INSEAD MBA Recommendation Questions
Updated: Oct 31
INSEAD’s global campuses in Singapore, Abu Dhabi, Fontainebleau, and San Francisco all attest to the school's deeply international identity. INSEAD focuses on offering MBA candidates an international experience with a diverse student body, even requiring that applicants speak two languages at the time of admission. INSEAD also has one of the most intensive application sets among business schools, as they are interested in the applicant’s holistic profile and story. The AdCom looks for diversity not only in where you are from, but also your background, academics, identity, and experiences.
The school describes its MBA classroom as “a cultural melting pot of experiences that triggers students to re-shape their perceived reality beyond the classroom”. So when you guide your recommender to write your INSEAD recommendation letters, ask them to focus on what matters most to the school: collaboration and interpersonal skills, professional and academic diversity, and responsible, high-impact leadership.
How Many Letters of Recommendation Does INSEAD Require?
INSEAD requires two professional letters of recommendation, at least one of which is from a current manager/supervisor. If you cannot obtain a letter of recommendation from your current manager due to self-employment, non-disclosure of your application plan, student status, or work within a family business, you can also ask a client, former supervisor, or someone in a senior capacity from an extracurricular or community organization to write one for you. INSEAD also accepts the next best alternative like an indirect or previous manager. Your second letter of recommendation should be from another supervisor - either from your workplace (preferred), an extracurricular engagement, or a community group.
Unlike most schools, INSEAD has its own set of unique recommender questions. Let’s explore those below.
INSEAD MBA Recommendation Questions 2024-2025
Recommender Information & Ratings
Recommender Information
Please, specify your relationship to candidate:
How long have you known the candidate? Define your relationship with the candidate and the circumstances whereby you met.
Recommender Ratings
How do you rate the candidate on the following criteria? (Using the following scale: Outstanding (top 2%), Very Good (top 10%), Above Average (top 25%), Average (top 50%), Below Average (bottom 50%), Unobserved
Competence in his/her field
Professionalism
Focus on the task at hand
Readiness to use opportunities for achievement
Creativity and resourcefulness
Intellectual curiosity
Energy and drive
Personal integrity
Ability to work in a team
Organizational ability
Oral communication skills
Written communication skills
How do you rate the candidate’s potential for becoming a responsible and successful manager in international business compared with other students or employees whom you have known in a similar capacity?
Excellent (top 2%)
Very good (top 10%)
Above average (top 25%)
Average (top 50%)
Below average (bottom 50%)
INSEAD MBA Recommendation Questions
Please give your answers to each of the following questions. (No word limit)
Comment on the candidate’s career progress to date and his/her career focus.
What do you consider to be the candidate’s major strengths? Comment on the factors that distinguish the candidate from other individuals at his/her level.
What do you consider to be the candidate’s major areas for development/improvement?
Comment on the candidate’s potential for management. Do you see him/her as a future leader?
Describe the candidate as a person. Comment on his/her ability to establish and maintain relationships, sensitivity to others, self-confidence, attitude, etc. Specifically comment on the candidate’s behaviour or skills in a group setting/team environment.
Analysis
Ratings
The INSEAD Recommendation form provides your recommender with a list of 12 leadership criteria that you will need to apply in the MBA classroom.
We do not recommend choosing the top (Outstanding, top 2%) option for all criteria. This shows the AdCom that the recommender has not sincerely engaged with the rating scale and is simply selecting the top option throughout. We recommend that you ask your recommender to choose the highest rating (Outstanding, top 2%) for 9-10 questions, second-highest (Very Good, top 10%) for 1-2 questions, and third highest (Above Average, top 25%) for 1 question.
INSEAD’s focus on collaborating within an international business environment is also evident in its ratings. When the form prompts your recommender to comment on your potential for becoming a responsible and successful manager in international business compared with your peers, ask them to rate you as “Excellent (top 2%)”.
Recommendation Questions
1. Comment on the candidate’s career progress to date and his/her career focus.
This question makes it clear why your recommender should be someone who knows you well! Your recommender should be able to discuss your career progression under their supervision and state any promotions or increased responsibilities you have been given. They should also be able to comment on your career focus, or your goals and motivations for doing an MBA.
2. What do you consider to be the candidate’s major strengths? Comment on the factors that distinguish the candidate from other individuals at his/her level.
In this answer, your recommender should benchmark your work performance and strengths against your peers in similar positions.
Ask your recommender to provide up to 2-3 anecdotes that each demonstrate a unique strength or quality that differentiate you from colleagues at your level. Instead of just stating strengths, writing detailed examples will help contextualize your role and value to your organization. When writing about your strengths, ensure that they are aligned with INSEAD’s values of collaboration, demonstrating a global mindset, and responsible leadership.
Ask your recommender to structure these anecdotes using the SCAR method (Situation, Challenge, Action, Results). Quantify results by including figures, dollar amounts, and percentages to show the tangible difference you made to others and your organization using your strengths.
3. What do you consider to be the candidate’s major areas for development/improvement?
Again, in anecdote form, ask your recommender to discuss a weakness or a major area of development. They should be able to explain how your weakness affected your work or team, any feedback or constructive criticism they/other leadership gave you, and how you used it to improve.
Avoid fake weaknesses like “I’m a perfectionist”, or character weaknesses like “I get angry quickly”. Your weakness should clearly demonstrate self-awareness, adaptability, and a willingness to learn and grow.
4. Comment on the candidate’s potential for management. Do you see him/her as a future leader?
INSEAD has a strong leadership focus, evidenced by the number of executive courses and short-term programs it offers for leadership development. The school also offers the Personal Leadership Development Programme as part of its MBA curriculum to offer students the right tools, feedback, and experiential learning opportunities to grow as leaders and communicators. That’s also why this question is important for INSEAD; they want an objective assessment of your potential for leadership.
Here, your recommender should provide 1-2 examples (in the SCAR format) of times when you demonstrated leadership. Keeping INSEAD’s focus on diversity and integrating sustainability into business decisions in mind, examples that display cross-cultural collaboration, fostering inclusivity, and impact-focused decision making are best.
5. Describe the candidate as a person. Comment on his/her ability to establish and maintain relationships, sensitivity to others, self-confidence, attitude, etc. Specifically comment on the candidate’s behaviour or skills in a group setting/team environment.
This question is not typically asked by business schools in their recommendation letters, which only goes to show INSEAD’s holistic evaluation process. The school wants to know more about you “as a person”, by which they mean how others perceive you in a group setting.
This question calls for a team story. Ask your recommender to provide an example (in the SCAR format) of a time when you worked in a team setting, like on a high-stakes project, negotiations, contributing to a community project, working through conflict among team members, mentoring or supporting others, or rallying your team towards a challenging goal.
Given that your INSEAD MBA will be deeply collaborative and will involve interacting with a very international cohort, it’s important to display sensitivity to other perspectives, an open mindset, conflict resolution and communication skills, and the ability to lead within a team without overstepping.
Our complete Recommender Guide course on MBAConsultant.com has all the advice (and sample letters based on real applicants) you need to create a compelling letter of recommendation. Check it out here.
Want personalized support for your letters of recommendation? Book a chat with us today!
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