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Here is an excerpt from the chat on Consortium interviews:

Linda Abraham: Juan asks, “I’m curious about what I should expect at my Consortium interview?”

Travis McAllister-CONSORTIUM: I’m going to refer this one to the schools because the Consortium interview is going to vary. I will say that when you are expecting your Consortium interview, you can choose between a member school representative or a Consortium alum. I tell anyone who has called me that it varies by individual person. We have guidelines and prescriptions about what they can or cannot ask in your interview, but it’s still going to vary by person. So I want to refer to some of the member schools who have or will be conducting Consortium interviews for this round.

Jon Fuller-MICHIGAN ROSS: There probably is a degree of variability if you are interviewing with an alum or if you are interviewing at a specific member school. But again, the guidance that we get is that the interview is supposed to be school neutral, so you probably won’t experience a whole lot of questions based specifically on the school. For instance, if you came and had an interview at Ross, I’m not going to ask you your nitty-gritty thoughts of why you want to come to Ross and espouse the virtues of our program verses any of these other programs or anything like that. The Consortium interview is a general interview where the interviewer’s comments are going to be made available to all of the schools you are applying to through the Consortium. So as such, the approach that we and others take is that it’s more of an assessment of how this person is fit for an MBA in general. How clear are their goals and ambitions and what they want to do with their MBA? How is their professionalism? How is their teamwork in general? And again, the assessment is not supposed to be how that is looking through the lens of our specific program, but how that information is of value to Consortium programs as a whole. So if you’ve been doing your due diligence as you’ve been writing those essays and trying to make an assessment for yourself in terms of why you want to do this, that’s pretty good preparation for hopefully being successful about the interview process.

Jim Holmen-INDIANA: In many respects the Consortium interview is going to be, with the exception of it not being school specific, no different than any other admission interview that you may encounter at any other school. And I would prepare for it the same way that you would prepare for a job interview: getting a sense of your accomplishments and your past experiences. Often the best preparation for an admissions interview is making good progress in your application for admission and your admission essays. Because often the interview provides you the opportunity to bring your application to life a bit and to help us better understand your career goals, your reasons for pursuing an MBA, and what you will be able to attribute to your MBA program, and the kind of accomplishments and the impact you’ve had on past organizations that you’ve been a part of.

Visit our website to view the full transcript or listen to the mp3 of the Q&A.

What do you hope to be asked during your MBA admissions interview? Let us know what you think when you enter Accepted.com’s Facebook Fans MBA Face-Off Contest! You could win interview prep resources valued up to $50!

Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

His first two tips—he promises more in the next few weeks, so stay tuned—focus on the importance of interview research and on the benefits of emphasizing fit.

I could not agree more, but I would like to offer a few additional tips now and steer you towards a slightly more in-depth treatment of the topic, Accepted.com’s free MBA interview prep course. There I discuss my own additional tips, for example the importance of understanding the implications of different interview types. This understanding will help you establish the material (by way of experiences, stories, or application data) you’ll want to bring up in your interview.

If it’s a “blind” interview (that is, your interviewer hasn’t reviewed your application), then the interview will be more general and conversational. If it’s a non-blind interview (or “informed”), then the meeting will be more probing and focused. In the latter case, you’ll need to prepare more new material, stories, and experiences that are not discussed in your application. You will also need to be ready to address any weaknesses or gaps in your application.

In either case (blind or informed), you should use the interview to discuss achievements and news that has occurred since you submitted your application.

Final point: As Jeremy writes, schools will admit qualified applicants who prove that they really want to be at that particular program and will thrive in that specific environment. Solid pre-interview introspection about how you will benefit from that program will help you express your unique fit with that program on the big day.

Thanks, Jeremy, and keep those tips coming! 

Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

The slideshow contains all six interview questions (of which three are chosen), as well as suggestions and instructions on how to evaluable applicant responses.

Bryne suggests that about half of applicants to top b-schools like Harvard, Stanford, and Wharton use consultants.

But, as Linda Abraham, Accepted.com’s founder and CEO, points out, “The questions typically asked at MBA interviews are not exactly state secrets. The actual questions are posted on applicant blogs and forums and shared in our database and in Clear Admit’s wiki. We definitely use publicly available information in coaching our clients.” (Abraham knew nothing of the slide presentation before Byrne contacted her.)

