Trinity Dublin MBA Application Essays 2023-24
Trinity Dublin Essay 1: Describe a project or a piece of work in which you have been involved since University, which you found difficult or which did not go well. What was your contribution? What did you learn from this experience and what would you have done differently in retrospect ? (378/400 words)
Trinity Dublin Essay 2: Describe a moral dilemma you have encountered, how you responded to it, and what you learnt from it. (358 words)
Trinity Dublin Essay 3: What are your post MBA career plans? Please outline any sectors, industries or employers you may be interested in. Please also indicate if you are contemplating a career change and what that might look like for you.
Trinity Dublin Essay 4: How would you like to be remembered?
Trinity Dublin MBA Winning Sample Essay - 1
1) Describe a project or a piece of work in which you have been involved since University, which you found difficult or which did not go well. What was your contribution? What did you learn from this experience and what would you have done differently in retrospect ? (378/400 words)
During my college festival season, I always took the initiative to go beyond my scope of responsibilities. I successfully ideated a new Dance society with my batchmates from diverse backgrounds. After hours of strategizing and seeking approvals from college authorities, we finally registered the first-ever dance society of our college. We were highly motivated to launch and invite participants from all colleges across the country. To set the plan in motion, we planned the outreach strategy to collaborate for the same. As part of the execution team and liaising with the strategy head, I extensively used secondary data and resources to compile a database of colleges. I ultimately became one of the primary contact points for the planned event. As the day came nearer to the flagship event, our workload also increased simultaneously. On the day of the event, we realised that we had become over-ambitious about the little things, which ultimately led to problems in relation to the footfall of the actual participants and hence overshooting the budget. One of the main reasons we faced issues on the day of the event was that our team needed help to collate and merge all the different perspectives offered during our initial discussions.
However, in hindsight, I could have researched in-depth to understand the focus points via robust financial estimates, adding flexibility in project scope and better planning based on sufficient external data to align objectives with execution optimally.
The incident taught me numerous lessons to consider while making any crucial strategic decision. In retrospect, I learned the importance of flexibility to adapt to last-minute changes. Thus, I appreciate the collaborative strengths of team members and the importance of seeking diverse opinions. There should be better project management and risk mitigation strategies established prior to the execution of strategic decisions. The initiative has indeed transformed me into a more thoughtful person. I focus on improving my interpersonal skills and strengthening my data analysis to overcome unexpected challenges. This experience taught me that one must understand, introspect and grow from mistakes. We must change our actions and adopt state-of-the-art tools to expect the desired results. Hence, I
have enrolled in multiple courses to strengthen the same and participated actively in a myriad of events to further my network and perspectives.
2) Describe a moral dilemma you have encountered, how you responded to it, and what you learnt from it. (358 words)
One of the important qualities in a leader is their risk-taking and critical decision-making ability. When the CFO of a leading distributor of premium enterprise reached out to Protiviti, where I worked as an Analyst, for a fraud audit assessment, the primary challenge was generating actionable information and drawing insights. Given the minuscule financial liability involved, the senior manager looking over the project told us not to dig any further because of the negligible difference projected through the reports after the first round of audit.
However, the overly complex accounting treatments pointed me towards a different
direction. Not convinced by the initial assessment findings, I was initially in a moral
dilemma about whether or not to question the senior manager. However, despite the
reluctance, our team expressed our disagreement to our reporting manager and asked her for a chance to prove our point. Based on consideration of the facts in question and reasonable sound judgement, we started checking for multiple critical issues that could affect the decision for the selection of vendors in order to rule out any fraudulent activity. We knew that in order to prove deliberate deception involving monetary gains, we would have to come up with solid evidence. After manually going through multiple vendor selections and cost reports, we realized a subtle pattern that seemed negligible initially. The multiple instances of inconsistent rates charged, the inappropriate basis of charging penalty, selection of wrong vehicle category, multiple rate revisions and unauthorized approvals on emails and such collation pointed towards inconsistency. We decided to quantify our findings and ultimately found a fraud of a tremendous amount. We were lauded by the CFO and the senior management looking over the project for arriving at a finding that was unanticipated and involved analytical evaluation. Through this experience, I realized that conscientious decision-making is challenging and not always straightforward. It needs a more granular analysis with the help of a plethora of stakeholders. The real meaning of leadership is to have a strong sense of accountability and engender confidence. Participating in this initiative to speak up enhanced my outlook and reaffirmed my confidence to grow into an ethical business leader.
