5 Ways to Prepare for Applying to Business School

There are a lot of reasons why you want to get into a top MBA program. One reason is that you’ll be going to school with other future stars in the business world, which gives you great opportunities for networking. Another reason is that these top schools bring in recruiters from top companies, which means you will be more likely find a high-paying job upon graduation. So what can you do to improve your chances of getting into a top program? Here are some tips.

1. Start Early
If you’re in the position to do so, you’ll want to start preparing for business school early — a few years before, if possible. If you wait till the last minute, it will be reflected in your application. While you’re still working on your bachelor’s degree, or in the years that follow if you take some time off, start building up what is needed for your application. Work hard in college to have a good GPA, which is important for some schools. Take plenty of time to prepare for the GMAT so you can get a good score. The higher the score, the better.

2. Focus on Career Goals
Find jobs that allow you to work on your leadership skills and that focus on your future career goals. Volunteer at a local charity, helping the charity using skills you want to strengthen. For example, if marketing is where you want to use your MBA degree, use your marketing skills to get the charity noticed. Track how your strategies increased donations to the charity.

3. Be Yourself
Let yourself shine through on the application. What makes you unique will help you get into the right school, not what makes you the same as all the other applicants. Business schools want innovative thinkers, not cookie-cutter MBA candidates.

4. Choose the Right People for Recommendations
It may seem like the obvious choice to ask the most prestigious person you know to write your letter of recommendation, but it’s more important what the letter says than who wrote it. If the letter sounds generic, like the person doesn’t really know you that well, it won’t have much weight. Choose someone who can give specific examples of your teamwork skills, leadership qualities, and ethics.

5. Make the Most of Being Wait-Listed
If you’re put on the wait list for the school of your choice, don’t give up. You can take advantage of this time. Let the admissions committee know if you’re promoted as work, obtain a couple more letters of recommendation, or retake the GMAT to see if you can improve your score.

When it comes to applying to business school, it’s all about creating a well-thought-out plan and then executing it to the best of your ability. Use these tips to help you prepare to apply to your MBA program of choice. Which business school will you apply to?

Filed Under: Guidance

The Code for Working Women and Maternity Leave

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Although pregnancy is an exciting time for most women, this can be the first lesson in juggling family and the workplace. Most employers are understanding of these needs, but some just don’t seem to get it.

If you plan on working after your child is born, keep these tips in mind:

Informing Your Employer

While you’re not obligated to tell your employer the second you find out you’re pregnant, it might be a good idea to let them know before you show up in maternity clothes. Depending on the company, you should either let your CEO or line manager know first.

When you give your happy news, inform them of your anticipated due date and how long you plan on taking for maternity leave. If you have a critical position, offer to train someone to fill in for you while you’re gone. You should also plan on taking a few phone calls or emails while you’re away if a problem comes up.

The Length of Maternity Leave

 

Although federal law, The Family and Medical Leave Act, requires most employers to give you up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave when you have a child, the vast majority of companies provide four to six weeks of pay to the expectant mother.

Dad’s can also take 12 weeks of unpaid leave through the FMLA, but few employers offers paid paternity leave. Unless you occupy a key position that the company can’t do without, you’ll be able to return to your existing position or a comparable one.

When possible, you should give your employer about 30 days notice that you’ll be taking this time.
If your employer doesn’t offer paid maternity leave, try to save up sick time and vacation time so you won’t have to eat into your savings while you’re recovering from your pregnancy and taking care of an infant. To protect your rights, visit sites like Family Planning to learn everything you can about taking maternity leave.

Plan Your Return

It won’t be as simple as you think to return to work. While your job may be waiting, you have to find dependable childcare from a provider you trust before you can start working again. This could mean using a traditional daycare center, finding a small daycare provider who works from a private home, or hiring an in-home babysitter or nanny.

While a dedicated care-taker is the best option for some, many can’t afford it. Regardless of your choice, make sure the person or center is qualified and doesn’t have a ton of pending complaints.

Many mothers don’t count on how emotional it can be to return to work. While your new baby is too young to have separation anxiety, you might have a little bit of your own. After all, who could ever care for you precious little one better than you? Some new moms go back to work part-time at first to ease back into a 40-hour work-week.

