Northwestern Kellogg MBA real interview questions

Latest Kellogg interview questions compilation

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Kellogg Full-time MBA Interview questions

1. Walk me through your resume
2. Questions on my choice of education
2. Questions on my choice of work
4. Questions on my responsibilities at work
5. Why MBA? And why now?
6. Why Kellogg?
7. What is your Plan B?
8. Tell me about a time you had to lead a team?
9. Anything you want to talk about that we couldn't?
10. Any questions for me?

(1) Walk me through your upbringing, college, professional experience, Why MBA, and Why Kellogg. > yes, all in one question!
(2) What do you consider as your biggest professional achievement?
(3) What kind of team member are you?
(4) What kind of leader are you? Give me a time when you showcased your leadership style.
(5) Is there anything else about Kellogg that convinced you to apply?
(6) If I ask one of your Kellogg classmates, what do you think they'd tell me about your strengths?

1. Walk me through your various roles, with emphasis on how your has experience changed.
2. How has your leadership style evolved?
3. Most significant challenged faced at work?
4. Why MBA?
5. What are your goals post MBA?
6. What is your plan B in case you can't achieve your immediate post MBA goals?
7. Why Kellogg? What courses would you be interested in? What clubs? What extracurriculars would you want to partake in? (Significant grilling on this part)

Walk me through your resume?
Typical day at work?
What do you enjoy the most at work?
Most significant achievement?
Your leadership style?
Your weaknesses?
Tell me about a time you had to deal with diverse perspectives?
Tell me about a time you had to deal with a difficult person at work.
Tell me about a time you had to navigate through ambiguity?
Tell me about a time you had to pick yourself up and try again?
What is the thing you will struggle with while pursuing your MBA?
Why MBA?
Why Kellogg?
Why now?
Any questions for me?

1. Walk my through your CV
2. Two follow-on questions from my CV Walkthrough:
3. Tell me about a time when you worked in a diverse team, what you enjoyed, what was challenging
4. What is your leadership style
5. What are your goals?
6. Why MBA
7. Why NOW
8. Why Kellogg

Walk me through your resume and the path you took after college (some follow ups)
Why MBA?
Short and Long term goals follow up questions
Tell me about working with a diverse team
How would others describe you as a leader

Tell me about yourself?
Short/Long Term Goals?
Most significant career achievement?
Tell me about a time you demonstrated leadership.
Tell me about a time you
Why MBA?
Why MBA now?
Why Kellogg?
What if Kellogg/MBA doesn't pan out?
What do you think will be most challenging for you at Kellogg?
Questions for me?

1. Walk me through your resume. Quite a few follow up questions about my previous jobs.
2. Walk me through your decision making during company switches
3. Talk an example when you demonstrated teamwork
4. Talk an example when you demonstrated leadership
5. Why Kellogg?
6. Why an MBA now?
7. Any questions for me?

1. Can you take me through your resume, and focus on the transition points between each role?
2. What do you like most about your current firm/job? What do you not like?
3. Can you tell me about a typical day at your job?
4. What would your colleagues say are your 3 major strengths?
5. Now on the flipside, what would they say you could improve on?
6. What’s your leadership style and what makes you a good leader?
7. Can you tell me about your greatest career achievement?
8. Can you tell me about a time you worked with a diverse team? What did you learn from it and what were the challenges?
9. What do you want to do in your short term?
10. What do you want to do in your long term?
11. Can you tell me about a time you lead a team to achieve substantial impact?
12. Why MBA?
13. Why Kellogg?
14. What clubs would you want to join at Kellogg?
15. What would be your biggest challenge as a student at Kellogg?
16. Anything else you’d like to mention?
17. Any questions for me?

-Could you walk me through your resume? A bunch of follow-up questions about my previous work experience. It turns out his wife used to work at my last company. He made me go into detail about my life post my COVID-Lay off.
-Why do you want to get an MBA now?
-Why Kellogg? Follow-up question: What clubs and activities do you plan to join?
-What is your dream post MBA, and how will Kellogg help you achieve it?
-What are your immediate goals post, Kellogg? Follow-up: do those companies recruit Kellogg students?
-What was your GRE/GMAT score? Why did you get that score?
-Please give me an example where you made a mistake.
-Please give me an example of a time when you demonstrated leadership.
-Any questions for me? I asked him 3-4 questions about the Kellog culture, life as an alum, and what he considers a "successful" student. He barely answered them and then...
He said, listen, I will do my best, but frankly, there is not much I can do with what you gave me today. He asked if he could be acid with his comments, and I obviously agreed. For the following 45min, he started lecturing me on how I was not the right candidate for Kellogg:
-How I lacked confidence in my untraditional background.
-How he hoped my essays were better than my resume.
-How He had to study for two years for the GMAT before he got the score he wanted.
-How he doesn't care to understand ADHD or dyslexia, but on how she was sure if I made a little bit more of an effort, I could get a higher score and overcome MY disabilities.
-He commented on my appearance and said I looked terrific.
-He said that my resume did not display my wholeness as a person/applicant.
-He recommended that I withdrew my application and retook the GRE/GMAT so that I had a better chance of getting in next year.
-How he thought that I should work on my start-ups more before going to business school (bruh, that's why I am trying to go to business school)
-He told me that I had wasted my time applying. He said if you want to go to Kellogg, withdraw, give me a call next year, and I can help you with your essays. I hope you will have something more to show by then.
-He flexed that out of the 18 applicants he interviews per year, at least seven get in.

