dr2005 wrote:
Had my interview with a member of the AdCom this morning. All interviews are 100% blind, she knew nothing about me or my application. It started with her asking questions about my childhood, where I was from, what my family was like, etc. We progressed through undergrad and my career, but rather than focusing on "resume-type" accomplishments, we talked more about WHY I made certain decisions, and what matters to me.
We eventually got to "why MBA", but I was never directly asked "why Darden". I tried to weave a few pieces of "why Darden" into our conversation. Before I knew it 45 mins was up, she gave me the opportunity to ask questions....so we talked about job prospects for a bit. After an hour we were still chatting, but she had to cut it off.
Overall I think (hope) it went well, but with interviews like this its always hard to tell. I forgot to mention a few things that I'd hoped to work in. Oh well.
My advice to those still yet to interview:
- create a mini-list of items you for sure want to cover (interesting anecdotes), its easy to get caught up in the conversation, then before you know it you missed your chance to talk about that interesting undergrad EC (since you're already talking about your job)
- be ready to NOT talk about accomplishments, she almost seemed disinterested when I did. I guess it makes sense, there is no point to just regurgitate your resume during the interview - they already have it on file. Talk about something ELSE, something interesting/dynamic
- do your homework and be able to convey sincere interest in the program (I honestly think this is a big part of the interview...they try to gauge this)
She said her comments would be added to my overall application file, then it would undergo a final review and a decision would be made.
Thanks Dr. +1 Kudos
I had my interview yesterday and this advice is pretty much spot on. I didn't really mention any resume worthy accomplishments and she didn't seem like she was looking for them. I was able to mention one as we were walking out the door but it just naturally came from the conversation.
A few notes to add:
1) I think the interviews around now will be more adcom heavy, while later ones may be more likely to be with a student. Rough guess is that 60% of people had theirs with an adcom (I did)
2) I was asked to make sure we were on track timing wise. The clock was behind her so it wasn't too hard but just something to note. I didn't get a "five minutes left" bell or anything like that
3) A kid I spoke to during the day told me about his interview and it seemed that he got the standard leadership/team/weakness/etc questions. I do not think this is likely but I would have been quasi screwed if I had been asked those questions. My advice is just to review those type of questions on the off chance that you get them.
4) Dr's point about creating the list of things you want to touch on is key. You will most likely miss something if you don't
5) I found that coming up with a few central themes really helped tie in the "why" in a lot of my decisions.