Hello everyone, congratulations to all those who have been invited to interview! With most of the Round 2 invitations already out, as an Admissions Interviewer for INSEAD, I just wanted to share some tips and insights on the interview. INSEAD Interviews are conducted by two alumni, and of course, most are not professionally trained interviewers . Because of this, you might have one interviewer who is very experienced at interviewing and therefore quite structured, or you might have one interviewer who is not so used to interview and is a bit more all over the place. INSEAD Interviews are not stressful . We are not supposed to stress our interviewees or challenge them. Interviews are meant to be more conversational. They should feel more like a conversation between two colleagues. Out of the 4 admissions criteria, INSEAD interviews are meant to address all except your Academic Capacity . We don't ask questions about your GMAT or GPA, or things like " How many tennis balls fit in an airbus? ". You can expect the interview to be focused on: (1) Career Progression , (2) Career Goals , (3) Leadership Potential , (4) Why INSEAD , (5) Fit with INSEAD , (6) International Experiences , (7) International Motivation and (7) Soft skills . Read carefully your entire application and always answer in a way that is consistent with what you wrote in your essays . This being said, if the interviewer asks for example for your proudest achievement, he/she might specifically ask for a different one that the one your wrote on your essays, therefore have a couple of stories ready just in case. Feel free to reach out for any questions you might have. If interested in conducting mock interviews that feel like the real ones, please ask about our Interview Prep Service . I wish the best of luck to everyone! Best regards Alex

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INSEAD Interviews: Tips and Insights from Admissions Interviewer

ARLeeConsulting

ARLee Consulting

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Status:MBA Admissions and Career Coaching by INSEAD alum and former Samsung HR Head.

Affiliations: INSEAD MBA'11D (experience as admissions interviewer), SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS

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07 Jun 2018, 19:56

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Hello everyone,

congratulations to all those who have been invited to interview!

With most of the Round 2 invitations already out, as an Admissions Interviewer for INSEAD, I just wanted to share some tips and insights on the interview.

INSEAD Interviews are conducted by two alumni, and of course, most are not professionally trained interviewers. Because of this, you might have one interviewer who is very experienced at interviewing and therefore quite structured, or you might have one interviewer who is not so used to interview and is a bit more all over the place.
INSEAD Interviews are not stressful. We are not supposed to stress our interviewees or challenge them. Interviews are meant to be more conversational. They should feel more like a conversation between two colleagues.
Out of the 4 admissions criteria, INSEAD interviews are meant to address all except your Academic Capacity. We don't ask questions about your GMAT or GPA, or things like "How many tennis balls fit in an airbus?".
You can expect the interview to be focused on: (1) Career Progression, (2) Career Goals, (3) Leadership Potential, (4) Why INSEAD, (5) Fit with INSEAD, (6) International Experiences, (7) International Motivation and (7) Soft skills.
Read carefully your entire application and always answer in a way that is consistent with what you wrote in your essays. This being said, if the interviewer asks for example for your proudest achievement, he/she might specifically ask for a different one that the one your wrote on your essays, therefore have a couple of stories ready just in case.

Feel free to reach out for any questions you might have. If interested in conducting mock interviews that feel like the real ones, please ask about our Interview Prep Service.

I wish the best of luck to everyone!

Best regards
Alex

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aidmit

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30 Jul 2018, 13:17

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Very helpful tips, Alex. Wish I had these pointers at the time of my interview. Will definitely pass on these suggestions to all the prospective students. I don't know if you are the right person to ask this, but when there are so many interviewers with their own subjective biases, how does INSEAD standardize the interview scores across the board and establish a uniform and objective screening process.

ARLeeConsulting

INSEAD Interviews are conducted by two alumni, and of course, most are not professionally trained interviewers. Because of this, you might have one interviewer who is very experienced at interviewing and therefore quite structured, or you might have one interviewer who is not so used to interview and is a bit more all over the place.
INSEAD Interviews are not stressful. We are not supposed to stress our interviewees or challenge them. Interviews are meant to be more conversational. They should feel more like a conversation between two colleagues.
Out of the 4 admissions criteria, INSEAD interviews are meant to address all except your Academic Capacity. We don't ask questions about your GMAT or GPA, or things like "How many tennis balls fit in an airbus?".
You can expect the interview to be focused on: (1) Career Progression, (2) Career Goals, (3) Leadership Potential, (4) Why INSEAD, (5) Fit with INSEAD, (6) International Experiences, (7) International Motivation and (7) Soft skills.
Read carefully your entire application and always answer in a way that is consistent with what you wrote in your essays. This being said, if the interviewer asks for example for your proudest achievement, he/she might specifically ask for a different one that the one your wrote on your essays, therefore have a couple of stories ready just in case.