story and vicariously experience your disappointment. If you were not invested at all, presenting the experience as a failure or learning experience will be less credible.

Motivation 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, etc). How are you enriched by these activities? (maximum 300 words)   

Although stereotypes about the top MBA programs abound—this school wants consultants, that school is for marketing professionals, this other one is for techies and entrepreneurs—the truth is that they all want a diverse incoming class, full of people with various strengths and experiences that they can share with one another for the good of all. Discussing how you choose to spend your free time—explaining why your chosen activities are important to you and what you derive from them—provides the admissions committee with a window into your personality outside the workplace and classroom and an idea of what you could contribute to the student body and INSEAD as a whole.

Optional Motivation Essay: Is there anything else that was not covered in your application that you would like to share with the Admissions Committee? (maximum 300 words) 

We tend to believe that the best use of the optional essay is to explain confusing or problematic issues in your candidacy, and this prompt offers an opportunity to do just that. So, if you need to, this is your chance to address any questions an admissions officer might have about your profile—a poor grade or overall GPA, a low GMAT or GRE score, a gap in your work experience, etc. We suggest downloading your free copy of the mbaMission Optional Essays Guide , in which we offer detailed advice on deciding whether to take advantage of the optional essay and how best to do so (with multiple sample essays), if needed.

INSEAD does not stipulate that you can only discuss a problem area in this essay, however, so you have some leeway to share anything you think might be pivotal or particularly compelling. We caution you against trying to fill this space simply because you fear that not doing so would somehow count against you. Remember, by submitting an additional essay, you are asking the admissions committee to do extra work on your behalf, so you need to make sure that time is warranted. If you are using the essay to emphasize something that if omitted would render your application incomplete, take this opportunity to write a very brief narrative that reveals this key new aspect of your candidacy.

After submitting your INSEAD application, you will need to complete a video interview consisting of four questions. You will be given 45 seconds in which to consider your answer to each one and then 60 seconds in which to deliver it. You have until 48 hours after the deadline for the round in which you apply to complete this element of the process, but we strongly recommend doing so sooner rather than later while your mind is still in application mode and to ensure you do not somehow forget this task or have to rush through it at the end of the allotted time period.

Because all INSEAD admissions interviews are conducted by the school’s alumni, this is a way for members of the admissions committee to virtually “meet” candidates and supplement the information provided in the written portions of the application. This video component gives the committee direct and dynamic insight into applicants’ character and personality, as well as another angle on their language abilities. About the videos, INSEAD says on its site, “The MBA 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.” So when the time comes for you to record your responses, do your best to relax, answer genuinely, and let your true self shine through!

Learn more about INSEAD’s academic program, elective courses, location, facilities, and other key features by downloading your free copy of the mbaMission INSEAD Insider’s Guide .

The Next Step: Mastering Your INSEAD Interview

Many MBA candidates find admissions interviews stressful and intimidating, but mastering this important element of the application process is definitely possible—the key is informed preparation. We therefore offer our free  Interview Guides  to spur you along! Download your  free  copy of the  INSEAD Interview Guide  today.

2023-2024 Business School Essays INSEAD International Business Schools MBA Essay Tips

Tags: business school essay INSEAD international programs MBA application essays optional essay video essay

A first-of-its-kind, on-demand MBA application experience that delivers a personalized curriculum for you and leverages interactive tools to guide you through the entire MBA application process.

Get Started!

Upcoming Events

• June 3, 2024 Choosing the Right B-School (Online)
• June 12, 2024 Writing Standout HBS and GSB Essays (Online)

Upcoming Deadlines

• Sep 12, 2024 Berkeley Haas (Round 1)

Click here to see the complete deadlines

2024–2025 MBA Essay Tips

• Berkeley Haas School of Business Essay Tips and Examples
• Columbia Business School Essay Tips and Examples

Click here for the 2023–2024 MBA Essay Tips

MBA Program Updates

• Berkeley-Haas
• Boston University (Questrom)
• Cambridge Judge Business School
• Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper)
• Columbia University (Columbia Business School)
• Consortium for Graduate Study in Management
• Cornell University (Johnson)
• Dartmouth College (Tuck)
• Duke University (Fuqua)
• Emory University (Goizueta)
• George Washington University (GWSB)
• Georgetown University (McDonough)
• Harvard University (Harvard Business School)
• IE Business School
• IESE Business School
• Indian School of Business
• Indiana University (Kelley)
• Ivey Business School
• London Business School
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan)
• New York University (Stern)
• Northwestern University (Kellogg)
• Notre Dame (Mendoza)
• Ohio State University (Fisher College)
• Oxford University (Saïd Business School)
• Penn State Smeal College of Business
• Rotman School of Management
• Saïd Business School
• Southern Methodist University (Cox School of Business)
• Stanford University (Stanford Graduate School of Business)
• University of California Los Angeles (Anderson)
• University of Cambridge (Judge)
• University of Chicago (Booth)
• University of London (London Business School)
• University of Michigan (Ross)
• University of North Carolina (Kenan-Flagler)
• University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
• University of Southern California (Marshall)
• University of Texas at Austin (McCombs)
• University of Virginia (Darden)
• Vanderbilt University (Owen)
• Villanova School of Business
• Yale University (School of Management)

Which program are you applying to?

Accepted Admissions Blog

Everything you need to know to get Accepted

June 20, 2022

INSEAD MBA Essay Tips & Deadlines [2022 – 2023]

Communication is key for INSEAD – in part because it is a key factor that their recruiters look for. Hence the INSEAD application elicits your communication effectiveness. First, INSEAD asks you to write reflective essays – and to do so succinctly. Balancing this emphasis on written communication is a video component – the adcom wants to see you articulate your thoughts in a spoken, interpersonal setup as well. Ultimately, verbal acuity really matters in the INSEAD program because the ability to comprehend, synthesize, communicate, and act on complex ideas across cultures is central to global leadership .

Motivation is the second driving interest of the INSEAD adcom. The application form terms its three essays “Motivation Essays.” Keep that word “motivation” in clear focus as you draft those essays; it indicates that you should express not just what you’ve done but why – what drives you; what propels your choices, decisions, and actions. These written essays are the first “getting to know you” element. Taken together in both form and content, the written and video components should portray both sophisticated communication abilities and self-awareness of who you are and what inspires you, moves you, propels you forward.

In this post:

• INSEAD application essay tips
• INSEAD application deadlines
• INSEAD class profile

INSEAD MBA 2022-2023 motivation essays

Insead mba 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. ( Maximum 500 words )

This question gets to a key point: how well do you know yourself, and are you able to openly acknowledge your motivations and shortcomings? (Perhaps one could interpret it as “Are you mature?”) Note that “strengths” and “weaknesses” are plural – and they should be personal, not professional, characteristics. A personal weakness such as “impatience with detail” could certainly have professional impact, but don’t cite a weakness that is purely work-related.

I suggest 2-3 strengths and 1-2 weaknesses. Provide examples for all of them – these examples can vary in length – sometimes a sentence will suffice. Also, try to bring in anecdotes/examples from outside work and from work. Sometimes, one anecdote can cover both a strength and a weakness, and, also, sometimes, a strength, taken to excess, can turn into a weakness – just possibilities to keep in mind when deciding on content for the essay.

The main formative factors you choose to cite may be related to and integrated with the strengths/weaknesses; in addition, you can discuss key elements of your background that differentiate or distinguish you and are truly key to your personal development.

(NOTE: There is potential for some overlap in this essay with Essay 2, so look at both questions together and organize content before writing them.)

INSEAD MBA 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. ( Maximum 400 words )

With only 400 words to describe 2 significant experiences, and the specified discussion points, use stories that can be told without a lot of background information. And keep in mind Essay 1 – don’t use stories that reflect exactly the same messages.  

“Achievement of which you are most proud ” is a high bar, and it can be from either work or outside of work. It also should be something that reveals qualities or attributes about you that are positive and relevant . I suggest using something from the last two to three years. Luckily you don’t have to write about the failure about which you are most ashamed… 😉  Discuss a failure that is specific, fairly recent, and meaty enough to have rattled you a bit. Again, work or non-work topic is fine.

In discussing what you learned from the experiences and how they impacted your relationships, either identify one specific thing each for each story, or integrate “impact relationship” and “what you learned” into one point – avoid broad learnings, as targeted, specific insights will be more thoughtful and illuminating.

INSEAD MBA 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? ( Maximum 300 words )

Simply discuss the range of activities you participate (or have participated) in – those that are major passions, and those that are “just fun” – clarifying their relative role and importance in your life. Be straightforward in how they enriched you – insight is what’s important. Imagine you are meeting with clients or superiors – between the business dealings (and perhaps over a drink), you and they chat about non-work interests – approach this essay like such a conversation. Not quite as casual as with a peer, but still conversational, straightforward, and connecting on a person-to-person level.

INSEAD MBA essay #4 (optional)

Is there anything else that was not covered in your application that you would like to share with the admissions committee? (Maximum 300 words)

Use the optional essay to explain anything that needs explaining and/or to give them one more reason to accept you. DON’T use it for a superficial summary, a restatement of your other essays, or anything similarly boring and trite. If you choose to write it, produce a tight, focused essay revealing something you haven’t yet discussed.

INSEAD MBA video component

After you submit your application, you will receive a link inviting you to provide a video interview. Your application will be deemed complete only after you submit  your video interview . Without indication of topic from the adcom, you should be ready for anything – redoing will not be possible. For this application component, presentation matters. If they only wanted content, they could have had written questions. They are looking to see how you respond in “real time” as part of their initial assessment. Find that perfect balance – be yourself, and be professional. Polished, but not slick or contrived. This “perfect balance” will be different for different people, depending on their culture, their personality, their profession. If you haven’t had formal training in presentations, it would be a good idea to try some self-videos with random questions and analyze them, looking as well as listening.