- Walk me through your resume?
- What does your day-to-day work look like?
- What do you enjoy the most about your job?
- What has been your most significant achievement?
- (Leadership) Tell me about a time when you led a team that had people with different opinions. What was rewarding, what was challenging.
- (Leadership) How did you overcome those challenges, as a leader.
- (Leadership) What would your colleagues on that project say were your strengths as a leader?
- (Leadership) What are your other strengths as a leader, in addition to the ones mentioned above? (elaborated on the previous question)
- (Leadership) What has been your most significant achievement as a leader?
- Tell me about a time when you received constructive feedback.
- What are your short-term and long-term goals?
- Why MBA?
- Why Kellogg?
- Why now?
- What clubs will you join?
- What’s your Plan B? (Answered with a plan B and Plan C which she seemed to have liked)
- What has changed since the last time you applied (I was reapplying)?
- Is there anything else you’d want us to know?
- Questions for me (I ask 3 or 4 questions, don't remember exactly.)

1. Tell me about your undergrad.
2. Tell me about your work history.
3. Goals & why MBA/
4. What if you don't get your post-MBA goal?
5. Why Kellogg?
6. Tell me about a time when you worked in teams.
7. How would you describe your leadership style?
8. Help me understand what you do in your job.
9. Anything you want me to discuss (I mentioned 3)
10. Any questions for me?

- Tell me about yourself
- Questions around specific roles in my resume - promos etc.
- What does your everyday job look like?
- Significant accomplishment at work
- Teamwork experience where people in the team were different from you - opportunities and challenges
- 3 strengths that your colleagues would attribute to you
- 2 weaknesses
- What is your leadership style and example of that style
- ST and LT goals
- Why MBA? Why now?
- Why Kellogg?
- Apart from professional clubs, what are you interested in?
- What do you think will be a challenge for you at Kellogg?
- Any questions for the adcom from me

Run me through the resume.
My role and responsibilities in current job.
Best achievement in this job.
How would your employees describe you (3 things)?
2 areas you think you can improve on on.
Short term and long term goals
Why mba?
Why Kellogg?
How would you involve yourself at Kellogg?
What will be your biggest challenge at Kellogg?
Anything else you would you like me to ask you?
What would you like to ask me?

- Why MBA
- Why Kellogg
- ST/LT goals

1. Tell me about yourself
2. Why Kellogg?
3. ST/LT goals
4. What company do you hope to work for?
5. What three words would a colleague use to describe you?
6. Follow up on examples for the above.
7. Walk me through a challenge that you have come across when working on a team? (Looking back, I think I answered with a personal challenge vs team-based, ugh).
8. Questions for me?

1. Tell me about yourself
2. Reason to leave jobs
3. ST/LT Goal
4. Why Kellogg
5. Strength & weaknesses
6. Plan B if plan A cannot be achieved"

1) Walk me through your resume, starting with your choice of specialization during undergrad
2) What does your current role entail and current team look like?
3) If I were to ask your colleagues, what would they say they like about you?
4) What is a piece of constructive feedback you've received?
5) How has your leadership style evolved from the time you were in undergrad to now? (this was caught me off guard)
6) What are your goals and why MBA?
7) Why Kellogg?
8) How will you get involved within the community?
9) What do you like to do outside of your work?
10) Is there anything else you'd like me to know?
11) Any questions for me?

1) Walk me through your resume
2) Why MBA
3) Why Kellogg
4) Goals
5) How will you differentiate yourself at Kellogg
6) A few specific questions about a previous job I held
7) Tell me about a time when you led a team
8) How will you contribute at Kellogg
9) Which other schools have you applied to

Some of the questions (Not sure of the flow):
Walk me through your resume?
What exactly are your responsibilities in your current role?
Can you explain a little more about the project X? (from resume)
What do you like most about your work at Firm X?
Goals?
Why MBA?
Why Kellogg?
What is the one thing you think you’ll bring to the Kellogg classroom?
What are the three adjectives your friend would use to describe you?
Experience you worked with diverse people?
What do you think will be your biggest challenge at Kellogg?
How does your side venture function without you there?
Anything you wished we asked?
Any questions?

- Tell me about your current role
- How do you think you work in teams
- Tell me about an instance you worked "different" (as defined by you) people? How did you tackle it? What was the outcome?
- What are your Short-term and Long-term Goals?
- What kind of a leader are you?
- As a leader what has been your great accomplishments
- What is one strength as a leader that you will bring to Kellogg
- Why an MBA?
- Why Kellogg?
- Any other interests/activities that your are planning to be a part of at Kellogg
- How would you contribute in the classroom compared to others?
- What do you think might be the difficult thing for you at Kellogg?
- Anything else which we have not touched upon yet that you would like to discuss.
- So, do you have any questions for me?

