So thankful to have worked with Angela Guido!

Initially, I approached Angela as a career coach, not an MBA admissions consultant. My existing job was coming to an end, and I needed to figure out my next career move. The problem was that I had no idea what I wanted to do. An MBA was appealing, but I thought my situation was too complicated for me to get into a top program, since I was about to leave my job. For this reason, I wanted Angela to help me gain some personal clarity and navigate the job search.

My first assignment was to fill out a document that captured my accomplishments, failures, preferences, etc. and I exhaustively completed it. I wrote a ton and provided a bunch of supporting documents from performance reviews to journal entries to personality assessments. I totally overloaded Angela with information about me and needed her to help make sense of it all and find themes. In fact, I was desperate for thoughtful feedback. I had hit a wall personally and professionally and had been searching for answers to no avail.

A few takeaways from Angela’s response.
• Her observations resonated with me and were really insightful. She saw themes and characteristics that I couldn’t articulate. Even now, I frequently reference her comments as I continue to think about my personal brand.
• She read and went through everything I sent, even the stuff I told her not to worry about; this was significant because of how much stuff I sent her. On our debriefing call, she made reference to a random and minor comment I made in one of my “exhibits.” I was pleasantly surprised by her attention to detail and thoroughness. It demonstrated a true commitment to helping me.
• She told me that nothing was wrong with me and that I had a lot of great qualities. She was enthusiastic about what I brought to the table and incredibly optimistic about the next phase of my career. I needed to hear this, and I needed someone to genuinely believe in me. While I would like to attribute this connection to how special I am, it’s more appropriate to acknowledge how adept Angela is at finding the awesomeness that lies in everyone.
• She thought I would be a great candidate for a top business school, even if I applied while unemployed. In fact, she encouraged me to apply if that’s what I wanted. I don’t think I would have gotten similar encouragement and enthusiasm from other coaches/consultants.

I decided to apply to MBA programs, and Angela became my admissions consultant. Below are a few highlights from this experience.
• I didn’t know how to tell a compelling story in light of being unemployed. How should I spend my time off to enhance my application? What do I tell school representatives about my job when I visit? Should I write an optional essay, and if so, how should I approach it? In my interviews, how do I frame my unemployment status and what’s the right spin to put on it? We were constantly talking about these questions because I needed a lot of help controlling the narrative. With her assistance, I was able to get in front of the questions that I was scared of getting and do so in a manner that captured my own voice and followed the “formula” for application success.
• She really got to know me well. At times, I felt like she knew me better than I knew myself. For one essay in particular, the topic she suggested was the perfect direction for me to take and one that I wouldn’t have thought about on my own. It encapsulated a theme that is core to what I’m about, enabling me to highlight several unique experiences. That topic was meant for me and only me.
• Career coaching/application consulting is what she does. It’s her full time gig, and she’s approaching it with a fresh perspective that intertwines how we connect with others and how we tell a good story. I really appreciated this type of thoughtfulness and her level of expertise.
• She went well beyond just helping me with application deliverables and proved to be the ultimate sounding board. I had a lot of questions and needed a lot of guidance and encouragement (encouragement about my profile, the GMAT, and the schools that I should apply to). I was a high maintenance client, but she always exceeded my expectations. I couldn’t have done without her.

— Top 15 Business School Admit and Scholarship Recipient