Listen: Virginie Fougea, Global Director of Admissions & Financial Aid on What Prospective MBAs Need to Know >>

For expert guidance with your INSEAD MBA application, check out Accepted’s  MBA Application Packages , which include comprehensive guidance from an experienced admissions consultant. We’ve helped hundreds of applicants get accepted to INSEAD’s MBA program and look forward to helping you too!

INSEAD MBA application deadlines for August 2023 intake

Source: INSEAD website

INSEAD MBA class profile [2021 graduates]

Here’s an inside look at INSEAD 2021 MBA Graduates. Data taken from the  INSEAD website .

Admits:  795

Average student age:  29

Nationalities:  84

Women:  34%

Average work experience:  6 years

Breakdown of undergraduate majors:

Business / Administration 33%

Engineering 28%

Economics 13%

Sciences 9%

Law / Political Sciences 7%

Humanities and Arts 6%

Media and Communication 1%

Previous industries of students:

Management Consulting 29%

Financial services 20%

Technology, media, and telecommunications 14%

Manufacturing 7%

Do you need help gaining admission to INSEAD or any other top MBA program? That’s what we do! Explore our  MBA Admissions Consulting Services  and work one-on-one with an experienced admissions advisor who will help you GET ACCEPTED.

Related Resources:

• What Prospective MBAs Need to Know About Applying to INSEAD , a podcast episode
• What INSEAD is Looking For
• Which MBA Program is Right for Me? The Ultimate Guide to Choosing an MBA Program

About Us Press Room Contact Us Podcast Accepted Blog Privacy Policy Website Terms of Use Disclaimer Client Terms of Service

Accepted 1171 S. Robertson Blvd. #140 Los Angeles CA 90035 +1 (310) 815-9553 © 2022 Accepted

• TOEFL / IELTS
• School Application
• Testimonials

Testimonial

Examples of successful INSEAD MBA essays

Need some inspiration to help you start your MBA application essays? Below you'll find some essays that helped one of students get admitted into INSEAD

Give a candid description of yourself (600 words max)

My experiences have taught me self-discovery and personal development. Like everyone, I have strengths and weaknesses. But I work hard to identify them, and make changes when needed.  

Examples of my strengths include optimism, enthusiasm, a taste for new experiences, and the dedication to see a project through to completion. These qualities have proved vital to my personal success, and once even led me to the jungles of Costa Rica. 

“ Frank, in life, you should be interested in everything” said Jorre, the Belgium hyperpolyglot as he explained a plan for a Central America banana production business. I had only known him for two days but this motorsport engineering student’s enthusiasm was already winning me over.

Later that same year, Jorre told me about another project - setting up the first wood pellet factory in Central America. I was the only one to believe in his objective and decided to help him realize it. We spent all of our free-time on it, laying down the business-plan, and going to Denmark to check out some equipment. More importantly, we made the project possible by convincing Dutch bankers to raise a million euros. 

After receiving funding I sacrificed my only two weeks of holiday to join Jorre in Costa-Rica. Looking at the muddy field that was to be our factory location, I began to question my utility. I was far away from my own field of expertise, and working in a language I was not comfortable with. But I found a useful role by recruiting workers and helping lay the factory foundation. Today, Jorre’s profitable company is selling 1000 tons of wood pellets per month. The lessons I learned, the new experiences I encountered, and my friend’s success all made our work worth it.

In Costa Rica my optimism and willingness to throw myself into an unknown situation turned out well. However, this is not always the case.

One of my first adventures abroad was a charity road-rally event in Morocco in 2006. We traversed the Sahara in a solar panel powered car that we built. Our car won the innovation prize and delivered kilos of pens, books, and computers to pupils in Ouarazazate. We initially undertook this project to discover a new place, and to establish a long-term partnership between a Moroccan school and a French one. Since then, pupils from the two continents continue exchanging mail and have built a meaningful relationship.

However, this project was made difficult by the fact that I was involved with many projects at the same time: being treasurer of my school career fair and then president of the annual prize-giving ceremony committee.  My optimism and enthusiasm had led me into a situation I wasn’t fully prepared for – exposing the weaknesses of over-committing myself and not sufficiently preparing for negative outcomes.  

 We ended-up with a mountain of work towards the deadline. This increased pressure forced us to rush through some work. After countless hours of working day and night we still respected the deadlines. But the experience taught me to prioritize my commitments, analyze the drawbacks of any new projects, and develop contingency plans for negative eventualities. These are habits that I hope to solidify during my studies, particularly during group assignments.

These two experiences are perfect examples of other trips and projects I’ve been involved in from Bhutan to Congo that have raised my intellectual curiosity and awareness. It is also because of these experiences that I believe I will fit in well at INSEAD. Who knows, maybe I’ll even get other INSEAD students enthusiastic in a project like banana production.

Describe two accomplishments (400 words max)

My greatest professional achievement was helping a Chinese racing partner win their first race. After four years of continued losses, investors threatened to stop funding. But my constant pleading led my boss to give me the green flag to go help them in Japan.

Upon arrival, it took the team and I half-an-hour to understand each other’s names. We practiced pit stops, crucial to any victory, and it took 23 seconds: twice what it takes in Europe.  Improving the team’s results suddenly seemed highly unlikely.

We spent days and nights training and upgrading the car with new performance parts. Being so motivated, I gained the driver’s trust and managed to give them self-confidence.

Starting from such a difficult situation, we triumphed to win the first race in the team’s history later that week-end. I knew I had achieved a great step in my team manager career. This was the first time I was fully responsible for a project, without supervision, and I knew then I could adapt to almost any situation.

My greatest personal achievement was climbing Mount Everest. We had cycled in Sicily, canoed in Canada and trekked through Jordan. However, a month after my racing trip to Japan my brother and I landed in Nepal with a much tougher challenge waiting for us: a ten-day hike up 10,000 vertical meters, with just the two of us and our 15kg backpacks.

We landed in Lukla, the world’s most dangerous airport: a 450-meter long runway, stuck between a cliff and a precipice. We got out of the plane alone and started walking.  Within two hours we started to see the first gravestones for previous hikers around the path.

On the second hiking day, we skipped the safest option and tried to reach the next campsite.  This was a huge mistake. We ended up completely alone at night, frozen, and exhausted with still an hour to walk. If we didn’t make the next campsite we would freeze.  The pressure we had put on ourselves to reach the top so quickly almost literally killed us.

Upon reaching the top we were struck by emotion.  This success was unlike any I had ever felt.  Even though we could have given up we never did.  Before facing Mount Everest I was completely unaware of the mental resources we found to keep going forward, but during that trip I discovered my abilities and my limits.

Describe a failure

My leadership experience has taught me that with the right attitude, failure can be an opportunity for self-discovery and personal development. One example, which highlights this principle was organizing my engineering school’s annual prize giving ceremony: the most prestigious position a student could ask for. I accepted immediately, never imagining the trouble I would find myself in a year later.

As president I presided over a 15 person team for one year, charged with planning and executing the event. Managing a €150,000 budget and dealing with local law enforcement authorities was a new and intimidating challenge. In the end, we managed to throw a very special celebration on the Champs Elysees, pleasing the school’s board and partners. Part of this success was due to the fact that I insisted on a heavy marketing budget. I covered this extra cost by raising an additional €50,000 from sponsors.  With this extra revenue, I projected a positive cash balance when the event was finished.

However, I had overestimated ticket sales. Instead of a surplus, the committee faced a €10,000 deficit. I had not envisioned such a scenario, and was unprepared for its challenges. Soon, letters from the bank and unpaid furnishers urging me to honor the debt were piling up. I somehow found a fraction of the missing cash by selling some furniture and material from the event, but I still had to leave an outstanding debt to the committee’s next president. More importantly, I had lost credibility in the eyes of the team members and the director of studies.

What I learnt from this failure eventually proved to be more powerful than its direct consequences. I realized how being aware of my lack of experience and skills in areas outside my field of expertise is crucial. Had I been less self-reliant and asked for feedback on my budget planning, the catastrophe could have been avoided.

This failure helped develop my ability to prioritize, delegate tasks and see the big picture, all of which have been considerable assets in my evolution from engineer to manager.

I also created a system that helped advise future presidents, something I wished I had access to at the beginning of the year.

Discuss your short term and long term goals

The most important career choice is to pick a job one is passionate about. Since I was a child, it has been my dream to work in the highest levels of the Formula One racing industry. Together with my extensive on-the-job experience in that field,  the management skills gained at INSEAD would help me achieve that goal.

I was only 9 and far away from Brazil when, legendary driver Ayrton Senna died. Despite the distance, as I watched the memorial on television - I felt bereaved. The image of three million mourners in the streets of Sao Paulo was breathtaking. I never missed a Formula1 race - not even the Japanese Grand Prix at 4am. It was my childhood dream to become the leader that congratulates the driver and team after a Grand Prix victory.

I’ve been hard at work making this dream turn into reality. I started 6 years ago as an engineer in Monaco. Since then, I’ve climbed the motorsport business hierarchy, from 2 nd engineer to manager in the best European team.

Two classic career paths are before me: a pure technician in a Formula One Team, or a manager of a low-sized racing team. I’m targeting a much less common trajectory: a wide-scope managing position in a top-level racing company. Ideally, after my MBA I would be a department manager within a F1 Team - heading a technical department, supervising approximately 35 engineers, establishing financial and technical objectives, and managing budget resources.

Enthusiastic feedback from MBA Engineer Alex Burns, today Williams F1 CEO and an internship offer from Lotus F1 CEO Patrick Louis (MBA 84), who was delighted with my project, reinforced my long-term objective of following their paths and realizing my dream of being on the other side of the winning driver’s hug.

