Showing leadership experience

[justin984]

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[relentless11]

Another one of those unwritten requirements...
What I'm wondering is if a full time job counts? I'm not terribly interested in any of my school clubs/extracurriculars and I don't really have much time for them either. I'm a senior computer tech and work with lots of different people, customers, and occasionally supervise other employees when it's necessary. I've managed the business a few times for a couple months while my boss wasn't able to. Do you think my job will be acceptable for this requirement?

Throw it in, but how much of an effect that is depends on the adcoms. An example of the leadership positions that myself or others have had are (of course all of this is after high school):

(1) Head coach of some sport
(2) Mentor
(3) Eagle Scout
(4) Teacher
(5) Lead designer
(6) Military officer
(7) Fraternity/Sorority officer

So the list varies from the simple to the extreme. Having one or some or all of these still does not guarantee admission. Obviously nobody expects you to enlist, and go to office candidate school to become an officer in the Marine Corps. If your job is all you have than fine, put that in there, but don't make it more than what its worth. It sounds like your job, at least for the most part allows you to interact with people, which in itself is a good thing, but lesser on the leadership component. Again, I wouldn't think too much about it. Its like "research". Not officially required, but probably good to have, especially if applying to UCSF or something. Just remember though, most students out there have full-time jobs too. The key in getting into med school is to be unique, in addition to jumping through the good GPA and MCAT hoops.

 

[MasonPrehealth]

To me, it depends on what you did. Sure, I think most adcoms will take your work experience into account, but give us an example of true leadership within the context of your job if that is the case. Otherwise, overseeing volunteers or paid employees to accomplish a task or a project would qualify if you spin it properly.

Of course, one thing that distinguishes leaders to me is focusing on a major accomplishment. When you managed the business, what improvements did you suggest as a result of your experience? What were the results of these improvements? What difficulties did you have to overcome and how to did you develop a plan to address the problem when you were managing others?