GMAT Issue Writing Sample 19

Some employers who recruit recent college graduates for entry-level jobs evaluate applicants only on their performance in business courses such as accounting, marketing, and economics. However, other employers also expect applicants to have a broad background in such courses as history, literature, and philosophy.

Do you think that, in the application process, employers should emphasize one type of background — either specialization in business courses or a more varied academic preparation — over the other? Why or why not? Develop your position by using reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.

19. Sample Essay 1:
Whether an employer should emphasize specialization in business courses or a more varied academic preparation is a controversial one. On the one hand, the increasing diversification of business activities requires employees to have specialized knowledge. On the other hand, the capricious nature of the market needs employees to have a more varied academic preparation so that he could handle unexpected situations. However, in the final analysis, I believe that an employer should emphasize specialized knowledge in business courses.

One reason for my belief is that there are special requirements for each position of a company and only those who have adequate knowledge for the position can take the position. If everyone does his job well, the whole company will prosper.

Another reason for my belief lies in the fact that entry-level employees do not need a varied academic preparation, for they do not have to handle complicated situations. Unlike those of a senior staff member, their responsibilities are clearly defined in the job description.

Perhaps the best reason for my belief is that one's energy is limited. If the employer expects their employees to have a more varied academic preparation, college graduates will spend less time on their own special field of study. As a result, they may not have adequate special knowledge for their future positions.

For the reasons above I therefore believe that an employer should emphasize specialization in business courses in the application process. Although general knowledge is also important in many respects, a specialist is more useful for a company.

Sample Essay 2:
In recruiting for entry-level jobs, should employers stress a broad liberal arts education, a technical business background, or should employers favor neither one over the other? In my view, while the ideal job candidate has significant academic experience in both realms, whether employers should favor one type of background over the other depends on the nature of the particular job and the anticipated length of employment.

First, a strong business background is more critical for some entry-level jobs than for others. Fledgling accountants, financial analysts, and loan officers cannot perform optimally without a solid academic background in accounting, finance, and banking. Even in sales of financial products and services, new employees need extensive technical knowledge to educate the customer and to be effective salespeople. However, in other entry-level positions—such as personnel, advertising and marketing—technical business knowledge may not be as critical as a broad experience with various types of people and an enlightened view of different cultures.

Second, the employer's hiring decision should also depend on the anticipated length of employment. In recruiting short-term workers, especially for positions that are labor intensive and where judgment and experience are not of paramount importance, the applicant who is strongly business-oriented may be the better choice. On the job, this applicant will probably be more pragmatic, and spend less time pondering the job and more time doing it. However, an employer looking for a long-term employee may be better served by hiring an applicant with a strong liberal arts background. By way of their more general education, these applicants have acquired a variety of general, transferable skills. They may be more adept than their colleagues with business-only backgrounds at recognizing and solving management problems, dealing with business associates from different cultures, and viewing-issues from a variety of perspectives. All of these skills contribute to a person's lifelong ability to adapt to and even anticipate changes that affect the company, and to move easily into new positions as such changes demand.

In sum, recruiters for entry-level jobs should avoid preferring one type of applicant over another in all cases. Instead, recruiters should consider the immediate technical demands of the job as well as the prospect of advancement and long-term employment within the company.