Certain precautions while writing essays

1. Whenever you mention a quality (leadership skills etc) make sure you back it up with a recent instance from professional life where you demonstrated that quality. Anything older like in school or college or childhood is fatal.

2. Avoid using pointers. They have you for an essay not a powerpoint presentation. Make sure the essay flows naturally. Give connecting lines between paragraphs to give a good transition

3. Use plain formal English. No slangs / expressions / exclamations / dramatisations !

4. Avoid quantity. Just to fill upto the word limit dont fill in words without relevance. Concentrate on quality.

5. Weakness should not be pointing towards "inter-personal skills", "integrity"

6. If you are talking about any 'project' at work make sure you mention the end result in terms of benefit to the company and benefit to you. (Quantify it)

7. If talking about team skills talk about what were the problems and how you resolved them, how you took up the responsibility, faced challenges, ensured your teams focus on a common goal. Try to bring out your involvement with the team

8. If you are speaking of a professional/personal setback make sure you tell them on what you learnt from the experience and how later you used that experience to keep you in good stead.

9. Do not make any controversial statements. Also avoid statements with political / regional overtones.