OK, had the interview today. I think it went pretty well. I had a few stumbles but over all I did ok.
Questions:
-ethical delema: talk about a time when you dealt with someone who was acting unethically and tell me what you did- I talked about working as a junior analyst on a team where the CFO of the company was actively trying to get fired because he got a better compensation package that way. He asked me to do some sketchy things and then my boss told me not to do them, I said I learned that especially with ethical areas, if things don't seem right to you you should always ask questions. I'm not sure it's the best answer, but I think I learned a good lesson that I can talk about so...
If you had to use 5 adjectives to describe your communication style what would you say:
-direct
-Honest
-Intense at times
for each I gave a little analysis of the pros and cons that I'd noticed for each, especially intensity, I talked about how it can be helpful but can be off putting and I've been working on learning to manage my intensity level to meet the expectations of the people I'm working with.
At this point I got kinda stuck, so he prompted me: ok, what about your leadership style?
I talked about being more democratic than autocratic, wanting input from everyone even if I didn't agree with it. knowing I don't have a monopoly on good ideas, etc.
Which led to adding collaborative to the list. In addition I said I wanted to say something about really wanting to understand the thinking behind peoples ideas and get to see where they were coming from, but I didn't know a good adjective for that. He suggested probing, and I thanked him.
that was my first stumble but I think we worked through it ok.
then Walk me through your resume and explain why you want an MBA and why you want one now. I gave a pretty stock answer and then talked about putting myself in a position where I was forced to really challenge myself by surrounding myself with the best/smartest/competitive/driven people I could find and wanting to broaden my perspective so I can use my specific knowledge, either industry or company specific, in a more generalized context.
then why columbia, I talked about some classes, professor I had undergrad, my family connection, graduates I know, etc.
Then what would you study: management/leadership concentration
If you were in a study group do you think you'd focus on finance since it's your strength or focus on the management part of the assignment since that's your interest even if you may be weaker. I brought up the analogy of a sports practice and talked about coaching and how I always try to encourage my kids to make mistakes and work on the areas where they are weak, especially in practice.
then he asked what I thought I brought to the table that would contribute. I talked about growing up as the youngest of 4 smart kids and learning to deal with people with strong personalities and a lot of intelligence behind them but still find a way to work together and have a constructive environment. Then I talked about organizing an annual 4th of july party for my group of friends from college and maintaining our close relationships even though everyone has moved away from each other.
He asked if there was anything else I wanted to mention, I told him about a group I organize at work that I'm proud of.
Then he asked if I had any questions. I asked what he was surprised by when he got to CBS, and then got into his career, how he had progressed from there, if he felt well prepared for his career change coming out of B-school and then asked about how his company was adapting to the current environment.
I think it went pretty well, I think he liked me. Hopefully he'll send in a good report, but he mentioned at the end that he felt like the numbers this year made it tough, and more than any other year he'd been swamped with interviews, so I'm not gonna bet on it.
16 Mar 2009, 15:16
