Business School Admissions Essay: Failure Questions - Continued

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After searching for a couple of months, I was finally offered a position at ITT Automotive. It was a nice job, but definitely not one I had dreamt about. Besides, the position was in Ohio, and my wife worked in Detroit. I spent a year and a half at ITT as their in-house expert in metal casting and computer-aided engineering. I benefited from the experience and obtained a fresh perspective working in a smaller organization where I had to be versatile. But I still wanted to be in research, and my job duties at ITT offered no scope for research. To remain an active researcher in metal casting, I proposed research projects that would help ITT improve its process development capabilities. With the support of my management, I initiated these projects in addition to performing my assigned duties. Meanwhile, I kept in touch with my supervisor at FRL. A year after I joined ITT, he mentioned that he was moving to a different division at Ford and had recommended me for his spot. A month later I was interviewed by Ford and offered his job.

I enjoy being back at Ford and working in the same city as my wife. I realize that I was partly responsible for the problems I faced. I was obsessed with working at FRL. I lacked the maturity to understand that it never hurts to keep one's options open. I should have interviewed with other research labs while I was at school. Given the choice, I could always have chosen FRL.

Today, I do not see research as the only creative and challenging career path. I have enjoyed being in research, and now I desire to move on to other challenges.

COMMENTS:

This applicant describes a failure that resulted from lack of foresight. It was a mistake that had to do with immaturity rather than a severe shortcoming in any professional area. Nevertheless, there is a clear mistake that was made and relevant lessons to be learned. Interestingly, though it relates to the professional realm, this is really a personal failure, as his limited job search did not cause his employer any harm—only him.

Note that the applicant never offers any excuses or expresses any resentment at his situation, instead taking full responsibility for the failure but also presenting an optimistic view of his current and future situation. It is vital for all admissions essays, even those that detail a negative event in one's life, to have an underlying upward swing like this. If you failed at your job somehow, make sure to demonstrate that you've grown from it and that you handle similar situations more gracefully now.