Apply for Graduate School

¶ … graduated from the University of Massachusetts in June of 2000, in the field of Finance. I began working as a substitute teacher at Botanic Gardens Children's Center, after which I took a position as assistant administrator at Liberty Mutual. After this I was able to use the skills acquired during my studies in the more responsible position of coordinator in charge of handling export documentation, accounts receivable and payable, equipment control and booking at Hanjin Shipping. My office is one of the smallest, but also one of the busiest in Korea's shipping giant. My duties as an export department representative are demanding, and my days seldom comprise only eight hours. Despite the pressure, I advanced quite quickly to achieve my current position in the company. Indeed my advancement speed is nearly two years ahead of what is considered to be typical promotion speed.

My duties as Coordinator for Export include several routine tasks. I am for example responsible for administrative tasks such as documentation of accounts, equipment control and booking. I am also responsible for compiling and filing shipper export documents with U.S. customs, cross checking loading against shipper documentation, and updating inventory on a daily basis. Furthermore my duties included communication tasks such as contacting customers for documentation, overdue payments, and monitoring export documentation communication. These, among the other duties that I perform for my company, are important, but also mentally unchallenging.

While the amount of my duties is therefore challenging, I also feel that I am frustrated by the basic level of intelligence required to perform some of the more dull and routine tasks. This does not excite me, and I find myself needing greater challenges to meet the level of my abilities.

I for example have noticed many areas around the office that could benefit from improvements.

The problem is that my position as department representative does not authorize me to implement any of the improvements myself. I am obliged to make suggestions to my superior. My manager however has interests and focus that differ from my own, and therefore efforts on my part to make suggestions usually go unnoticed.

The above frustrations have inspired me to look for ways in which I could make a change in order to find greater satisfaction in my career. The opportunity to study at the Graduate School of International Studies not only falls within my area of work; it will also provide me with the advanced credit needed for increased authority in my workplace.

I found some of the elements of my previous jobs more satisfying than the generally routine tasks I perform now. Perhaps these could provide a springboard for new directions I could consider for my work in the future, after completing the GSIS course. In my work as Assistance Administrator for example I also had routine duties, such as daily cash processing and balancing, and processing restricted securities and commercial paper purchases. What was more challenging was performing special calculations and coding, for which my particular expertise was needed. While my work with children did not require any particular financial expertise, I did find it gratifying to help them develop their interpersonal as well as communication skills.

I have several reasons for applying to this school of study. As mentioned above, I want to improve myself to a level where I can advance my level of performance at work in order to be considered a peer among my managers. This will help me to take on more challenging duties, such as general improvement, at work.

Secondly, it would be very beneficial for me to be among peers in the program, with whom I can analyze and share my insights. This will help to shape me in my field of study and also to benefit from the insights of others. Together with this, I believe the knowledge and expertise of respected professors on the program will help me to expand my abilities to an extent where I can compete with the best. This will be personally gratifying for me to a great extent, as I will be able to transcend the feeling of routine that is currently weighing me down. Furthermore my newly acquired knowledge and skills will result in my ability to make a better contribution to society in terms of my work. In this way my studies will not only contribute to my own well being, but also to that of my workplace and of society in general.

Communication and human development interests me particularly. Developing my communication skills within my particular field of study then will help me determine how I can find more satisfaction in my current workplace, and how I could integrate communication with my accounting field.

As I have a degree in Finance, and worked in the field for a number of years, I would like to keep my focus on this field. I am therefore very interested in the International Finance Workshop offered by GSIS. The combination of lecture and discussion programs with international finance experts sound especially interesting, as these will help me improve my communication skills and perhaps also help me to more effectively communicate my ideas to my superiors at work.

With this background, I would either remain at my workplace and take on greater responsibility, or apply for another job where I feel the challenges are greater. Either way, my field of work and study will remain Finance, as this has always been my primary interest. My computer skills are fairly extensive, as are my language skills and my general interests. All these can then be combined after completing my studies in order to add to the mental complexity of my duties.

I believe however that my job satisfaction will be revived when I finish this course, as it will help me identify any problems in my current workplace and communicate these to management in such a way as to receive due attention. Also, the newly acquired credit will make me eligible for more seniority at work. This, together with my new skills and knowledge will help to generally improve my workplace for myself and others.