Helpful for: MBA Applicants Read Time: 8 minutes Quick Facts:
• Stressing too much before the MBA interview, becomes counterproductive and may lead to you become too talkative or quiet once you get seated in front of the admissions team. Try to see the interviewer as a friendly figure, who is evaluating your skills and motivation.
• MBA interviewers are usually current students, alumni, or “AdCom” admission committee members.
• Focus on what you find compelling about the school and how you see yourself fitting in on campus. Your enthusiasm will be well noted. Still, be able to explain your excitement for studying at the school with specific reasons.
• Researching past interview questions applicants were asked might reveal common patterns. For example, one school might mostly be interested in behavioral analysis while another may pay greater importance on whether their values match with yours.
• To avoid any awkward pauses, practice and know your anecdotes by heart. You should have a story ready for every question the interviewer may ask. Consider which most common questions the interviewer will ask, and map out the best answer for each. Maria suggests:
Selected Quote:
Consider each question a school might ask, and then ask yourself, "Which of my stories could answer this question? Would project X or project Y be stronger to talk about here?" Don't forget that different facets of one story could apply to different questions. For example, if you get asked about your greatest leadership accomplishment, and later you're also asked about a time a team member wasn't pulling their weight, it's possible that during the course of one big project, you experienced both of those things. In that case, you can map the same story to more than one question.
Useful Information:
• Practice answering questions out loud and use a recording device so you can have a listen after. It’s not only what you say, but how you say it, that communicates greatly that you are a right fit for the program.
Source: Forbes
