申请了insead  2011年1月入学，刚结束了两轮的面试。总体上感觉INSEAD校友非常友善，总结一下，希望会对大家有用：
R1:
时间：5月10日
地点：新加坡
面试官：02’校友，中国人
时间：40分钟；
面试问题：
·        Why MBA / Why INSEAD;
·        另外就没有什么特别的问题了，一直围绕简历上的一些细节问了很久；没有问一些很程序化的问题。感觉很随意。更主要的是跟我分享了很多INSEAD学校的生活。比如作为学生，一定要懂得makefun，不然其他学生不会喜欢你滴。。。最后送我至电梯口，并祝我好运。

R2
时间：5月17
地点：新加坡
面试官：05’校友，意大利人
时间：90分钟（讲地我那个口干舌燥啊）
面试问题：
·        Walk me through your resume; why University? WhyMaster? Why company 1? Why company 2? Why company 3? （本人有一个Master,还在三间公司工作过）
·        Why MBA? / Why Now? / Why INSEAD?
·        Does your company support your MBA initiative?Have you think thoroughly about the ROI of MBA? How do you fund your MBA?
·        Short /long term career goal? Why career goal?
·        What would make your goal likely to fail or succeed?
·        How do you think of your current company?
·        If I am a client, how do you sell yourconsulting service to me? (俺是做consulting的)
·        An experience of cultural shock?
·        The most challenging part of working in a team?How do you reconcile conflicts in the team environment?
·        Your former interactions with INSEAD? Use threewords to describe the INSEAD alumni? Why do you think so? Do thesecharacteristics differentiate INSEAD from other schools?
·        Have you applied other schools? (interestingly,the interviewer did not ask why other schools…)
·        Your extra-curricular activities? Why theseactivities? (汗一个，喜欢就是喜欢啊。。。后来一琢磨，他其实在问，你有没有利用一些课外活动进行社交)
·        If you do not proceed with MBA, what would youdo in your career? (这个有点晕，开始还以为他问ifyou were not admitted into INSEAD…)
·        Use one word to describe your passion?
·        Recently, what news captured your attentions?Why?
·        Do you have any questions for me?

·        这位insead 校友非常严谨啊，时不时还跟我来两段逻辑推理，凡事必定会问why。我那个口干舌燥啊，不过最让我感动地是这个校友写了满满4页多。没有听清楚的，必定会继续问，直到完全问清楚为止。面试完了之后，他说自己也没有意识到会聊这么久；还说通常他不会聊这么久的。最后祝我申请好运。
最后祝大家都能种瓜得瓜，种豆得豆，申请到自己心仪的学校。

INSEAD MBA R3上海面试 (4/7)
今天下午Insead正式面试结束，现在听天由命中。


当时接到interviewer inform时，发现都是华人名字，猜想是不是我ibt口语19闹的……大概照顾我口语烂……


第一个interview之前从姓上猜想是新加坡人，其实是苏格兰长大的华人，目前是一家外资保险公司的的VP，应该是01年左右INSEAD毕业的。


直接去的外滩他公司面试，之前都是他秘书和我联系的，而且就在我还在犹豫什么时候去邀请的时候，他先发了Mail过来。
到了之后正好他有会议就等了半小时，5点开始7点结束，整整2小时。


这个Insead校友非常Nice，先说了下面试的目的是了解我这个人，所以也没有什么常规话题，就是让我自己在那大嘴巴吹……全程英语。


我就从5岁陪伴美国友人游长城开始回忆……一直到最近去欧洲的蜜月旅行自驾游，反正扣紧International Experience。校友基本就听我说，然后问些我提到的细节问题(可能是真实性检验？)，这块我基本对答如流(因为基本不是编的，小有夸张)。


突出提了几个问题，一是我对新加坡的看法(因为在那工作了几年)，我就很大嘴巴的说，出来前有很多幻想，但后来发现其实和国内差不多=_=，但是劳工阶层的生活好很多也更稳定敬业，觉得这个就是发达与发展中的差距。


还有就是问了我回国创业前，当年叫我去新加坡的老板怎样反应。我说，他就是笑笑说：“没关系啦，你30都还没到。”


还着重问了我带一个跨文化团队的经验(因为在新的团队是个多国部队)我泛泛的说了下，大意是忽略文化背景，扣住全人类共识之类的……举例说了下怎么解决团队中的菲律宾刺头……


