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IESE Video Essay Questions 2026 I. Introduction & Personal Brand 1. Introduce yourself. 2. How do you pronounce your name? 3. What are your unique attributes, qualities, and capabilities? 4. According to you, what should you start doing, do more of, and stop doing? / Tell us something you want to start, do more of, and do less of. 5. If you had to change one thing about yourself, what would it be? II. Values, Ethics & Service 6. Describe an example demonstrating a spirit of service at work or outside. 7. Tell us about a cause to which you are very committed. 8. Describe one ethical dilemma you've faced in your job. 9. Tell us about a time when you dedicated time to help others outside of your professional life. 10. Whose leadership style do you admire the most and why? (Select someone close to you). III. Work & Team Dynamics 11. What is your ideal workplace environment? 12. How is the work culture at your current employer, and is there anything you would like to change? 13. What does collaboration mean to you? 14. Tell us about a time when you had to give unexpected or bad news to your team or a client. How did you handle it, and how did they react? 15. Tell us about a time you had to work closely with someone whose personality is completely different from yours. 16. Tell us about a time when you fostered an environment that enabled others to grow and succeed. 17. If you were your company’s CEO, what would you do differently? IV. Learning, Adaptability & Global Mindset 18. Tell us about something new you’ve learned and how it impacted you. 19. Tell us about a time when you experienced culture shock. How did you handle it? 20. Why is studying in an international environment important to you? 21. What was the last city/place you visited? What about it pleasantly surprised you? 22. Tell us about a time you had to process a lot of information and data. 23. When was the last time you were creative? 24. Tell us about the last book you read and what you learned from it. V. Decision-Making, Problem-Solving & Success 25. Tell me about a time you had to make a decision without all the relevant information. 26. How would you define success in life? Do you think you have been successful so far? 27. Tell us about something unexpected that happened in your professional experience. How did you deal with it? VI. Future & IESE-Specific Reflection 28. If you were at IESE and on your graduation day, what is one thing you’d regret not doing? 29. At your IESE graduation day, what would you be most disappointed about not pursuing during the course? I hope it help

My interview questions 1. TMAY 2. Follow-up questions on my perspectives on market opportunities in Africa (from what I mentioned in the essay) 3. Most challenging/analytical project + a few follow-up questions 4. What I enjoyed about my role in a project my referee mentioned in the LOR 5. What is my process of analyzing/tackling a problem & example 6. Do I enjoy the commercial aspects of my work and why? 7. TMAT when the project failed 8. My motivations for starting my own consulting company & leaving a secure job 9. Joys and pains of running your own company 10. How do I secure clients, and what percentage is referral vs cold outreach? 11. What other schools have I applied for, what influenced my decision to apply & how IESE ranks relative to the rest 12. ⁠Questions for the interviewer (last 10min of the hour)

Mine was with an alum as well. They choose someone who either belongs to your current industry or someone who is working in the industry you aspire to join. It went on for 1-1.5 hours. He was very well aware of what I had mentioned in the application and what I had spoken about in the video assessment as well. He just wanted to understand my experiences better and generally who I am as a person. Questions: 1. Pivotal moments in my life? 2. Tell me what’s not on your resume 3. Why MBA? 4. STG 5. What do you do outside of work/ What do you read about ? 6. How do you feel about your GMAT experience? 7. Alternate short term goal 8. He was interested to know about a challenge I might have come across specifically in one of the projects I had mentioned in my resume He really appreciated how much I knew about IESE and that I had spoken to multiple people before applying. I had a few questions and we spent 15-20 min on discussing his experiences and how those also resonated with mine.

Mine was quite conversational. Went on for about 1-1.25 hr, but didn’t feel like it. The alum was genuinely trying to understand specifics about my experiences. Had reviewed the application and was familiar with what I was saying. Few questions- 1. TMAY 2. What does Diversity mean to you? 3. STG/LTG 4. Why IESE/ Why MBA 5. Have I considered Executive MBA? 6. Backup plan for recruitment/postMBA plans. How did I planned to go about recruiting? 7. Which other places have I applied to? 8. What kind of courses would I like to take at IESE? 9. One challenging instance in the past - mentioned that personal stories would be welcome/appreciated 10. International experience related question 11. Had I spoken to anyone from IESE before the interview? I got 30-40 mins more with them after the interview. So, spent it asking my own set of questions. The interviewer was open to answering them and even shared some relevant points/advice.

