Free HEC Paris MBA Essay Samples
HEC Paris Business School, established in 1881, is one of the leading MBA programs in Europe, offering a 16-month program of study.
The following MBA essays were written by ARINGO MBA candidates who got accepted to the HEC Paris Business School MBA program over the past few years. Read these free HEC MBA Essay Examples to get a sense of what they are looking for at the HEC Paris Business School MBA Program. Contact ARINGO MBA Admissions for help with your HEC MBA essays!
To read more about HEC Paris Business School visit the HEC MBA page.
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See below some HEC MBA essay samples from MBA applicants:
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Since childhood, I have been involved in the world of martial arts, studying karate and Kung Fu from the age of 9. At the age of 21, my curiosity drove me to explore the life of Shaolin monks, and I enjoyed the privilege of living in the Shaolin Temple in China – a place where time stopped 300 years ago.
After two months, I said a fond farewell to the new friends I made there, but I can easily imagine my life had I chosen to stay on for several years, training and enriching my mind in this simple, modest and spiritual life.
For the first few years, I would have spent 10 hours a day either meditating or practicing each and every Kung Fu movement to perfection. Later, I would have augmented these practices by registering for an online degree in History, another one of my great loves.
Eventually, I would have returned to my country and taken an academic route, dedicating myself to research and doing a doctorate in World History. In parallel, I would open Israel’s first branch of Shaolin Kung Fu, a nonprofit institution that would use the methodologies and values of Chinese Kung Fu to help develop and teach at-risk children.
My life in this parallel universe would have a completely different atmosphere, with the adrenaline and restlessness of business and marketing replaced by a calm, spiritual and intellectual experience, yet still with my eagerness to bring to the world innovation and to make an impact.
Soon after joining _____, I accompanied a senior sales manager to a meeting with a client – one of the largest supermarket chains. To my surprise, I heard him promise them, on my behalf, a large marketing grant for promoting our products.
Following the meeting, I asked him why we were giving this client so much money. They had produced no substantial plan, and what results could possibly justify this investment? “Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing,” he said. “Your predecessor trusted me – you should too.”
Back in my office, I reviewed the numbers and became certain: something was wrong. A bit of investigation uncovered that this sales manager’s son held a franchise of this supermarket. I wasn’t sure how to react. I was new there; he was senior and experienced. Perhaps such familial connections were normal. Nevertheless, I could not in good conscience let it go. I denied the marketing grant and reported the entire story to my manager. She supported my decision, as did senior management, and the customer’s account was transferred to someone else.
The thwarted sales manager began bad-mouthing me behind my back, but as his colleagues came to know and appreciate my work, the matter was eventually forgotten.
This incident made me aware that personal agendas can be at play in business decisions, and I must therefore be extremely careful to do my own due diligence when evaluating the feasibility of each case. I also learned that being a responsible leader means sometimes taking unpopular decisions.
At age four, I was diagnosed with a severe case of ADHD. As I grew older, focusing became increasingly harder. I couldn’t sit still at school, which caused friction with my teachers. The doctors and counselors recommended medication that would calm me down. My parents refused, believing that I could learn to channel my ADHD into other things, and succeed despite it. They were right.
Over time, I developed a set of skills to keep me focused. I invested time in sports, where I could release energy, and at school, I worked twice as hard to keep up – ultimately graduating with honors.
When it was my time to register for mandatory military service, I applied for and was accepted to one of the country’s most elite units: Submarines, where I was challenged with learning physics and mathematics along with complex machinery.
From the first days of basic training, I could see this would not be easy. The job demanded studying vast amounts of complex material in short time periods. In addition, being in such close, tight quarters was challenging for someone so hyperactive. Nevertheless, I graduated as one of the top students in my course and went on to be a commander. By the time I finished the military, I knew I could go on and be anything I wanted in life, and that no obstacle would ever stop me.
By overcoming ADHD on my own, I set the path for future success, making this my most significant life achievement.
Following my MBA, I plan to seek a position as marketing director in one of the world’s largest FMCG companies, such as Nestle, L’Oreal, Unilever, or Kraft Heinz. Within 5-7 years I hope to head a division in a large company and, ultimately, to become a group CEO.
Now is the ideal time for me to apply to HEC.
My five years serving in the military in the Submarine unit honed my teamwork and leadership skills, making me today and in the future a more effective colleague and manager. My service in the University Student Union, particularly as Vice President, taught me to see the bigger picture and to make decisions that achieve maximum value under challenging circumstances.