Byrne then continues to list the six questions—one from each of the following categories is chosen at the interview: team building, facilitative leadership, and persuasive communication. He writes:

The questions on “team building” are:

“Describe a time when you have been working toward the completion of an important task, when it has been necessary to consider the opinions and feelings of others.”

“Describe a time when you have worked as part of a team working towards an important goal, when you have addressed conflict between two or more team members.”

The questions on “facilitative leadership” are:

“Describe a time when you have worked with others to complete an important task, when there was no formally appointed group leader.”

“Describe a time when you have ensured an important task has been completed, when you felt others were less focused than you on completing the important task.”

The questions on “persuasive communication” are:

“Describe a time when you have had to persuade others to your way of thinking, when at first they did not buy into your idea.”

“Describe a time when your ideas have been challenged by others, requiring you to defend your opinions.”

Bryne also lists a number of the follow-up questions for each category and an expose on how applicants are graded on their answers.

At least now everyone’s on the same page.



Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

Further thoughts from Linda Abraham:

WhartonLeak is a far cry from WikiLeaks for the following reasons.

1. As I noted in the article, these question are widely publicized. Although the criteria were never so public or explicit, they also aren’t top secret.
2. Wharton has openly said its interview questions are behavioral.
3. While Wharton and many other schools are asking more pointed and direct questions than they did in the past, the essays and interviews have almost always been “behavioral.” Your actions speak far louder than words about your values and character. It would be mistake to think that the nature of a good response has changed. It hasn’t. The questions are simply more narrowly defined and clearer, and that’s to your advantage. You have less rope to hang yourselves.

1. Take a deep breath. Anxiety won’t help you prepare for your interview, nor will it help you on the day of. If you’re having trouble relaxing, consider learning some deep breathing exercises to help calm you down.
2. Question every step of your past. Look at each of your accomplishments (as well as each of your failures) and ask yourself, “What have I gained from X? What happened as a result of X? What would not have happened had I not accomplished X?”
3. Know thyself. Be able to answer the following crucial questions in a heartbeat: What are your short-term goals? What are your long-term goals? What do you hope to gain from attending this program? What will you contribute to your peers? To society?
4. Review the school’s website extensively. You want to have all the published information about your school right on the forefront of your mind. You want to prove not only that you want to attend this school, but why. Establishing fit with the program of your choice means knowing yourself and your goals as well as knowing the program.
5. Create 3-4 examples for common behavioral questions on leadership, team experiences, and goals. Use the StAR (STate your example, describe the Action, and quantify your Results) method to direct your answers.
6. Speak with current students and alumni about their experiences at the program and perhaps about their interview experiences.
7. Visit Accepted’s MBA Interview Feedback Database (MBAIFD) which has multiple resources to help you prepare.

After you interview, please share your experience by filling out the MBAIFDB questionnaire. In addition, all those who submit an interview report are eligible to participate in Accepted.com’s It’s a 10! contest.



Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

We highly recommend that you view the full transcripts of these Q&As or listen to the audio files to get a complete picture of the admissions scene—you don’t want to be lacking info that’s already been shared with others!

Here’s an excerpt from the Michigan Ross Q&A (view or listen to the complete Q&A here):

Linda Abraham: When you are evaluating an application, what do you look at first and how do you go through the file?

Soojin Kwon Koh: I start with the resume and this gives me a snapshot of what this person brings to the table in terms of experience, education, interests; all those things that are perfectly standard on a resume. And I just want to make a point to encourage everybody to try and get your resume to one page, and to not include jargon or technical speech.

Linda Abraham: Thank you. Any other tips on the resume?

Soojin Kwon Koh: Sure. I would focus on the impact of each role and not what your responsibility was. I don’t want to know what your job description is; I want to know how you made a difference at the organization that you were employed with and what your impact was. And it should be understandable by your mother or by your brother; if you give someone your resume, it should mean something and be comprehensible. So if you are in some fields in which there is a lot of technical jargon, don’t include that. Try to make that fairly understandable to the lay person. And giving it to someone else to read as a test is a good way to gauge whether you’ve hit the mark. Also it’s perfectly fine to include extra-curriculars, hobbies, etc. I would not include summer internships from undergrad; we’re really primarily interested in your post-undergrad experience in terms of professional experience.