Have you ever experienced culture shock? What insights did you gain? (250 words)

I have experienced culture shock and used the experience to develop my intercultural skills.

When living in Malaysia, I was often traveling to Japan to deal with suppliers. Communication with them was sometimes difficult, but this issue was far easier to deal with than their decision making process – which I thought was too slow and cautious. 

On March 11 th 2011 I was in a taxi underneath a bridge in Japan when the Earth started to tremble. The roaring grew louder and I implored the driver to move. We needed to go somewhere safe!  But to my immense surprise, the driver refused. The traffic light was red and even the most powerful earthquake in Japan’s history was not a sufficient reason to by-pass the law. It was then I realised just how deep the respect for order is in Japanese culture.

This event helped me revaluate my feelings towards my Japanese colleagues. I realized that their caution was what made them more reliable suppliers than others I had worked with.  Better awareness of their practices and the commitment that I showed by staying in their country after the quake lead to increased trust and smoother business exchanges.

This dramatic event not only changed my way of approaching the Japanese culture but also others groups of people. I have acquired the ability to distinguish, value, and use the constructive characteristics of those around me and build up a positive working or social atmosphere despite differences in how others think.

• GMAT tutoring
• GMAT group course

Contact Vincia Prep

• +33 (0)6 41 75 45 71
• Siren number: 524514957
• [email protected]

2023-2024 INSEAD MBA Application Deadlines & Essay Prompts

The INSEAD MBA application deadlines have been confirmed for the 2023–2024 application cycle.

INSEAD MBA Class Profile Details

For candidates considering INSEAD, the program is best known for its international student body, hence the school’s tagline of “The Business School for the World.”

A typical class profile includes more than 75 different nationalities and over 65 business or home countries. This global cohort renders the INSEAD MBA program a diverse and inclusive experience.

If you are considering applying for 2024 intake, please see below for the upcoming INSEAD MBA deadlines as well as Personal MBA Coach’s guidance on how to answer the INSEAD MBA essay questions, based on the 2022-2023 MBA application essay questions. The full-time MBA programs offers four application rounds for August 2024 intake, the second falling in November (earlier than most Round 2 MBA deadlines).

2023-2024 INSEAD MBA Deadlines

Round 1: September 12, 2023

Round 2: November 7, 2023

Round 3: January 16, 2024

Round 4: March 5, 2024

Based on our 16 years of experience, we do not expect the INSEAD MBA application essay questions to change next year.

Tips for Tackling the INSEAD MBA Essay Questions 

Based on the 2022-2023 essay questions.

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. (500 words maximum)

This is your chance to show INSEAD how you will add uniquely to school’s diverse and international student body.

With such a broad question, it is tempting to tell your life story: we recommend not doing so. Instead, think about your personal story and which elements of your profile truly make you unique and focus only on those characteristics. As with all strong MBA application, show, do not tell. Instead of listing your characteristics, let the reader see how you have demonstrated them in action. A strong essay will then take this a step further, letting the reader know why these characteristics are important to you.

While most applicants will focus on their strengths, do not forget to candidly discuss your weaknesses. MBA applicants have plenty to learn so this is your chance to show your humility. Avoid false weaknesses such as “I work too much” or “I am a perfectionist.”

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. (400 words maximum)

Describe the success or failure concisely and clearly, think through the reason you are proud (or regretful in the case of the failure), and immediately follow through with the effect this had on your relationships with others and what you learned. Particularly for the failure, the learning part is essential: show your ability to draw improvement from a situation. But the learning part can be equally important for the success if, for example, you helped your team win by sharing the spotlight with someone else.

The most important part: pick a success and a failure that offer rich takeaways.

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, etc). How are you enriched by these activities? (300 words maximum) 

Here, like for INSEAD Essay 1, we suggest you whittle your list down to the activities that have been or are most important to you for some reason.

Explain your involvement, then delve quickly into how the activity shaped you or enlightened you or made you learn something that contributes to who you are. If this determined or shaped your MBA goals , then say that. With 300 words, less is more.

Optional Essay: Is there anything else that was not covered in your application that you would like to share with the Admissions Committee? (300 words maximum)

The optional INSEAD essay should only be answered by those with extenuating circumstances. Read more on our approach to optional essays here.

Maximize Your Admissions Success with Personal MBA Coach

If you are applying to INSEAD, visit our INSEAD school page for more program-specific information. If you are looking to maximize your chances of success, Personal MBA Coach is here to guide you through our comprehensive packages .

About Personal MBA Coach

You also may like these other blog articles:

Find out why we are consistently ranked #1. Sign up for a 30-minute consultation today!

We have over 200 5 Star Reviews. Find out WHY!

schedule consultation

Would you like a Free Profile Evaluation?

INSEAD MBA Sample Essays

Insead mba application essays 2023-24, insead motivation 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. (600 words max.), insead motivation 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. (400 words max.).

INSEAD Motivation 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? (300 words max.)

Job Essay 1: Briefly summarise your current (or most recent) job, including the nature of work, major responsibilities, and where relevant, employees under your supervision, size of the 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 an MBA from INSEAD. (short answer)

INSEAD Winning Sample Essays – 1

Mountains are my one true love. They have helped me come to terms with who I am, making me face my biggest fears and helping me acknowledge latent strengths.

I have found that to reach every summit be it on a mountain or in life, I pursue my goal with an unflinching focus on the next step. As a student, having overcome a paralyzing fear of failure, I learnt early on that grit is as important as ability. Today, I rarely get overawed by the magnitude of the challenge because I keep my attention fixed on the immediate goal.

Whether it was crossing the Rupin Pass at a height of 15500 ft and an incline of 60 degrees or successfully handling a complex project such as BP’s Shah Deniz where the slightest error could have had disastrous consequences, my unwavering focus has always been my forte.

Another strength that has served me well is my ability to solve critical problems while maintaining my composure. When I was trekking solo across the Gadsar Pass I was caught in a sudden snowstorm at 13500 feet. I couldn’t stay outside in the cold risking hypothermia but I couldn’t move blindly either. So I trusted my ears and ran down towards the river in the hope that I would find someone camping near it. An hour later, I noticed someone warming his hands by a fire. My ability to stay calm in a crisis literally saved my life that day but it has also been my saviour in a number of different albeit less critical situations be it leading unpredictable projects, tackling technology failures or working through an unsavoury team dynamic.

Mountains have helped me come face to face with my weaknesses and shown me the path to overcome them. Growing up in a family in which money always fell short of aspirations, economic security subconsciously became a major factor in my decisions. Living in the mountains made me realize that money is similar to the resources in a trekking bag. It is good to have them but the more you carry, the heavier the bag gets and the more onerous the summit climb becomes. I figured out that the true summit can only be excellence, not security. It is in pursuit of this excellence that I jumped at the chance to move to an international work location and that I quit a lucrative job to build a social enterprise.

I have also realized that my idealistic approach to life sometimes comes in the way of adopting a more pragmatic middle path. While trekking on the frozen Zanskar River in Ladakh, the team consensus was that everyone should wear crampons as the entire trek would be on ice. Though I acceded to the team’s opinion, I believed this would dilute the unique challenge of the trek. It was only later I realised that had I held out, I might have risked injuries to those who were equally enthusiastic but perhaps less adept at trekking. Since then, when faced with confrontation, I make a conscious effort to set aside my own beliefs for a little while and walk in the shoes of the other person, be it at work or in my personal life.

I cannot imagine a better way of developing holistically than spending a year at INSEAD. The diversity of culture and backgrounds at INSEAD will help me understand different perspectives much better and reconcile conflicting interests, including my own. Living and working closely with people who exemplify excellence will only strengthen my resolve to pursue it in every sphere of life.

To paraphrase Tolstoy, all success is similar, but each failure shapes life in its own unique way. One such failure which left an indelible mark on my personality occurred after high school when I failed to qualify Indian Institute of Technology Entrance Examination. I decided to take the exam for a second time because I felt that it was my inability to tackle pressure that had led to my failure and not a lack of aptitude or diligence.

Over time, I realised that my success would mean nothing if it was driven by my fear of failure. Upon qualifying the exam, I wanted to feel the ecstasy of accomplishment not the relief of having avoided failure.

This time around I decided to focus on analyzing and solving the questions rather than worrying about the ultimate consequence. I ended up qualifying the examination. The failure helped more in shaping my personality than if I had succeeded the first time. The unstinting support of my family in that one otherwise lonely year improved the very fundamentals of my relationship with them. This experience enabled me to develop a sense of equanimity that has since become an enduring strength.

In 2012, Halliburton started a low cost project to drill 100 wells on 5 rigs. The estimated revenue from operations was relatively low at about $6M annually but the growth potential of the operation was huge. While most of my peers were intimidated by the high risk nature of the project, I was able to focus more on the learning opportunities it presented. I stepped up and asked to be made the Focal point LWD Field Engineer which gave me control of the entire operation. The pressure involved was immense as even slightly sub optimal results would cause a huge dent in revenues. At the end of the year, the Non productive time (NPT) was less than 0.5% which was a Halliburton Asia Pacific record. Despite my limited years of experience I was now seen by my peers and superiors as a natural leader and this in turn gave me the confidence to take even bigger steps in my career. Till today, it is the achievement I am proudest of because it became possible only because I overcame my fear of failure all those years ago, instead of allowing it to overcome me.

INSEAD Motivation Essay 3: Tell us about an experience where you were significantly impacted by cultural diversity, in a positive or negative way. (300 words max.)

Last year, I went on a 5 weeks’ backpacking trip across what is arguably the most neglected part of India, the north eastern states. 70% of the population in these seven states is tribal, with resemblance to mainland Indian, Mongolian, Tibetan and Austro-Asiatic cultures. The trip allowed me to experience the culture of these indigenous tribes from close quarters.