3) What are your post MBA career plans? Please outline any sectors, industries or employers you may be interested in. Please also indicate if you are contemplating a career change and what that might look like for you.
My post MBA career goal is to work as a Sustainability and Impact Consultant to continue delivering value to societies by joining the Sustainability verticals of leading consulting firms, such as Google, Deloitte or McKinsey & Company, which are active on the campus of Trinity and have many alumni working there.
At TBS, I can bridge the current gap in my skill set by taking the Strategy & Leadership major along with the Public Policy courses. TBS’s case-based pedagogy and rich classroom discussions with the talented peer group will widen my horizons to gain big-picture thinking and the right approach towards problem-solving. Moreover, by joining professional clubs such as Trinity Entrepreneurial Society, I will be exposed to the knowledge and skills provided by industry experts and prepared for the next transition in my career. In future, I aspire to be in a leadership role (senior partner/managing director) at a reputed consulting firm or a leading industry player where I will be leading the Sustainability Sector. I want to help organisations amplify their positive social impact by delivering Greentech solutions, lean processes with reduced wastage, more impactful social initiatives strategy, smarter cities
etc. As I move ahead, I want to contribute to the social sector more significantly, supported by TBS’s large and close-knit community. This stems from my desire to play a proactive role in capacity building and skilling the newer generation.
4) How would you like to be remembered?
One of the most challenging questions is how one wants to be perceived by the world. We don’t have control over most things that happen to us. However, the only thing in our control is our actions. I want to be remembered as someone who is indomitable and known for her actions towards her family, community and society. I do not wish to seek perfection, since we are meant to constantly stumble, struggle, and learn in this life journey, but I seek the courage to create a powerful life around my passion for empowering the lives around me. And I powerfully resonate with what Abraham Lincoln said, “Whatever you are, be a good one”. Some moments in life make you stronger and inspire you to follow your dreams. For me, being a girl in an
orthodox Indian Muslim household, others always drafted my life’s plan to get a decent education and a good enough job and then to get married at the “right age”. However, I witnessed the expectations from women differ from those that govern men, with a dividing wall too high to scale. As a result, I am motivated not to restrain my dreams and to become the first woman entrepreneur in my family. As my
first step in that direction, I started my own NGO ‘Project Panah’ during covid, wherein we adopted 85 families of widowed women and have continued to work for the welfare of other vulnerable communities. My father, who has been a senior government official for more than 25 years, has greatly influenced my outlook on becoming independent. As an impressionable adolescent, watching my father rise from a modest family and become a successful individual significantly impacted me. I witnessed his mentees visit our house to pay respect many years after attaining success and often talked about his meaningful impact on them. This inculcated strong values of helping and building capacity for others. Therefore, I strive to create something significant and impactful in my life and will embrace challenges, break barriers and push forward in order to do so. The action of how an idea can be transformed into a real business motivates me to achieve greater heights for all stakeholders. I aim to create wealth and opportunities for my community, especially those who are underrepresented. This also emanates from my desire to break myths about Muslim women and strengthen them to undertake bold decisions.
