Leland+ Content Library

How To Step From Participation to Leadership in your Extracurriculars

A step by step framework for turning extracurricular involvement into leadership and impact.

The Non‑Traditional Applicant’s Storytelling Workbook

How to build an authentic, coherent MBA narrative (without obsessing over stats). Non‑traditional candidate stories can be coherent, but often candidates just don’t know how to translate them for what Adcom wants to hear. This guide helps you translate your niche experience into MBA language.

Resume Best Practices: Tips to Take Your CV From Meh to Magnifico!

After 15+ years of reviewing more applicant resumes than I care to count as a recruiter/hiring manager/talent leader at McKinsey and Bain, these are the core tips I coach my clients to always consider when crafting their CV.

Ship It: AI-Powered Side Projects You Can Build Now

AI is reshaping product management in real time—and the fastest way to stand out is to actually ship something. This session is for PMs and aspiring PMs who want to leverage AI in practical, portfolio-ready ways that demonstrate initiative and technical fluency. You’ll walk away with concrete side project ideas you can build now, frameworks for identifying high-leverage automation opportunities, and a clearer sense of how to showcase AI-driven work in interviews and applications.

AI News Digest Skill

"/ai-news" pulls and summarizes the latest AI news, tools, and research into a structured digest. To install, run this in your terminal after downloading the file: unzip ~/Downloads/ai-news-skill.zip -d ~/.claude/skills/

Your Ticket to STEM Graduate School Admission

Short guide to STEM graduate programs, required application documents, and essay advice

Your Guide to STEM Graduate School Admissions

Recording of a Leland webinar I presented on 02 Jan 2026 demystifying STEM graduate school admissions types and deliverables

The 5 Toughest MBA Interview Questions

Slides from event on 1/8/26 - Get everything you need to answer the 5 toughest MBA interview questions, including sample answers!

Example: MIT Sloan Cover Letter

This is an example cover letter for the MIT Sloan MBA application

Wharton Future Goals Essay Example

This is an admitted students' essay answering Wharton's prompt: How do you plan to use the Wharton MBA program to help achieve future goals.

Master's Program Decision Guide

Congratulations on your offer of admission! Use this guide to evaluate your options and make an informed decision.

Successful Environmental NGO Cover Letter

Example cover letter that was submitted as part of an application package for an environmental nonprofit

Stanford Masters' Student Resume

Employer-approved resume of recent Stanford graduate

Professionalism in Big Law Recruiting

The legal hiring market is accelerating! Not too long ago, most firms would engage in on-campus recruiting in between the first and second years of law school. Now, many big firms invite 1Ls to apply as early as their first semester. This session will cover how to search for summer associate positions, how to network professionally, and how to conduct yourself during interviews. As someone who has worked at Kirkland & Ellis LLP, one of the top law firms in the country, and navigated legal recruiting in smaller markets as well, I want to share with you the important tips that will help you highlight your strengths and pitfalls to avoid that could sink your candidacy.

Your Next Moves: How to Improve Your Odds Late in the Med School Cycle

If you’re applying late in the medical school cycle—or wondering how to strengthen your chances as the season unfolds—this workshop will show you how to make every move count. Led by Jessica A., a recent matriculant at UPenn’s Perelman School of Medicine who earned interviews from 18+ top programs and acceptances from Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and Penn, this session breaks down how late-cycle decisions actually work and what applicants can still do to stand out. Drawing on her experience as both an admissions interviewer and mentor to students who’ve landed interviews at top-tier institutions, Jessica will cover high-impact improvements you can make now across secondaries, updates, letters, school lists, and communication strategy. Whether you're a strong candidate fine-tuning your odds or a reapplicant navigating gaps in your profile, you’ll leave with a focused plan for elevating your application.

The Comprehensive Guide to PE Secondaries Recruiting

Interested in recruiting for private equity secondaries? This PDF is a 25-page guide to private equity secondaries written by a former Blackstone Strategic Partners Associate who spent 4 years executing GP-led continuation funds and co-investments. Covers everything you need to land a secondaries role: what secondaries are and why the market exists, a deep dive into LP-led vs. GP-led transactions with walkthrough examples, the J-curve and how secondaries mitigate it, a ranked table of the top 25 secondaries firms by AUM, which major PE firms are launching secondaries practices (and why), 2024–2025 market data and trends ($226B+ in volume, the rise of single-asset CVs, credit and VC secondaries), 15+ technical interview questions with detailed answers, 10 behavioral questions with full sample answers, and a 'Why Secondaries' framework you can adapt to any firm. Updated March 2026.

Ask Me Anything: Behind the screening curtain at MBB

Step behind the screening curtain of MBB with Alison L., a seasoned expert in strategic talent acquisition. With 15 years of experience between MBB, Alison has scaled and led global talent teams at McKinsey and Bain and served as a knowledge expert in BCG's global health care practice. These experiences have provided her some unique insights into their cultures and what they seek in candidates. Whether you're exploring a career in management consulting or preparing for interviews, this AMA session is your chance to gain insider knowledge and guidance.

Navigating the MBA Waitlist Process

We will discuss how to navigate the waitlist process for MBA programs. While it is quite frustrating to not have closure after your decision, there is still hope! I will walk through my proven strategies for maximizing your chances of converting a waitlist into an acceptance! This will include: - General process and timelines - Common reasons people are waitlisted - How to plan structure your updates - What else you can do to improve your chances - Q&A

Quantitative Finance Career Guide

A starter guide for careers, skills, and companies related to quantitative finance.

S&T Interview Prep: Bond Market Fundamentals

A review of bond market fundamentals, covering key concepts and resources to build a strong fixed income foundation.