Leland+ Content Library

Successful UCLA Anderson Essays

See how this applicant made the most of Anderson's very short essays, securing admission and a full-ride scholarship!

Help I'm in the Wrong Job: The Unwritten Rules of Making a Career Pivot

At some point in their careers, most people find themselves wondering where the career path they chose in their 20s is what they want to do for the next few decades. Career pivots are common - especially in a world where technology keeps shifting the job market. But how do you make a career pivot? In this session, we'll explore ways to start moving your career in a new direction -- long before you quit your job. We will have time for prepared topics as well as Q&A - so bring your questions. About Jeff Sigel: Jeff Sigel is an executive and career coach with 20+ years of marketing experience. He has held leadership roles in top Food manufacturing, retail, and restaurant companies - including as VP of Marketing and VP of Corporate Strategy & Business Intelligence. He has made a career pivot of his own into coaching and training emerging leaders.

MBA Optional Essays - Your Complete Guide

The optional essay is one of the easiest places to hurt your MBA application. This guide shows you when to write one and when to skip it, with a real successful example explaining a low GMAT quant score and a clear framework for addressing extenuating circumstances without overexplaining.

Preparing for PE Case Study Interviews [5/25/2026] (Recording)

Case study interviews in private equity can feel open-ended, and many candidates struggle to know how to approach them with structure and clarity. This session is for candidates preparing for private equity interviews who want a clearer approach to tackling case studies. You’ll learn how to break down an investment prompt, evaluate risks and returns, and communicate your recommendations in a way that reflects how investors think. Join live to ask questions about specific case formats and get guidance on how to improve your approach. The speaker is a private equity expert who regularly coaches candidates through case study prep. They’ll share the patterns they see across strong performances and the kinds of feedback typically given in 1:1 interview prep sessions.

Part 1: Understand Your Goals and Tell Your Story

Are you tired of applying to 100 jobs and not hearing back? Maybe you’re nervous about reaching out to other people and talking about yourself. Perhaps you’ve heard about networking from a lot of people, but you’re skeptical about the way it can actually work for you. This workshop series is for you! As a career coach, I have distilled the targeted networking approach of finding jobs into a five-step process, each of which I will guide you through. Every three weeks, we will address another piece of the puzzle through an interactive workshop. In Part 1, we will: - Reflect and think really hard about what you want to do at this point in your career. Not what you think you can get, not what you'd be willing to settle for. We’re going to talk about what you actually really want out of your next job, what's important to you, and your WHY. - Learn to tell your story in an elevator pitch and rehearse this so that you are comfortable sharing your own story with people in as little as one minute. - Start revising your job search materials (resumes, cover letters, LinkedIn profile) to reflect this story. Part 2: Identify Your Target Organizations (May 29) Part 3: Build Your Network to Learn (June 19) Part 4: Maintain Your Network (July 10) Part 5: Use Your Network to Apply (July 31) By the end of the process, you will be fully prepared to use the targeted networking approach to find a job, and more importantly, you will be closer to a chosen job and career that helps you live a purposeful, fulfilling life. Each workshop will include exercises that we will work through together, and I will answer questions. While you can attend any workshop as a one-off, it can be very powerful to attend the entire five-workshop sequence. If you want more personalized support as you go through the job search process, sign up for 1-on-1 coaching sessions with me! This workshop is appropriate for: - Students and early-career professionals who are not sure how to get started with the internship or full-time job search - Mid-career professionals who are looking to pivot into another industry or find a job after a career gap - Anyone who wants to become more adept at networking and use it strategically

8 Steps to an MBA App: 5) Why an MBA? Why now? Your contributions?

Applying to business school can feel overwhelming! You have dozens of moving pieces: essays, short answers, video content, resume, recommendations, outreach, research, and more. This workshop is the fifth of a structured 8-part MBA Identity Mapping series designed to take you from fragmented tasks to a clear plan of action. In this session, you will define exactly what you need from an MBA and articulate the value you will bring to an MBA community, making sure you can answer the questions of why an MBA and why now successfully. These sessions walk you step by step through building one fully aligned MBA application. In every workshop, you will be assigned tasks to complete over the next two weeks, keeping you organized and accountable. By the end, you will have strong, authentic essays and a cohesive narrative that runs consistently through your resume, goals, recommendations, school strategy, and interviews. You are absolutely welcome to watch individual videos if you only need focused help on a specific component(s) of your MBA application. This session moves your MBA application forward by clearly defining why you need an MBA now and what you will contribute to your future program: • Identify the specific skills, experiences, and perspectives you need from an MBA. • Clarify the academic, leadership, and experiential gaps your MBA must fill. • Articulate the perspectives, experiences, and strengths you will contribute to your MBA community. • Ensure your application shows both readiness for the MBA and a clear reason for pursuing it now. This is the phase where your goals and identity connect directly to the MBA itself. Instead of simply saying you want an MBA, you will clearly explain why this step is essential for your growth and how your presence will enrich the classroom and community. The MBA Identity Mapping process has guided 100+ applicants into every M7 program, all other top 20 U.S. programs, and leading international programs, including INSEAD, London Business School, IESE, Esade, Oxford, Cambridge, NUS, and more. Clients consistently describe it as transformative because it replaces scattered effort with forward momentum and strategic clarity. If you are ready to clarify exactly how an MBA fits into your journey and demonstrate both readiness and contribution, this is your next step. Message me to receive a copy of the Why an MBA Why Now Worksheet I mentioned in the video!

