This email covers pointers for Chevening essays.

Please tailor your response to be as:

- Specific
- Relevant
- Concise

as possible.

You should use the STAR approach for all the responses. Try not to explain or reiterate the concept of leadership
and networking in detail because the committee is full of experts. Have a favorite thought leader? You can quote
them and blend their quote with your responses either at the beginning or end of your paragraphs.

Leadership & Networking

Chevening gives preference to program management or non-profit experience. Voluntary services or community
experience as a one-off thing is good but not enough.
Why? Because the panelists want to know how you demonstrated your leadership skills by either founding,
managing, initiating or having impacted a change. I would really omit anything related to captaincy or presidential
positions back in high school unless they are worth mentioning. If they are, explain the story. Do the exercise this
way,

- Pick 3 academic experiences

- Pick 3 professional experiences
- Pick 3 community management or initiative experiences

For each of the above, pick 1 that you feel is most relevant and should be part of your response. Use the STAR
approach. Think in terms of 'impact', 'change that resulted' or 'outcomes'. Can be expected or unexpected
outcomes. It also helps if you can mention the number of people impacted, but what was the sustainability of
those impacts is what captures the board's attention.

For example, I would write, (rough draft) (this is my true story btw but just to give you an example of the STAR
approach)

Back in 2014, I was suddenly thrown into the role of a substitute Science teacher to a group of 150 rowdy 5th
graders. Having no teaching experience, and unruly speech with severe hearing loss, I was dismayed by the
traditional approach to teaching. With a digitized and advocacy mindset, I believed in the power of digitalization to
help connect my 5th graders with their peers/ students from all over the world. Having challenged the school
administration, I charged ahead with a Harvard online project aimed at 'slow journalism'. Despite initial setbacks
and resistance from other faculty members, my 5th graders were inspired to think like a journalist as they
connected with global students to talk about their community challenges through scientific reasoning. Hinging
towards servant leadership, I used my own experience of educational exclusion to change the traditional approach
of science subject teaching through peer modeling and inspiration. The project concluded with more digital tools
being employed in the school I taught in all subjects and all grades with teachers requesting training in digital tools.
Further on, my initiatives of Train-the-Trainer programs resulted in 4 more digital projects being concluded with
more than 500 students from Grade 5-12 where we tackled issues of public policies, immigration and refugees in a
school setting where thoughts about these topics were absolutely banned before.

The above is just an example of the STAR approach. It should read like a story. Not listing achievements and what
your achievements were as a resume has the listing in chronological order. I know it takes a mountain and another
to get to where you are, to land a job, etc. Not undermining any of those, but bring out the challenges you
observed, you experienced and which you were determined to solve, you know?
From a business perspective, if you were able to save cost, and mitigate risks at your current company, that may
well be good for employment purposes but scholarship is 'academic' and community-centric. So free yourself and
write a story.

First tell your story.

My other professional story would be, At Telenor, I tried my best to challenge C-level management to improve
feedback culture. Through a role-play model, I constructively criticized their existing work processes and feedback
mechanisms. Having been at the harsh end of receiving feedback and having observed the American/European
culture of feedback and management styles, I self-constructed a feedback work plan to share with management.
What was originally HR's work, I fulfilled my operations work and at the end of the work day, I created 2 small hubs
of colleagues from various divisions at Telenor. A change of this level was hard as it required good communication
skills and persuasion. By tapping into my experience of harsh feedback, we trained and modeled instances of good
and bad feedback, and the power of listening. I also gave training to more than 50 colleagues on the psychological
traits of introverts, extroverts and the power of collective individualism. As a result of this training, these
colleagues were empowered to call out instances of 'harsh' or meaningless feedback and instead deliver
constructive feedback in a comfortable environment. Over the next few months, management initiated feedback
training modules in employees' onboarding agenda. With a growth mindset, a leader aims to be prepared for
unpredictability. I took an inopportune moment of harsh feedback and was determined for a more diverse and
inclusive culture through my own experience of exclusion.

Also, think of these words: sustainability and scale.

"This is the difference between cooking one meal for 200 homeless people (scale) and helping one homeless person
get a job so that he/she can support him/herself (sustainability)."

Do follow this approach for networking too.

Every individual has their own story. Chevening is NOT looking if you are serving as a manager or if you were
promoted. They are looking at how you view leadership (it's not title-based at all, agreed?), who you view as
thought leaders, what books did you read that changed your thinking (you don't actually have to write the names of
those books but just thinking as reflection) and on whose basis do you model your approach, and what was the
impact as a result of your leadership and networking potential. Is there a very pressing issue in your field that has
been a constant issue and to date, people haven't followed or tried to change the status quo. Since you have
expressed interest in a particular field, and contextually in XYZ primarily, what are the challenges that you have
faced and which you feel would be better addressed with the skills and knowledge that a Masters program
under Chevening can provide you?

The goal of the networking essay is three fold, 1) to show your ability to foster and make new connections, so it is
important to show your HOW, how did you create and maintain this network? And 2) How this network has helped
you solve a problem or create impact and 3) how the Chevening network would help you create impact currently.

However, working in social impact is not always easy or straightforward. You might face ethical dilemmas,
conflicting interests, resource constraints, and other challenges that test your values and motivations. unifying
purpose and a set of elements or parts, and then connecting those elements together to move towards that
[Link] have to know how to both signal your passions and interests and to seek out theirs. We must also be
vulnerable to inspire people to join us in our mission. We create an authentic connection and alignment by
showing up fully and sharing why this mission matters to us. My coach once told me, Do the work, and do it in
public. By doing the work where others can see, you attract others who are aligned with that work. Aligning with
others also requires a humble curiosity. You don’t know their world, their history, their experiences. A carefully
crafted personal brand ensures that people remember you, understand what your capabilities are, and know what
you stand for. Regularly amplifying your work, writing blog posts, and sharing insightful observations about
relevant topics is an effective approach to help build your profile.

For Career Plans:

- Added and reflected what the UK is doing in Pakistan in your field. Is your field a priority field or area for the UK
as advertised by Chevening?
- Any UK organizations mentioned whose work or mission is note-worthy?
- Have you clearly discussed the main issue in your field in your career plan intro or tied in?
- Have you mentioned that you would join a 'corporate' entity as a short-term plan without mentioning what
aspects of change or skills do you wish to transfer/teach/train? If so, rephrase.
- Does your response have short-, medium- and long-term plans? Are they in order? Are they strategic and
specific? Are they attainable and realistic instead of lofty or over-ambitious?

For Study Plans:

- Have you taken the liberty to research UK culture and apart from academics, what aspects of the UK in particular
some cities excite you? I know Manchester United/Liverpool is one but see if you can come up with something
more aligned to your personality and interests. For example, without hinging on religiousness (UK is a bit strict on
that), can you find anything related to your heritage and UK culture?
- Have you mentioned any fun parts of the UK that you want to explore or do? Have you given great reasons for
those?
- In short, is your essay balanced between academics, culture, fun parts/social learning?

I had been social listening to quite a lot of Cheveners so the above is coming from them.

Hope this helps for starters.

Be dauntless. You can be vulnerable as well. I would appreciate raw honesty and who you are as a person.

This is a draft only when you start. Please do not try to *perfect* it just yet.

Please brainstorm for a while then we can connect.