While preparing for MBA Admissions Interview, candidates should understand the awareness gap of the Interviewer. Before conducting the interview, the Interviewer – an admissions officer, alumnus or current student(rarely), would evaluate the profile based on three data sources – resume, essays and internet (Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Discussion Forums, TikTok, LinkedIn and Instagram).Scenario 1: Resume
Most likely, the interviewer will read the resume 2 or 3 times to get an overview of the education (university), professional qualification (GPA), academic achievements (Olympiad, Computer Adaptive tests), project summary(title of the project, 1-2 line summary), extra-curricular(volunteering, leadership) and other achievements(music, speaking engagements, sports, military).
For this scenario, where the Interviewer has access only to the resume, list out qualities and motivations that are not reflected in it. Some of the qualities: competitive spirit, leadership, and communication skills will be reflected in the resume based on the extra-curricular activities and achievements.
List the qualities that are not easily captured in the resume like persistence, maturity, and persuasion. Once the candidate understands the qualities that are missing in the resume, it is time to map stories to each quality.
Persistence: Analyze an event or incidence where your persistence paid off.
Maturity: Analyze a teamwork event where you had to handle conflict in a mature manner.
Persuasion: Analyze and explain how your idea was initially met with resistance and how you convinced them to pursue it.
Motivations: Resume does not convey motivations. Even though the resume looks like a traditional MBA candidate’s resume, the motivations to pursue an MBA program are different for each one of them. Find your motivations. This becomes easier as you might have already written the “Why MBA” essay before attending the interview.
Practice for the interview, keeping in mind the scenario where the Interviewer, has access only to the resume.
Scenario 2: Essays
In the second scenario, assume that the Interviewer has read the essays, and have a complete picture about your motivations, post-MBA goals, and potential contribution. The questions for this scenario would be to validate the information shared in the essays, and to find whether the impression that the essays create about the candidate is consistent in face-to-face interview.
To prepare for this scenario, candidates have to re-read the essays at least ....
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The above post is an Excerpt from MBA Admission Interview Guide
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