I had my interview today with a Kellogg alum. AFAIK, it was smooth with a few bobbles here and there, where we had a difference of opinion or two. No stress, fairly conversational but a bit different from what I'd been reading from interviewees. My interviewer was an exec MBA holder from Kellogg while I was a 1Y applicant, and his opinion on why an MBA was fairly refreshing. Anyway, after he set the groundwork and took me through how he'd run the next 30 odd minutes,
here is what I was asked:1. Why MBA
2. Why only MBA and would it really make a difference (Here he said the only real reason why 95% candidates apply is more $$, a stamp of approval and anytime any interviewee says anything different its difficult to not judge them as not being truthful! Quite a spot I was in, but I held my own and while I agreed with him I said there were otehr driving factors for me and took time to explain. He seemed on the border here
)
3. Why Kellogg
4. What other schools I applied to and why
5. Talk about your career growth over the past 6-7 years
6. Anything on the resume which you would like to emphasize
7. Something I'm extremely proud of having done - any one thing, but within the last year or so
8. Any tough situation that I've handled. How would I deal with it differently
9. A time when things went wrong in my team, and how did I exhibit leadership
10. Weaknesses I've identified in myself and how I addressed them
11. What would people say about me
12. What kind of a person am I? Here he probed me further since one of my answers to Q 10 was being an introvert in the world of marketing and having to live a life where I had to 'fake' being an extrovert while holding my cards close to my chest. He told me he himself was quite an introvert and said he felt exactly the same as I did when it came to dealing with people. In fact he added that one of the challenges he faced when he went to Kellogg was being in a place where everyone was an extrovert, a social butterfly and 'out there' while he was an introvert. Gave me quite a bit of advice here.
13. Do I think others around me like me as a person?
14. My goals in life - why
15. The conversation went quite random and suddenly he told me that I seemed like a passionate guy with an impressive and a unique CV, but there was one thing he wanted to finally ask me- If I could be any one person in the world, who would I want to be and why - time and money not being a factor. My answer surprised him - I first said- "You, considering you've been to my dream school and are doing exactly what you wanted to"....we laughed and then I gave him my real answer: I said Roger Waters for the brilliance in his words and his captivating, haunting voice. (I am a closet musician after all)
He gave me some time to ask my questions,
here's what I asked:1. Why did he choose Kellogg over any other business school.
2. Considering I've never been to the US, if there were one or two things he thinks I should be prepared for/ wary of/ pearls of wisdom, what would he say- to make the most of my 1Y in Kellogg (and possibly more in the US)?
3. Finally, asked him for his e-mail ID, at which point we exchanged business cards.
It was quite a calm conversation with one or two points where he probed and disagreed with me, but was fun nevertheless. He wished me luck and then told me that finally the hard part was over now with whatever I could do having been done! I told him I actually quite enjoyed the whole application process because it forced me to introspect and 'discover myself' since in the corporate world one hardly gets to take out time to think about their life, accomplishments and delve deeper into themselves, and importantly - an opportunity to think bravely
He agreed with me and said it was refreshing to hear that since he thought exactly the same way- The app process itself was a teacher!
The entire conversation went on for about 50 minutes against the 30 that he had outlined in the beginning.
Anyway, fingers crossed.