Indeed, participating in the competition for a Chevening Scholarship is a process that requires certain time and intellectual costs. Probably, it is advisable to adequately assess one's starting capabilities and real chances of winning. I tried to summarize my own (quite positive) experience of participating in the Chevening scholarship program and draw a portrait of an ideal candidate. I bring to your attention some thoughts and practical recommendations for those who are thinking about competing for this scholarship in the future. I want to stipulate right away that most of the reasoning and practical advice will, in my opinion, be useful for young managers (eager to get an MBA) or for those who are going to study business disciplines. Nevertheless, some 'ideological' aspects may give food for thought to candidates in other fields as well.
Ideological message
Before deciding on operational measures, it is always useful to develop some strategic guidelines. In our case, I am absolutely sure, we must proceed from the fact that under conditions of fierce competition, the scholarship will go to the one who meets a number of objective and subjective requirements. I think that the Chevening Award should be viewed as a kind of investment that the British government is ready to make in you. Accordingly, to get investment, you need to convince the investor of the economic efficiency of the project. In our case, the business project is your career, which at a certain stage may be useful for the development of economic, political or cultural ties between our country and Great Britain, and contribute to the development of key institutions of a democratic society in our country. Literally every letter in your documents and every word during the interview must be subordinated to this simple logic.
You as a person are certainly interesting to the members of the selection committee, but you should not fixate on your own person. Remember: you are a business project. A good business project is one that demonstrates, firstly, high rates of return (this means that the period from receiving the scholarship to the moment when you achieve your declared goals is reasonable), secondly, high profitability rates (this means that the 'income' from you in the foreseeable future will allow to more than recoup the investments made), and, finally, there will be a so-called social effect (after receiving a first-class British education, you will be able to do something useful for those around you, contribute to the integration of your country into the world economic community). Economists, I hope, will appreciate my interdisciplinary analogies, and those who did not understand anything can calmly read on in anticipation of practical recommendations.
British Council Office
If you live in a city where British Council offices are open, you are already lucky. All the necessary information, application forms, and additional literature will be at your service. As you know, the British Chevening Award is administered by the British Council, so you will not find more qualified information support and simply good advice regarding the nuances of participation in the competition anywhere else. Try to develop constructive working relationships with the regional staff of the British Council. This really will help you a lot.
Great Goal
And again circumstances force us to turn to the ideological aspects of your participation. Let us ask ourselves: why, in fact, do you need the scholarship? An answer like 'I need it because I don't have enough of my own money for such an education...' is not an answer. In general, you should initially set aside defeatist attitudes - they do not adorn a candidate. The answer 'in our country they will not teach me this with such quality...' is already better, but it is also not an answer. What to do? The way out is simple - you need a great goal. Moreover, a truly great, noble goal, in the achievement of which you believe and which is capable of bringing benefit not only to you personally (career advancement and a higher salary) but also to society, to your entire country. As soon as you formulate this goal, remember that from that moment all your words and intentions must be formulated in the wake of this goal. No contradictions are allowed (if contradictions in your words are multiplied by the natural 'distortions' when transforming text from Russian to English, it is unknown whether those who will evaluate your efforts will understand you).
In my case, with the great goal everything was very simple. I am a professional manager who has already achieved certain accomplishments in my career. My dream is to work in the top management of a large transnational company, and this is impossible without understanding the most modern management technologies. That is, I need not the MBA degree itself, but the knowledge and skills that can be obtained by taking this course. I see that the deficit of managerial knowledge does not allow many of our enterprises to work efficiently. In addition, the arrival of a significant number of TNCs means the creation of a large number of highly paid jobs, the adaptation of successful production and management technologies to local conditions, and, finally, closer integration of our country into the world economic system... This is exactly how I formulated for myself the goal of my participation in the Chevening program - a goal that I sincerely believe in. By the way, in my opinion, you should not invent a goal specifically for the selection committee. Take as a basis what is really close to you and what you agree with - it will be much easier for you. God forbid you from plagiarism or, even worse, from rewriting word for word - I think the members of the selection committee will not appreciate it. However, any example is better than no examples. Perhaps my experience will tell you how best to formulate your own great goal.
Application Form
The application form is where about 30-40 percent of all participants stumble. Think about what you write and critically analyze every word, keeping in mind the dynamics of your development as a person and as a professional. Most importantly, your career growth must be evident. If it is not, why would it appear after you receive a British education? Then big questions will arise about the advisability of investing in you if, up to this point, you yourself have not been able to achieve anything.
If you have something to boast about, you also need to do it wisely. Try to build a logical and plausible picture of your career and personal development. Those who have just graduated from university and do not yet have work experience, in my opinion, should not make a fuss at all. Again, a personal example. During the interview, I realized that it was only by a miracle that I was not dropped from the list of potential candidates, since the application form contained, so to speak, contradictions. At the same time, I was working, studying in a full-time postgraduate program, and doing something else. If you do not want to immediately fall into the category of unfocused or overqualified - think about what you write, think about how it may be interpreted. I repeat: everything must be realistic, logical, and consistent. And, of course, everything must be true!