How to choose the right Firm, Office, and Role in Consulting

Your consulting experience (and chances of getting in) are heavily influenced by the Firm, Office, and Role you choose. And nobody is talking about this. McKinsey NY is very different from McKinsey DC. A practice-affiliated consultant has a very different experience than a generalist. This course helps you understand what Firm, Office, and Role you should apply to based on your profile to have the highest chances of getting in.

Design Beautiful Presentations with Claude [5/19/2026] (Recording)

Build Anything Series · Event 02 · Free · Live Most people use Claude as a writing assistant and stop there. Then they open PowerPoint, fight with templates for two hours, and ship something that looks like every other deck. There's a better way. In this hour, we'll build presentations end-to-end with Claude — from a one-line brief to polished, on-brand slides. No templates, no stock-photo aesthetic, no drag-the-text-box-three-pixels-left. What we'll build live: - Generate a deck from a one-line brief — outline, structure, narrative arc, all in one prompt loop - Iterate without leaving Claude — slide-by-slide refinement using structured prompts (not "make it better") - Export polished, on-brand presentations — color systems, type, layout, rendered cleanly Who it's for: - Coaches, consultants, founders, PMs who present often and hate the deck-building tax - People who've prompted Claude for design work and gotten generic results - Anyone who wants their slides to feel like theirs, not a SaaS template Not a fit if: - You're already a senior visual designer with a tight workflow - You want to learn pure Figma/Keynote craft — this is about directing AI to do most of the work We'll talk about where Claude excels (structure, narrative, copy, layout systems) and where it still needs you (taste, judgment, the final 10% of polish). Bring a real project you'd like to work on — fastest way to learn.

Starting Your GMAT Journey: An Introduction to the GMAT Focus Edition [5/21/2026] (Recording)

Starting GMAT prep can feel confusing when you’re not sure what’s changed in the Focus Edition or how to begin effectively. This session is for anyone looking for a clear introduction to the GMAT Focus Edition and what it takes to succeed. You’ll learn how the exam is structured, what each section tests, and how to build a study plan that aligns with your strengths and target score. Join live to ask questions about your starting point and get guidance on how to approach your prep with confidence. The speaker is an expert GMAT coach who regularly helps candidates navigate the early stages of studying. They’ll share the patterns they see across successful test takers and the foundational strategies typically covered in 1:1 prep sessions.

ACE the ACT: Tips from 8+ years as an ACT tutor [5/21/2026] (Recording)

After this session, you will know how to approach the ACT with a clear, structured strategy built from eight years of working with real students. The coach will cover how to manage pacing across each section, which question types trip up even well-prepared students, and how to use process of elimination effectively on the Science and English sections. Attending live means you can ask about your specific score range, your weakest section, or the test date you are working toward, and hear a direct answer shaped by your situation. This coach has spent years identifying the patterns that separate students who plateau from those who break through, and that perspective is worth experiencing firsthand.

Office Hours with a Senior Software Engineer [5/24/2026] (Recording)

We're going to help you get clarity around these questions: 1. Is software a good fit for the life I want? 2. What does it take to become a software engineer? This will also be an open session to ask a question about software from someone who has been living and breathing it for the last decade. People of all experience levels are welcome!

Empowering Your Team / Organization with AI [5/21/2026] (Recording)

After this session, you will know how to build a practical AI adoption strategy for your team, identify where AI creates real leverage in your workflows, and avoid the implementation mistakes that stall most organizations before they see results. We will cover how to assess your team's readiness, choose the right tools for your specific context, and create internal buy-in that actually holds. Attending live means you can bring your specific situation, whether you are leading a small team or a large organization, and get a direct answer grounded in your context rather than a general one. The coach works on AI transformation strategy with organizations regularly, and this session reflects how they actually think through these decisions with clients.