1. Walk me through your resume
2. Which was your favorite work experience among all the jobs you held
3. Best achievement at work?
4. The time when you led a team and things did not go well
5. Time when you worked with a diverse team
6. Tell me about the constructive feedback you have received
7. Strengths
8. If you could redo, will you choose a different career path?
9. What do you think your weakness is in the whole application?
10. What type of leader are you?
11. How would your colleagues describe you? in three words?
12. What's your leadership style?
13. Time when you were not a designated team lead but had to lead the team? What were the reasons?
14. Why Kellogg?
15. Short and long term goals?
16. What clubs will you join in Kellogg?
17. How do you see yourself contributing to the class?
18. Do you want to add anything else?
19. Questions for me?

Why Kellogg?
Why MBA?
What are your short/long term career goals?

The interviewer was a second year student. It was pretty conversational from the get-go. The questions were also pretty standard.
-He commented on the diversity of jobs I've held and asked me to help him understand my thought process behind each of those decisions
-one or two behavioural questions: accomplishment you're most proud of, three strengths
-Three different questions on leadership style. This was a little perplexing for me because it felt like he wanted me to give a certain specific answer except I wasn't able to figure out what it might have been. Or maybe I over-analysing this.
-A little bit on short term goals, though he was kind enough to say that he'd got a sense of what I want to do based on my responses to previous questions
-Alternare career

- Tell me about your education and then walk me through your resume.
- Tell me more about your team and work at your current job.
- If I were to ask your team, what are the things they would say about you?
- What was your leadership style during your undergraduate and postgraduate, and what is your leadership style now and how do you think it has evolved?
- Give me an example of when you took a bold decision as a leader? (This one was a follow-up question from my previous response)
- Tell me about a time when you worked with people who were different (she was kind to include that different could be in any sense I wanted to define) than you, and how did it challenge you, and how did you grow from it?
Piece of advice: in case you get a question which is made up of sub-questions, please listen well and remember to answer all of those)
- What are your short-term and long-term goals, and how will an MBA help you?
(I wasn't sure if she expected me to answer "Why Kellogg" along with or not, but either way, I did)
- What are the clubs you are interested in at Kellogg?
- Is there something I haven’t asked you that you thought I should have asked?
(This one got me a bit by surprise, maybe because I was expecting further probing around my goals and was mentally ready to respond to something along those lines. Anyway, I told her that she hadn't asked me about my weaknesses/areas of improvement, to which she smiled and asked me to go on and elaborate. I'd personally recommend responding with something (you can choose not to self-inflict pain like me and list out your weaknesses ) rather than telling the interviewer something like "you were pretty comprehensive" or simply going into a prolonged limbo)
- Do you have any questions for me?
(Standard advice that goes around is to have three, or at most four questions. Her questions ended around the 45-minute mark, and by the time she answered my first two questions, we were past the 55-minute mark. Since she had been quite elaborate and forthcoming with her responses (including sharing her personal stories from the time when she attended Kellogg), I instead chose to converse more about her responses than asking a third question just for the heck of it.)

1. INTRODUCTION (approx. 5-6 mins)
-> She didn't really introduce herself but introduced the entire process - how it was a blind interview and how they will proceed.
-> Walk me through your Resume/ Tell me about yourself route

2. RESUME IN DEPTH - chronological order (approx. 10-12 mins)
-> Why under-graduation from University of Delhi ? Why that specific College?
-> Why that course ? Why that stream/ Major ?
Questions related to both my Work Experiences :
-> Describe your role ?
-> Why this organization and this Industry ?
-> Why a startup after under-graduation ?
-> What was the difference in terms of role & responsibilities in the promotions I got? (since I got really quick promotions in both the startups).
-> She would occasionally also pick up a few projects I had mentioned and ask Why did I decide to work on that project and What did I exactly do ? How was it leading a team ?

3. BEHAVIORAL QUESTIONS - following up with my work-ex, but she mentioned that the answers do not need to be limited to my professional experience (approx. 15 mins)
-> Tell me about an impact that you made in your surroundings, industry or on people ?
-> Tell me about a time you failed?
-> Tell me about a time you worked in a team that was truly diverse ? What was the outcome ?
-> Tell me about a time in your life when the situation(s) really tested your resilience and how did you overcome it ?
-> What's your biggest growth opportunity at this moment ?
-> What would you say is your biggest strength ?

4. TRADITIONAL QUESTIONS (approx. 7-8 mins):
-> Why MBA ? (Since I hadn't encountered a Goals question yet, I started my answer with my LT goals and transitioned to why MBA)
-> Why these Long-term Goals ?
-> What if these Long-term Goals did not come to force ? What was my Plan B?
-> What were my immediate post-MBA goals ?
-> Why right now ? (she still wanted to know why now was the best time ?)
-> Why Kellogg ?

5. Any questions you have for me ?