I interviewed today with an alum in New York City. We met at her office and the interview lasted about 45 minutes. The interviewer was very friendly, yet professional. The whole interview was very conversational and comfortable.

The interviewer started off by telling me about herself – where she went to undergrad, what she did after Stanford and what she did at her current job. Very high level. Then we dove into questions for me (see below).

Questions:

• Why MBA?
• Why Stanford?
• Tell me about a challenging work experience? What did you learn?
• Tell me about a time when you failed or things did not go as planned? How did you respond?
• Tell me about a time when you took initiative and developed a project.
• What are your career goals?
• Are there any questions that I did not ask that you think I should have asked or pieces of information you think are critical for me to know?
• What questions do you have for me?

I asked her a few questions about why she went to Stanford, what her favorite part of the program was, and what advice she would give to an incoming student. Overall, I thought the interview flowed very well. She was very easy to talk to and there was no point in the convo where I felt uncomfortable or nervous. She took a lot of notes on my resume (which I had sent her beforehand, but it’s a good idea to take an extra copy just in case) and kept solid track of time to ensure we ended right around 45 minutes.