GRE Geometry & Algebra: The Top Tips High Scorers Use [5/22/2026] (Recording)

Geometry and algebra questions make up a major portion of the GRE Quant section, but high scorers approach them with specific strategies that go far beyond memorizing formulas. This session is for students who want to improve both accuracy and speed on two of the most heavily tested GRE topics. You’ll learn the shortcuts and patterns top scorers rely on, how to recognize common trap setups, and the foundational concepts that make difficult problems more manageable under time pressure. Join live to see how an experienced GRE instructor breaks down these question types and the patterns they see across high-performing test takers. You’ll also have the chance to ask questions in real time and get practical guidance on how to apply these strategies effectively during your own preparation.

Freeing the People's Data: AI Agents for Legislative Transparency [5/20/2026] (Recording)

Struggling to make sense of fragmented legislative data or build tools that surface it in a usable way? This session is for builders, policy professionals, and researchers who want to use AI agents to unlock and structure public legislative data for real transparency. You’ll learn how to design agents that gather and normalize data across sources, create workflows that turn raw information into searchable insights, and evaluate outputs for accuracy and bias. Attending live gives you the opportunity to ask technical and strategic questions about your own use cases and get clarity in real time. The speaker works closely with practitioners and will share the patterns they see when building systems that actually get used, along with what they look for when evaluating effectiveness and trust. If you’re serious about turning legislative data into something actionable, it’s worth joining live.

Sample MBA Interview Answers

A comprehensive library of sample MBA interview responses across every major question category: leadership, teamwork, problem-solving, communication, self-awareness, resilience, ethics, and adaptability. Each example uses the STAR method to show you exactly how to structure compelling, quantified answers you can adapt with your own experiences.

Build a PM Portfolio That Actually Gets You Interviews [5/20/2026] (Recording)

1YR FREE LELAND+ GIVEAWAY FOR LIVE ATTENDEES ($119 VALUE). Breaking into product management is competitive, and a strong portfolio can be the difference between getting noticed and getting overlooked. This session is for aspiring PMs who want to understand what actually makes a portfolio compelling to hiring teams. You’ll learn how to structure impactful case studies, showcase product thinking even without prior PM experience, and avoid the common mistakes that weaken otherwise strong applications. Join live to hear perspectives from a panel of experienced PM coaches who have helped candidates land interviews at top companies. The discussion will follow a curated set of high-impact questions, offering structured insights and real examples of what works in successful PM portfolios.

Nailing the McKinsey PEI [5/22/2026] (Recording)

After this session, you will know how to structure a Personal Experience Interview response that resonates with McKinsey evaluators, including how to select the right stories, frame leadership moments with the right level of specificity, and avoid the pacing mistakes that consistently undermine otherwise strong candidates. The focus will be on how McKinsey interviewers actually probe PEI stories and what they are listening for beneath the surface of your answer. Attending live means you can ask about your specific story or background and hear how I respond to the details of your situation, which a recording cannot replicate. I work with consulting candidates on PEI preparation regularly, and what I share here reflects the patterns I see across candidates who successfully navigate this round.

What BYU Admission Officers Actually Want to See From You [5/26/2026] (Recording)

After this session, you'll know exactly how BYU admission officers evaluate applications and where most candidates unknowingly lose ground. We'll cover how to frame your personal statement around BYU's specific values, what the activity and leadership sections actually signal to reviewers, and how to approach the honor code essay in a way that feels authentic rather than performative. Attending live means you can ask how these principles apply to your specific background, grades, or extracurricular history, and hear how the coach thinks through cases that don't fit a clean template. The coach works with BYU applicants regularly and will share the patterns that separate the candidates who get in from those who look similar on paper but don't.

Build Your Personal Brand & Thought Leadership System with Claude + Notion [5/20/2026] (Recording)

Personal branding is your ticket to excelling in the AI age. Most professionals know they should be creating content yet almost none of us do it consistently. Not because we lack ideas, but because we have no system to enable consistency. In this session, we'll build one. Using the network analysis from last week, we'll use Claude to generate a content calendar built around your actual expertise, then turn each idea into multiple formats: a LinkedIn post, a story hook, a networking pitch, and more. Everything lives in a pre-built Notion template you duplicate at the start of the session, so you spend the full session generating content, not building infrastructure. Outcome for attendees: A content calendar tailored to their specific network audience and a reusable Claude + Notion workflow they can run every month independently Session pre-requisites: Claude account & Notion account — free is fine 🙂

Where AI Improves Sales Performance - And Where It Doesn’t [5/26/2026] (Recording)

After this session, you will know exactly where AI tools accelerate sales performance and where they tend to create a false sense of productivity. Specifically, you will walk away with a clear framework for evaluating AI in your pipeline, an honest look at which sales tasks AI handles well versus where human judgment still wins, and practical guidance on integrating AI into outreach without losing the personal signals that actually close deals. Attending live means you can bring your specific workflow or stack and hear a direct response to your situation, not a generic answer recorded months ago. The coach works inside sales organizations daily and will share the patterns and failure modes they observe firsthand, giving you a slice of how a practitioner actually thinks through these decisions.