After the initial pleasantries, 90% of the MBA Admission interviewer will start with this question – “Walk me through your resume.” A safe way to start the interview is to list your background chronologically from school, college, work, and MBA plan.
The risk-taking candidate will focus on one attribute that defines him; something that the interviewer can learn.
Tips to answer the "Walk me through the Resume Question"
Most interesting conversation will not have that awkward long-pause when you are searching for the next topic. Before you learn to be a master conversationalist, cross the first hurdle – “How not to be boring.”
7 Steps to Stop Boring the MBA Admission Interview
The need for building rapport is because of our instinctive behavior – the more we like a person the more we want her to succeed. This instinct has led to the success of writers, artists, actors, sportsmen, politicians and even “YouTube” personalities. No matter how antagonizing their opinions are, or how boorishly they behave, we like them because they have built a rapport.
Here is how you build rapport in MBA Admission Interview
MBA Admission interviewer is unlikely to ask about innovation directly in an Interview, but the question would have variations like “What innovative solutions did you create during your employment?”. Don’t exaggerate simple solutions as innovation, or underestimate the innovative capacity of your solution.
An expert in your domain should be the one who should reflect on the solution. This exercise might seem a futile one, but shortlisting solutions and evaluating them one by one in an unbiased manner is the key to answering questions about innovation
Learn more about answering questions about Innovation
Switching jobs is a red flag for job interviews, and can be one for MBA Admission interview if the switch is more than two in a period of 3 years. You can change this weakness into strength by successfully articulating how your search for the right career started from the first year, on the job, and have led you to consider an MBA.
Your choice for an MBA must look like a logical step and not escapism from work. An MBA is a compensation for 2-3 years of experience. Find out how to answer about your constant job switching
Conflict in itself is not bad. In fact, most teams develop deep camaraderie after they settle their differences. The problem arises when the conflict about ideas or authority becomes personal dislikes. Most team would question the authority of the leader, at least initially, but once they realize the commitment of the leader, his competence (leadership & technically) and focus on the goals, the suspicion turns into trust and respect.
Four Types of Conflict Management And you Should Cite this One
Moving back from work to student life would be the biggest change that an MBA candidate would face after the exhausting MBA Admission process. Therefore, it is no surprise that the Interviewers ask this question – “How do you handle change?”.
For international students, the change is even more pronounced – they move to a different country, adapt to the weather, people, cuisines, and culture.
Learn how to answer the How did you handle change interview question
The phrase “Greatest Accomplishment” is intimidating, and you start searching for the extra-ordinary - the one achievement that is comparable with what other candidates have achieved. This approach is wrong.
Difficult Bosses come in two forms – the domineering and abusive for the sake of it, and the difficult boss who is behind your back to reach project or company goals. You might have realized this: once you understand the intent behind the pressure, handling their requests and interruption becomes an art. MBA Admission Interviewers ask this question for two reasons – is it difficult to work with you and how you handled authority.
Read how to answer: Handling Difficult Boss in an MBA Admission Interview
Most MBA Admission interviewers after going through your personal background and academics will focus on you career. The first question will start with a summary question – “Tell me about your career progression till now”, or “Tell me about your career. What motivated you to choose the current career path?”.
For Interviewers, the resume is the Bible. They are checking for inconsistencies, and preparing for follow up questions based on how you summarize your career.
Remember these three points while answering career summary question
MBA Admission interviews starts with “tell me about yourself”, and ventures into academics, work experience, goals and your future contribution in an ad-hoc or a sequential manner, depending on the interviewer’s style of conversation. Business Schools ask Original transcripts for a reason – measure your ability to complete an MBA program successfully. Your answer to questions regarding academics depends on three scenarios.
Read how to answer low grades in Academics
An MBA Admission interview typically starts with “Tell me about yourself”. It is easy to talk about yourself but understanding what is relevant, and guiding the interviewer to the next question depends on how you answer this question.
