TopDogMBA
Please also check out my first interview report a few pages back.
My second interviewer was around my age. We met on a Saturday and it was very relaxed (he came in jeans and a sweat top, compared to my suit and tie!) and instantly put me at ease.
We had a friendly discussion with - of course - my well thought out responses interspersed with a lot of questions about the school and his experiences there.
We weaved about a bit with the questions as it was a more natural conversation than my first interview. When I sat down my interviewer told me he was in training for [a major local sporting event] so we started off talking about sports.
We soon steered back on to more familiar ground:
- What are my short- and long-term goals?
- Why am I applying now (noted that I will be in the older category)?
- Which campus was I planning to study on?
- How do my family feel about it?
- What's the alternative plan if I don't get in?
There was no problem to get my greatest hits into the discussion. My interviewer also commented on my drive, creative mindset (didn't think I was a finance guy) and that I was a good fit for the school culture. He pretty much told me that he would give me a strong endorsement for admission.
All in all, the interview was very relaxed and there were no "Tell me about a time..." type questions. He seemed to genuinely want to see if I was the sort of guy who would fit the INSEAD culture.
We joked a bit about the type of people applying to other business schools, and he seemed pleased I was not applying anywhere else (in Europe at least - I did not reveal the U.S. applications and he didn't press it!).
Read more at:
https://topdogmba.com/2014/11/26/what-go ... -report-2/Thanks alot for the sharing. Having read a number of interview reports in both the GMAT club and Chinese forums (Based in China) I am beginning to see a pattern. Most INSEAD
interview experience seems to be (though not strictly):
1. Two types of interviews:
A: One 'good cop' who is pretty relaxed AND a so called 'bad cop' who tend to grill you abit more.
B: Two good interviews
2. Most offers seem to have gone to people who have had two 'good interviews'
3. Most who didn't get offers seem to have been 'badly grilled' by at least one interviewer.
My initial assumption is that a 'good' interview is not necessary a 'successful' interview. The more challenges you have, the more opportunities
for you to perform. It is much better for you to 'explain away a weakness' than to leave 'doubts' in the interviewers' head.
However, at least based on what I have seen from the forms, it seems that my view is wrong as most 'offerees' seem to have had
interviewers who didnt challenge them much. I cant help to feel this makes the entire process overly luck dependent. Everyone
can potentially be challenged in numerous ones that makes him/her look really bad.
Of course all these are based on limited samples and not everyone's 'sharing' are that detailed anyway.
Feel free to post your experience/views
I think a lot of this is cultural. I was interviewed in the Bay Area, US, where the culture is extremely casual and self-effacing, and both of my interviewers were neither glowing nor tough. It was just a couple of very straightforward conversations (less like interviews) where I really got the sense that they're trying to assess fit. My interviewers did tell me that given the 10% cap on students from a single country, the interviews matter more for India, the US, and France, which are bumping up to that 10% the most.