Real Estate as an MBA Career Path with Frank Cohen | Ep 107

The Future of Work and Reinventing Work | Ep 110

Send us your admissions questions! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2368294/fan_mail/new] The old deal with work is broken. Leaders today are looking for a way to get their company’s culture back, but an expert in the consulting space argues that rather than returning to old ways, we should be reinventing work from scratch. In this episode of The mbaMission Podcast, mbaMission Founder Jeremy Shinewald and Executive Director Jessica Shklar sit down with Debbie Lovich, a BCG managing director and senior partner with 32 years of experience, for a conversation about the future of work, the collapse of the traditional employment bargain, and why the most successful companies of the next decade will be the ones that learn to make work human again. Debbie is the author of Make Work Work: The 5 Daily Practices of the Employee-Centric Leader, available for preorder now. She has spent 32 years at BCG advising global organizations, and this book represents a lifetime of lessons she wanted to pass on before retiring at the end of 2026. Whether you are a current or aspiring leader, an MBA candidate thinking about organizational culture, or someone who spends most of your waking hours somewhere you wish was better, this episode will give you valuable insight into what the future of work could look like. Preorder Make Work Work today: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/831079/make-work-work-by-deborah-lovich/ 00:00 Introduction: The Old Deal with Work Is Broken 01:27 What Is Employee-Centric Leadership?  08:12 Joy Is a Business Value Driver 11:51 The Five Daily Practices: An Overview 12:06 Practice 1: Celebrate People – Be Specific, Be Timely, Know Your Person 16:30 Practice 2: Go See and Help – With the Intent to Assist, Not Judge 18:27 Practice 3: Be Interested in the Person – Curiosity as Leadership 18:51 Practice 4: Co-Create Everything – Take Pride, Not Credit 22:20 Practice 5: Do First – Never Ask Anyone to Do Something You Have Not Done 37:09 AI, the Employee-Centric Imperative Book your FREE 30-minute MBA admissions consultation with Harold or another one of our experienced MBA admissions consultants by filling out this form. [https://www.mbamission.com/consult/] Learn more about onTrack by mbaMission, [https://ontrack.mbamission.com/] our innovative, on-demand MBA application platform, and take our two-minute questionnaire to receive your customized learning path.   ‼️Use code MBAMPOD for 30% off any onTrack subscription‼️ Contact Us: info@mbamission.com [ info@mbamission.com] Follow Us: YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@mbaMission] LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/mbamission/] Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/mbamission]

How to Avoid Business School Application Mistakes | Ep 109

Send us your admissions questions! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2368294/fan_mail/new] In this episode, listeners learn how to optimize the formatting of their resume, strategically handle issues with their transcript, and make their short-answer responses effective. Host and mbaMission Founder Jeremy Shinewald talks with Executive Director Jessica Shklar and Managing Director Rachel Beck about how admissions committees evaluate applicants’ professionalism. Drawing on decades of evaluation experience, these experts discuss why following instructions, avoiding technical jargon, and setting feasible career goals are so crucial in the application process. Listeners gain deep insights into showcasing collaboration over individual achievement, managing post-submission anxiety, and navigating team-based interview formats. 00:00 Hidden Messages in Your Application and Why They Matter 01:26 Professionalism Basics: Typos, Formatting, and the Wrong School Name 03:51 Word Count Violations and Resume Overstuffing 07:06 Interview Rambling and the Wharton Team Based Discussion 11:30 Red Flags in Extracurricular Activities 15:17 Handling Test Score and GPA Shortcomings 20:49 Identity, Oversharing, and Knowing What Belongs in an Application 29:41 Optimizing Short-Answer Application Questions 31:57 Seeing Every Line as an Opportunity Book your FREE 30-minute MBA admissions consultation with Harold or another one of our experienced MBA admissions consultants by filling out this form. [https://www.mbamission.com/consult/] Learn more about onTrack by mbaMission, [https://ontrack.mbamission.com/] our innovative, on-demand MBA application platform, and take our two-minute questionnaire to receive your customized learning path.   ‼️Use code MBAMPOD for 30% off any onTrack subscription‼️ Contact Us: info@mbamission.com [ info@mbamission.com] Follow Us: YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@mbaMission] LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/mbamission/] Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/mbamission]

