Using Business Etiquette in the MBA Admissions Process

Summary

In this conversation, Harold Simansky interviews Nisha Trivedi, a certified business etiquette trainer and mbaMission MBA admissions consultant, about the importance of business etiquette in the MBA admissions process and in the professional world. Nisha shares her expertise on making a positive first impression, dressing appropriately for business school visits, and how to approach conversations with current students and alumni. She also emphasizes the principles of consideration, respect, and honesty in all interactions and the importance of clear and honest communication in solving business problems.

Takeaways

• Making a positive first impression is crucial in the MBA admissions process.
• Dressing appropriately, such as in business casual attire, is important for business school visits.
• When reaching out to current students or alumni, be gracious, specific in your request, and thank them for their time.
• During conversations, ask questions that go beyond what can easily be found on the school's website and share the floor with others.
• In interviews, be concise, direct in answering questions, and follow up with a thank-you note within 48 hours.
• Consideration, respect, and honesty are key principles in business etiquette.
• Clear and honest communication is essential in solving business problems and maintaining strong relationships.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to the mbaMission podcast
• 0:47 Nisha Trivedi, Senior Admissions Consultant and Certified Business Etiquette Trainer
• 1:44 How does business etiquette apply to the MBA admissions process?
• 2:41 Business etiquette in the context of business school campus visits
• 3:37 Dressing appropriately for MBA admissions events
• 3:56 How to engage in MBA admissions events
• 5:12 Outreach to current MBA students and alumni
• 6:37 Appropriate etiquette for business school interviews
• 8:08 The 3 Principles of business etiquette

Transcript

Episode 7 Transcript

Harold Simansky (00:00)

Hi, everyone. This is Harold Simansky here with the mbaMission Podcast. I'm here with Senior MBA Admissions Consultant Nisha Trivedi. Hi, Nisha. How are you?

Nisha Trivedi (00:07)

Hi Harold.

Doing well, how's everything going?

Harold Simansky (00:11)

Okay.

Good, good, good. Welcome back. Last time you were on talking about the Consortium, what a great program that is. And to switch gears a little bit here, I know you also have a certain expertise in something called business etiquette. So why don't we start with just your background and then we can talk about how that affects how people should act, behave, how they should approach the different business school visits, the different business school conversations. But with that in mind, Nisha, tell me about the certification you have in business etiquette.

Nisha Trivedi (00:41)

Yeah, absolutely. So I am a certified business etiquette trainer and several years ago I got certified by the Emily Post Institute, which is the nation's premier institute on etiquette of all types. And one of my passions is workplace dynamics and figuring out how do people bring out the best in themselves in terms of positive professional behaviors so they can give a good impression and build strong relationships.

relationships.

Harold Simansky (01:12)

That's great then. And you have used it, obviously, both yourself have used it personally in a number of different professional settings, but it's...

I can tell everyone who is listening right now, for our firm, you've really established yourself as sort of what I say, our business etiquette expert. So why don't we just jump in in terms of for someone who's applying to business school, maybe meeting a bunch of different people, maybe going on school visits, maybe being in all sorts of different situations they're not used to, how should they approach this notion of business etiquette and what should it mean to them?

Nisha Trivedi (01:48)

Yeah, absolutely. So.

I would say what candidates should focus on is making a positive first impression, whether it's in person, whether it's virtual. They're trying to signal to members of the school's community that they would be a good fit for the class. And so they definitely want to watch in terms of how they dress, how they behave, how they potentially reach out to people they'd like to speak with about the program. All of those interactions are, you could say, indirectly considered a part of their candidacy.

Harold Simansky (02:19)

No, that makes sense then. So it's sort of funny all of our listen our clients all very very different Obviously, they each have their questions. They have their strengths. They each have their weaknesses though I have to tell you one of the most common questions I have is when people go to visit campus

in terms of first of all what should they wear and and second of all it's like what do I say should I be memorable should I not be memorable how how do I approach this so Nisha if I'm one of your clients and I say Nisha I'm very concerned I'm going to visit Ross next week what should I do basically

Nisha Trivedi (02:39)

Yeah.

Yeah, that's a great question. You know first to address the what to wear because I get that question all the time too. I think you know for a regular let's say campus visit right you're going to an info session you know maybe sitting in on a class you know having coffee with some current students that sort of thing. You know I think business casual is definitely a good way to go you know make sure everything's kind of neat clean you know iron whatever you have to do but I think you know business casual is you know the way to go.

there. If you're interviewing while you're on campus, unless the school specifies a dress code, because sometimes they'll say business casual, right? And then you can you can honor that. If they don't specify, then a suit is a way to go, right? You can't go wrong with being a little too dressed up, but you don't want to be too dressed down.

Harold Simansky (03:39)

Okay, yep, yep, yep, yep, yep. No, that makes sense. So I landed on campus or I landed to that first event, whether it's cocktail party info session, just like how should I handle myself? Am I the person that should be asking the questions or not asking the questions? I mean, there can be such a wide range of behaviors.