Linda Abraham: No high school grades, right?

Soojin Kwon Koh: No high school grades please. And even for college, we don’t want a whole laundry list of all of the activities and all of the courses you took; we are really looking for a snapshot. So given that you only have one page to get me familiar with who you are, make sure that you are not focusing on your undergrad days only; it should be driven by your work experience as well. After I look at the resume, then I will look at the recommendation letters, just to get another sense of how someone else sees you. It helps me get a gauge of whether I see a potential fit in terms of achievements, interests, work style, team work skills, and all those kinds of things that we ask your recommender. And a good way to understand what we are looking for is to look at the recommendation questions themselves. And on the ratings grid that we ask your recommenders to fill out, those are the things that we are looking for them to evaluate and those are the things we are watching to see in our students. A word of caution on the ratings grade: there is often a tendency for recommenders to put ‘top 1%’ for every category just to ensure that their candidate gets the highest chance of being admitted. We are very familiar with that approach, and it really doesn’t differentiate anybody given that everybody else is rating their candidates at the top 1%. So we’re looking less what the tier of the ranking is and more on how they rate you on the different dimensions, and how they differ one from another. Then after the recommendation letters, I read the essays to say okay, now why does this person want to get an MBA? What do they say about themselves and can I imagine this person fitting? After I bring all of that together, then I read the comments to see whether someone from the Ross community agrees with the picture that’s been established based on the written materials by way of the application, the recommendation letters, and the essays. And if there is a fit there and the academic quality is there, then they are a strong potential for an admit. If there is an inconsistent picture between the interview and what’s on paper, we will take an even deeper review of those candidates and have a discussion amongst the Admissions Committee. But in most cases, the interview lines up fairly well with the application materials, so it’s rare that we are so troubled by the inconsistency. Generally people are pretty good at representing themselves on paper as well as in person, once they get to that stage.

Here’s an excerpt from the Yale SOM Q&A (view or listen to the complete Yale SOM Q&A):

Linda Abraham: Ritcha asks, “Are there any specific criteria that Yale SOM looks at while reviewing an application from a career changer?” And Bruce, while you are thinking about how to answer that question, I want to ask the applicants how many of you are applying to the MBA program with the intention of changing careers? Okay. We have 48%, which would be right in line.

Bruce DelMonico: Obviously given the number of people who want to change careers through an MBA program, that is obviously a very important and relevant question. I would answer it on two different levels. The first is substantively in terms of the substance of what you want to do. We tend to be pretty agnostic; we are not valuing one type of career over another. So say you are in finance now and you want to go into marketing, or you’re in the public sector now and you want to get into finance, or you’re in the non-profit and you want to do healthcare, we are not making a judgment about which of those changes are better or worse. So we are indifferent and agnostic on that level. What we are looking for is to get a sense of how deeply held that switch is; how well thought out is, how much that switch is supported by evidence of commitment to that switch.

Linda Abraham: In other words, if somebody says that they want to save the whales but they’ve never been to the beach, that’s a problem.

Bruce DelMonico: Exactly. And because we have a reputation for being strong in the non-profit sector, we have a number of candidates every year who will throw in there that they want to go into non-profit. They’re not doing that right now, and they’ve got no evidence or indication anywhere that they’ve volunteered or have done anything to show an interest in this area. So it’s that exactly; save the whales, but I’ve never been to the beach. I like that example. One thing that goes along with that is that we are not judging the switch you want to make or what you want to go into, but we also want to get a sense that it is somewhat realistic, that you have a sense of what it takes to make that switch. I’ll give another example. Private equity has been very popular and every year we do have a number of students who go directly into private equity, but it’s very difficult to do if you are not coming from finance or you don’t have some background. And every year we get candidates who are doing something completely unrelated. They may have done good work, and it may be very interesting work, and it may be very valuable work, but they say that directly after the MBA program they want to go into private equity. Well, you need to have a better sense of what the trajectory of someone is to get into private equity, and what the steps you need are to make that switch. It’s not something you can just jump right into; there is a lot of work that goes into it. And so you need to have a sense of the steps that it takes; that you may need to get some more general experience in diversified financials, and then maybe do some investment banking, and then work your way into PE. That would show that you are a much more serious candidate, and you are being much more thoughtful about the process rather than just saying I’m going to go from retail to private equity and there is nothing in-between those two.