Following graduation, working as Brand Manager at ______, I learned industry basics, such as the value chain, trade, and marketing, and showed me how a global company works. My current job as Manager has helped develop my understanding of trade, sales, and business development methodologies while enabling me to improve my managerial and leadership skills.
Now, with a solid background in my chosen industry, and a strong platform of skills, I believe that earning my MBA at HEC will provide the tools and knowledge I still need to succeed in my goals.
The Marketing specialization, with courses including “Creativity Accelerators” and “Decision Making and Influence” will enable me to approach marketing decisions with greater confidence. As well, HEC’s practical teaching methods and hands-on training are ideal for me. I’m especially excited about the Fieldwork Project, where I hope to be assigned to a fast-moving consumer goods company, working in the marketing segment. Working in this capacity, hand-in-hand with senior executives, will prepare me to approach the challenges I’ll later meet as marketing director in a global company.
Later, to succeed as a Division CEO, I’ll need a combination of general management, leadership, strategy, and finance skills. Fundamental courses such as “Strategic Management” and “Operation Management” will help me to see crucial and complex processes through the bird’s-eye view of a manager.
I’m also eager to join the General Management & Leadership Club, where I can attend lectures by top CEO speakers, such as Jean-Paul Agon and Fabrice Bregier, and participate in club workshops. I also plan to join the MBA Council, where I can leverage my 4 years as an elected representative in my university’s Student Union.
HEC’s career center and unlimited support in helping students find the right post-graduation employment is another exceptional offering. The fact that many of the companies I’m interested in our top recruiters at HEC are an enormous bonus.
I truly believe that HEC is the perfect place for earning my MBA. If given the opportunity, I hope to give back to the school as much as I will gain. From serving as a council member or ambassador to taking on a leadership role in the Luxury Club or participating in the MBA Tournament, I plan to be a contributing member.
For the last four years, my work was focused on the fascinating space industry, mostly on the engineering aspect. I started as an intern Program Manager in the biggest Aerospace Company in my country, inspecting product lines and analyzing the production performance of a $10 M project. I shortened project delivery time by 20%, and following my performance, was hired for a full-time position. A few months later, I was promoted again to mechanical stellate leader – a promotion that usually takes several years.
Today I lead a team of 4 engineers and am responsible for designing and building two satellites, budgeting approximately $100M each. I also lead the development of new space technology (including assigning a patent 6 months ago). Last year I was picked for the fast promotion track (top 3% of the company’s employees).
I want to leverage my technical management experience and focus on business management.
My Short-term post-MBA objective is to work as a product manager in a European space Tech company such as Airbus or Thales-Alenia space. I aspire to better connect engineering and business and learn how to build financially sustainable space-based products.
Long-term, I aspire to start my own company and explore the fast-growing area of Satellite constellations (a group of satellites that jointly provide data). My company will collect high-definition video and stills footage making this information accessible to everyone and influencing the everyday location-based decision making.
I see HEC as the best gate to increase my international exposure. I believe that the more international experiences and cultures I get to know, and the broader my network gets – the better my chances are to make my ambitions come true. In addition to HEC’s diverse and international students and faculty, HEC’s unique worldwide diverse internships will help make the change I seek allowing me to gain many markets’ perspectives.
At HEC, I’m planning to take part in the Entrepreneurship Specializations.
My desire is to convince my team to go with my business project idea for a new space data company. Naturally, even if my project is not chosen, any project would help me gain experience in developing a concept to reality. I’m sure that the collaboration with inventors to develop a promising business idea into a potential venture will help me acquire lots of skills.
Ziv Ilan and Oron Amsalem (both MBA19′) shared with me how impactful is student diversity during the MBA. They especially mentioned how friendly and down-to-earth the students are. This core of people creates a fantastic network that can be a game-changer when setting up your own business.
They enjoyed the leadership seminar at Saint-Cyr. They also mentioned the MBAT is a fantastic opportunity to organize a massive sports event and meet students from all over the world. Oron also added that the ethics seminar at the monastery of Sereys that he took as an elective was an eye-opening experience. All these experiences make HEC stand out compared to other MBA programs.
I am most proud of leading my current, conservative, hierarchical organization to start engaging with new technologies. The catalyst for this engagement occurred while working on an important bid offer and the understanding that innovative technology must be implemented to win.
Last year, I was responsible for developing the mechanical aspects of a new satellite.
This kind of technology is a perception change for our organization. While some elements of the project could be based on existing knowledge, the mechanical aspects had to be different. This satellite requirement included: Low weight and cost-effective infrastructure. This forced us to rethink all known knowledge relevant to other satellites. Dominant figures in the company were skeptical and did everything they could to use our well-known solutions.
