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02 Mar 2010, 13:59
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ok. LBS debrief.
i had my interview today, also with a mid 90s alum. he was a corporate executive in a multinational firm and of european descent. it was very clear to me that LBS picked him because of the similarity between his current role and the aspirations and experiences i described in my essays. luckily, the general tone of the interview was friendly, which put me at ease and our interview turned out to be very conversational in some parts.
his approach was to lay out a series of questions that you should expect in all these bschool interviews - all at the same tme: walk me through your resume, what are your career aspirations, short term and long term goals, explain why you want an mba, why LBS in particular.... so i spent the next several minutes answering all these questions and he asked follow ups depending on what i chose to speak about. (personally, i liked this approach because it allowed me to control my message and weave in several themes). halfway through the interview (unusual, but i think this was because my food was getting cold - we had an interview over breakfast) he gave me the opportunity to ask him any questions i had. it was a good thing i had prepared five or six, because he kept asking me if i had anything else like i was supposed to have an endless supply!
he also asked a series of teamwork example questions and teamwork challenge questions. and then a few questions about my travelling experiences (as relayed in my application). probably the most interesting question tho was: what do you see as some of the major opportunities in business today that are perhaps being overlooked? towards the end he also asked which other schools i had applied to and why. followed by what were my plans if i did not get accepted, and would i then consider reapplying. all the time while writing a copious amount of notes! he ended by giving me a few minutes to work on the presentation.
my topic was also related to the financial crisis. it was a good question, but i didnt consider it easy - and i have a finance background. the good news is that i think the point of the presentation is to judge your reasoning and presentation skills because even though the topic was finance, there was nothing technical about it. i liken it to the AWA section of the GMAT.
the interview lasted just under two hours. i think it went fairly well. hope this helps.
i had my interview today, also with a mid 90s alum. he was a corporate executive in a multinational firm and of european descent. it was very clear to me that LBS picked him because of the similarity between his current role and the aspirations and experiences i described in my essays. luckily, the general tone of the interview was friendly, which put me at ease and our interview turned out to be very conversational in some parts.
his approach was to lay out a series of questions that you should expect in all these bschool interviews - all at the same tme: walk me through your resume, what are your career aspirations, short term and long term goals, explain why you want an mba, why LBS in particular.... so i spent the next several minutes answering all these questions and he asked follow ups depending on what i chose to speak about. (personally, i liked this approach because it allowed me to control my message and weave in several themes). halfway through the interview (unusual, but i think this was because my food was getting cold - we had an interview over breakfast) he gave me the opportunity to ask him any questions i had. it was a good thing i had prepared five or six, because he kept asking me if i had anything else like i was supposed to have an endless supply!
he also asked a series of teamwork example questions and teamwork challenge questions. and then a few questions about my travelling experiences (as relayed in my application). probably the most interesting question tho was: what do you see as some of the major opportunities in business today that are perhaps being overlooked? towards the end he also asked which other schools i had applied to and why. followed by what were my plans if i did not get accepted, and would i then consider reapplying. all the time while writing a copious amount of notes! he ended by giving me a few minutes to work on the presentation.
my topic was also related to the financial crisis. it was a good question, but i didnt consider it easy - and i have a finance background. the good news is that i think the point of the presentation is to judge your reasoning and presentation skills because even though the topic was finance, there was nothing technical about it. i liken it to the AWA section of the GMAT.
the interview lasted just under two hours. i think it went fairly well. hope this helps.
02 Mar 2010, 20:14
Kudos
Bookmarks
i'll toss my experience as well.
met my alumni at his own apartment. which i thought really helped ease the tension. i was sitting at a dinner table with many familiar things like family pictures and basic home items surrounding me which made the interview much more of a conversation feel rather than an "interview". his demeanor was very friendly and very easy to talk to. my questions were drawn directly from my application and essay responses and we did not go through the "walk me through your resume". since my experiences were unique, it was somewhat liberating not having to describe every position and its significance, and going directly to the meat of the issue. he also stated that there were "canned" questions that LBS had supplied him, but that he did not want to ask them because they were so generic and "boring". but the themes that he emphasized quite heavily was my experiences in teams and how and when i led. although my questions were highly personalized, it can be assumed that these characteristics is what others can take away from my interview experience and prepare for: "tell me about a time you led a team", "what was the outcome", "what did you learn", etc.
for the "case study", it was fairly simple but i believe i tripped up trying to be too thorough. My question revolved around private enterprises and government influences. it sounds more complicated than it was. it was fairly simple to answer, but i think i tried to do too much and would have liked maybe 3 more mins of prep time and may have come off a little stumbley. but regardless, it made me think that these "case" questions are matched to each interviewee because it seemed like it was near my wheel house of expertise, even though i didn't have a finance background.
lastly, after the presentation, we BS'd a bit talking about london, housing, travel, ECs, weather, finances, and even dating in and out of the school atmosphere. being in Southern California, he warned that i would hate the weather in London, but the upside was that with just a few bucks, i could be in paris or madrid at the drop of a hat.
after that, we shook hands and went our ways. i feel pretty confident about my performance, but hey, who knows?
met my alumni at his own apartment. which i thought really helped ease the tension. i was sitting at a dinner table with many familiar things like family pictures and basic home items surrounding me which made the interview much more of a conversation feel rather than an "interview". his demeanor was very friendly and very easy to talk to. my questions were drawn directly from my application and essay responses and we did not go through the "walk me through your resume". since my experiences were unique, it was somewhat liberating not having to describe every position and its significance, and going directly to the meat of the issue. he also stated that there were "canned" questions that LBS had supplied him, but that he did not want to ask them because they were so generic and "boring". but the themes that he emphasized quite heavily was my experiences in teams and how and when i led. although my questions were highly personalized, it can be assumed that these characteristics is what others can take away from my interview experience and prepare for: "tell me about a time you led a team", "what was the outcome", "what did you learn", etc.
for the "case study", it was fairly simple but i believe i tripped up trying to be too thorough. My question revolved around private enterprises and government influences. it sounds more complicated than it was. it was fairly simple to answer, but i think i tried to do too much and would have liked maybe 3 more mins of prep time and may have come off a little stumbley. but regardless, it made me think that these "case" questions are matched to each interviewee because it seemed like it was near my wheel house of expertise, even though i didn't have a finance background.
lastly, after the presentation, we BS'd a bit talking about london, housing, travel, ECs, weather, finances, and even dating in and out of the school atmosphere. being in Southern California, he warned that i would hate the weather in London, but the upside was that with just a few bucks, i could be in paris or madrid at the drop of a hat.
after that, we shook hands and went our ways. i feel pretty confident about my performance, but hey, who knows?
02 Mar 2010, 22:06
Kudos
Bookmarks
Just got back to office after my interview - I'll post feedback this evening (in another 6 hours).
only 55 minutes inclusive of everything. Will write a debrief tomorrow. 
and otherwise about life and studies there.
)
