1.

Please provide a brief description of your interaction with the applicant

and, if applicable, the applicant’s role in your organization. Up to 50 words

I have been ABC’s leader since 20XX when she was recruited into my team at XXX.
Currently, she is an Assistant Manager in the XY team, responsible for devising data-
driven strategies to increase customer engagement by rolling out personalized spend
stimulus marketing offers.

2. How does the performance of the applicant compare to that of other well-
qualified individuals in similar roles? (E.g. What are the applicant’s principal
strengths?) Up to 500 words

ABC joined XXX at 21 and was one of the youngest professionals in the team. Having
been her leader for the past 3 years, I’ve had the opportunity to observe and appreciate
her work ethic and meticulous approach to every task. She prioritizes understanding
consumer behavior and follows a structured problem-solving approach, a trait that sets
her apart from her peers of similar experience.

I believe her biggest strength is her personality. Even in the most stressful situations, I
have seen her with a calm demeanor and a smile on her face which always helps keep
the team’s morale up. She has a can-do attitude owing to which she always exudes
resilience and confidence. For instance- In 20XX when AB made a big change to its
privacy controls limiting digital advertisers to track customer’s digital interaction, Ax’s
business was directly hit. Working under tight timelines surrounded by ambiguity
regarding how to restructure the existing machine-learning models to prevent any
potential revenue loss, ABC outshone her colleagues by showing an impressive sense
of maturity and a deep understanding of the problem. She went above and beyond by
not only quantifying the potential business impact of such a change but also laying out
clear solution paths, each mapped with expected timelines for implementation. Her
efforts were commendable, given her early tenure on the team. She rose to the
occasion by connecting with multiple cross-functional teams and volunteered to take
charge of the project.

Another quality that sets her apart is her ability to seamlessly collaborate with cross-
border teams while being respectful of diverse opinions. ABC led the rollout of Ax’s co-
brand marketing offers, partnering with H and D. She took end-to-end ownership of the
project and was able to manage her time effectively to accommodate meetings with
colleagues from different time zones across multiple geographies. With her excellent
communication skills coupled with impressive business knowledge, she created a
compelling business case and was able to secure funding from D partners in the critical
COVID times when there was a sharp decline in customer spending on airlines and
macroeconomic uncertainties prevailed. She was rightfully honored with the ‘Genius
Award’ by our team’s Vice President for her outstanding efforts.

Her interpersonal skills are particularly notable. She has a natural way of making
people more comfortable, welcome and supported. I remember when a new manager
joined the team, ABC made extra efforts to connect with him, making sure he was
comfortable with both the team and the work. Additionally, even though it wasn’t her
role, she mentored two new graduates in a parallel team, introducing them to the
broader team through team lunches. Thanks to her support, they were able to deliver a
project which led to the saving of $40M.

ABC’s achievements at XXXExpress and her innate ability to nurture team dynamics
highlight her exceptional potential. As she embarks on her MBA journey at Fuqua, I am
certain she will shine, further contributing to her legacy of excellence and collaborative
spirit.

3. Describe the most important piece of constructive feedback you have given
the applicant. Please detail the circumstances and the applicant’s response. Up
to 500 words

I remember the time when we had to build NextGen versions of 5 large-scale legacy
machine-learning models owned by the team. This was a critical project hence trusting
ABC’s technical prowess and her enthusiastic attitude, I entrusted her with the
responsibility of building the NextGen versions of these crucial models while leading a
team of 3 junior analysts. This was a stretched goal for ABC to further hone her
leadership skills.
Out of excitement about this opportunity, ABC quickly promised deadlines that were not
well-planned and hence, unrealistic and unachievable for multiple reasons. She was
working with a team of recent hires who naturally worked at a slower pace compared to
tenured colleagues. To add on top of it, the project involved extensive coordination with
multiple teams across different business units, further slowing down the project’s
progress. Inevitably she had to push project deadlines before our product and
technology partners.
Following this incident, in our bi-weekly 1x1 call, I gave her constructive feedback on
setting realistic timelines for projects. I made her realize that it is considered
unprofessional on her part to push the deadlines at the last minute and emphasized the
importance of being able to foresee and account for any challenges that might creep
into the project later, thereby affecting its timely completion.
ABC took the feedback in a very positive manner and worked on improving her project
management skills. This was clearly reflected in the structured approach she took to
complete the model development project. To begin with, she spoke to the team of junior
analysts to understand if they were struggling with any parts of the problem statement
which was leading to a delay on their end. She then connected with cross-functional
business partners to understand if they have the bandwidth to collaborate on the said
project. She was also cognizant of inter-model project dependencies. Assimilating all
the information and accounting for additional buffers, ABC then laid out a detailed
timeline for the next 2 months, shared it with me and then communicated the same to
our product and technology partners.

I was impressed by ABC’s ability to enact her feedback and use it as a catalyst for her
growth. Over the next few months, she kept regular connections with the 2 partner
teams working on the project and kept them up to date regarding the progress of the
project. She was also candid in explaining any potential hiccups she foresaw that could
affect project timelines well in advance.

This shows her strength of character as she has the ability and courage to accept
constructive criticism and then use it to her advantage by learning and growing through
the opportunity.

4. Is there anything else we should know? (Optional)

Throughout her tenure at XXX, ABC has been proactive at taking colleague
engagement initiatives outside the realm of her core work. Since the last 3 years, she
has remained an active member of the X chapter of Ax’s Diversity Equity & Inclusion
pillar. From moderating a panel discussion about the inclusion of women in senior
leadership positions in corporations across geographies to introducing reverse
mentoring sessions- a unique concept where small cohorts of young analysts mentor a
senior executive leader on topics like how to improve team collaboration in hybrid work
mode - ABC has displayed impressive leadership and communication skills.

One distinctive initiative that ABC took was to launch a podcast for Ax’s colleagues,
called the ‘Nx podcast’, a platform where not only internal colleagues from at different
levels of the company’s hierarchy but also external entrepreneurs and corporate leaders
could voice their diverse perspectives. Even though she faced numerous hurdles going
through a long list of corporate approvals, she stayed determined and had a strong
belief in the ideology and the impact this podcast could create within our organization.
From episodes on technical topics like the role of AI in Banking’ to social topics like
‘How to ensure inclusivity in corporate workspace’, the podcast received good appraisal
from cross-country DE&I teams.
From my experience of working with ABC, I have observed that she is a strong-willed,
confident and bold woman who never shies away from putting her ideas forward and
does so with great conviction. But what I truly admire about her is that even after having
such strong opinions about crucial and sensitive issues, she is always kind and humble
to her peers and their ideas. With her eloquent communication skills and bold
demeanor, coupled with the sense of initiative she displays, I can definitely see her as
being an advocate for equal opportunities for women, equity and cultural inclusivity
throughout her life.