I started with extensive research of all relevant technologies. I spoke with industry experts and companies that develop related technologies. Then, after I consolidated the initial concept, I gathered experts in my field to brainstorm different scenarios. Eventually, we came up with an innovative but doable idea. I presented the concept in many senior management meetings, basing the idea on the information and data I gathered. I was able to convince even those who doubted it and got the green light for the development. The unconventional structural design we used even helped us to apply a patent for our innovative ideas.
A short while ago, we were informed we won this project. This win has proved to me the importance of creativity- together with determination.
Two years ago, I worked with an older and more senior engineer. We had a good connection from the very beginning, and we became friends. He was extremely meticulous and was eager to prove himself. However, his main problem was time efficiency.
Our boss and I were also close. We spoke freely about our deliverables, and I highly appreciate his support. One day he told me that he was unsatisfied with my colleague’s performance and was planning to fire him.
I was not surprised, as I knew my friend’s weaknesses, but I was in a great dilemma: should I share with my friend this important news, or do I respect my boss for trusting me with this confidential information.
I decided that loyalty is an important value for me, and I did not want to go behind my boss’s back.
I tried to find a way to stay loyal to them both: I tried to give my friend some advice on how to become more efficient. Then I asked my boss to assign him to my team, so I could help him improve. We worked closely, and my friend demonstrated a significant improvement. Eventually, my boss kept him in the team. I was happy I could help a friend in need, and at the same time remain loyal to my employer and maintain a close relationship with my manager. When friendship and loyalty collide, I was fortunate to have found a way to stay both a friend and a trustworthy employee.
In a parallel life, I would probably design the future metropolis, a sustainable city that would offer its residents the best life quality.
In such a position, I would be able to positively affect the lives of many people. This process would start with data gathering to understand people’s needs and continue with in-depth planning to assure the city not only has the right physical structure but also allows the proper social structure to build a collaborative and productive community. A project at this level of complexity would require my thorough hands-on work from me, and also visionary transparent management of my team.
This future metropolis, being a unique hub for innovative habitation concepts would attract experts from all over the world who will come to seminars, workshops, and conferences to share ideas about future urban planning. I envision myself having a large area where my team and I will do the research and plan our future metropolis. The work would be based on: sustainability, communal, and putting the residents as a top priority.
The only part I don’t see changing is my family: I would be happily married to my wife and have three children. I will always make sure to find time to spend with my family and balance my aspiration to make a real change in the world and my family time.
I will spend my free time traveling with my family around the world, exploring and being inspired by various cultures.
The most inspirational figure for me is Noam Gershony. While most people around the world have probably not heard his name, for me he is the best example for living life at its full, no matter what the circumstances are.
Noam, 35 years old, served in the Israel Defence Force (IDF) as a helicopter pilot. In 2006 his helicopter collided with another helicopter. His co-pilot was killed, and Gershony was severely injured. This led to disability in his lower body. He underwent intense rehabilitation and joined a sports center in Tel Aviv, where he played wheelchair tennis for the first time. Less than 6 years later, he won the gold medal of the Summer Paralympics Games. Besides his sports career, Gershony volunteers at a hostel for youth at risk and teaches teenagers mathematics.
I feel Noam is a real model for me. Despite his disability, he thrives for excellence in whatever he does. He went through three years of challenging training to become a pilot and serve his country. He underwent a significant traumatic experience, then a difficult path of rehabilitation and the understanding that he would never walk again. but he keeps on progressing. I admire his strength and courage. He used tennis to cope with his injury and rehabilitation, becoming the best in the world in his category. He may not be able to walk, but the sky is the limit for him.
He also contributes to society by giving workshops on how to face adversity.
My career is a very dominant part of who I am. However, it is just part of my personality. In my limited free time, I enjoy doing other things that define me as a person.
I love building and repairing almost everything. I start with analyzing needs, plan and design the solution, and leverage my mental and physical capabilities. For example, I designed and built a set of “floating shelves” that I assembled in a specific niche. I created them in a 3D modeling design software, ordered the wood, cut it, painted all the parts, and assembled the shelves to the wall. This hobby allows me to be creative as well as perfect my execution level.
As much as I care about my family and self, I understand that the world does not start and end with me. I love using my skills for the benefit of others. A few years ago, I worked with an 11-year-old boy named Dan, with special needs. Dan was part of a regular class and needed help both socially and academically. We roleplayed various social situations, helping him gain confidence. After one year, his grades improved as well as his interpersonal skills. I learned a lot from Dan and this experience. Although it was sometimes frustrating, I didn’t give up, and I stayed focused on my goal. I learned to believe in people and my abilities. Dan and I both gained a lot from our time together.
