MBA Admission Telephonic Interview (Which tone is better - Excited or Monotonous?)

Being an international student, I must admit that the only MBA admission interview that I had experienced was telephonic. An admission staff and a faculty member normally precede the telephonic interview. Here are some pointers for your interview:

Read your Essays

The admission officers ask questions for three reasons – to measure your communication skill, to check whether the things you have written about yourselves truly represent you and to evaluate your motivation for doing an MBA. Your essay and the recommendation letters are the only point of references for the admission officers. Therefore, read your essays and be consistent with your answers

Prepare for the Standard Questions

The standard questions that an interviewer would ask are:

1) Tell me about yourselves
2) Why do you want to do an MBA?
3) What are your weaknesses?
4) What are your strengths?
5) Give one instance where you had a conflict and how you resolved it

Keep all your answers as close to the essay as possible. Be very careful not to contradict what you have written in your essays.
 
Passion

One trait that ranks highest in an MBA admission interview is passion. Admission officers want to see whether you are motivated enough to go through the rigorous training necessary for a management course. There are some tricks to measure your passion.

a) Record your answers

Answer one standard interview question – “Tell me about yourself”. Record your voice and play it. How does it sound?
      
b) Balanced Tone

You should not sound either too excited or too monotonous. However, in case you get nervous in your interview, remember that sounding excited is always better than sounding monotonous.
       
c) Does your answer sound rehearsed

Play your answer and see whether it sounds rehearsed. Have a clear idea on how you are going to answer the typical interview questions.

Questions for us

The interviewer would normally conclude the interview by asking whether you have any questions for them. This is where your research about the school would bear fruit. Any question that can be easily searched in the school’s portal is a bad question. So be prepared with a good one.

Thank the interviewers for the opportunity. An MBA admission interview can last anywhere between 15-45 minutes.