Toughest/Interesting question you've had

I was fully prepared for the standard MBA interview questions at one of my interviews and it was clear from the first question..."why the hell do you want an MBA right now?" that nothing about the interview was going to be standard.

Other questions from the same interivew: "your GPA is kinda lame do you think you could really cut it at xxx?" "since I graduated from xxx, over 12,000 students have been through the program, take the other top 10 schools and you've got close to 120,000...most of whom (cited multiple trends/statistics) are currently looking for a job right now. So, tell me again why the hell you want an MBA?" "how have you handled a difficult situation? And, don't give me the same crap you talked about in your essays." "Do you have money in savings? If so, why don't you buy into the company you've helped build instead of going to bschool?"

It was a very different approach but, somehow, I was able to roll with the punches and I got through it. He would have murdered anyone trying to enter the standard post-MBA job market.

I was fully prepared for the standard MBA interview questions at one of my interviews and it was clear from the first question..."why the hell do you want an MBA right now?" that nothing about the interview was going to be standard.

Other questions from the same interivew: "your GPA is kinda lame do you think you could really cut it at xxx?" "since I graduated from xxx, over 12,000 students have been through the program, take the other top 10 schools and you've got close to 120,000...most of whom (cited multiple trends/statistics) are currently looking for a job right now. So, tell me again why the hell you want an MBA?" "how have you handled a difficult situation? And, don't give me the same crap you talked about in your essays." "Do you have money in savings? If so, why don't you buy into the company you've helped build instead of going to bschool?"

It was a very different approach but, somehow, I was able to roll with the punches and I got through it. He would have murdered anyone trying to enter the standard post-MBA job market.

i guess any school that uses the confrontational interview style on me will probably get rejected by me first, hahaha

. Felt more like an exec-level job interview.

It takes a ridiculously unprofessional executive to say that something about the interviewee is lame.

It takes a ridiculously unprofessional executive to say that something about the interviewee is lame.

As the topic says. Just wondering what the toughest or interesting question you've had so far. Not after an interview review, looking for anecdotal experiences and how you handled the question.

Probably the toughest question i had so far, was from HKUST -
Can't remember the exact question but it goes along the lines of :-

"You're 33 with no financial background so unlikely to be recruited by i-banks, can't speak Mandarin so are competing against people who can for marketing, consulting and management jobs, what type of career opportunities do you think you have in Hong Kong?"

Was a toughie due to its negative slant. I talked about my international experience and the globalisation of companies.

Most Interesting was from NUS -
"Economically, how do you see India and China in 30 years time?"

I focused on China and it's historical GDP in terms of ratio to world GDP. Then brought in the opium wars and cultural revolution to explain the downturn, and how the upturn in GDP should allow it to eventually reach its historical ratio based on the premise of political stability and improved infrastructure and population. I also transferred the last 3 criteria to explain that India also has the same potential.

Probably should have cited post-second world war Japan as an example of a country which developed quickly to become an economic superpower. In fact 19th century Japan is a good example as it was closed off to the world for over 100 hundred years, thereby missing the industrial revolution in the west. After it's ports were re-opened by the Americans for trade, they advanced so quickly to become a military superpower in the region.

u should have said that people in hong kong dont speak mandarin as well but cantonese. they dont understand each other, saw it with my own eyes

Actually, most university educated people in Hong Kong speak Mandarin perfectly fine. It's the less educated who don't.