You’re highly qualified. So why weren’t you chosen?
Back in 2005, the University of Chicago Booth School of Business decided to do something unusual. As part of an attempt to improve its reputation with MBA applicants, the School decided to offer “deny feedback.” Admission officers would offer 15-minutes of feedback over the phone with applicants who were denied admissions in the previous application year. I was one of six admission officers at the time. As a top-tier business school, we didn’t need to offer deny feedback. But we were eager to improve our aloof and hardline image in the marketplace so each of us rolled our eyes, pinched our nose, and plunged forward with this unpleasant assignment. What I learned from this experience taught me an invaluable lesson that set the course of my entire career. Even though we weren’t speaking to these applicants face to face, the conversation was still uncomfortable and awkward. But the most difficult moment arrived when we came across a particular kind of applicant. These applicants typically had a 750 GMAT score (out of 800), a 3.5 GPA in electrical engineering from a prestigious university, a strong career track at a well known technology firm, recommenders who sang their praises, and had said all the right things in their essays and interviews. We reviewed these files, paused, and panic. Why did we deny these applicants in the first place? Our deny feedback call was about to take place. What could we say? The thing was, when we reviewed these denied files, we only read eight applications per week. It was summer, and our work pace was much slower. During peak admissions season in fall and winter, however, we typically evaluated over a hundred applications per week. Like many other top tier schools with competitive admissions, Chicago Booth had no shortage of well-qualified applicants. In fact, there are always far more well-qualified applicants than there are available seats in each class. 750 GMAT? A dime a dozen. 3.5 GPA from a prestigious undergraduate university? Got too many of those. Applicants’ recommenders think highly of them … who wouldn’t? Most applicants assume that if only they reiterate their resumes, regurgitate facts and data from their lives in a chronological or reversed chronological way, they will somehow be selected. After all, don’t the facts speak for themselves? No, not really. In a competitive environment, everyone has strong qualifications. Everyone has facts that are in his or her favor. For over a quarter of a century, we have known that facts are 20 times more likely to be remembered if they are shared in the context of a narrative. The average person nowadays is inundated with facts and data. That is especially true for the people who have to read over 100 applications per week and make tough decisions. What I found, was that the applicants who stood out from the crowd of smart and accomplished professionals were the ones who could tell stories—stories that connected their values, accomplishments, and career plans with the institution they wanted to be a part of. It was there, on those calls that summer, that I started to think about how this element was missing from so many people’s understanding of what it takes to be successful. Those candidates had all the facts. They just didn’t know how to convey them in an effective and memorable way. So, the next time you are in a competitive situation, vying for a seat at the table, will you know how to effectively share your story? Or will you simply hope the litany of your accomplishments will speak for themselves? The Leadership Story Lab shares tons of storytelling tips in our monthly newsletter. Sign up here! For more support and resources, send me an email at Esther@LeadershipStoryLab.com (Image credit: Flazingo Photos)
