During a telephonic interview, an admission staff and a faculty member lead 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 points 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, remember that sounding excited is always better than sounding calm.
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.
The above post is an Excerpt from MBA Admission Interview Guide
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Download MBA Admission Interview Guide
1) Booth School of Business
2) Columbia Business School
3) Ivey Business School
4) Johnson Graduate School of Management
5) Insead
6) Kellogg School of Management
7) Stanford Graduate School of Business
8) London Business School
9) Harvard Business School
10) MIT Sloan School of Management
11) Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (Team Discussion Strategy + Interview Tips)
Chapters
2. How to do Gap Analysis for MBA Admission Interview Preparation?
3. 5 Conversation Plan for MBA Admission Interview
4. Focus on the Interaction
5. How can you control First Impression in MBA Admission Interview
6. How to improve likeability in MBA Admissions Interview
7. Avoid these 4 Handshakes
8. How to highlight Personal, Cultural, and Academic Dimensions of your personality
9. What motivates an Interviewer?
10. How to Fine Tune your answers according to MBA Admission Interviewer's Personality Type
11. How to answer the “Tell us about yourself” introductory question?
12. How to answer Walk me through your resume?
13. 5 Follow-up questions to expect
14. What is the greatest accomplishment in your professional career?
15. What is your leadership style?
16. How would you contribute at the School Community
17. What is the most difficult obstacle you overcame?
18. Are you a Creative Person?
19. How do you define Success?
20. How to answer about Innovative Solutions?
21. Answering Frequent Job Switch
22. How did you Handle Conflict?
23. How did you manage Change?
24. Give an Example of an Ethical Dilemma you faced. How did you handle it?
25. Answering Greatest Accomplishment
26. How did you Handle a Difficult Boss?
27.Tell me a time when you made a Mistake. What did you learn from it?
28. How to summarize your Career?
29. How to explain low grades?
30. How to answer Scenario Questions?
31. How to answer the Backup Plan Question
32. How to discuss about Industry Experience & your Role?
33. What Questions should you ask the AdCom after an MBA Admissions Interview?
34. 7 Things to Consider for Skype MBA Admission Interviews
35. 5 Must Read MBA Admission Telephonic Interview Tips