Had my interviews this week so for the benefit of the future applicants, here goes my debrief
1st Interview --
The alum was from 2008 batch and was a very thorough interviewer. It was one of the most intensely personal interviews that you could hope for. The idea was to know me as a person. But he did try his best to make me feel comfortable. We met at coffee shop and the interview lasted for an hour or so.
He asked questions related to every phase of my life, going as far back as school days and questioned everything that I mentioned. Just an example when I said, I used to represent my school in quizzes; he immediately asked if I remember any question after which I felt real proud. He even dived into how I will be financing my mba , my interests , situations at work place, follow up questions from my essays etc.
I presented on Mumbai Dabbawalas and he did ask me if I thought it would interest someone who was not aware of them and I said, if they were good enough for a HBS case study, they should be good enough for this exercise as well.
Other questions were related to my GMAT score, how many times I took the test, whether planning for a retake etc. Marks in school and other activities.
Some more questions on choice of schools, why not INSEAD etc. He also gave me a run down on a profile of a super star candidate at HEC and asked how I will cope up while competing against such stars. He also asked, given my extensive experience, how will I compete against guys who are hungrier and faster (read 25 year olds). Why MBA, why HEC etc also came up. My backup plan, if I weren’t selected and what if I don’t get desired job etc. and offcourse strength and weakness. Also why they should select me and not someone else.
To summarize, i don’t think you can prepare for such an interview. All you can do is be yourself and try to maintain a consistent story. If you are meant to be selected (read if you are fit for school) then you will be.
There is so much more but basically, all he tried to do was know me as a person. After interview, he gave me few tips regarding the presentation for the next interview and we chatted for half an hour. Then while leaving, we again started another discussion and ended up chatting for another couple of hours and that’s when we really connected.
Overall, I have no clue how I did
2nd Interview --
This was with a 2002 grad and I met her in her office. Very sweet lady and this was a very formal interview. basic questions like why mba, why HEC etc. she asked a lot of questions regarding my idea of leadership, how will I handle tough situations at work, tough projects, failures , strengths, weakness , why they should select me. My main motivation for choosing HEC was it ranking or faculty etc. I did threw in names of students that I had spoken with and prof Kapferer and she seemed impressed but said I would be lucky to get him to teach.
Then we chatted for some time regarding her experiences and she advised me that I should start on French if I get selected.
Summary
Through both interviews, I think college was trying to cross check everything that you have written and to know you as a person. Don’t think I could have done anything more or differently although my presentation went a lot better during 2nd interview. Now the waiting game begins
All the best to the future applicants. Feel free to ask questions.
Cheers