After pursuing my MBA, my immediate career goal is to work at a leading management consulting firm such as McKinsey, Bain, or BCG. I believe that the MBA programs that I have opted to apply for will provide me with ample opportunities to develop the required skillsets by means of experiential learning, live consulting projects, and specialized concentration in consulting and strategy among others. These coupled with the skillsets that I have acquired in my professional experience will equip me with the right skills and a global perspective to excel as a management consultant.
HEC MBA Essay Example #12 - Question: Description of the position - current job position (100 words)
As Senior Program Manager, CEO’s Office at ____, one of my key responsibilities is leading pan-India program management, indirectly managing a team of 6 for the rollout of stores. I am also responsible for driving strategic projects across different functions such as Operations, Growth, and Process Improvement. One key strategic project I have led is to improve service time at our stores by conducting a Time and Motion study and implementing improvements across menu boards and store design. I also drive governance of programs run from the CEO’s office and flag identified risk and mitigation plans.
Post-MBA, I plan to pursue a career in consulting at a leading management consulting firm such as McKinsey, Bain, or BCG preferably based out of Europe. I believe that the skills that I have acquired over 5 years of work experience in Corporate Strategy, Retail Operations Strategy, and Program Management roles make me a desirable candidate. A career in consulting would sharpen my problem-solving and decision-making skills through real-world cases and innovative ways to solve unique business problems. This would also set me on a course toward my long-term goal of leading the strategy vertical for an international retail company.
In my journey so far, I have had exposure to a few industries and been a part of projects that have enhanced my analytical skills, broadened my understanding of various business processes, and developed the interpersonal skills required to lead teams. Now, I wish to transition into a career that can expand my horizons and deepen my understanding of how organizations strategize toward solving large-scale business problems, optimize resources and improve business performance. Consulting as an industry will provide me with the required exposure to diverse business problems at a scale, enhance my problem-solving skills and provide a global perspective.
For the majority of my professional career, I have worked across profiles in corporate strategy, retail operations strategy, and program management. Through this experience, I have developed an understanding of the industry, execution of strategic projects, analytical thinking, and a managerial mindset.
Now, I want to leverage these skills and deepen my understanding of strategy construct and develop skills to solve large-scale business problems, providing solutions that truly impact business performance. In addition to these considerations, I want to make a career transition to management consulting. In the roles that I have assumed so far, I have primarily dealt with project execution and management. I the future roles, I hope to engage more with essence of problem solving – diagnosis, solution and implementation- and I believe that an MBA now, will help me make this transition in more than way,
Following my MBA, my immediate short-term goal is to pursue a career in consulting at one of the leading management consulting firms such as McKinsey, BCG, or Bain. A career in consulting would sharpen my problem-solving and decision-making skills through real-world cases and innovative ways to solve unique business problems. This would also set me on a course toward my long-term goal of leading the strategy vertical for an international retail company such as Amazon or Walmart.
HEC has a long and outstanding history of academic excellence and churning out global business leaders. I believe that an MBA from HEC will open a multitude of opportunities in line with my goals, provide the right tools to sharpen my problem-solving and business management skills and be a part of an international network of current and future business leaders. HEC is one of the truly global business schools (with 94% international students from about 60 different countries) and the exposure to diverse cultures and international experiences coupled with a very strong alumni network will provide me with the best of opportunities to realize my ambitions.
At HEC, I am planning to pursue the strategy specialization and learn the art of strategizing in an ever-changing marketplace from industry practitioners. Also, electives such as Artificial Intelligence in Strategy, Shaping Strategy in Digital World, and The Future of Retail in Digital World will help me develop skills to think and approach solutions to the problems of our digital and dynamic world. Apart from the coursework, I also intend to join the consulting club at HEC and utilize the networking events and practical resources in alignment with my immediate career goals.
The individualized approach and the support provided by the HEC’s career centre in helping the students realize their career goals is another advantage of pursuing an MBA from HEC. And the fact that many of the leading companies where I intend to work post my MBA are listed as either partners or prominent recruiters take it a step further.
The achievement that I am most proud of is having launched the start-up investment vertical that has supported start-ups solving fundamental issues such as feminine hygiene, processing of agricultural biomass and providing 100% organic and biodegradable products.