Understanding the Case Method with HBS Professor Joshua Margolis | Ep 108

Send us your admissions questions! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2368294/fan_mail/new] What is the case method, and how does it work at Harvard Business School (HBS)? Plus, what should MBA applicants know before they enroll? In this episode of The mbaMission Podcast, host Harold Simansky and mbaMission Executive Director Jessica Shklar sit down with HBS professor Joshua Margolis—a member of the program’s Organizational Behavior Unit and a faculty member in the Christensen Center for Teaching and Learning—for a candid, behind-the-scenes discussion of how the case method works at the world’s most case-driven business school. Professor Margolis, who helps train the next generation of HBS case method teachers, walks listeners through what a “case” is, how the school’s three-step learning model works (individual prep, study group, full class discussion), and how HBS instructs its faculty to write and teach cases. In addition, he breaks down the infamous “cold call,” including how the classroom is laid out and how faculty keep track of which students have contributed (and which have not). He also explains that the goal of the cold call is to establish a foundation for a robust discussion, not to embarrass the student who is picked. The conversation also gets practical for applicants: how much time a first-year student should expect to spend preparing for each case (two to four hours individually, plus more as part of their study group), the “learning to learn” curve of the first six weeks, and the “warm call”—when Professor Margolis gives a student five minutes’ notice at the end of class to summarize the discussion, identify three themes, and take a position. In his view, this exercise is the most direct thing HBS does to train future leaders. 00:00 What Is the Case Method (and Why Does HBS Use It)? 01:19 The Three Components of the HBS Learning Model: Case, Study Group, Classroom 03:27 How HBS Faculty Are Instructed to Write and Teach Cases 07:56 What Teaching Using the Case Method Is Like 12:53 How Cases Are Revised After Being Taught  16:10 How the Cold Call Works and How Faculty Pick a Student to Open Class 19:47 Cold Calls in the Middle of Class and the Warm Call at the End 22:30 How HBS Professors Get to Know Their Students 24:42 How Much Time First-Year Students Should Spend Preparing a Case 28:57 Evaluating a Case Class as a Prospective Applicant 36:13 Understanding the First Six Weeks’ “Learning to Learn” Curve Book your FREE 30-minute MBA admissions consultation with Harold or another one of our experienced MBA admissions consultants by filling out this form. [https://www.mbamission.com/consult/] Learn more about onTrack by mbaMission, [https://ontrack.mbamission.com/] our innovative, on-demand MBA application platform, and take our two-minute questionnaire to receive your customized learning path.   ‼️Use code MBAMPOD for 30% off any onTrack subscription‼️ Contact Us: info@mbamission.com [ info@mbamission.com] Follow Us: YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@mbaMission] LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/mbamission/] Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/mbamission]

