INSEAD September 2013 - Calling All Applicants

Ha!! I feel like i will have a heart attack. Do you have any other school in your pipeline?

Same process for me -- between flying around the country for interviews and now having to write/speak a language test, this is by far the most demanding and expensive application process...

Lucky Duck!! Whats up.

It is great training for what is to come

Whats everyone favorite dish? I hope this helps eliminate the stress from the wait.....ha......

Interviews done! Def echoing common sentiment of this whole "good cop bad cop" premise. Hoping these next few weeks go quickly...

For some reason i didnt feel the same way...........what kind of questions did you get for the bad cop.........?? Where in the US are you?? All the best......

Just the contrasting approaches -- First was an informal dinner with a recent alumnus discussing our lives while drinking beers (not to mention he picked up the tab). Second was with a senior manager of a startup, who seemed to be much more interested in my poise, scrutinizing my CV and playing more of a devil's advocate role..

im in DC.

I did NOT have the bad cop/good cop experience during Round 2.

However, both my interviewers asked very different questions. The first was much more typical (3 the Why's, long-term goals, my background, etc...). The second one, however, asked me some unusual/tough questions. I hit it off with both of them. I did not feel like one was purposely being the "bad" guy.

Did you get in??

Just the contrasting approaches -- First was an informal dinner with a recent alumnus discussing our lives while drinking beers (not to mention he picked up the tab). Second was with a senior manager of a startup, who seemed to be much more interested in my poise, scrutinizing my CV and playing more of a devil's advocate role..

im in DC.[/quote]

Oh nice DC is awesome. Come to think of it. I did have a good cop and bad cop. My second was the good cop i guess and we meet for breakfast he also flipped the bill. Great guy and very successful. He is a BOD and he is in his late 30s. First would be a bad cop i guess, we meet at his work place for a little over an hour. Some hard question. Hardest question he asked was, how i would transit from my past experience and MBA from INSEAD to achieve my short term goal.....i was like wow dude...... I hope i nailed it.

What was the hardest question you got in your bad cop experience?

Maybe the "good cop bad cop" is a poor way to label the approach -- it's clear that the two interviews are designed to filter, 1) poor fits for the class (socially - hense the laid back coffees/dinners) 2) weak candidates for future jobs (and the more intense, pressure-oriented interview process that accompanies them).

and quite frankly, I think it's pretty smart -- especially given that they only have 1 year to "mold" a student

What was the hardest question you got in your bad cop experience?[/quote]

I realize this isnt directed at me but im going to pitch in anyways. Mine went down a whole series of questions about company ethics and ethical theory - and this was an oil and gas executive so I had to tread carefully....

I realize this isnt directed at me but im going to pitch in anyways. Mine went down a whole series of questions about company ethics and ethical theory - and this was an oil and gas executive so I had to tread carefully....[/quote]

Thanks for sharing i was actually going to pose the question to everyone on the board.

Thanks for sharing i was actually going to pose the question to everyone on the board.[/quote]

It wasn't the difficultly of the questions for me, more the persistence with follow up questions, and really the lack of belief/recognition in my answers (or so it seemed). Whereas the "good cop" would tend to agree with my answers and follow up with his own experiences, the "bad cop" would either find a rebuttal, or ask how I had improved what I had discussed in future scenarios, or how I thought INSEAD would help.

Thanks for sharing i was actually going to pose the question to everyone on the board.[/quote]

It wasn't the difficultly of the questions for me, more the persistence with follow up questions, and really the lack of belief/recognition in my answers (or so it seemed). Whereas the "good cop" would tend to agree with my answers and follow up with his own experiences, the "bad cop" would either find a rebuttal, or ask how I had improved what I had discussed in future scenarios, or how I thought INSEAD would help.[/quote]

Thanks for sharing.....

Yes.