While a career and a family definitely mix in the modern world, this situation adds a complex layer to starting a family. How do you juggle your job and your family obligations?

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Getting into the role of a business manager

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Business managers exist in almost every industry. They are a vital function that form the backbone of sales and marketing activities in most organization. However, they could also peruse different departments in certain industries. There is nothing specific on what businesses the business manager will manage.

Most business managers are MBA’s. There is no hard and fast rule that mandates it though. But to get an entry to a top-level organization, such a qualification is desirable. Without it, one can always show years of qualitative experience.
Business managers do just about everything to make the company profitable. Their sole intention is to exact the potential of all departments and make them profitable. The business manager will identify things that are not-profitable, and weed them out.

For doing all this, it is desirable that the business manager has some hands on experience in the departments under his or her perusal. For example, a business manager handling sales and business development teams will need to have a strong foundational experience in these roles.

Business managers do a variety of things. It’s all up to them. They can supervise employees, hold meetings with them, write plans for improvement, identify improvement areas, make decisions on human capital management, make decisions on the operations of the business and so on.

A business manager is someone who is actually working like the owner of an organization. He or she does not actually have a specialized field of work. Rather, the only concern is profitability. The single-most priority of any business manager is profitability. They want results from all departments. And that’s what their only concern is.

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Selling your business?

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There are a lot many things to do before selling your business. If you can, then take the help of a company lawyer to understand the nitty-gritty’s of selling your business. Firstly, you should understand why you want to sell your business. If you are undergoing losses, then it makes sense. If you are making profits, would you throw it all away?
Before selling your business, you should understand its value. What is it worth? How much can I sell it for? Get the help of consultants who can adjudicate the worth of your business. For this, you need to furnish your balance sheet and other sources of income.

You can always adjust your balance sheet to favorable market prices. Take the help of an accountant to do this. This way, your discretionary income is factored-in, making your balance sheet something to consider for prospective buyers.

The adjusted balance sheet will also weed out liabilities. Typically buyers would not want to invest in this portion unless an agreement is reached between the parties.

Your accountant or consultant will tell you the benefits of asset sale over business sale. Make the selling of your business a case of selling assets. You can get tax benefits with this approach. Other things include reduced liability due to ownership of the business.

Sellers want to know the business before they lay their hands upon it. You need to prepare a report of what the business is all about. A detailed description of the business, its processes, branches, subsidiaries, and so on will help. The more information you provide your sellers, the more closer you will get to the deal.

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Tech Savvy? Not if You Don’t Know These Business Tips

In today’s economy, tech savvy businesses have the opportunity to rush past their old school competitors. If you’re not using the latest technology, then your company isn’t meeting its ultimate potential. Start using these tech savvy business tips to move your company ahead of the competition.

Save Time and Money with Electronic Signatures

Signing contracts and other documents can take up a lot of time when you rely on the mail. First, you have to send them the paperwork; then you have to wait for them to sign the document in the presence of a notary public; finally, you have to wait to get the document back from them. Meeting clients and business partners in person also presents numerous complications. It’s a cumbersome process that takes a lot of time, and, as you know, time is money.

Using online electronic signatures can significantly reduce the amount of effort spent on important documents. When you use online signature services, you not only speed up the process, you also get to take advantage of lower costs, guaranteed delivery, document tracking and error reduction. If you’re not using online signature services for your business’s documents, then you’re moving too slow for today’s competitive business world.

Share Your Calendars

Getting staff members to coordinate their schedules has always been difficult. They need to meet with each other to discuss upcoming projects, but they also have their own assignments that demand their attention.

There’s a tech savvy way to solve this problem that will improve the efficiency of every person in your office. Instead of trying to coordinate through email and meetings, share your calendars online with your fellow staff members. Google offers a free online calendar that can keep track of upcoming appointments, days out of the office and other events that might conflict with other schedules. By giving every member of your business team access to your calendar, you make it easier for the group to coordinate their schedules. Once you gain access to your co-workers calendars, you never have to wonder when they have free time for a meeting.

Make the Most of Your Mobile Phone

Most smartphones have applications that can make you more efficient at work, even when you’re not in the office. Look for “bump” apps that allow you to share files with your co-workers by simply bumping your phones together. This convenient option reduces the time spent attaching and downloading documents sent through email.