Follow the 10-20-30-40 rule when it comes to dividing the answer into four relevant segments.
MBA Admission interviews generally start with personal questions related to your education, work experience, and goals. This is followed by specifics, mostly related to on the job experience. The answers are personal, but make sure that you follow the best practices, and understand the intent behind each question.
Here are 6 Common Scenarios Asked in MBA Admission Interviews
Three aspects of your personality - Personal, Cultural, and Academic would play an important role in the selection process. Balancing them out is not necessary but understanding how to sell in these three dimensions is crucial. There are several techniques and attributes by which the interviewer evaluates personality traits. We have summarized important to dos under each attribute for MBA Admission Interview.
MBA Interviews are a critical part of the MBA Admission process; they can make or break a school’s decision to admit a prospective student. Students that look good on paper (via their MBA essays, resume and recommendation letters) are being tested in the interview - are they as good as they claim to be? Did they really write their own essay? Can they communicate and connect? The burden of proof is on the student.
Read More MBA Admission Interview Prep Tips from Admit1MBA
Personality evaluation is one of the objectives of an MBA Admission interview. But interviewees often miss the chance to evaluate the personality of the interviewer – a task that can help them tune the tone and style of the answer. To make it easier for you to understand, and classify the interviewer, we have created four categories. Find out more about the categories and how to fine tune your answers according to the personality.
Handshake is a ritual that has been practiced from 4th Century BC in Ancient Greek as a gesture of peace and equality. In modern Businesses setting, handshake is the first point of contact with a stranger in most cases. For MBA Admission interviews, the first impression is created based on this simple gesture.
Avoid these 4 Handshakes
When MBA Applicants reach the Admission Interview stage, they tend to focus on the questions. The type of questions that are asked by the interviewer depends on the first impression. According to recent Studies in Personality and Social Psychology, first impression is primarily influenced by facial features, grooming, & posture.
Learn how to Control First Impression
An MBA admission interview can last anywhere between 15-45 minutes.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.
Find out the best practices for MBA Admission Telephonic Interview
“What is your backup plan if you don’t get into our MBA Program,” can unsettle most MBA aspirants, as they take this as a hint on their performance. In fact, the Interviewer is measuring several characteristics with this question:the first is handling uncertain scenarios. Find out how to answer backup plan question in MBA Admission Interview.
The small talk at the beginning of an MBA admission interview set the tone for the interaction. After learning about the family, upbringing, and education, the interviewer quickly shifts the subject of the conversation to one topic- professional experience. Two sub-topics emerge in this conversation - industry and role.
Tips to Answer about Industry & Role: MBA Admissions Interview
MBA Admission Interviews are never evaluated in isolation. It is part validation and part discovery. The Adcom is primarily validating the personality that is conveyed through the essays.
They want to make sure that the essays are not the imagination of an MBA Admissions consultant or an expert editor, who has carefully constructed the essays to represent the candidate’s profile in the best possible light.
Here is how you can authentically Interact with the Interviewer
Likeability is not only important for sales, job interviews, movies, politics and marketing, but play a major role in MBA Admissions interview. The likeability factors are different for Skype Interviews and face-to-face interviews. The most famous example of Likeability is the first televised presidential debates between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon in 1960.
Those who listened to the debate felt that Nixon had won while an overwhelming majority of viewers felt that JFK was the clear winner.
Here are five distinct qualities that make a candidate more likeable in MBA Admissions Interview
Almost all MBA Admission interviews will end with the question – “Do you have any questions for me”. Therefore, it is only appropriate that you learn the best practices.
Before we go into best practices, do the following tasks, the week before your interview: Research about the School, Research about the Interviewer(s) and create questions. Here are the details for this process.
How should I prepare for MBA Admissions Interview? What are the skills, personalities and fit that top schools like Harvard, Stanford and Wharton are trying to figure out through the interview? Are there any additional aspect of my application that should be highlighted in the interview or consistency is the key?
Best Admission Interview Tips for Harvard, Stanford and Wharton