University
Independence and initiative are considered good form for Chevening applicants. No one will ever tell you that this is a mandatory condition, but unofficially, everyone expects you to independently find a suitable university/business school. In other words, for the selection committee, there is a huge difference between a candidate who “wants to study something somewhere” and a candidate who independently submitted documents to a British university, entered into correspondence, and (in the ideal case) was admitted to a British university. Such a candidate is significantly more preferable; moreover, he or she is already beginning to resemble a potential winner of the competition.
Essay
Treat writing the essay as the most important part of your participation in the competition. Logically, you cannot influence your application data: where you worked, where you studied - that cannot be changed anymore... But the essay is a real opportunity to open up, to show your strengths. They say that applicants to Oxford or Cambridge write their essays (about a couple of pages long) for 5-6 months... Rather, they do not write, but polish the content. You should produce, if not a masterpiece of concise expression in the style of A.P. Chekhov, then something similar... Yes, be sure to show your literary efforts (the finished essay) to native speakers. In the worst case, to Americans. They will at least point out to you the sentences or paragraphs whose meaning they do not understand.
Remember, the essay is your chance to make the impression of a young, talented, ambitious, and educated person, a person who knows exactly what they want. You must be noticed and remembered!
Recommendations
Recommendations are also an essential part of your success. Solid recommendations will draw attention to you as an interesting candidate at the “documentary competition” stage. They will, if you will, set you apart from the general mass of participants and give you additional competitive advantages. It is difficult to advise anything with regard to recommendations. Let us again use our favorite technique and look at the problem from the point of view of the selection committee.
One of the recommendations should be from a representative of the academic community, the second from a representative of the business community. It is desirable that the names be prominent, although this is not a must-have requirement. Make sure that the text of the letter of recommendation reads well in English. How to do this - think for yourself... In general, the final touches should be added to your already attractive portrait. Something that you yourself were too shy to say about yourself, some laudatory phrases in superlative tones, and so on.
Interview
If you make it to the interview, you already represent something. However, the most important thing lies ahead - the personal impression of the members of the selection committee. There is a point of view that all people are divided into two large groups: the first group is people who write much better than they speak; the second group is people who speak much better than they write. If you belong to either of these two groups, you are not destined to become the Chevening winner. The Chevening winner expresses his thoughts equally well on paper and in interpersonal communication (and in English). He (she) is an excellent communicator.
So, your task at the interview stage is to confirm, in the course of the conversation, what you have set out on paper, and to answer questions from the members of the selection committee. Moreover, questions can be of two types. The first is general knowledge questions, and the second type is clarifying questions about your documents (essay and application form).
You need to prepare for the second type of questions as much as possible. And although we have agreed with you that you will avoid obvious contradictions in your papers, nevertheless, they are most likely there. Then the task becomes extremely simple - to block all contradictions as much as possible, immediately explain and dispel them, blaming everything on missunderstanding. God forbid you start to weave something completely new at the interview that you did not even hint at in your essay or application. That would be a fatal error.
The most important thing to understand about the interview (and this, believe me, is not an empty phrase) is that you should not be afraid of it! Although they ask you to leave mobile phones outside the door, it is hard to imagine a friendlier, more polite, and more welcoming atmosphere. And this is not only my impression - literally everyone who has gone through the interview says so. Do not think about the format of the event - believe me, you will feel very comfortable. Better think about the content, about those questions that may arise after processing your papers.
Presence effect
From the moment you send your documents until a particular decision is made on Chevening candidates, 6-7 months sometimes pass. That is a long time. A separate file is opened for you and is updated as any information from you comes in. My personal advice is to create a sense of presence. Periodically send the selection committee copies of your correspondence with the university.
Institutional factors
There are always a number of subjective factors that influence the selection process, although no one ever talks about them. In economics, such factors are called institutional. In our case, in my opinion, such a factor is community activity. Write about it in the application form, mention it briefly in your essay; it certainly won't make things worse. The only thing that matters is that everything fits within the single logic of your career development.
If you receive a thank-you letter from a British company as part of your work, be sure to send it along. In my opinion, there is no need to overly disturb the local office staff with questions like "is there any news about me?" They themselves won't know anything until the very last moment. It is much better to periodically remind them of yourself with new information that works in your favour.
Conclusion
Priorities can change from year to year. Do not treat my recommendations as dogma. Keep an eye on changes in "fashion". Over time, co-financing or something else may become fashionable. Stay in contact with the staff of the British Council, browse the information on educational websites - there is always something useful and simply interesting there.
According to the assessments of the United Kingdom Embassy, in 2003 hundreds of our compatriots were contenders for winning the Chevening programme. Your potential rivals are not just well-dressed and smart guys who speak English fluently. For the most part, they are young successful top managers of the largest and most influential companies - "bold careerists".
Analyse your strengths and weaknesses. If you want, do a so-called SWOT analysis of yourself to understand in which areas you are up to par and where you need to work on yourself. And remember that luck is the constant readiness to make use of the chance that comes your way. And may you be lucky too!
Alexey SELIVANOV.
Information provided by TsMK Parta