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Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

Here are a few of our free MBA resources to help you, including:

• 5 Fatal Flaws – A 5-day email course that teaches you the common mistakes you should avoid, as well as the valuable techniques you should use, when composing successful application essays.
• Where Should You Apply? A Guide to Selecting the Best MBA Programs – A special report that will help you assess your personal profile, rank your wants and needs, and establish a solid list of business schools to apply to.
• MBA Reality Check – A 1-hour webinar that will teach you how admissions committee members view your candidacy, and evaluate your profile.
• B-School Zones – School-specific information pages that provide links to Q&As, blog posts, interview reports, and events related to individual schools.
• 2011 Tip Posts – An RSS feed of blog posts consisting of school-specific application tips, including due dates and application essay questions.
• MBA Interview Feedback DatabaseIt’s a 10! contest! – Browse interview feedback left by fellow applicants to help you prepare for your own interviews. Share your own interview experiences and enter to win prizes with Accepted’s It’s a 10! contest!

For one-on-one consulting or editing, check out our catalog of services.

Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

There’s another element to the interview, however, that you’ll want to prepare for—the asking part. That is, if you think of an interview as a two-way street (as you should), then you’ll need to have some questions of your own prepared when the tables turn and YOU become the interviewer yourself.

Here are some pointers to help you come up with intelligent questions:

• Review the program’s literature and website thoroughly. The only “wrong” questions you can ask during your interview are the questions that you should already know the answer to.
• Review your application. This will help you hone in on the interests, skills, and goals that you’ve highlighted, making it easier for you to come up with questions that are relevant to your specific situation.

Clear, pointed questions about how the program, the faculty, the clubs, and activities will impact your career, educational, and personal goals is a good place to start. I can’t give specific examples of such individualized questions, but the following should help you trigger queries that are specific to you:

• How hard is it to enroll in popular classes such as XYZ? (Insert a particular class you’ve researched that appeals to you. Focus on classes beyond the school’s required core courses.)
• What is the interview process like for internships and full-time positions? How involved are the recruiters in the process? Do students bid for interview slots? (Career changers will find these sorts of questions most relevant.)
• Can anyone participate in a business plan competition or are there certain criteria or requirements? (Insert your own specific program of interest.)

If your interview is with a second-year student or alum, you can ask about his or her experience at your target school. For example:

• Are there any activities that you highly recommend, especially for someone interested in XYZ?
• What were some of your favorite classes? What about professors?
• Is there anything you wish you could change about your b-school experience?
• What is a typical day like?

To start preparing for your interviews, check out Accepted’s MBA Interview Feedback Database, a free, searchable database with applicant feedback from MBA admissions interviews at top MBA programs around the world. Pay it forward by sharing your interview experiences after you interview.

More Accepted.com Interview Resources:

• MBA Interview Coaching
• MBA I.V.: Mainline to Top MBA Programs, an ebook.
• MBA Interview Prep Course, a free email course.

Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

Accepted.com: How did you come to start ZoomInterviews?

Alon: The inspiration for ZoomInterviews.com came primarily from my personal experience during the admissions process. While other parts of the application were quite clear, what to expect in the admissions interview remained a mystery.  My first interview with Wharton wasn’t very successful. So following this experience and knowing what to then expect during the interview, I invested  a significant amount of time preparing for my new upcoming interviews. All of the remaining interviews went very well and I was accepted to a number of top business schools including Chicago Booth, from which I graduated. It was during the preparation process when I realized how crucial it was for applicants to know what to expect and how to perform well during their admissions interview.

Accepted.com: What do you see as the primary benefit of watching the ZoomInterviews videos?

Alon: Delivery means a lot in the admissions process and in the business world in general. Through the interview business schools will derive conclusions about an applicant’s ability to manage business related conversations and present him/herself in a positive, structured and succinct way. It is also very important to establish a good fit with the school. ZoomInterviews provides applicants with an insider’s view to the interview room. Through watching our videos applicants will be able to see how admissions interviews are conducted and how establishing a fit with an institution is important  for making a strong positive impression. Our  mock interviews are researched in-depth and simulate what could happen in the real interview. This translates into an opportunity for applicants to learn from top MBA students and alumni with significant interviewing experience.

