IMD 2012 - Calling All Applicants

Hey guys,

I'm a round 2 admit, and thought it might be worth me posting the interview day experience for the benefit of those interviewing in round 3 - it seems that the interviews aren't until August, so this isn't too late, hopefully.

I interviewed in Lausanne on 31st May in a group of 7 (which also included birdy76). The group was rather diverse with ages from 27 to 34, nationalities as varied as Indian (myself), Finnish, American, Australian, Chilean, Polish and Canadian.

It was a rainy day and I barely made it in time to IMD and the AdCom reached the reception about 2 seconds after me! As the day started, the AdCom took us to the cafeteria near the reception and gave us our individual schedules (which were also emailed out in advance). Then we were taken to the modern Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Center via a sneak peak of the MBA auditoriums.

2 of the 7 then went for their 1-2-1 interviews and the other 5, including me, were given 35 minutes to work on the impromptu presentation. (Note: It is 35 minutes, not 30, because the "instructions are a bit longer this year.") My advice on this would be to not make it too complex - just ensure that you read the info well, and answer every question that they ask. Pretty much everyone followed a different presentation structure, but personally, I used the questions at the end of the info to aid the structure of my presentation. The key skills that they assess (this is my personal opinion) are logic and flow, thought process, structuring, confidence, presentation skills, how well you can present key points simply and succinctly. After 30 mins, the AdCom came around to tell us that we had 5 minutes left to go. Another point of note is that you work using transparencies, coloured pens and overhead projectors, not PowerPoint.

After this, 2 out of us 5 went for their 1-2-1s and 3 of us had a break, while the other 2 (who had completed their 1-2-1s) worked on their impromptu presentations. Then, after about 45 minutes, another candidate and I went for our 1-2-1s (1 of us 7 had to wait right until the end of the day for his 1-2-1). My 1-2-1 lasted about 45 minutes, it was very conversational and rather pleasant. There were no "Surprise me!" or "A man goes to the shoe shop every Saturday morning..." questions. There were again a lot of questions trying to assess you as a person - for example, I work for the Royal Mail, the UK's national postal operator, which has been in the press a lot in terms of being privatised and I had an opinion on the direction/mode of this privatisation and she asked me what the basis of my opinion was and how I would explain that to Joe Bloggs. She also scratched a bit more below the surface of my application essays - I had used the same example for my failure and my most important achievement (the failure was encountered on the way to the achievement) and she asked me why. She was satisfied with the response, but asked me to provide an example of another failure - I think this was probably the most unexpected part of the interview, but I improvised and rescued the situation. Overall, I got very good vibes from the interview, and we ran out of time before she could finish her questions, so I did not get an opportunity to ask her any questions. And yes, be prepared for a question on what you don't like about IMD.

After this, we reconvened into a room, and had to make our presentations one after the other. They did not set an order and asked us to decide amongst ourselves - I volunteered to go first, but soon after almost everyone offered to go first. As it happened, I went last. The thing to remember, 5 minutes means 5 minutes - they let you know when 4 have gone, but will stop you dead on 5. I finished my presentation in 3-and-a-quarter minutes - so, if you think you have made all your points, there is no reason to stretch to the whole 5 - you risk losing key points in the detail. (I always think back to the Bill Clinton "Its the economy, stupid." campaign - if you say three things, you're not saying anything at all.) Make sure you have a clear recommendation.

So, when we had finished our presentations, they introduced additional information and this time, asked us to collectively work on a 5 min prez. From memory, they gave us 30 mins to do this. They stayed for a few mins to observe the group dynamics. In addition to the issue at hand, we grappled with a couple of other things - how to make the presentation, how many people, etc. - we decided one person worked best as it provided good flow and luckily we had 1 out of 7, who had clearly the best presentation skills as seen through the impromptu prez. In the end, I think the "flow" wasn't as well as we would have liked, because the points on the slide were from 7 people and the 1 person making the presentation wasn't exactly fully conversant with every single point, given the short time to come up with the presentation.

After the presentation, the two AdCom members asked us how we came up with the recommendation and why we did not consider alternative options - initially, the questions were directed at individuals, but some were thrown open to the group. I felt it was quite important to give credit - for example, if you were asked a question the answer to which lay in a point made by a fellow candidate during the discussion, you should give credit when responding.

Then we had lunch with our individual hosts - they normally try and pair you with someone from the same nationality/background, but it was difficult due to the interview falling during the ICP week. My host was a French guy who had been working in India for several years. Contrary to what you might have heard, the lunch is not assessed.

After lunch, before the group exercise, we had Martha (the MBA Programme Director) come into the room to answer questions. Martha, the AdCom, and Professor Benoit Leleux (who conducted the case study exercise) were very candid in answering our questions.

Then, for the last part, the case study, we were split into two groups, one of 3 people, and the other of 4. We were sent away for a bit (I think half an hour, but can't remember too well) to come back with answers to four specific questions. If you do your normal case study analysis (PEST, SWOT, Advantanges/Disadvantages, NPV analysis, etc.), you should have all the ammunition ready to answer these questions, but I must stress, that getting the answer is not what is being assessed. We had different AdCom members come in and go out of our rooms to observe the discussions. After a while, we reconvened in the room and there were a few more questions and answers and more exploring below the surface to see if we could deduce the less obvious points of the case study.

It wouldn't be wrong to say we were all completely drained by the end of the day, which, however, was very worthwhile. I know 5 out of us 7 received offers, with no information about 1. Basically, there is no set quota and if all candidates are good, all will receive an offer. Remember, you are not competing against each other and everyone is assessed on an individual basis.

I've tried to provide as detailed an account as possible, but if you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

And GOOD LUCK!