Interviewing for the first time........

Question

I have my first interview in two weeks. Any tips or common questions that are going to be asked? Help needed from the gurus

And what kind of questions do they usually expect from the applicants?

jayy178 · Answer

i have my first interview coming up in a month..from what i hear, the very common questions are:

know your resume (tell your life story)
why mba
why XYZ school
why now
short term/long term goals

brown · Answer

Biggest weakness
Biggest strength
What are you most proud of
What do you like to do in your free time
What do you plan to do after MBA
Why did you choose your ugrad school
Why did you choose your current employer

sujith · Answer

I had my first one a few weeks ago. absolutely bombed it. The lesson I took away is that formulating an answer in your head is not enough, you have to practice out loud, whether it be in front of a mirror or with a friend. I know that sounds like obvious advice but its something I didn't follow, and I payed.

Tajik4GMAT · Answer

Thanks guys for ur responses. What about the questions that we need to ask? I found everything that I was looking for on their website. I can't come up with any questions

rhyme · Answer

are you interviewing with a student alumni or an adcom?

brown · Answer

Personally, I really dislike the notion that "you have to have a question ready to ask." I'm a very analytical type who researches things compulsively ahead of time, so I honestly didn't have something that I *had* to ask. However, you gotta play the game...

Definitely stay away from questions that have obvious answers that you could have looked up on the school's website.

I chose questions of the "what's your opinion" variety. For example, Kellogg has a reputation for being teamwork zealots. I asked "I have a couple friends who went to Kellogg. One said the teamwork environment was great. The other said that it can sometimes be a bit extreme and forced. What do you think? Is this changing?"

So... questions that are very much about the school, demonstrate that you're thinking about the school, and don't have obvious and available answers.

My 2 cents

rhyme · Answer

You MUST have SOLID and CLEAR answers to these:

why mba
why XYZ school
why now
short term/long term goals

MAKE SURE you can answer these. 

Practice. I burned a CD with practice questions and listened to it in the car on my way to work. I'd hit play, listen to the question, turn the volume off, answer it, and then go to the next track. I did that 3 or 4 days a week for about two weeks, for about 2 hours a day.

brown · Answer

That is a truly awesome idea.

rhyme · Answer

It also feels really good when you get an accept, go to the work the next day, hit the highway, turn on the stereo, and laugh at the CD, take it out and throw it out your window at 70mph.

Tajik4GMAT · Answer

rhyme,

It says Assistant Dean

sujith · Answer

what questions do people typically ask adcoms?
With an alum I'd be able to ask about his experiences etc...

rhyme · Answer

Then ask about new initiatives at the school, or where they see the school progressing over the next few years. Ask them what students like most about the school.

Ozmba · Answer

It's a great idea.. where did u get the audio files ? lemme know if u still have them....

EconGirl · Answer

rhyme, let me know as well. thanks

braindancer · Answer

He he. Just - plug in the mic - launch Recorder - press Start - say "Why MBA?" - press Stop See? Now you got an audio file.

lhotseface · Answer

How do you think you will contribute to the school or the learning of other students ?

Tajik4GMAT · Answer

Thanks everyone for ur input :lol:

rhyme · Answer

Just record yourself. I use audacity. https://audacity.sourceforge.net/ Works very well, and you can record more than 60 seconds. Hit record, hit save as q1.wav, hit record, hit save as q2.wav, hit record... burn to disc. Pop in car. Done. I also used audacity to pratice at home. I'd record my answer - not so much to listen to it (though I sometimes did) but more as a timer than anything else. So I could see if my why mba answer was taking 10 minutes. By recording my responses too, I could go back and see how my answers were doing - getting shorter as I praticed or getting longer.. And every now and then I'd listen to one and see what I thought about it. Sometimes I'd nail the question, and other times I'm just get completely lost halfway through. This was where audacity is better than windows sound recorder - because I can record as long as I like with audacity, whereas I'd have to stop my answer every sixty seconds with windows recorder.

Tajik4GMAT · Answer

How long was ur average interview? Mine says it is gonna be one hour. Is it long or short compared to urs?

Interviewing for the first time........

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