Today’s smartphones are much more sophisticated than those released a few years ago. The newest models allow you to carry your work with you. Instead of bouncing files from your phone to your computer and back again, you can simply synch the devices so that they update each other instantly. That way, you never have to worry about bringing the right device with you. You have them all right there on your phone.

Your business success depends on keeping pace with the latest technologies. What are the latest online services, apps and mobile devices that make sure that you maintain your competitive edge?

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Selling a Car Quickly and Effectively

Buying a new car can be a very exciting event, especially if upgrading to a newer model with more features. However, many have to be sure their previous car sells at a decent price in order to be able to afford the new automobile. There are several steps to take when thinking “I need to sell my car” and each can be lucrative depending on the timeline and potential buyers.

For those wanting to sell their car privately, some research and legwork is required. Comparing similar cars will give insight into the value and determination of a reasonable asking price. Many websites offer detailed listings that show high and low listings for similar vehicles in the area. Checking out local auto dealers can also help sellers to see how to describe the car and which angles of the car will best show it off. There are local classified websites that often allow free postings that can get many views and thus, many more interested customers.

Some people also choose to use a third party seller, such as a website, that charges a fee to find potential buyers at a set asking price. Depending on where the new car is being purchased, a trade-in may also be a possibility. Some sellers feel that this will not give them the price that they feel their automobile is worth, but making sure to know the market for similar vehicles – both the high and low selling prices – can be invaluable in successfully arguing for a higher trade-in value. When coming into a negotiation fully armed with information and background knowledge, the process can become much less stressful. Buying a new car should be fun and exciting, and no matter how the old car is sold, all involved customers can walk away feeling that they received a great deal.

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Top Schools for Top Professions: Where Should You Be

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Perhaps you are just graduating from high school and you are getting ready to make that very important choice of where you want to pursue your higher education. Or maybe you are an adult who wants to make a career change, or just add to your educational background. Whatever the case, there are many colleges and universities from which to choose.

The following list outlines some of the top colleges, their geographic locations, and the areas of study for which they are known, as well as some noteworthy notes such as research centers — in no particular order or ranking.

University of California, San Diego
La Jolla (San Diego), California. • Oceanography, sciences, social sciences, engineering
Research centers include Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the Salk Institute. 

University of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois • Finance, economics, sociology
The University of Chicago is the site of the largest university press in the U.S.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, Massachusetts • Science, technology, engineering
MIT houses one of the largest on-campus nuclear reactors in America.

University of California, Los Angeles
Westwood, (Los Angeles), California • Healthcare, medicine, dentistry and public health
UCLA is the home to the David Geffen School of Medicine. The Ronald Regan UCLA Medical Center is also part of the UCLA Healthcare system.

Columbia University
New York City, New York • Law, journalism, liberal arts, sciences
Columbia University administers the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for journalism, literature and music achievements.

Duke University
Durham, North Carolina • Law, medicine, public affairs
Duke Medical School is a top-ranked medical school.

Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, Maryland • Medicine, science and research
Johns Hopkins has satellite campus in Italy, China and Singapore.

University of Oxford
Oxford, United Kingdom. • Arts and humanities
Oxford is considered to be the oldest university in the world. It is also the home to the Rhodes Scholarship.

Harvard University
Cambridge, Massachusetts • Law, business, medicine
This Ivy League school is the oldest college in the United States.

Kyoto University
Kyoto, Japan • Math, Sciences
This university is home to the Ukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics.

University of Colorado at Boulder
Boulder, Colorado • Aerospace sciences, engineering, applied science
Seventeen astronauts have been or are associated with the University either as students, faculty or researchers.
Brown University
Providence, Rhode Island • Engineering, medicine
The Alpert Medical School and the Brown University Graduate School are two notable schools within the Brown system.

Arizona State University
Four campuses located throughout Phoenix, Arizona. • Liberal arts, engineer, journalism
ASU is the biggest public research university in America. The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication is part of the university’s system.

New York University
New York City, New York • Arts and sciences, social work, liberal arts
NYU is the only university in the United States with two medical schools.

