dlanderer wrote:
Best of luck tomorrow. Please let us know how it goes.
Ok I'm back! Sorry for the delay - ended up going to the Haas Entrepreneurship Panel and then had an all day job interview today.
Let's talk about the interview. I felt this way before, but the interview solidified this. Don't worry about "preparing" per se for the interview. At the end of the day, the only thing you should prepare for with any interview is that you need to be very decisive about what you want out of your life and your career. This goes beyond an MBA but if you are able to be decisive, it makes your interview preparation process way more chill and your answers will be more comfortable/natural. Everyone's questions will be slightly different, but for Haas, they cover the following:
Walk me through your resume - Much like a job interview; be able to confidently answer why you chose your field, why you chose certain jobs, what empirical benefit you gave to the company, and any leadership positions you held or projects you led. For me personally, because I held a lot of leadership roles at a lot of jobs, currently run a startup, and started my career at 10 (no joke), this was like 95% of my interview haha. That typically doesn't happen. It's usually like 1/4 of the interview. One question you should be ready to answer is why you left certain roles, especially if you were there less than a year. I get these questions in job interviews, but my interviewer at Haas was more astute about my career path and dates than what I had experienced during my Anderson interview.
Why did you choose your career path - This seems similar to the above, but I separated this question out because this is where Haas gives you room to give more intrinsic reasons for why you are going down your career path.
Why an MBA - Duh. Every grad school question haha.
Why Haas - Double duh. However, one thing I will say about this question is that this is where you can probably stand to subtly incorporate the principles. I'm not as intelligent as the rest of the people on this thread so I honestly forgot to plan to address the principles. However, by the grace of God, when I answered why an MBA and why Haas, I addressed two of the principles without knowing it. So at least they know my answers weren't contrived. I also was able to point out specific aspects of Haas that I wanted to take advantage of as an aspiring entrepreneur. I had researched what they have at Haas and the organizations tangentially connected to them. Oh and I also slipped in what cultural benefit I could bring to Haas, that would help the class. So I took the info from my class visits and information sessions and positioned the second half of this answer as what aspects of Haas' culture my inclusion could bolster.
What would you change about your current job - I really liked this one. Mainly because I complain about my day job almost daily and come up with a ton of hypothetical solutions haha. What was cool about this question too was because I run a stealth mode startup on the side and we have been getting traction/investor interest, I was able to juxtapose what I thought my day job should do and how I remedy and validate my beliefs with my startup.
What do you think you bring to a work environment - Don't be fooled, just see this as "what are you going to bring to Haas' culture, and how will the refinement through Haas allow you to bring an elevated version of your 'secret sauce' to a company post MBA graduation". Just make sure you answer it as what you bring to a work environment and try to slide in how that will be reflected in Haas' culture if you get in.
What do you like to do for fun - Don't be weird or stiff about this. Just be honest. I messed up a little bit here because I was so passionate that I kept talking for 5 minutes longer than I wanted to on that question. Another negative, because I like helping people become better versions of themselves (applying for schools, applying for jobs, running companies, etc.) I kept repeating how I know that because of the unique experiences I've had, my duty is to give back. I'm just really passionate about it, but I may have rambled too long on that particular tidbit as well (much like this post).
Any questions for me - I just asked how they support entrepreneurs and I asked about some of the tangential organizations that they are affiliated with and how their logistics work. Dumb thing I did (on a long list of dumb things I do daily), I asked what she felt like Haas needed reinforcement in culturally and what type of students could do that. I think she interpreted that as me asking "what do you want me to be so I can get in". I was honestly just curious; don't be like me haha.
Miscellaneous tidbits:
Their poker face game is strong. Don't think you can read their faces and get an indication or doom or reassurance. Just be yourself.
The room they bring you in is small. I didn't care. I went to an HBCU that didn't always have the best resources so I was just happy to have some water and a chair.
I ASKED ABOUT THE CONTROVERSIAL INTERVIEW DEBATE THAT WE HAD 2 DAYS AGO! I made sure to ask the admissions staff for EWMBA, including one of the directors
For EWMBA, you must interview if you're going to get accepted. No interview, no acceptance
They interview around 30-40% of applicants each year for EWMBA. No word on acceptance rates out of that pool, but you can do the math.
Hope this long diatribe helps. If you all have any questions, message me. I'm like the worst applicant of all time outside of my career milestones, so frankly, getting these interviews is surprising to me. I want to help anyone who applies anywhere to succeed. Because I'm such a long shot, if I can't get in, I at least want to help others get in. Then I'll beg you all for money or a job.