My interview was 1hr 15min, alot of standard questions, walk me through your resume, what was your biggest challenge, what was your biggest accomplishment. How do you take feedback, whats your leadership style, etc. Some questions about my essays. I wasnt asked any curveball questions like cats vs dogs, or describe the colour of yellow to someone thats blind. So that was relieving. Alumni that interviewed me gave some good pieces of advice based off my profile. Overall it was an enjoyable interview. Good luck!

Hey all, I got admitted in round 2 and this was my experience. I was interviewed by an alumni, it may be the same for you or it may be one your region’s admissions director. Questions included but not exhaustive: - tell me more about your experience - tapping on your past experience, recount any occasion where you faced great adversity and what was your reaction - motivations for MBA (details are important, in sync with essay content) my interviewer got me to elaborate on my essay examples since the word limit was short - asked me if i had a back up plan if my initial post mba plan did not work out (he proceeded to ground me which i thought was refreshing for an interview) - working style in a team and my approach to handling conflict we spoke about 30 mins and he left 30 mins for QNA the setting was very relaxed and not as intimidating as I expected, so have your stories ready and just be yourself!

Questions were : 1. TMAY with key events in life that shaped your personality. 2. Follow up question on few things mentioned in TMAY 3. ST/LT goals. Why MBA? Follow up question on goals. 4. Why IESE? 5. Contribution to IESE? 6. Managing Conflict question. 7. How would your partner define you in 3 words? 8. What would your manager say 2 things about you that requires development/improvement? 9. Which other school applied to and how did you choose schools? 10. Who did you speak to at IESE and what did you learn about IESE that you cannot find in brochures?

Very conversational, lasted about 30 mins (including the 3 questions I asked) 1. Tell me about yourself 2. What triggered the decision to pursue an MBA? 3. Post MBA goals 4. TMAT when you worked with a difficult person 5. Would you do anything differently in your career so far? 6. Imagine yourself in the IESE MBA - how would you approach a peer who is very difficult to work with? 7. What other universities have you applied to? 8. Any questions for me?

with JC - Adcom 0.- do you know about IESE mission? goal 1.- tell me about your interests/hobbies 2.- tell me about your career 3.- TAMT you supported a difficult decision with data and facts 4.- TAMT you faced differences (on business) with a direct supervisor 5.- Why MBA, why IESE 6.- Long term 7.- Questions to the Adcom

I had my interview with the alumni. It was very conversational. The person had read my entire application pretty thoroughly and I had questions on almost every section that I wrote. 1. Tell me about yourself 2. Why MBA at this point & why IESE 3. What was your evaluation criteria while choosing a Bschool 4. Leadership experience - some behavioral questions around that. 5. Current job roles & responsibilities. 6. Some specific questions about the extra curriculars that I had mentioned. 7. How do you work in a group, some examples on the same. 8. Why Europe schools & why not any other region like US Overall lasted for an hour. Very good experience.

For me, the interview with IESE was unexpected. Unlike other MBAs who asked about my achievements or academics, the IESE rep asked me many personal questions that showed my true color. It shows my strength, weakness, and life in general. Of course, they asked why I wanted to get an MBA, IESE, and my career goals. But so far, the interview with IESE’s Adcom has been very personal & nice. I didn’t think I would get accepted because the interview seemed so casual; even the AdCom asked why my GMAT score (especially the verbal score) wasn’t that good. My wife laughed at me because the interview was so unexpected & light!

The idea of assessment day Is to gauge your class contribution. 1. Read the case multiple times before the day 2. summarise the case provided in you own words. 3. Make sure you answer or ask relevant questions during the sessions. 4. Be audible, consise and sound intelligent during the session 5. Don’t be weird, corky or sound like a "know it all" and also don’t be forgettable. Leave a positive impact on the class. 6. Enjoy it and be yourself All the best.

The admissions director had gone through my entire application, hence there were no generic questions. 1. Tell me about your passion? 2. Why did you choose your undergraduate degree? 3. How will you tell other automobile engineers, what you do at work? 4. Tell me about the research paper you submitted in undergrad? What problem did it solve? 5. Short-term and long term goals, followup questions on that- industry, function, geographic location, target companies, visa requirements in-depth. 6. Why IESE? 7. What other schools and reason for choosing those schools? 8. Hobbies in tennis and whether I still pursue it?