I saw large families living inside a one room house with no lavatory. Homes where the nearest bazaar was a 6 hour mountain hike away. Beautiful women of the Apatani tribe who were made to tattoo their faces to escape the wrath of oppressors who had molested them for years.

I also noticed that centuries of deprivation had not defeated these people but had taught them to channel their anger towards building self sufficient lifestyles. If villages which have the highest rainfall in the world had no iron to build bridges, the villagers built bridges with the roots of trees. If there were no pesticides to protect their paddy crops, they learnt to do pisciculture which not only protected their crops but also provided an additional source of food and income.

Despite the sheer strain of eking out a living, most villagers let me into their homes, their lives and their beautiful mountains without once wondering if they would reap any financial benefit from it.

This experience ended up challenging my entire perspective on top down development approaches. I now understand that the quality of lives can only be improved if there is a better understanding of how good people’s lives already are. I therefore decided to take a break from my job and work in the breathtakingly complex development space in India to help those who are different from me, and enrich myself immeasurably in the process.

INSEAD Motivation Essay 4: 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? (300 words max.)

As a Mechanical Engineer, building a car from scratch was a long cherished dream. In college, I co-founded the MECHISMU group in which I led a team of 15 members to design and fabricate an All-Terrain Vehicle to participate in BAJA SAE India competition. As the captain, I had to not only raise sponsorships but also ensure that there was a synergy between available resources and performance optimization.

Leading a team in which everyone (including me) was a novice and going through several technical, financial and administrative hurdles to achieve something truly path-breaking taught me the nuances of both leadership and teamwork. The icing on the cake was that we reached second place in the competition. In the subsequent years, I have continued to mentor future teams, providing technical expertise and heading the team selection.

Another love that has enriched me over the years is debating. Picking up a subject and then bringing it down to arguments, rehashing those arguments repeatedly, the thrill of discovering some aspect of the issue you had missed completely, have helped mould my thoughts with crystal clarity. Although I no longer debate competitively, informal discussions continue to keep the debater within me alive.

One of my earliest childhood memories is running to the Badminton court before any of the adults noticed my fractured hand! I went on to play State level Badminton for Uttar Pradesh, India. In college, as the badminton captain, seeing the dismal condition of the sport, I ensured that two new indoor courts were built and that tournaments became a regular fixture. My love for sports constantly pushes me to bring that level of passion into my everyday life. That said one true sporting dream I have is to watch Liverpool play at Anfield. I’m getting goose bumps just writing about it!

Quick Essay Review

Worried if your Essay is Good enough or Not? 

Need a last-minute review?

Submit your essays below & get in-depth feedback within 48 Hours.

INSEAD Winning Sample Essays – 2

Insead motivation 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. (600 words max.).

Looking back, it is amazing how marriage and fatherhood changed me entirely. I was 19 when I found out that my girlfriend was pregnant and I decided to marry her against the wishes of my family. That time I was still serving National Service (Conscription) and had not even started my undergraduate degree. My family was not supportive of the decision to get married so young and be a father. Coming from a middle-class family, public perception was a major challenge apart from a lack of financial resources and internal family conflicts. During my first few years as a father, I was still aimless, living every day as it is and not giving much thought to my family’s future. 

Through the circumstances of being a young parent and hardships of life, reality hit me hard. Seeing how other parents are able to provide a better life to their wives and children, I knew that I had to step up. That grew into a kind of motivation, drive, and ambition to want to achieve success. This mentality that marriage and fatherhood have brought to me is certainly a dictionary definition of Wen Kang and my greatest strength. This motivation pushed me to not only get an undergraduate degree but also graduate as the top of my class. From there on I received back to back promotions in my career and became the youngest Assistant Vice President in the second-largest bank of Southeast Asia.

However, nothing comes without a cost. That transition has been so effective and so drastic that I lost sight of the original intention, which was to give a better standard of living for my family. After repeated arguments with my wife, I came to truly realize that the standard of living is not just solely in its material sense but rather, it is about spending quality time with family. I realized that I was blinded by constantly chasing for financial success that I stopped spending quality time with my family and kids. This realization came to me a lot more strongly after I moved my career from Singapore to Cambodia. I might have earned a lot more salary and got better professional exposure but I had effectively reduced the time I spent with my family, leading to arguments and deterioration in my relationships with my wife. I feel that I still do, at many times, sacrifice family time for my work and that is my greatest Achilles heels which I am trying to improve upon so that I can be a better father and husband. 

Looking at the bright side and looking back, I can see how I grow to become a more mature father and husband, and realized more philosophies in life after each decision I made. These experiences have shaped me into who I am today, being able to look beyond just a few dimensions and weigh things that are truly more important.

INSEAD Motivation Essay 2: Describe a situation taken from your personal or professional life where you failed. Discuss what you learned. (400 words maximum)

The proudest moment of my life is when I graduated top of my cohort and school, along with the honors and limelight. I have been conferred the valedictorian of my school, featured in both national newspapers and magazines. I was asked to be interviewed on national TV shows and invited to a dinner function with the then President of Singapore, Dr. Tony Tan. I still remember standing on the auditorium’s podium and giving my valedictory speech to the cohort of more than a thousand people. The success did not come easy. During my undergraduate days, I struggled with family relations, finances, studies, and some of the harshest public perception of young parents. The moment of success was both bitter and sweet because so many tears, hard work, and hardships were behind it.

Despite standing proud of what I have achieved, I regretted not managing my relationships with my mother and siblings better when I got married. It was a delicate and sensitive period. In the neighborhood of gossip mongers, my mother and siblings were somewhat ashamed of my early parenthood. As a result, they were not welcoming and supportive of my wife. Furthermore, living under the same roof has proved too difficult for perhaps many mothers and daughters-in-law. I had to choose to stand by my wife but quarrels, acts of dominance, and the daily hostilities severely eroded my relationships with my mother and siblings. Eventually, I stopped talking to them, and even until today, after almost a decade, we barely communicate. As much as I still feel much disappointments towards them, I realize I could have done a better job back then in managing communications and facilitating mutual understanding. I did not, at any point, ever try my best to break down these complicated relationships to meeting the basic expectations of both sides.

I learned that everyone despite sharing a common Singaporean-Chinese culture has different stories, motivations, teachings, and reactions, and that it is important to give in or stand firm in different circumstances and at appropriate quantities. Managing relationships’ intricacies is more than just who is right, who is wrong and there is more to life and people than just rationality. These are lessons and learnings which I now carry with myself and can bring to my cohort at INSEAD to share with my peers on how to balance individual professional success with family and personal relationships.

INSEAD Motivation 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? (approximately 300 words)

I have been a competitive athlete since a young age. I represented my primary school in badminton and my team achieved the national second by winning over more than two hundred primary school teams. I then went on to become the team’s captain in my secondary school. As the top player in the school, I have always been a singles player. Single players compete primarily on techniques, athleticism, and mental endurance while double players compete on reflexes and mutual synergy.

As I have always wanted the camaraderie of a team sport, I joined the dragon boating team at the university. My team won second place in the yearly prestigious Prime Minister’s Cup during two of my three years in the team. During my first year with OCBC Bank, I was even “headhunted” by the HR and had helped to clinch their first corporate category gold medal. In dragon boating, I see a drastically different side. While mental fitness is necessary for all competitive sports, synchronization, and teamwork are far more crucial in team sports.

Even though I stopped regularly playing badminton or competing in dragon boat races because of family commitments, I have shifted my focus to marathons and biathlon, and to date, I have participated in four marathons and biathlon. My ultimate fitness goal is to complete a full marathon in Antarctica and since last year I had started my prep and dietary research. 

I am proud to be a sportsman. These three sports have taught me some of the most important attributes that follow through in my life – having the mental resilience and harnessing the power of teamwork, and these are applicable and beneficial to every aspect of my life.

Clients testimonials

You may also like, application prep, $ 1800 / ₹ 1.5l.

———————

Unlimited Calls

Unlimited Edits

Free Interview Prep

If not shortlisted for Interview*

100% Refund

Wondering if you can target this school?

Free Profile Evaluation Workshop

Join our live workshop and

Get all your profile related questions answered. 

Profile Evaluation Workshop  

Want to get your profile evaluated?

9 Successful INSEAD Essays

by Talha Omer, MBA, M.Eng., Harvard & Cornell Grad

In personal statements samples by university.

The following essay examples were written by an applicant who was admitted to INSEAD. These essays are intended to provide examples of successful INSEAD application essays.

In this Article

Essay 1 INSEAD

Essay 2 insead, essay 3 insead, essay 4 insead, essay 5 insead, essay 6 insead, essay 8 insead, essay 9 insead.

Briefly summarise your current (or most recent) job, including the nature of work, major responsibilities, where relevant, employees under your supervision, budget size, clients/products, and results achieved.

I work in Coca-Cola USA’s commercial division as Shopper Marketing Manager. ‘Coca-Cola’ is the world’s most valuable beverage brand, with a turnover of $37 Billion.

My core responsibilities include:

• Developing an annual business plan for Coca-Cola.
• Developing commercial execution plans.
• Leading new variant launches to increase market share within US’s extremely competitive beverage industry.

I have adopted a data-driven approach to gain a competitive advantage and actively pursued key shopper trends to design in-store visibility plans for traditional and modern trade channels.

Taking over the role last year, I designed the full-year marketing calendar, supervised it through one direct report, and influenced an array of cross-functional teams. For example, I judiciously initiated a strategic partnership with Allied Snacks, an upcoming local snacks player, to compete with Pepsi & Lay’s pairing in the market to drive the brand’s volume. The collaboration resulted in a 30% volume increase at activated outlets. Furthermore, I spearheaded partnerships with digital platforms and explored mobile-marketing solutions, which has helped Coca-Cola gain traction in the growing e-retail segment of the US.

