MBA admissions Interview preparation checklist

This article is part of the blog series, Top MBA Admissions by Rajeev Soni.

The MBA interview is one of the most important steps and it is critical to get it right. A good interview doesn’t mean the you will get in but a bad one almost always ensures a ding. Also, you can’t wing it. So, preparation and practice are key. To prepare for the interviews you can use this checklist. This is not designed to be comprehensive. I don’t think that any such comprehensive list can exist But you can use this to get started and customize for your own use.
Before we jump into the questions some fundamentals:
  • Who is the interview with
    • Admission committee member/s
    • Student/s
    • Alum/s
  • Interview will be conducted in person or over Skype
  • Blind interview or not: Many schools have a blind interview and many don’t. In the case of a blind interview, the interviewer has NOT seen your essays. In the other case, the interviewers have seen and read your essays.
  • Will there be a case during the interview: Some school interviews tend to include a simple business case. So research ahead and be prepared.

Fundamental questions

  • Why MBA?
  • Why Now?
  • Career path till now? Rationale behind responsibility changes, job switches.
  • Long term career goals
  • Short term career goals
  • Research into long term and short term goals. Do they make sense? Have you spoken with people in the industry?
  • Why this particular school: Have you done in-depth research and spoken with alumni?
  • Examples and anecdotes you can cite to create a compelling story and logic
  • Do you know about the city and local elements. Peculiarities. Chicago: Hyde Park, NYU: NYC, Ross: Ann Arbor, Wharton: Philadelphia etc.
  • How will you contribute to the class?

Personal elements (More relevant if you are interviewing with an alum or a current student)

  • Research on the current work and career path of the person.
  • Common grounds between you and the interviewer so that you can build affinity.

Personal behavioral and situational questions

  • Key Accomplishments. How, why, impact
  • Failures. Learnings and ability to bounce back.
  • Your strengths and weaknesses
  • Reaction to negative feedback
  • Biggest challenges that you faced
  • Moral dilemmas that you may have faced
  • Difficult decisions that you may have had to make
  • Community involvement
  • Examples of times when you had to work with people from different cultures. What did you learn from the experience?
  • Examples of culture shocks
  • Examples of when you had to lead a team
  • When you had to deal with a difficult team member
  • When you had to convince people who didn’t see things your way

Other preparation

  • Attire: Business formals, unless instructed otherwise.
  • Resume copies in a well-appointed folder
  • Location & time confirmed and reconfirmed
  • If the interview is online, test your webcam, computer, and internet connection in advance and arrange for backups in case something happens at the last moment. Also, keep in mind to position the camera properly, lighting, background etc in mind.