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Trinity Dublin MBA Winning Sample Essay – 2
Trinity Dublin Essay 1: Describe a project or a piece of work in which you have been involved since University, which you found difficult or which did not go well. What was your contribution? What did you learn from this experience and what would you have done differently in retrospect ? (378/400 words)
One of the most challenging projects I have been involved in since university was the implementation of a new Machine Learning (ML) classification system at Amazon. The goal was to enhance the accuracy of product classifications for items such as batteries, aerosols, and cosmetics to ensure compliance with regulatory standards. Despite thorough planning, the project encountered several difficulties that tested my problem-solving and leadership skills.
The project began with high expectations, but soon we faced significant challenges. The ML models initially developed were not performing as expected, resulting in a high rate of incorrect classifications. This led to numerous product suppressions, causing frustration among sellers and operational bottlenecks for our team. As a Team Lead, my primary contribution was to identify the root causes of these issues and steer the team towards effective solutions.
I initiated a comprehensive review of the ML algorithms, working closely with data scientists to pinpoint weaknesses in the models. Through this collaboration, we discovered that the training data was not sufficiently representative of the diverse product categories we were dealing with. I then led the effort to gather more accurate and varied data, which significantly improved the model’s performance. Additionally, I established a feedback loop with the sellers to quickly address any misclassifications and reduce their negative impact.
Despite these efforts, the project did not achieve the desired accuracy levels within the expected timeframe, leading to delays and continued seller dissatisfaction. In retrospect, I would have adopted a more iterative approach from the beginning, implementing incremental improvements and validating them before full-scale deployment. This would have allowed us to identify issues earlier and adjust our strategies accordingly. Additionally, involving a broader range of stakeholders in the initial planning phase might have helped us foresee potential challenges and develop more robust solutions.
Overall, while the project faced significant difficulties, it was a valuable learning experience that strengthened my problem-solving capabilities and highlighted the importance of adaptability and stakeholder engagement in managing complex initiatives.
Trinity Dublin Essay 2: Describe a moral dilemma you have encountered, how you responded to it, and what you learnt from it. (358 words)
One of the most significant moral dilemmas I encountered occurred during my tenure at Amazon. As a Team Lead, I was responsible for overseeing the implementation of a new compliance framework aimed at improving the accuracy of product classifications. During this project, I discovered that some of the data provided by a third-party vendor was manipulated to meet our accuracy targets. This manipulation not only violated company policies but also had the potential to mislead regulatory bodies and impact customer trust.
Faced with this dilemma, I had to decide whether to report the issue, knowing it could delay the project and reflect poorly on my team, or to overlook it and proceed with the compromised data. After careful consideration, I chose to uphold my ethical principles and report the issue to my superiors. I believed that maintaining integrity and transparency was more important than meeting short-term goals.
The immediate response was challenging. The project was put on hold, and an investigation was launched to verify the extent of the data manipulation. During this period, I faced considerable pressure from some colleagues who were concerned about the potential negative impact on our performance metrics and team reputation. However, I remained steadfast in my decision, emphasizing the long-term benefits of maintaining ethical standards.
Through this experience, I learned several key lessons. Firstly, I realized the importance of ethical leadership. Upholding integrity and transparency is crucial for building trust within the team and with external stakeholders. Secondly, I understood the value of resilience. Standing by my principles in the face of adversity strengthened my resolve and underscored the importance of ethical conduct in business.
Additionally, this experience highlighted the need for robust internal controls and the importance of fostering an organizational culture that prioritizes ethical behavior. As a result, I worked with my team to implement stricter data validation processes and ensure greater accountability in our operations. This not only improved the quality of our work but also reinforced the importance of ethical standards across the organization.
In retrospect, while the decision to report the manipulated data was difficult, it was the right one. It safeguarded the integrity of our operations and set a positive example for my team. The moral dilemma reinforced my belief that ethical considerations should never be compromised for short-term gains. Upholding integrity, even in challenging situations, is essential for long-term success and building a trustworthy professional reputation.
Trinity Dublin Essay 3: What are your post MBA career plans? Please outline any sectors, industries or employers you may be interested in. Please also indicate if you are contemplating a career change and what that might look like for you.