To accelerate the trial for Coke Zero, I identified key segments to target the right shopper. As a result, the product reached 30K outlets, the highest for the niche Diet segment.

The top management well received my efforts, and I was recognized as one of the top talents in the recent performance review for delivering unprecedented results for the brand: 25% sales growth and a market share gain of 3.3% over Pepsi strengthening Coca-Cola’s leadership. This resulted in an increase in budget by 30% to $400mn.

I am currently executing a commercial campaign aiming to churn out a share for Coca-Cola within Turkey’s huge tea market. In addition, I have identified new channels across the retail landscape and developed relevant shopper toolkits to facilitate tea-to-Coke conversions.

Furthermore, I mentor work recruiters and have been assigned additional responsibility to champion the implementation of KO Lab – Coca-Cola’s global customer collaboration hub – for which I travel to Dubai and frequently coordinate with my counterparts in Turkey.

What would be your next step in your position if you remained in the same company? (50-150 words)

Suppose I were to keep working at Coca-Cola; I see myself being promoted to Strategy Planning Manager by Q-4 on a fast-track growth within the commercial division, leading a team of three employees.

In this role, I would be responsible for developing the long-term corporate strategy of the organization through a rigorous decision-making process with local and regional leadership. In addition, I would oversee the optimization of the current portfolio concerning sparkling soft drinks and juices worth US$28 billion. Moreover, I would identify sources of growth for the business through portfolio expansion into energy and sports drinks, potentially worth US$12.5 billion, ensuring sustainable value growth in the future.

I believe I would be the right fit for this position as I have experience managing diverse commercial portfolios, which has prepared me to drive the business through a holistic perspective. 

Please give a full description of your career since graduating from university. Describe your career path with the rationale behind your choices. (200-350 words)

With a background in mathematics, I started my career in category operations at Makro, a Dutch retailer. However, I always wanted to work in a bigger organization to develop my business understanding, and I joined Unilever, one of the leading multinationals in the US, as Territory Manager.

At Unilever, it was an enriching experience to deal with a large portfolio of products. As Territory Manager, I focused on sales force management to exceed my monthly volume targets and successfully launched eight new brands in the market. Within 15 months, I was promoted to In-Store Manager of a global key account, Walmart. Here, I learned account-management skills and activated the company’s first-ever Health & Beauty section, helping my account grow at approximately 2x the overall company sales growth.

Based on my solid performance in driving sales and relationships on-ground, I was promoted as Assistant Trade Category Manager in a stretch role to manage three recently launched home care brands. With a wide-angle perspective of trade channels and geographies, I focused on increasing product availability at key outlets, which led to 43% sales growth. My performance caught the leadership’s attention, and I was placed in Unilever’s coveted fast-track leadership program.

To gain a functional knowledge of marketing in consumer goods, I seized the opportunity to work at Coca-Cola, the fastest-growing beverage company. As Trade Marketing Executive, I used my diverse skill set and holistic business understanding to develop the first-ever modern trade activation program, which improved channel profitability by $200mn through reduced-trade discounts and won me the ‘Innovation Award.’

I was promoted to Trade Marketing Manager for traditional trade within a short period. In this role, I designed cost-effective, innovative tools and cascaded customer value propositions to 600 account managers at distribution premises. This helped increase the reach of ‘Share a Coke’ packs to 225K outlets, the highest ever for any beverage brand.

Later, to understand the brand perspective of the business, I opted for the opportunity to work as Shopper Marketing Manager for Coca-Cola, my current role in the organization.

Discuss your short and long-term career aspirations with an MBA from INSEAD. (250-350 words)

In my six-year career, I have performed successfully in two dynamic consumer goods multinationals and have evolved into a mature and confident leader. I am excited to take the next big challenge in my life and feel ready to gain formal business education through an MBA experience.

Yet through my international outlook on the transformation of the retail landscape, I am fascinated by the booming e-commerce growth, which has impacted business strategies in every aspect. Going forward, I want to compete as a global savvy professional in the technology industry to learn modern processes while working in multicultural teams.

Hence, with an MBA from INSEAD, I want to immediately join Amazon in the Consumer Leadership Development program based out of Europe. Leveraging my commercial knowledge of the consumer goods industry, I want to join the technology world to solve complex business problems and lead innovative business development.

I believe INSEAD would provide the ideal resources to achieve my short-term goal. I want to take specialized marketing electives such as ‘B2B Marketing’ to learn the customer-centric approach and use the INDUSTRAT simulation to learn the application of business marketing techniques. In addition, I want to join the TMT Club to attend treks and build my network through interacting with highly approachable INSEAD alumni. Finally, as technology firms frequently hire at INSEAD, I look forward to leveraging the career support, the internship opportunity after P3, and Fontainebleau’s proximity to Amazon Europe’s headquarters to land my intended job.

Also, INSEAD is a lifestyle that I look forward to. One with exposure to multicultural teams, greater cumulative intelligence, meaningful experiences, and lasting friendships. Simultaneously, I am eager to enlighten my peers by sharing stirring stories from my emerging economy experience and also contribute to the ‘desi’ national week.

In the medium-to-long term, I want to keep immersing myself in understanding the latest business practices and data-driven decision-making in the technology industry. In addition, I want to build my expertise while taking on bigger roles and working extensively across geographies. With INSEAD, I feel sure to achieve my short-term and long-term goals.

Give a candid description of yourself (who you are 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).

If I were to summarize my life in one word, it would be  Kaizen  – continuous improvement.

As the eldest son of a teacher, I inherited a knowledge-sharing environment. At the same time, social gatherings were infrequent. As a result, I grew up as a shy person and lacked the confidence to initiate conversations with strangers.

Yet, I had a strong desire to differentiate myself, not as a rebellious teenager but as a dynamic human being whose knowledge people would seek out.

On a path of self-discovery, I tried to expand my social circles in which I would learn from other’s expertise. Self-directed, I took decisions with high financial and emotional costs. I knew that to conquer my fear of leading a moderate lifestyle, I needed to break the shackles of living in a joint-family system.

To do so, I actively pursued international opportunities at NYU to come out of my comfort zone. First, I applied for a one-year university exchange program in the most multicultural city in the world, Toronto. Being the only Asian in my class, I actively expressed myself and my culture and engaged in an intellectually stimulating exchange of ideas with my peers. This period helped me improve my social intelligence and cross-cultural awareness, an experience I want to foster again.

Later, my efforts in driving the journalism society earned me participation in ‘International Journalism Conference in Hong Kong. I had the opportunity to give a speech on political and social issues in front of influential international journalists, helping me overcome stage fright and boost my self-confidence.

My maturity was again tested when I decided to move to Dubai in my corporate career. My professional role demanded leadership and empathy, as I led a team of 20 merchandisers, all older than me. So, I learned to manage and motivate others around me in harsh environments. 

My transformational journey in life has helped me discover my competitive strengths:  the ability to improve the status quo and adaptability to new environments.

However, my conviction to learn through new experiences also posed challenges. I tend to struggle when I need to multitask. I experienced this when I tried to manage my academics and host social events at my university. Preparing material for meetings at the office, I often skipped my breakfast and exercise routine.

This triggered a deeper introspection and helped me understand my weakness:  lack of prioritization. 

My professional career has allowed me to capitalize on my strengths and pre-empt weak areas. I have consistently flourished in new teams and demonstrated effective thought leadership, making my peers seek my expertise in various strategic matters. In parallel, I constantly adapted to overcome my weakness. I ensured I scheduled my priorities effectively and performed my best in high-pressure situations.

I continue seeking opportunities to help break old boundaries and improve myself, excelling in a progressively balanced lifestyle.

Kaizen. It all makes sense.

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 (approximately 400 words).

Rockn’ Coke is the biggest music asset of Turkey, and my proudest achievement stems from the commercial planning experience of this platform. 

It was a matter of growth and survival as the three-month-long plan covered 50% of the annual marketing budget, and the leadership gave paramount expectations on driving business results.

Quickly realizing the profound impact of my decisions, I segmented the trade channels and devised solutions for specific shopper needs. However, the biggest hurdle was to drive discipline and accountability among cross-functional teams. To streamline the process and promote inclusion, I nominated operational champions across geographies and devised incentive plans for motivation. I shared weekly progress reports with the management and kept my nerves intact when discussions heated up, triggering my tolerance test. 

My segmented shopper solutions at 50K outlets grew sales by 32%, generating $155 mn incremental profit for the company. I was invited to Coca-Cola offices in Dubai to present key learnings based on the tremendous results. I emphasized the value of sturdy coordination, which creates stronger bonds. I still remember it as an experience of true motivational leadership, my joie de vivre.

I had a glaring failure that taught me a harsh yet important lesson. I was tasked to develop a turnaround plan for Unilever’s ailing toilet cleaner brand, Domex, which had lost 8.3% market share over six months to the established competitor Harpic. Taking the job as a gateway for enhanced face value with the leadership, I decided to employ my analytical and problem-solving skills.

I quickly analyzed to identify loss-enduring segments and decided to drive trade incentives around product availability at 35k outlets. Unknowingly using the wrong product-efficacy scores, I planned to achieve share parity in 3 months through an accelerated 20t volume gain. 

In the first month, I was able to achieve the availability targets. After that, however, the volume trend showed a limited upsurge, majorly impacted by the low product off-take. Baffled by the findings, I reviewed consumer metrics with the brand team and discovered a low consumer confidence score. As a result, budgets wore out, and Domex barely achieved 5t incremental volume.

I stood up to my mistake in the business review meeting, mortified that I should have confronted the brand manager before making assumptions. But unfortunately, in professional relationships, information gaps can transpire missed opportunities.

