Wow! That is quite an interview.
I was very surprised he asked you #3 and 4 considering you don't have a Finance background. But the fact that it went for 2 hours might be a positive sign. Some folks take the interviewing process too seriously. On the other end of the spectrum I know a guy whose interview lasted all of 30 seconds. The interviewer asked him, "Do you drink?" - cue party for 4-5 hours.
You know what they say, when life gives you lemons...ask for tequila!
Good luck man.
IEsailor wrote:
Hey guys, finished off with my 2nd interview today and it was a disaster ! The interviewer came 1 hour late after postponing the interview 2 times and not showing up the first time and he clearly had not read my INSEAD application and CV. Luckily i was carrying a copy of my CV which i presented to him.
Well the interview lasted just over 2 hours. I am a guy who has worked as a navigator on merchant ship for most of my career and then switched to a shipping/logistics role last year with a trading company.
Well the interviewer went through my CV and then started asking question
1.) Give me your career progression till date.
2.) Tell me about yourself as in where you grew up and what environment.
3.) Achievements during sailing on merchant ships.
4.) Why INSEAD
5.) Why MBA
6.) Current Job description.
Then the game began :
He started giving me financial situations as in
1.) If i invest 5 million $ in your company then what is the ROI ?
2.) How do you think your company can increase its revenue ?
3.) Then he gave me a situation where in he gave me tons of numbers and asked to calculate the profit after taxes and utility charges. He asked me to take a pen and paper and actually calculate and show to him.( Now i have never been in any sort of a financial role but can ship any cargo from any where in the world or navigate any ship through pirate infested water but finance NO ! I told him this but he kept pushing for an answer. )
4.) Then he asked me my post MBA goals and then asked me the ROI in the industry that i want to work in post my MBA - Marine Chartering/Ship broking.
All in all it was a nightmare. For a guy who has difficulty reading his company's quarterly financial results this was quite a handful.
Well my hopes are now down the drain !!!