Real Estate as an MBA Career Path with Frank Cohen | Ep 107

Send us your admissions questions! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2368294/fan_mail/new] Is real estate a feasible career path for MBA students? And how can one break into the industry? In this episode of The mbaMission Podcast, host Harold Simansky and mbaMission Founder Jeremy Shinewald speak with Frank Cohen, a Boston-based real estate developer, co-founder of Sheridan Road Properties, former senior director at Tishman Speyer, and a Kellogg MBA, about how MBA students can effectively pursue careers in real estate, even if they arrive on campus with no industry background. Frank also co-leads the JL Access Program at Georgetown University’s Steers Center for Global Real Assets, where he partners with the executive search firm Jackson Lucas to help students build the technical foundation and the relationships they need to succeed in real estate recruiting. He is profoundly familiar with what makes MBA candidates appealing to recruiters and what does not. The podcast conversation addresses the gap between what business schools teach and what real estate firms hire for, what a real estate interview tests, whether a single “real estate type” exists, how regional the industry is, and the networking tactics that consistently produce results. Frank closes with his best advice for any MBA candidate considering the field and provides some candid insight into what still brings him joy in the work, decades into his career. If you are weighing whether real estate might be a good career path for you or simply curious about how one of the world’s largest and most dynamic industries recruits business school students, this conversation is well worth your time. Connect with Frank Cohen: https://jacksonlucas.com/frank-cohen/   00:00 Why Real Estate Tends to Be Less Represented in MBA Programs 01:53 Frank Cohen’s Path from Northwestern Kellogg to Tishman Speyer and Rockefeller Center 04:51 What JL Access Does for Georgetown Students 07:21 The Gap Between What MBAs Learn and What Firms Hire For 10:40 What a Real Estate Interview Tests 14:20 Breaking into Real Estate with No Industry Background  17:02 How Regional the Industry Is, and the Importance of School Choice 18:37 The Most Effective Networking Move  Book your FREE 30-minute MBA admissions consultation with Harold or another one of our experienced MBA admissions consultants by filling out this form. [https://www.mbamission.com/consult/] Learn more about onTrack by mbaMission, [https://ontrack.mbamission.com/] our innovative, on-demand MBA application platform, and take our two-minute questionnaire to receive your customized learning path.   ‼️Use code MBAMPOD for 30% off any onTrack subscription‼️ Contact Us: info@mbamission.com [ info@mbamission.com] Follow Us: YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@mbaMission] LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/mbamission/] Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/mbamission]

Why “Nontraditional” MBA Applicants Don't Exist (And What Does) | Ep 106

Send us your admissions questions! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2368294/fan_mail/new] Are any MBA applicants truly “nontraditional” applicants? In this episode of The mbaMission Podcast, Harold Simansky is joined by Jeremy Shinewald, the founder of mbaMission, to examine a common notion in MBA admissions: that of the “nontraditional” applicant. Drawing on more than two decades of experience, Jeremy argues that applicants should not focus on whether or not their background is “traditional” but on identifying and showcasing the personal stories that only they can tell. The conversation covers what overrepresented applicants such as consultants, bankers, and software engineers can do to stand out, and why Olympic athletes and other less-conventional candidates still have to prove classroom readiness. Harold and Jeremy also share practical advice for applicants who are still three to four years away from applying to business school: Figure out what genuinely interests you, invest yourself in it, and let the rest of the story build itself. The episode highlights several mbaMission success stories, including a pharmaceutical sales rep who pivoted into healthcare private equity, a European hockey player, a small-town mayor, and a professional baker—all of whom illustrate the same point: What makes an applicant memorable is rarely their title but rather the impact they have had on the people and communities around them. If you are thinking about applying to an MBA program or just curious about how admissions committees view differentiation, this conversation is well worth your time. 00:00 Why “Nontraditional” Is an Inaccurate Label for MBA Applicants 01:50 What Overrepresented Business School Applicants Should Do Differently 04:00 The Bakery Essay: Authentic Storytelling 06:18 Why a Unique Background Isn’t Enough 10:26 The Three- to Four-Year Applicant Playbook 15:09 What Impact in a Corporate Role Looks Like 17:30 Nontraditional Applicant Success Stories Book your FREE 30-minute MBA admissions consultation with Harold or another one of our experienced MBA admissions consultants by filling out this form. [https://www.mbamission.com/consult/] Learn more about onTrack by mbaMission, [https://ontrack.mbamission.com/] our innovative, on-demand MBA application platform, and take our two-minute questionnaire to receive your customized learning path.   ‼️Use code MBAMPOD for 30% off any onTrack subscription‼️ Contact Us: info@mbamission.com [ info@mbamission.com] Follow Us: YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@mbaMission] LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/mbamission/] Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/mbamission]