Describe all extra-professional activities in which you have been or are still involved for a significant time (clubs, sports, music, arts, politics, etc.). How do these activities enrich you? (approximately 300 words)

I teach secondary level Science and English to underprivileged students in a local school to impart education to the children of domestic workers of my colony. I feel a strong responsibility to use my knowledge to help my community since education is the basic right of all. I feel privileged through this uplifting experience, and I always look forward to my bright students.

I am a member of the Emergency Response Team of my colony and have helped my local neighborhood organize earthquake relief efforts. I also initiated shoebox drives to collect food and clothes for children. These activities allow me to create a meaningful impact in my community by helping those in need.

Event management has been a passion for me. I realized my passion for managing events when I volunteered for the Annual Drama Festival at NYU. Later, I hosted the flagship journalism event, The NYU FESTIVAL, a 400 delegates event with considerable participation from all over the world. At Coca-Cola, I have been assigned the responsibility of managing corporate conferences due to the management’s confidence in my capabilities. These experiences have taught me to plan meticulously, pre-empt crises and create a collaborative environment to achieve mutual success.

I have also co-founded the first journalism society at NYU, the NYU Daily Student, which started as an on-campus media coverage initiative but later evolved into a legitimate journalism entity. So, taking an idea and then maturing it to a solid level was key learning here.

I am also a sports enthusiast because it keeps me mentally and physically energetic, and thus I play competitive cricket regularly, representing my university and employers at various tournaments. I am also an avid Arabic calligrapher, helping me express keen attention to detail. 

Is there anything else not covered in your application that you would like to share with the Admissions Committee? (approximately 300 words)

Coming from a family where the only criteria for success were strong academic performance, I joined one of the best schools in the US to maintain a balanced life. However, I believed that strong academics needed the support of strong social skills to succeed in life.

At NYU, I tried to stretch my social horizons and maintain a strong academic performance. At first, I enjoyed the intensity of juggling multiple objectives, but later, I stressed out, and my GPA took a hit. 

Although painfully aware of my average academics as an undergraduate, I challenged myself to enter my professional career with a core ethos of hard work and commitment. To this day, I have never doubted my academic aptitude. Instead, I believe I was overwhelmed by the social opportunities and lost focus on academics. Fortunately, this feeling has catalyzed my evolution into a polished professional.

My interest in INSEAD got fueled when I interacted with peers within my professional circle who had successfully joined the INSEAD MBA. Discussing the MBA experience with Carolyn Maurell, Class of 16J, I learned the emphasis INSEAD puts on diversity, academic rigor, and international outlook, which closely match my career aspirations. I have already started learning French to advance my preparation for the third language.

My willingness to join the INSEAD MBA program was firmed up when I visited the serene Fontainebleau campus to better understand my fit. Escorted by Ms. Hélène Destouches, I attended the Managerial Accounting class by David Young and thoroughly enjoyed the dynamic class discussions. In addition, I interacted with current students who promised a buzzing social life. Passing by the Family Room, I imagined my wife and kid in a baby music class and decided that INSEAD was  the  place for my MBA.

WANT MORE AMAZING ARTICLES ON GRAD SCHOOL PERSONAL STATEMENTS?

• 100+ Outstanding Examples of Personal Statements
• The Ultimate Guide to Writing a Winning Personal Statement
• Common Pitfalls to Avoid in Your Personal Statement
• Writing a Killer Opening Paragraph for Your Personal Statement
• Ideal Length for a Graduate School Personal Statement
• 100 Inspiring Quotes to Jumpstart Your Personal Statement

Harvard Personal Statement Example

In this article, I will be providing a sample grad school personal statement for Harvard University. This example aims to show how prospective applicants like you can seamlessly weave your passion, skills, and relevant experiences into a compelling narrative. In...

100+ Grad School Personal Statement Examples

Introduction Importance of a Strong Personal Statement A personal statement is essential in the graduate school application process, as it plays a significant role in shaping the admissions committee's perception of you. In fact, a survey conducted by the Council of...

UCLA Personal Statement Example

The following personal statement was written by an applicant who was admitted to UCLA. This personal statement is intended to provide an example of a successful essay for a top school like UCLA. Sample Personal Statement for UCLA I fear the remote thought of being the...

Example LSE Personal Statement in Economics

The following personal statement is written by an applicant who got accepted to Masters’s program in Local Economic Development at London School of Economics. Read this essay to understand what a top Personal Statement in economics should look like. Sample Personal...

Sample Cambridge Personal Statement Computer Science

Cambridge is one of the most prestigious universities in the world and among the most competitive global schools. The following essay was written by an applicant who got accepted to Cambridge's Ph.D. program in Computer science program. Read her essay to understand...

WANT AMAZING ARTICLES ON GRAD SCHOOL PERSONAL STATEMENTS?

• 100+ Personal Statement Templates

INSEAD MBA Essays: Question Prompts & Successful Sample Essays

By Arvind Kumar

31 July 2023

INSEAD MBA Motivation Essays: Question Prompts

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 (maximum 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(maximum 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, etc). How are you enriched by these activities? (maximum 300 words)

Essay 4 (Optional) : Is there anything else that was not covered in your application that you would like to share with the Admissions Committee? (maximum 300 words)

INSEAD MBA Job Description Questions: Question Prompts

Question 1: Briefly summarise 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. (200 words maximum)

Question 2: What would be your next step in terms of position if you were to remain in the same company instead of going to business school? (200 words maximum)

Question 3: Please give a full description of your career since graduating from university. Describe your career path with the rationale behind your choices. (300 words maximum)

Question 4: Discuss your short and long-term career aspirations with an MBA from INSEAD. (100 words maximum)

Question 5 (Optional): 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. 

Get a free profile evaluation

If you would like a candid assessment of your profile, book your free profile evaluation session now.

Schedule your call

INSEAD MBA Motivation Essays – Successful Sample Essays

Looking back on my life, I would say my journey so far has been one of using mental resilience and adaptability to overcome adversity. My mental fortitude has helped me deal with the pressures of running a sprawling business and with bouncing back from its eventual failure. I have had to stay strong due to my father’s chronic kidney failure and subsequent transplant, while at the same time managing multi-million client projects in my day job and running a fledgling business on the side. These high-pressure life experiences have helped me develop a strong work ethic, intense focus and a deep appreciation for the value of teamwork.

I become self-reliant and adaptable to change at an early age. My family periodically relocated cities due to my parents’ transferable job, and I had to develop the ability to take in the new circumstances and make friends quickly. This habit served me well later on in life when I was selected for a prestigious undergraduate internship at the University of Bath, UK. I felt invigorated and excited by the exposure to a new culture. Interacting with a diverse group of people imparted a sense of belonging in me after my fragmented childhood social life.

Another trait which has helped me in my professional life is my appetite for competition – I am excited in the face of a challenge and always put my best foot forward. After coming back from the UK I set my sights on securing a consulting analyst role at one of the MBBs. Despite competition from 400 of my fellow students, I was the sole person selected for the top business consulting internship at Microsoft from my college. Through my dedication and with the help of my prestigious internships I finally achieved my goal and secured a placement offer as an analyst at Bain. 

My ambitious and dedicated nature also has its downsides, in that I sometimes take big risks without adequate preparation, and put too much pressure on myself when I am not ready to handle it. This trait is what made me abandon my placement offer at Bain to try and save my newly established family business. Despite my best efforts I was unable to prevent its failure. In hindsight, I can clearly see that I did not have the requisite business experience and skills to take on that challenge, and I should not have taken that risk. 

My resilience and determination helped me to bounce back from this failure. I got back into consulting with an Analyst role at (Confidential), where I achieved 2 promotions in subsequent years through my hard work and dedication. I combined my learnings and utilised my strengths to launch new entrepreneurial ventures in the F&B space, which I have grown to $100K+ in revenue in the first year itself. I feel the INSEAD MBA is the perfect place to work on my areas of improvement and utilise my strengths to take my career forward.

My professional career has been deeply influenced by certain pivotal events and the important learnings I have taken from them. Chief amongst these has been my first entrepreneurial attempt – during my last year of college, my father and I started a dairy farm business with our family’s savings. It quickly became apparent that the business was struggling, and I felt compelled to abandon my placement offer of consulting analyst at Bain to join the start-up in an attempt to safeguard my family’s fortunes. However, due to unfavourable market conditions and our own mismanagement arising from inexperience, we were unable to rescue the business and had to shut down with massive losses.

I learned a very hard lesson—good intentions and hard work are not enough to compensate for a lack of experience and business acumen. Indeed, this pivotal experience has shaped me profoundly and made me value business experience and know-how as critical attributes. I used these learnings and experiences as my bedrock while starting my second business – The Charcuterie Co. Starting and growing this business has been my most significant professional achievement.

I started this company in 2021 to translate my passion for European gourmet food to the Indian palette. However, as soon as I had started this venture along with my day job, my father was diagnosed with kidney failure. I had invested my life’s savings into my business and I could not justify shutting it down; thereby losing my investment and rendering my newly hired staff redundant. 

My family and I continued battling against all odds, and we arranged for a kidney transplant. My father is now on the path to recovery and is doing well. Despite the difficult circumstances, I stayed mentally strong, continued working on my business and built up to monthly £13,000 in sales. Turning the business into a success after the tough start has been even more meaningful to me after my first failed attempt at entrepreneurship. I will aim to translate this mental fortitude as well as my entrepreneurial mindset to my career and life post my MBA.

Having grown up and extensively travelled in underdeveloped parts of India, I have had the chance to see food-poverty and its devastating effects firsthand. Since my college days I have been volunteering with various charities such as the Rotaract club and the Delhi NCR Foodbank to do my part in eradicating food insecurity in India. Using my businesses in the F&B space I play an active role in making and distributing food packets, most recently with the Chattarpur AKSM Trust Foundation. Helping to combat India’s food poverty problem is incredibly fulfilling, and I feel this endeavour has helped me grow into a more empathetic person.

