UC Berkeley’s Haas MBA R1 Waitlist without interview, R2 / Off-campus / Alumni
I got a waitlist-without-an-interview decision in R1 from Haas and I was asked to schedule an interview. At that time, there was no interviewer available in India. Not wanting to take a telephonic interview, I took the next possible option. I scheduled my interview in Singapore for 21st February 2009. My interviewer worked at McKinsey, Singapore and he was from Indonesia. He was Hass MBA Class of 2005 and had extensive experience working in the US and in SouthEastAsia.
I walked into the Centennial Tower in the Tamasek Avenue at 10:00 and sat in the coffee house sipping cold coffee (Singapore is sultry, just like my hometown Trivandrum), reviewed my notes and entered the McKinsey office at 10:50. My interview was scheduled at 11:00. I sat in the lobby reading the day's paper when my interviewer walked in. After exchanging pleasantries, we spoke at length about my journey to Singapore and I apologized for the confusion that had spewed on my interview schedule, flip-flopping my decision between doing it in India Vs Singapore.
Contrary to the usual, he started by telling me his experience at Haas. What he did and what he enjoyed… Then came the interview. It was really more a discussion than an interview. It lasted a bit more than an hour and was very conversational. He asked me a lot of questions including:
Walk me thru your resume
A leadership experience (I chose outside of work) - He dove in detail in this asking me about the strategies that I had adopted to deal with the problem and how I mitigated the risks associated with it.
Explain a time where you were a humble leader (An interesting question)
Why Haas?
My goals and how I thought Haas would help me get there
What do I know about Strategy Consulting?
How can I contribute to class and what I thought was unique in my candidature.
After this we had a big discussion on his days at Haas including his work with BSG (Berkeley Solutions Group). We discussed a case that he was involved with and the recommendations. Quite fun… It reaffirmed my belief of Haas as a place of “Confidence without Attitude” or as he put it, with “Humble Leaders”… |