CONCLUSION
As you can see your college choices are wide and varied. This list is just the tip of the iceberg, so get out there and do your homework, and do some research to find just the right fit.
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Getting the Most out of Your Business Meetings

Running a business meeting. There are tips and tricks to making a business meeting successful and beneficial for all. It is up to you as an employer to do your homework ahead of time and properly plan and set up the meeting for the best results.
The first thing to do is to hold consistent meetings. Schedule in meeting times and let your staff get in to the routine of planning for these times. While it is perfectly OK to have impromptu meetings occasionally, this is not an effective way to run business. Plan in time as often as you feel necessary to instruct your staff, inform them of upcoming events, or to just receive feedback and reports from your employees.
Plan an agenda. Know in what order business is going to be conducted at the meeting. Be sure to prioritize and get the most important things accomplished first. This way if time is limited, you know that the essentials have been reviewed and addressed. You can set up a second meeting to take care of the rest of the business.
It is helpful for everyone to have a copy of the agenda (i.e. print-out, digital copy, or even an email summary). Not only will this allow for all to see upfront the topics of discussion, but this will serve as a reminder for anyone who may have issues that they want to raise.
Realize that you need to set a firm hand at the meeting. It is important to let employees share their opinions and concerns. Take time to show interest and concern in their feelings. Also though, have a set standard for how decisions will be made. The meeting will do little good if only a jumble of thoughts are expressed, but there is no conclusion or solution made.
As you take these tips into account, your business meeting will be more beneficial.

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Fake it Until you Make It

Honesty is everything in running a business. There is no question that dishonest behavior leads to drastic consequences and is just plain wrong. Business men and women should be courteous enough to be honest with each other.

While taking this in to consideration, one must remember though that having good presentation and etiquette is important for a business’s success. For example, if a customer approaches a sales representative and asks where a product is in the store, the sales representative’s response is important. If they do not know, it is not necessarily the best response to take the most forward approach, “Uh, I don’t know. Go ask someone else.”

Rather the person should say politely, “I’m not sure off-hand where that is, but I can show you the general area where it might be.” Then the sales person should make every effort to be sure that the customer locates what they are trying to find. Go and get another representative to help, or take time to look with the customer. While you don’t want to hover, showing interest in the customer’s needs will strengthen the customer’s good impressions of the business.

When employees are first starting, it is typical to not know everything or to feel unsure about one’s self. It is important to fake it until you make it. This means to have confidence in what skills you have and to do just the best you can. Customers appreciate confident sales persons who are willing to help and serve them rather than someone who radiates insecurity or a lack of knowledge. While this does not mean to lie when you don’t know something, it does mean to do everything you can to present yourself and the business well.

Sound confident about a product. Lean on other reports if you have not as yet had a chance to use the product yourself. As you act more confident, you will find it comes more naturally. You will become what you are trying to be—a polished sales representative who can successfully conduct business.

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Giving Your Customers Bad News

At some point in any business, things go wrong. Maybe an automotive part is delayed, a home project is delayed or information may be lost. Regardless of the situation, giving customers bad news is rarely a pleasant task. Many businesses use the strategy of avoiding the customer in the hopes that the situation will be rectified before having to contact the customer. This is the worst strategy a business can use. Deceiving the customer and not being truthful is another strategy that a business should not use. This often creates a more difficult situation.

If you have to give a customer bad news, the best thing you can do is to be honest. Provide the customer with all the information you can. The customer will feel better knowing what caused the problem and why it happened.

Always put yourself in your customer’s shoes. They may become angry and frustrated with the situation. They may worry it may cause additional problems. Give them the facts and let them know how the situation will affect them.

Understand that the customer may react negatively. Allow your customer to vent and avoid attempts at humor. Acknowledge their feelings and do not attempt to minimize the situation. Once they have vented their feelings, you can provide a plan to correct the situation.

Once you have established a plan to meet the customer’s needs, make sure you follow through with any promises made. Take the time to contact the customer to update him or her on the progress of the situation.

Giving a customer bad news is not easy. However, if you deliver on promises made and keep the customer informed, the result should be a happy customer. Misleading the customer or making promises that will not be kept will make the situation more difficult than it needs to be.

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