Through my business I have partnered with some of India’s largest art galleries and exhibitions in the past year, and have subsequently developed a passion for art and creative design. I am a member of the Bikaner House Art Collective which has given me the chance to interact with India’s biggest artists, such as Paresh Maity and Jayasri Burman. This exposure to the art scene in India has furthered my own creativity and encouraged out of the box thinking in my business pursuits. 

I also enjoy physical exercise and sports. I am an active member of the Siri Fort Sports Club. I have run half-marathons before the COVID pandemic and am currently in training to run a full marathon before starting my MBA program. Working out has made me more disciplined and mentally strong as a person, and has helped me be more productive throughout my day.

Other than this, I am an active member of my college’s mentorship group. I have recently mentored 2 juniors in business fundamentals and case studies and helped them gain their dream consulting jobs, which has been a personal high point for me in the past year. 

Essay 4 (Optional): Is there anything else that was not covered in your application that you would like to share with the Admissions Committee? (maximum 300 words)

One of the reasons I am attracted to the INSEAD MBA program is its emphasis on diversity, inclusion and international experience. The program also places an emphasis on its cohort having strong international experience and a history of working with diverse team members. I believe I satisfy these criteria and will be a good fit with the dynamic and diverse cohort at INSEAD. 

I have spent most of my professional career working with international clients and teammates. Starting with my 3 month internship at University of Bath, UK, where I worked on a robotics project with a team comprising people from over 20 nationalities. This was an exciting opportunity for me and I found it exhilarating to work alongside people from different backgrounds and nationalities.

During my time at (Confidential) I exclusively worked for international clients in my 3 year stint, during the majority of which all my managers and team were based in either America or Europe. I worked alongside people from the US, UK, France, Germany, Spain and Costa Rica on a daily basis. I was also in line to be internally transferred to the US. This however did not end up happening due to the COVID pandemic and my father’s subsequent medical problems. 

I am intent on joining INSEAD due to its focus on consulting careers, incredibly diverse cohort and the culture of excellence which the school embodies. I have had several conversations with current INSEAD students who have all encouraged my application and given me valuable insight into the school. I look forward to the chance to travel extensively and learn from and alongside a diverse cohort at INSEAD.

Learn from  Adhiraj’s insights on his successful INSEAD admit with scholarships . 

INSEAD MBA Job Description Questions – Successful Sample Essays

I am currently managing 2 companies, both of which I have founded in the last 18 months. The first is a gourmet food delivery and catering company which I started from my home kitchen and have grown to a team of 20 employees with monthly revenues of ~€15,000. In my day to day work I oversee quality control, drive new product ideation, handle high value customers, review marketing and sales performance and manage HR issues.

The second is a hospitality consulting business which I run with my business partner and chef. There are 5 employees, and our average monthly revenue is ~ €4,500. I am directly responsible for new lead generation and conversion through sales platforms and my professional network. I advise my clients on their overall business strategy, build their brand concepts and run PMOs for their projects.

Previously I have worked as an Associate Consultant at a boutique management consultancy where I led a team of 5 analysts and managed client projects with average baselines of ~$30M – $200M. My diverse experiences have helped improve my business acumen and team management skills, and I look forward to contributing my experience to the INSEAD MBA cohort.

My current aim is to continue growing both of my businesses and achieving sustainable profitability while transitioning myself to a hands-off chairman role instead of an executive role. In the short term my aim is to get back into the corporate world and progress my consultancy career. I feel the best way to set my business up for success is to recruit experts in the field, empower them to deliver their ideas and give them the tools for success while I gain further experience, connections and capital through my consultancy career. I feel the INSEAD MBA is the perfect place for me to build these capabilities while simultaneously enhancing my profile in order to better negotiate start-up funding for my businesses.

If I were to not go to business school I would still try to transition back to a consultancy career to build my skills and connections. I would target a Consultant role and aim for a company where I have the possibility of internally transitioning to a strategic consulting role in a European/US geography within 2-3 years. Simultaneously I would also begin exploring angel investment options for one of my businesses instead of waiting for sustained profitability.

At the time of my graduation from college I had secured a placement offer from Bain for a consulting analyst profile. I ultimately chose to not take up this offer and joined my newly started family business in organic and sustainable dairy farming. I became the managing director and had directly oversaw  finances, marketing, sales, product development and quality control. In 1.5 years we grew annual revenue to $180,000 and expanded our distribution network to 5 other cities. Additionally we secured large B2B contracts and negotiated financing in tough COVID market conditions. However, despite our best efforts we could not attain sustainable profitability and had to shut down operations in 2019.

After this setback I joined (Confidential) in 2019 to develop my analytical and consulting skills while gaining direct exposure to client projects. I gained promotions in successive years, advancing from an Analyst profile to an Associate Consultant within 3 years. Towards the end of my tenure was managing a team of 5 analysts while directly handling $30M – $200M categories on billion-dollar projects. I developed a specialisation in logistics and supply chain management with a focus on the North American and European geographies.

In 2021, I launched a gourmet food business while continuing with my day job, with the intention of pursuing my passion as well as giving my entrepreneurial ambitions another chance. In the first year of business, I grew it to $100K+ in revenue and now manage a team of 20 people across different functions and domains. I have also launched a hospitality consulting business where I aim to couple my business skills with my team’s culinary expertise to help young professionals start their own F&B businesses. We have delivered 5 projects in 3 cities in our first 3 months and continue to expand.

Through the INSEAD MBA I am targeting a switch in geography from India to Europe, particularly the UK/Netherlands. I am also planning to switch my profile from an operations/procurement role into a strategy consulting profile at a global consulting firm such as the MBBs, Kearney or Strategy&.

In the long term, I aim to combine the expertise, connections and skills I build in my consulting career with my prior entrepreneurship experience to realise my ambition of becoming an innovation and sustainability focussed entrepreneur. I believe an INSEAD MBA is the perfect path forward to realising this goal.

Question 5: 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. (Optional)

If I am successful in my application, I plan to take a 2 month vacation before the start of the programme. In this time I will fulfil one of my big dreams – to backpack solo across south east asia and explore the exciting cultures of Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. 

I also aim to take an active role in the organising of the annual Diwali ‘bhandara’ (communal food distribution) at the Chattarpur AKSM Trust Foundation, which feeds up to 500,000 food insecure people on festival days. Helping alleviate India’s crippling food insecurity is one of my personal ambitions and I have partnered with several institutions across Delhi through my food kitchen for social work. I would like to take this endeavour one step forward and actually help organise the massive logistics behind this mammoth charity event.

Another personal goal I would like to complete in this period is to participate in a full-length marathon, for which I have been training for the past 6 months. Having run half-marathons in the past, it would be a big achievement for me to take the next step and cross off a bucket list item.

1 thought on “INSEAD MBA Essays: Question Prompts & Successful Sample Essays”

• Pingback: INSEAD MBA - Admissions, Deadlines, Cost, Scholarships, Class Profile & Employment Reports

Leave a comment Cancel reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

We can improve your MBA profile and boost your candidacy. Gain insight into the review process and eliminate weaknesses from your MBA application.

Note: You must have javascript enabled to submit the form.

INSEAD MBA Essays for 2023-2024

The INSEAD MBA application for the August 2024 intake is now live. Here are the deadlines , and you’ll find the INSEAD MBA essays within the online application.  Once again, INSEAD asks applicants to answer a series of short-answer job description questions as well as motivation essays.

INSEAD MBA Essays

Job description questions.

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.

Briefly summarise 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. (200 words maximum)

What would be your next step in terms of position if you were to remain in the same company instead of going to business school? (200 words maximum)

Please give a full description of your career since graduating from university. Describe your career path with the rationale behind your choices. (300 words maximum)

Discuss your short and long-term career aspirations with an MBA from INSEAD. (100 words maximum)

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

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 (maximum 500 words).

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 (maximum 400 words).

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, etc). How are you enriched by these activities? (maximum 300 words)

Is there anything else that was not covered in your application that you would like to share with the Admissions Committee? (maximum 300 words)

Wondering how to begin on your INSEAD MBA essays? Check out this article with essay writing tips direct from the school’s admissions team. For more information on applying, visit the INSEAD MBA admissions website .

If you need guidance on your INSEAD MBA application or wish to discuss your business school plans, don’t hesitate to reach out for a complimentary analysis  of your candidacy. We’re here to help!

With deadlines around the corner, you may be interested in the world-famous SBC Flight Test . Once a full set of application materials for your initial school have been drafted, but not finalized, the application will be sent to a former admissions committee member for a one-time review, adcomm style. You’ll have the benefit of a true admissions committee review while still having the ability to tinker and change.  You will receive written feedback within two business days after submitting.

You May Also Like

B-Schooled Podcast Episode 56: An Overview of European MBA Programs

Comparing Top EU MBA Programs Vs. Top US Programs

4 factors to consider about european mba programs.

INSEAD Grad Has Thoughts on the MBA in a Time of Crisis

Leave a reply cancel reply.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

Learn About Our All-In Service

Meet the sbc consulting team.

(323) 934-3936 info@StacyBlackman.com

Latest Blog Post

Get ready for the new mba admissions season.

A new MBA admissions season is upon us, meaning it’s time for savvy applicants to get their heads in the game. Business schools have already started releasing their deadlines for the 2024-2025 application cycle. ... →

Interview Questions

Comprehensive Interview Guide: 60+ Professions Explored in Detail

How to Describe Yourself: 40+ Examples for Interviews

By Biron Clark

Published: December 15, 2023

A lot of employers will ask you to describe yourself as one of the first questions in the job interview. As a former recruiter , I’m going to walk you through the best ways to answer, examples of how to describe yourself, and the common mistakes to avoid. Then we’ll also look at how to describe yourself in a more casual setting like a networking event or meetup.