Misha: There are hundreds of various online resources and tools dedicated to MBA admissions interviews and interview preparation in general. After doing some research and browsing through dozens of those websites, MBA applicants might get a pretty good idea of what they have to say. But it’s only through watching other successful MBA students and alumni that applicants can actually see how they should craft their message in the most effective way. Watching videos provides applicants with an exceptional opportunity to compare different behavioral models, analyze the performance of different candidates and develop their own strategy, one that reflects their unique personality. Looking through a continuous stream of our clients’ feedback, we also realized that what applicants value the most is the ability to compare their personal interviewing skills with others. This either gives them extra confidence about their readiness for interview day or serves as a signal to polish certain areas that need to be improved. So it’s a win-win situation really and many applicants realize that.

Accepted.com: How do you recommend that applicants prepare for their MBA interviews – in addition to watching ZoomInterviews?

Alon: It is very important to be prepared for the interview and there are several key elements in the preparation process:

- Research what the most frequently asked interview questions are for a given school. Almost all schools will ask you to talk about your background, why an MBA, why in this specific school and why now. They also will ask you to talk about your leadership and team work experience to be sure that you have leadership potential and can be a good team member during your MBA program and beyond. You must be prepared to answer these core questions. You can find a complete suite of admissions FAQs on our website.

- Learn what the interviewing format of each school is and who your interviewer will be (student, admissions officer or alum). The style of the interview will vary depending on the type of interviewer you get. For instance, interviews with alumni usually will be longer and less formal. You will need to adjust to these differences in the interviewing style.

- Prepare in advance 5-7 stories which exemplify your achievements, leadership and teamwork experiences and can be used for answering a variety of behavioral questions.  These usually start out as “Can you tell me about a time when…” or “Tell me about a time when you demonstrated…” Make sure to structure your answers to emphasize your actions and the results of those actions.  We recommend using the SOAR framework (Situation, Obstacle/Opportunity, Action and Result).

- Research your target schools, their teaching methods, culture, values and what they are looking for in the applicants.  Become familiar with the characteristics schools universally look for in all candidates (e.g. high GMAT scores, solid work experience) and characteristics that are unique strengths to you. You should tailor your answers to demonstrate fit with your target schools.

- Prepare 2-3 intelligent questions to be asked at the end in of the interview. Your questions should not be obvious, but at the same time not too complicated, so that even the interviewer will not know the answers. Your questions should show that you did your homework about the school and are genuinely interested in the program.  This is a subtle way to impress your interviewer without trying to coming across as trying too hard.

Misha: So you’ve done your research, you crafted your story, you’ve watched the interviews videos, you learned about  your schools… now, what’s next? Practice, practice, and more practice. That’s exactly what will bring you to the next level and will make you stand out during your admissions interviews. Many applicants find it useful to arrange mock practice interviews with their friends or with experienced MBA admissions consultants. It’s important not to misjudge your own performance, so anything from practicing in front of a mirror to Skype-ing with a friend or, even better, doing a mock interview with a professional admissions consultant, will benefit a lot here.

Accepted.com: What do you think is the overarching purpose of an admissions interview?

Alon: We believe that in the interviewing process business schools want to see that applicants’ paper applications are aligned with reality and that the applicant is a good fit with the school. Business schools want to be sure that they accept mature and socially adaptable individuals whose communication style and past behaviors will allow them to be successful in their studies and in the recruiting process. Interviewers also want to market their schools and have a chance to answer any questions which applicants may have.

Misha: Applicants can convey their candidacy through different aspects of their application, such as test scores, essays and their carefully chosen letters of recommendation, but it’s really in the admissions interview where schools have an opportunity to see how your personality shines through and if you will be a good fit for the school. It’s also your opportunity to show them why you’re a great fit for their program.

Accepted’s Interview Resources:

• MBA Mock Interviews
• MBA Interview Feedback Database
  
• MBA Interview Prep Ecourse

By Linda Abraham, President and Founder of Accepted.com.

Accepted’s Interview Resources:

• MBA Mock Interviews
• MBA Interview Feedback Database
• MBA Interview Prep Ecourse