My post-MBA career plans are centered around advancing my career in the technology sector, with a specific focus on program and product management roles. Having gained substantial experience at Amazon in leading complex projects and driving operational efficiencies, I am eager to leverage this background to take on more strategic responsibilities in the tech industry. My goal is to work with leading technology companies such as Google, Microsoft, or emerging tech startups that are at the forefront of innovation.
I am particularly interested in sectors such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and data analytics. These fields offer tremendous potential for creating impactful solutions that can transform industries and improve lives. My experience in utilizing machine learning models to enhance operational processes at Amazon has sparked a deep interest in the possibilities that advanced technologies can offer. By focusing on these sectors, I aim to contribute to the development and implementation of cutting-edge technologies that address real-world challenges.
Moreover, I am open to exploring roles in the fintech and e-commerce industries, where my skills in managing cross-functional teams and optimizing business operations can be highly valuable. Companies like PayPal, Stripe, or innovative e-commerce platforms provide exciting opportunities to work on projects that enhance user experiences and drive business growth. My background in operations and compliance at Amazon aligns well with the regulatory and operational challenges in these industries.
While my core focus remains within the technology sector, I am also contemplating a potential career change into management consulting. Consulting roles at firms such as McKinsey, BCG, or Bain offer a unique opportunity to work across various industries, solve diverse business problems, and develop a holistic understanding of business strategies. This career shift would allow me to apply my analytical and problem-solving skills to a broader range of challenges, while gaining exposure to different sectors and business models.
In contemplating this career change, I recognize the need for additional skills and knowledge that the Trinity MBA program can provide. The program’s emphasis on strategic management, leadership, and experiential learning will equip me with the tools necessary to transition successfully into consulting. Furthermore, the diverse and collaborative environment at Trinity will enhance my ability to work effectively with clients from various industries and cultural backgrounds.
In conclusion, my post-MBA career plans involve advancing within the technology sector, with a strong interest in AI, machine learning, fintech, and e-commerce. Additionally, I am open to exploring a career change into management consulting to broaden my impact and expertise. The Trinity MBA program is the ideal platform to achieve these goals, providing the knowledge, skills, and network necessary to excel in my chosen career path.
Trinity Dublin Essay 4: How would you like to be remembered?
I would like to be remembered as a transformative leader who consistently upheld the values of integrity, resilience, and empathy. Throughout my personal and professional journey, I have faced numerous challenges that tested my character and resolve. In overcoming these obstacles, I have strived to make decisions that not only benefit my immediate goals but also positively impact those around me.
In my professional career, particularly at Amazon and Jindal Steel, I aimed to lead by example, fostering an environment of collaboration and innovation. I want to be remembered as a leader who inspired my team to push beyond their limits, encouraging them to think creatively and approach problems with a solution-oriented mindset. My efforts in leading projects like the “Inflow Reduction Project” at Amazon, which significantly improved operational efficiency, are a testament to my commitment to driving meaningful change through strategic thinking and teamwork.
Beyond my professional achievements, I hope to be remembered for my dedication to community service and social impact. The computer lab and library I established in my rural hometown have provided educational resources and opportunities to over 200 students annually. This initiative reflects my belief in the transformative power of education and my commitment to giving back to the community. I want to be remembered as someone who not only succeeded in my career but also used my skills and resources to uplift others and create lasting positive change.
Moreover, I aspire to be remembered as a mentor and guide for the next generation of leaders. By sharing my experiences and insights, I aim to help others navigate their own challenges and achieve their full potential. My involvement in mentoring initiatives and community projects underscores my commitment to fostering growth and development in others.
In summary, I would like to be remembered as a transformative leader, a dedicated community advocate, and a mentor who consistently upheld the values of integrity, resilience, and empathy. These qualities define who I am and will continue to guide my actions and decisions throughout my life.
