Introduce us to a topic you know about and explain why it interests you

It’s 9 am on a Monday, you’ve just reached your office and your supervisor calls for an urgent meeting. “All female employees are dismissed effective immediately.” You’re stunned and don’t understand what’s happening. Well, this was the case of ‘Offred’, the protagonist in Margaret Atwood’s 1985 dystopian novel ‘The Handmaid’s Tale.’ Against the backdrop of an environmental crisis and declining birth rates, this fictional piece explores the totalitarian regime of Gilead, which enforces rigid gender roles and enslaves the remaining few fertile women. Being dismissed from work one morning to find out that you are stripped of all your basic rights and your existence is reduced to just giving birth is horrifying, to say the least. Offred’s journey as a ‘Handmaid’ in a random household where she is forced to birth a Commander’s child is spine-chilling to read. Her struggles to find freedom as she suffers through torture and persecution are akin to millions of women globally fighting the shackles of gender discrimination much like those protesting in Iran today. 

As a woman of colour belonging to an ethnic minority and having grown up in a third-world country, the issues of gender equality deeply concern me. I’ve worked as the Marketing Head of Girl-Up Singhania, a volunteer club that aims to empower women in all walks of life right from rural areas to the corporate world. I’ve organised sexual violence awareness campaigns and conducted self-defence training camps for over 400 girls in rural schools in Maharashtra. I’ve also executed campaigns to create awareness and increased access to education for females in the state.  

In this regard, HSF’s 8 Drivers for Gender Equity initiative that aims to improve gender balance instils confidence in me that I would have equal opportunities to grow and thrive at the firm. 

Our thoughts

Positives

• Brilliant opening – it sets the scene and draws the reader in, which will have distinguished this application from others.
• Incredibly well written throughout, with a strong structure. I like that paragraph 1 covers the topic, paragraph 2 explains why the topic interests the applicant (which is a key aspect of the question!), and paragraph 3 demonstrates firm research (which isn’t necessarily required in light of the wording of the question, but is a nice touch given the relevance of the initiative mentioned and the fact that it doesn’t take up too many words).
• It is very clear why the topic interests the applicant, and they weave in some great information about their prior experiences without going off topic.

Potential points for improvement

• My only potential point for improvement is that the “topic” isn’t made clear until more than half way through the answer, meaning I felt like I was reading a book review for a while, without really knowing whether the contribution would be relevant to the question asked. The topic then becomes clear at the end of paragraph 1 however (and all in all, it’s a very strong answer).