Was relatively conversational. had it online over teams, bang on 1 hour duration. - introduce yourself - walk me through your profile - biggest achievement - what moment in childhood defines you - a time you failed - how would your team describe you - describe yourself in two words - interests outside of work - any questions for me

The interview lasted about 50 minutes and was fairly conversational. Below are a few of the questions: 1. Tell me about yourself 2. What draws you to the start up world? 3. What was your biggest takeaway from your first job? 4. What was your most challenging project in your first job? 5. What do you say your leadership style is? 6. Tell me about a time you didn't agree with someone, how did you handle it? 7. Tell me about a time you can't meet your deliverable. What did you do about it? 8. The course is pretty rigorous, how well do you deal with stress? 9. Which other schools have you applied to? and why is IESE different? 10. Why MBA right now? 11. What are the key factors that you looked at while shortlisting schools? Good luck!

Same with many other candidates who shared their debriefs, my interview experience was also quite conversational. The interviewer started with explaining how the interview was going to be like, then he started to ask questions that were really tailored to my personal experiences, mostly about the key decisions I made in school and at work. He has already read through all my application materials thoroughly, so he only asked about something that was not covered in those materials. -Tell me about yourself in 30 seconds -What motivated you to attend the swimming training in the early morning -Why did you start playing volleyball -Do you think playing volleyball helps you become less introverted? -Why did you decide to change company while you were considering an MBA program (my current is only one year now) -In terms of your post-MBA career goal, how will it be different from what you’ve been doing in the past in addition to location switch -What kind of software based tech companies do you want to work for? -Why did you choose Finland for your exchange program and did you experience any cultural shock -How do you deal with a difficult colleague at work (he asked me to make an example that was not in my essay) -In addition to those mentioned in the essay, is there any other reasons you choose IESE -Why did you want to go for exchange in NUS (it’s not really common according to him) -Did you apply for other programs? What’s the application progress and what do you think is the difference between INSEAD and IESE -How do you plan to fund your MBA program if you’re not given any scholarship

Super conversational. The interviewer started by asking me whether I wanted to remove the tie to be comfortable, so that was a nice ice breaker. Interviewer had gone through the application thoroughly before interviewing and hence the questions were quite tailored. 1. Tell me about yourself in 30 secs 2. Deepdive on my current role and academics, why I did not pursue software as a career (undergrad is engg but work ex revolves around ops & product) 3. International experience and culture shock I've faced initially (why no international experience etc.) 4. Any other schools I'm looking at and why Note: He also drew parallels with other schools and so pls be super well versed with your application and ensure your story is airtight. 5. Elaborate on the goals given in the essays 6. Why IESE? (he was looking for something tailored other than what is written in a template essay). 7. How do you plan on financing your MBA 8. Are there any other schools you have to get back to.

The interview was very conversational and some questions were personalised to my application. It lasted about an hour. 1. As a sensitive person, what strengths do you bring to your team at work? 2. Why did you choose the company you work for? 3. Tell me more about your undergrad experience - what did you gain personally? 4. What kinds of people do you find it difficult to work with? 5. Who or what instilled in you the values of compassion? 6. Why IESE? 7. Why do you want to work in Europe? 8. What is your backup plan? 9. How will you finance your MBA? 10. Which other schools have you applied to? How did you choose them? 11. The second year typically tends to be lighter in academic workload. How will you structure your second year? 12. Anything else you would have liked me to ask - I spoke about what I will bring to the learning team and how I will contribute at IESE 13. Any questions for me?

The interview was very conversational. The questions are very similar to what I read in the other debriefs. 1. Tell me about yourself 2. Talk about a childhood experience and how it has influenced you. 3. You mentioned that you like to travel. Where have you traveled to and what have you learnt? 4. How would you describe yourself as a leader? 5. What is the difference between a good leader and a good manager? 6. How would your friends describe you in 3 words? 7. Why MBA and why now? 8. Back up plan. Would you happy with said back up plan? 9. Describe your biggest achievement at work. 10. Talk about a day in your work. 11. What kind of people do you find the most difficult to handle? 12. From today till the start of the MBA program how will you prepare and develop yourself. Overall these questions came from the flow of the conversation. Hope this helps.

Brief info and introduction. 1. Three minutes about who you are as a person 2. Talk about your time with the main company on your resume 3. Professional achievement you are most proud of 4. A time you faced an ethical dilemma and what it taught you 5. A time you made a mistake and what you learned from it 6. Why MBA 7. Why now 8. What other schools are you applying to and why 9. Why IESE 10. What can you bring to IESE 11. Concern over gap in my work history (I have been traveling for the last two years) 12. How have you changed as a person over the course of your travels 13. Backup plan to main post-MBA goals 14. Desired geography 15. How will you finance MBA 16. Questions?