Hi All,
I had my face-2-face interview today. My interviewer was 2011 Alumnus and works in private equity in India. He turned out to be an amazing guy who bagged four offers on the campus !
The interview started with the usual chit-chat but he asked me to ask a few questions first (A bit different from "tell me about yourself" routine). So I asked him a few ice-breaker questions about his experience at LBS etc. As the conversation progressed, he asked me the tough questions one by one. The toughest one was - Why MiF and Why do I want a career in PE/Investments ?
As I do not have any prior PE experience and also as my interviewer works in same field, he not only grilled me but also at the same time we discussed a lot about finance in general and also indian economy, PE in India etc.
My tips to others - from my interview experience is that -
1. Be prepared to talk about "why MiF/What do you want out of the MiF program and how can MiF help you move in your career ? Why MiF from LBS, why not MIT or Columbia etc ?
2. Be prepared to answer logically and so made up "boiler-plate" answers are not going to help. Impromptu answers will clinch the deal here. But be careful.
3. Read a lot about the career in finance you want to take up ! and also try to speak to as many industry contacts etc about your goals and motivations. Be prepared by reading economist, financial times etc and following news from Bloomberg, BBC, CNN etc.
4. Develop a knack of thinking like a "devil's advocate".
5. Lastly pay extra attention to details while logically presenting your arguments and also interpersonal skills play a very important role. Persuasion techniques will certainly help a great deal in these interview.
Hope this write-up helps.
I am keeping my fingers crossed now. My interviewer told me that he expects to send his feedback by end of this week, so I believe - i have to wait till next week thursday for the final result !
And Best of luck to others who are still in the race.