Let’s get started…

How to Answer the Interview Question: “Describe Yourself”

1. know & research your audience.

The first step in how to describe yourself is to know your audience! You don’t want to describe yourself as a quiet person who prefers working alone if you’re interviewing at a highly-social company that emphasizes teamwork . At least not if you want to get hired!

Now, you don’t need to lie and say you’re the most outgoing, energetic person in the world, but you’d want to show a bit of both sides, so they at least know you can handle some basic teamwork. So prepare for your job interview by researching the company and figuring out what type of work environment they seem to have.  If you don’t know how to research a company, this article will help you. I’d recommend checking out their website, Facebook page, YouTube, and maybe other social media such as LinkedIn. This will give you a sense of their overall company culture , which will help you do a better job of describing yourself in a way that’ll be attractive to THEM.

2. Describe traits that fit their job and team

When you describe yourself in the interview, you want to be honest and true to yourself. There’s no need to lie. However, you do want to think about which traits they’ll find most exciting or impressive. The key is to think about what they’ll view as most relevant. If the job requires a lot of multi-tasking (you’ll know from the job description most likely), you’ll want to describe yourself as someone who works well with a high number of tasks going on. If the job seems to be very fast-paced, you could talk about someone who is highly organized, works well under pressure, and has succeeded in fast-paced environments in the past. (FYI, here’s an entire article on answering, “ what type of work environment do you prefer” ). This is how to describe yourself while being honest but also making sure your interview answer will get them excited to hire you. I personally do NOT work well under pressure. But I’ve still said it in interviews because I knew they wanted to hear it. And the job didn’t end up being very high-pressure anyway. If you’re concerned that the job isn’t the right fit, don’t take the job. But your only goal in the interview is to sell yourself and get invited to the next round in the process, and this is how you do that.

3. Always pick positive traits

You never want to describe yourself as shy, unconfident, stressed, anxious, etc. When the interviewer asks you to describe yourself, you should always be naming positive traits and things that make you attractive to the employer.

This should be obvious, but I want to make sure you know to never mention negatives when answering this interview question.

4. Back up your claims with an example

The fourth and final step when answering, “how would you describe yourself?” is to give an example of how that trait has helped you in a real situation. We’ll look at many examples of how to describe yourself in the next section, but here’s the basic idea for now…

Imagine you say that you would describe yourself as someone who solves problems and loves thinking outside the box and taking initiative. You might conclude your answer by saying:

For example, in my last job, there was a software failure and more than 40% of our clients were reporting outages. I took the initiative to look at the software error logs and spotted the issue before my Manager had a chance to look. As soon as my Manager became available, I told him I had already found a solution. This saved our clients money and saved my Manager time.

It’s one thing to say, “I take initiative” or something like that, but it’s MUCH more powerful to give a real example of how you took initiative to help your past employer save money or make money.  Now let’s look at some more sample responses:

Watch: How to Describe Yourself

How to describe yourself: answer examples.

Now that you know the four key steps to use when describing yourself in a job interview, let’s look at some sample short descriptions about yourself . Remember, research is the first step. Here’s why this is so crucial:

Imagine they ask, “How would you describe yourself?”… and because you did your research… you know that this particular job requires a lot of teamwork and collaboration. You know from the job posting that this is not a role  where you sit quietly and work by yourself all day. So in your answer, you’d want to give a short description about yourself that shows you’re collaborative and that you enjoy working as part of a team. Then, you’d give an example of a real-life situation where you demonstrated this.

Hopefully that last piece sounds familiar – it was step #4 above. That’s how you stand out when answering “describe yourself” in your interview.

Here are two examples of how a full answer should sound:

How to Describe Yourself – Example Answer #1:

I would describe myself as someone who is highly motivated, and I particularly enjoy working as a part of a team. In my last job, I was part of a group of 12 people and we communicated multiple times per day to work as a unit, and I also interacted frequently with other groups like Sales , Customer Service, and more. I enjoy a fast-paced, team-oriented environment like this.

How to Describe Yourself – Example Answer #2:

I’d describe myself as being very resourceful and ambitious at the same time. I find solutions, get creative, and solve problems without needing the help of coworkers or managers. I know when to ask for help and I don’t stay quiet if I do need assistance. But when it is possible to handle something without occupying the time of others, I do it and I consider myself very good at it. It’s one of the things my last boss would say they liked most about me if you asked them to describe my style of work.

How to Describe Yourself With One Word

There’s another similar interview question you should be ready for: “If you only had one word to describe yourself, what would it be?”

Here is a list of one-word answers you can use to describe yourself:

• Resourceful
• Cooperative
• Detail-oriented

Choose whichever suits you best (and fits with the role you’re interviewing for), and just remember that you can repeat this same word in every interview. Then, whichever word you pick to describe yourself, prepare an example and a reason for why you chose it. Don’t just say one word and then stop talking. This is a question where they’ll want you to explain your answer.

Here’s a word-for-word example of how to describe yourself if they ask for one specific trait or word:

How to Describe Yourself – Example Answer #3:

The word I’d use to describe myself is ‘ambitious’. One of the reasons I’m looking for tech jobs right now is that I want to work on large, important projects and challenge myself. I like to seek out learning opportunities and I’m not afraid to fail and struggle as a part of learning. I feel the tech industry is the best place to do this right now, and I did some reading on your founder and thought the work culture here sounded like a great fit for my style.

It’s always great if you can end your answer by explaining why you applied for the position and showing them you did your research. Sure, it’s more than they asked, but it’ll impress them.  So keep this in mind in your next interview. The interviewer or hiring manager may also ask, “What are three words you’d use to describe yourself?” So you can adapt the sample answers above but include three positive words to describe yourself, and you’ll have an answer that sounds like this:

How to Describe Yourself in Three Words – Sample Answer

Three words I’d use to describe myself are hard-working, creative, and I’m also a people person. In my previous job, team members often said that my presence boosted team morale, and they also appreciated my ability to come up with new ideas to solve complex problems, so that’s why I chose those three descriptive words above.

Note that you’re technically using more than three words to describe yourself above. That’s fine. You can use short phrases like “people person” as one word. You’ll still give a positive impression. It’s okay to use positive adjectives that are two to three words as long as it’s one trait.

How to Describe Yourself With One Word for Different Industries

Healthcare: 

• Compassionate
• Patient-focused
• Knowledgeable
• Collaborative
• Responsible
• Solution-driven
• Data-oriented
• Trustworthy
• Results-driven
• Fiscally-responsible
• Compliance-focused
• Approachable
• Sales-driven
• Merchandising-savvy
• Customer-focused
• Inventory-aware
• Trend-conscious
• Team-player

Customer Service:

• Solution-oriented
• Clear-communicator
• Conflict-resolver

Mistakes to Avoid When Answering, “How Would You Describe Yourself?”

The first mistake to avoid is: Don’t ramble on or be too long-winded in your answer and don’t share your entire life story. Try to keep your answer to around 60-90 seconds. If they ask for one single word to describe yourself, you may want to keep it even shorter than that. And stay focused on telling a clear, concise story when you describe yourself. Don’t get sidetracked or go off in many different directions with your story.

I’d recommend keeping this simple structure that we talked about above:

• How you’d describe yourself and why
• An example of you using this to help a past employer or succeed in a past project

Otherwise, you might fall into a common trap that exists for this question, and also questions like “ tell me about yourself “. The trap is: They’re trying to see if you can tell a clear story without getting sidetracked and distracted. If you ramble on for too long, they’ll take it as a sign you can’t keep a clear train of thought and are difficult to communicate with. And that can cost you the job even if they like the actual word(s) you chose to describe yourself.

If you’re not sure whether your answer is getting too long, you can stop and ask for feedback! Just give your best shot at an answer, and then say, “does that answer your question, or did you want more info?” That way, you’re not stopping before they’re satisfied, but you’re not talking for an extra two minutes after you’ve answered their question, either. (Talking for too long after each answer will frustrate the interviewer FAST and is a common mistake that can cause people to fail interviews ).

Overall, if you follow the tips above you should pass this question easily and move on to the rest of the interview.

FYI, you should also read this article on how to answer, “tell me about yourself” because it’s another common question that employers ask.

How to Describe Yourself in Networking Opportunities and Events

We’ve covered how to answer “describe yourself” in job interviews, but what about networking events? Describing yourself in a non-interview environment is a bit different. To start, you should read this article on how to develop a great elevator pitch. Part of it is about job interviews, but it also includes scripts for networking and more. When you’re describing yourself in a meetup or networking event, the steps we looked at to begin this article are still good steps to follow. You should try to research the people you’re meeting, or at least think about your audience before answering. (Even if you just met them – think about what type of background they have, what might interest them, etc.) Then when you describe yourself, talk about the pieces of your background that they’ll be able to relate to, or that they’ll find relevant. This is how to capture someone’s attention when first speaking with them. Then you might find some common ground or common interests, and you’ll both enjoy the conversation a lot more.

If you follow the four basic steps at the beginning of this article, you’ll be able to describe yourself confidently to anyone you meet in a professional setting, whether it’s a job interview or not.

Other recommended resources:

• How to write the best elevator pitch for networking and interviews
• How to follow up by email after your interview
• The 16 top reasons you can’t find a job

About the Author

Read more articles by Biron Clark

Continue Reading

12 Expert-Approved Responses to ‘What Makes You Unique?’ in Job Interviews

15 most common pharmacist interview questions and answers, 15 most common paralegal interview questions and answers, top 30+ funny interview questions and answers, 60 hardest interview questions and answers, 100+ best ice breaker questions to ask candidates, top 20 situational interview questions (& sample answers), 15 most common physical therapist interview questions and answers.