Leland+ Content Library

CV Guide for Graduate School Admissions

How do graduate admissions committees view CVs? What's most important to include? What type of format should I use? Your answers are in this guide!

Behavioral Interviews & How to Tell Your Story

Landing an investment banking offer starts long before the technical questions—your behavioral responses and personal story often determine whether you even move forward. In this session, you’ll learn how to craft a compelling narrative that highlights your motivations, showcases your strengths, and aligns with what banks actually look for in candidates. We’ll break down common behavioral questions, effective frameworks, and the biggest pitfalls that sink interviews, plus how to tailor your story whether you’re coming from finance, consulting, engineering, or a non-traditional background. You’ll leave with clear strategies, practice prompts, and a structured approach you can use to walk into interviews with confidence and tell a story that sticks.

PM Coffee Chats: How to Network Like a Pro

Networking is one of the most underrated skills in product management—and often the difference between landing interviews and getting stuck in the application void. In this session, you’ll learn how to build meaningful relationships with product leaders, run effective coffee chats, and turn casual conversations into real opportunities. Your guide, Robert E., a former Head of Product at Home Depot who has built and led high-performing PM teams, will share insider strategies from the perspective of someone who has been on the hiring side. He’ll break down what works, what comes across as transactional, and how candidates can authentically stand out in a crowded market. You'll walk away with tactical scripts, outreach strategies, and a repeatable playbook for networking with confidence and purpose—whether you’re breaking into product, pivoting roles, or leveling up your career.

Stuck on MBA Essays? Use AI to Fix Story/Structure Before R2 deadlines

This is not about having AI write your essays. Instead, we’ll focus on how to use AI to: *Diagnose what’s not working in your current drafts *Clarify your core story and positioning *Strengthen structure, flow, and impact *Get unstuck when revision fatigue sets in

From Draft to Distinction: Crafting Med School Essays That Impress

Your essays are more than just words - they are your chance to show who you are to the Admissions Committee. This session will give you actual tools to transform your experiences into compelling outcome driven narratives.

Duke MBA Essay 2 Example: The Fuqua Community and You

This is an example of the Duke Fuqua MBA Essay #2 which has the following essay prompt: "Fuqua prides itself on cultivating a culture of engagement. Our students enjoy a wide range of student-led organizations that provide opportunities for leadership development and personal fulfillment, as well as an outlet for contributing to society. Our student-led government, clubs, centers, and events are an integral part of the student culture and to the development of leaders. Based on your understanding of the Fuqua culture, what are 3 ways you expect to contribute at Fuqua? Your response will be limited to 1 page (500 words maximum)."

MBA Goals Worksheet

A concise worksheet to clarify your MBA career goals and articulate the “why MBA, why now, and why this school” with precision.

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

Thriving in Your Environment - Workbook

Neurodivergent Series

Staying Competitive as a Product Manager in the AI Era

AI is reshaping what it means to be a strong product manager. In this session, we’ll explore how PM expectations are changing, which skills are becoming table stakes, and where AI fluency actually matters versus where it’s overhyped. You’ll learn how to position your experience, upskill strategically, and stay competitive for PM roles as AI becomes embedded across product teams and workflows.

Why Getting Started Now Matters for College Applications

The strongest college applications are built over time, not rushed together senior year. In this panel, admissions experts will break down why starting early gives you a meaningful edge and what students should actually be doing now to stay ahead. You’ll learn how to think strategically about academics, extracurriculars, leadership, and narrative development long before applications open. Whether you’re a freshman, sophomore, or junior, this session will help you understand how small decisions today can shape stronger outcomes later.

How to Stand Out in the Schwarzman Scholars Application

After this session, you will know how to position your leadership narrative for the Schwarzman Scholars rubric, structure your essays to reflect the program's focus on global impact and cross-cultural collaboration, and avoid the framing mistakes that consistently weaken otherwise strong applications. These are patterns that surface repeatedly when reviewing what separates admitted candidates from those who fall short.

MBA Essays That Get You Admitted: Do’s and Don’ts from an M7 Expert

MBA essays are where strong candidates separate themselves, but many applicants struggle to turn their experiences into a clear and compelling story. This session is for MBA applicants who want to approach their essays with more strategy and confidence. You’ll learn what makes an essay memorable to admissions readers, common mistakes that weaken otherwise strong profiles, and how to structure your story so it aligns with what top programs are looking for.

Pivot to Product: Different Paths to Land Your First PM Role

Breaking into product management doesn’t follow one predictable path—and understanding the variety of ways people get in can massively increase your chances of success. In this session, you’ll learn the most common entry points into product, how to leverage your current skills, and what companies actually look for when hiring first-time PMs. Your coach, Kritika, who has worked at Microsoft, Amgen, and Amazon, will share lessons learned from her own journey of pivoting into top PM roles. She’ll unpack the strategies that work (and the ones that don’t), the tradeoffs of different pathways, and how to position your experience based on your background—whether you're coming from engineering, design, operations, consulting, or something totally different. You’ll leave with a clearer map of potential routes into PM, tactical steps to strengthen your candidacy, and a smarter strategy for choosing roles, companies, and timing that align with your goals.

Top-Ranked Free Master’s in … Denmark and Sweden

Think University of Copenhagen, Lund University, Stockholm University, and Technical University of Denmark. These top-ranked Scandinavian institutions represent just the tip of what the Nordic countries offer: world-class master's degrees with tuition from zero to €17,000 annually, far below North American alternatives. Behind these prestigious names are remarkable opportunities to pursue advanced degrees delivering exceptional return on investment while building careers in two of the world's happiest, most innovative countries. Denmark and Sweden host dozens of top-ranked institutions offering hundreds of English-taught master's programs spanning all major disciplines. Denmark provides an automatic three-year post-study work permit, while Sweden offers one to two years for job searching, with clear paths to permanent residence. What if this high-quality, budget-friendly pathway to Scandinavian career success is exactly your calling?

Application Timeline Tracker Template

I created this template to help you use your time effectively while applying to college! Check out a video I made explaining how to use it here: https://www.joinleland.com/content/item/urn:contentEntry:6946127756b5b2f63a8db7f6?fromName=College

Application Timeline Walkthrough & Example

In this video I will be walking you through a customizable college application timeline tracker template that I created for you. Check it out and good luck on your applications! Link: https://www.joinleland.com/content/item/urn:contentEntry:694612235b381540d85002f6?fromName=College

r/AMA: Building products people love from Slack to Discord to Reddit

What does it take to build products that millions of people use every day—and genuinely love? In this AMA, Sri V., a product manager at Reddit who has also worked on community and communication products at Discord, Slack, and Microsoft, will share candid insights from years spent shaping how people connect online. With a background in computer science from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a career built on solving meaningful problems rather than just writing code, Sri brings a uniquely human-centered perspective to product development. Come with questions about breaking into PM, building social and community products, navigating big tech careers, or even national parks—Sri has nomaded through nearly all of them.

Navigating the Big Load of Big Law Recruiting

Big Law recruiting moves fast, feels intense, and can overwhelm even the strongest candidates if they’re not prepared. In this session, top Leland coach and lawyer Shayna R. will break down how the process really works, so you know exactly what to expect at every stage. By the end, you’ll have a clearer, calmer path through one of the most demanding recruiting cycles in professional careers.

MBA Interview Prep Guidelines

A concise MBA interview prep guide focused on storytelling, school fit, and nailing the questions that drive admissions decisions.