I am especially proud about leading the investment process in three Start-ups because of the nature of problem that they are trying to solve. ‘Sanfe’, a start-up based out of Delhi produces products dealing with feminine hygiene. We were the first investors in this Start-up, providing not only the much-needed capital but also reach by distributing cost effective products at 14,000+ fuel stations. Sanfe is now one of the leading Start-ups in India working in this industry. Another Start-up, ‘Eco-Opus’ founded by ambitious entrepreneurs hailing from the humble town of Amravati, is a unique social enterprise providing comprehensive services to farmers to manage their produce and farm biomass. Evlogia Eco-Care based out of Bangalore, is working towards providing the world with alternatives to plastic and other non-biodegradable articles used in homes, offices, hotels and other places.
Working on implementation of the ‘Start-Up India’ program was especially rewarding and fulfilling as during the course of it, I had the opportunity to work with so many entrepreneurs from across the country who are providing solutions to fundamental problems and truly making an impact on the society.
A few weeks after I joined ______, I began to lead the program management for roll-out of new stores. Apart from others, the team also consisted of three on-ground resources whose key responsibilities involved field visit and evaluation of the proposed store. The company has the policy to reimburse the field resources for the cost of transportation and a meal during the day of visit. The reimbursements have a weekly cap and have to approved by the direct manager of the employee.
Since, the field team reports to the department head, their reimbursement claims require his approval. Swamped by workload, he had asked me to verify these claims before they were put forth for approval on a weekly basis.
Upon doing the same for a few weeks, I noticed that for one of the team members the claimed amount reached the maximum cap on a very frequent basis. I checked with the real estate program manager for the sites that had been visited by this member during the past few weeks. To my surprise, not too many stores had been visited by him and those visited were not too distant. I discussed this with the concerned team member and he mentioned that he had taken a detour a few times during the past weeks to attend to some personal work. I apprised him of the entire situation and the consequences that may follow because of his actions. However, after a couple of weeks the same sequence of events happened again.
I couldn’t let this happen in my good conscious and therefore reached out to the department head and briefed him about the entire situation. As a result of it, we laid a process where each claim would require must have information and documents, such as route map, details of site visited and a hard copy of the conveyance bill, for verification and approval.
This situation has made me to be more aware and to conduct thorough due-diligence when dealing with such matter in case there is a grey area, I should promptly highlight it to the senior leadership.
In a parallel world, I am the Editor in Chief at one of the leading journalism platforms dedicated to the game of Cricket. I took up professional journalism at the age of 19 and have spent nearly 7 years dedicated to planning and curating content pertaining Cricket. Through the years, I have travelled across venues covering cricket and have got to know the game more intimately.
From my teenage years, I have been interested in sports and in writing. When I was 13, I participated in a few sports at School, Football, Table-Tennis and obviously Cricket. I really enjoyed being involved in the game, whether as an extra in the team watching the game from the side-lines or just reading about it.
In my current role, I wear many hats, though chasing the bottom line is not one of them. I strive towards creating the best possible content without putting in too many checks and balances. And it is led by the belief that through journalistic independence and by making sure that the creators’ personality is ingrained with the content, one should be able to achieve the business objectives as well.
Although writing gives me a lot of satisfaction, I need some isolated time for it. I plan to spend more time writing for myself as it gives me a lot of satisfaction. Eventually, I would start my own venture, spreading awareness and providing access to quality and affordable resources to those who want to pursue a career in Sports Journalism. I utilise this platform to instil sports journalism values as I perceive they should be, independent, unbiased and to be voice of the game in the truest sense possible.
The most inspirational figure for me is Ratan Tata, one of India’s most prominent business leader and Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons, the holding company of Tata Group. During his tenure the group’s revenue grew multi-fold and totalled over $100 Billion in 2011. His charismatic leadership style, business acumen and above all the ability to put compassion ahead of financial gains are some of the reasons why I admire him as a business leader and an individual.
Apart from his business skills, what stands out for me is his emphasis on philanthropic efforts. He has always operated keeping the larger purpose of nation building and employee welfare at the forefront. The fact that over 66% of the equity share capital of Tata Sons is held by philanthropic trusts, which support education, health and livelihood generation speaks volumes about his commitment to community wellbeing. Through his efforts, he has been able to create a conglomerate whose success is relished by every Indian. His project of producing the cheapest car in the world, ‘Tata Nano’ is a testament of his push on innovation and commitment towards improving the lives of communities that Tata touches through its products and services. Recently he also seed-funded a Start-up, ‘Goodfellows’ that intends to provide companionship services to the senior folks.
I have learnt a lot and have felt inspired by his work and intend to follow his footsteps for conscious business management and social responsibility.
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