Nisha Trivedi (04:00)

Yeah, absolutely. So again, you know, you're there to show interest and make a strong impression. So you definitely want to ask questions. But a couple of things to keep in mind here, you know, one is that you want to ask questions that go beyond, let's say, the school's website, right? If you're asking something that you could easily look up yourself, that's not a great use of your time and building a strong impression. The other thing is that you want to share airtime. So let's say you're with a group of other prospective students talking to an admissions person.

or something of that nature, you can ask the questions, but make sure you give your fellow participants a chance to ask as well. That will be noticed, how gracious you are with sharing the floor.

Harold Simansky (04:37)

Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, no, that makes sense. Which sort of reminds me of an old joke using different contexts. It's like, if you look around a room and you're wondering who the SOB is in the room or in the meeting, and if you can't figure it out, it's probably you. So from that perspective, I think also one of the issues that some, some,

Nisha Trivedi (04:56)

That's good.

Harold Simansky (05:06)

applicants have a harder time with an easier time with is or frequently tell them go off and talk to students. How does one in a proper way approaches student either by email or in person that isn't honestly that isn't obnoxious or that is not really appropriate for them for the moment.

Nisha Trivedi (05:24)

Sure. So yeah, definitely something I always tell candidates is there's no substitute for talking to current students or alumni, right? To really get a sense of what the program is like. So I would say when you reach out to students, like whether it's on LinkedIn, whether it's student ambassadors whose contact info is on the school sites, you know, you want to be really gracious about it, right? Introduce yourself, saying why are you reaching out to them in particular, right? Maybe it's because you're looking to enter investment banking and that's where, you know, they're planning to work post -MBA. That's just

you know, one example, you know, say, you know, what is the thing you have in common? And then you can make the ask of, you know, I would love to hear, you know, more about your experience at Ross. You know, would you be able to spare, you know, 15 or 20 minutes, you know, some time and give them a wide breath here, maybe in the next few weeks, because just knowing how busy their schedules are, and then really just thanking them for their time already. And then, you know, you'll schedule the time. And then of course, you want to thank them afterwards for speaking with you.

Harold Simansky (06:24)

No, no, that makes sense. That makes sense.

Nisha, so let me just ask you, if someone is invited to interview, whether on campus, admissions committee member with a current student, are there any things that they should be doing that are different than maybe a much more casual conversation?

Nisha Trivedi (06:41)

Yeah, absolutely. So definitely, you know, you want to, you know, you'll have the opportunity to talk about yourself. You know, you want to make sure you're concise, that you want to make sure you're direct in answering their questions. And then, you know, of course you'll want to thank them for their time. And you'll want to do that at the end of the interview. And you'll want to follow up to the interview with the thank you note. And you'll want to send that note, I would say no more than 48 hours afterwards, 24 if you can manage, just given how quickly they make decisions.

Harold Simansky (07:11)

Is that an email or is that a actual handwritten note?

Nisha Trivedi (07:15)

Yeah, the good question. So I say email is fine, right? Because you wanted to reach there quickly. And so yeah, so definitely you want to send them an email. You know, in the note, you can talk about, you know, first of all, just thanking them for for their time. And then I would reference something in the conversation, you know, that resonates with you, right? So for example, maybe you talk to the student about their experience with the entrepreneurship club, and you might talk about, you know, what you appreciated learning about from them, right? So be very specific there. And, you know, just let them

Harold Simansky (07:38)

Yeah.

Nisha Trivedi (07:45)

know that you're open to providing any other information if needed. Otherwise, you can just thank them again for their time and that you look forward to hearing about next steps.

Harold Simansky (07:54)

That's great then. Great, great, great. Nisha, final point here. What should people really be on the lookout for, not just in terms of the MBA admissions process, but even professionally when it comes to etiquette? What do you see as people that maybe are not doing as well as they can or have some blind spots around? What would be your one piece of advice to young professionals as they think about their etiquette in the business place?

Nisha Trivedi (08:21)

Yeah, absolutely. So when I was trained at the Emily Post Institute, the three pillars or the principles that we learned were consideration, respect, and honesty. So anytime you're interacting with someone, keep those principles in mind. And I would say that...

almost, I would argue, almost all business problems can be solved with just clear and honest communication, right? And so don't be afraid to have those difficult conversations, but have them in a way that keeps in mind the relationship that you have with the person and really maintaining a strong relationship.

Harold Simansky (08:55)

That's great then perfect

Thank you for being with me here today. This is Harold Simansky and Nisha Trivedi at mbaMission you can have a 30 minute free consult with either me, Nisha or one of our other 20 plus MBA Admissions Consultants and we would love to chat with you. Thank you again. Bye now.

Nisha Trivedi (09:13)

Yep, thank you, Harold.