聊到后来挺融洽的，最后十分钟我们在聊爱好。。。。我说我的爱好是打游戏(这个……据说是禁忌，唉)，他就说他当年也很喜欢某些游戏，我们就此展开聊了会他喜欢的那几个游戏(嘿嘿，几十年游龄我没玩过的游戏还真不多)。最后，我问了下，对他而言，站在今天的高度，如何评价当年的MBA教育对他的影响。他也是说当初他也是career switcher，从acounting转consulting，后来又banking再到insurrance。他觉得MBA对这个转变还是至关重要的，而且那一年的经历绝对是宝贵的人生体验，他认为很值得。他还说，人生的体验是找工作还是要按兴趣来，＂Money will come"不必太在意收入。


最后用中文祝了我好运，握手进电梯……


感觉校友还是很厉害，尤其对谈话的把握，基本没有提什么问题，就让我絮絮叨叨的谈了２个多小时，而且感觉挺愉快，没什么压力。


至于他对我的印象……我也没什么把握，因为我自我感觉一向是过于良好的，所以……


第2个校友面试是今天下午，是来自大陆05年毕业的校友，现在某最佳雇主企业任总监。


校友之前电话里的声音相当年轻……不过本人应该也40左右了。这次面谈是利用他在上海的2天抽空进行的，地点在南京路他的会议地点，所以时间上比较仓促，就1小时。自我感觉发挥不好……几个问题卡了壳=_=，而且全程中文，只在其中一段转用英文。


这次的校友问的问题都很常规，Career Goal阿，Why MBA,Why INSEAD等，其中一个卡壳的问题是关于　中国文化的……提到INSEAD有Culture week假如让我组织介绍中国文化，我会怎么组织。其实这是个可预见的问题，但我当时想的都没什么创意，我就想了会，结果他直接跳过了 :~(。后来谈到为何要从新加坡回来，以及带多国团队的经验（这个问题好像必问）。对了还问了我的strength和Weakness，我说我的Strongth是看问题很快能看到Big Picture并且举一反三的能力很强（照抄前大老板推荐信上的……），缺点是self-motivate不够，总是使不上全力。他追问为何这个是缺点，我说我认为一个人的最终成就还是由他的Self-motivation决定的，每个人都有觉得自己已经尽力了的时候，但那些觉得还可以再尽力点的人，才走的更远。


此外，还问了我会选择怎样的队友？我说主要是互补的，因为我希望团队能Robust和Flexible，过于类似的人在一起，处理多样性问题和未知问题的能力就不强，而这两种问题通常是最难的。


最后我照例问了同样的问题。这次的校友对MBA的评价是脱胎换骨（我想所有国内教育背景的应该都会有这种感触）……


最后结帐走人，我很被鄙视的没有按大家说的那样去抢付帐单……


总的来说，第二次的感觉比较不好，因为回答了许多预设的问题，某些还卡壳了，不如第一次那样在循循善诱下竹筒倒豆子般爽快……


现在，就是开头的4个子　听天由命……

INSEAD 面试--北京
拿到pre selected的邮件之后三周才拿到两个面试人的联系方式， 还能再慢一点吗……等死了。 两个面试人倒是都很奈斯的想要把面试尽早的做完交报告到学校。 我28号发了一个邮件给两位校友， 第二天早上就接到了其中一位法国校友的回复，约好在3号面试。

法国校友是在一个德国的做高铁的公司工作，约好在办公室面试。 话说那天我装着西装衬衣皮鞋人模狗样的去校友办公室面试了， 那天的办公室里空空荡荡没有一个人工作， 就校友在那儿，穿着拖鞋T恤， 对比之下我很overdressed的样子，汗。 校友一进们就开始说让我别紧张， 说校友面试就是看看大家气场和学校合不合， 还一个劲的自己调侃法国人如何如何， 其实我开始还有点紧张，但是一看到拖鞋真就一点都不紧张了……

校友自己先自我介绍了一番， 然后让我自我介绍， 我说我是长沙来的， 还让我到办公室里面的大地图上指出长沙，然后很自豪的告诉我他们在长沙也有办事处。 接下来就是拿着他打印出来的申请材料短文一点点的问。 问我大学为什么不去上海读而要去北京读？问我接下来为什么想到去日本读研究生？然后毕业后为什么不在日本留下来工作？觉得日本人怎么样？和中国人有什么区别？为什么想去挪威工作？在挪威的娱乐活动是什么？最不喜欢和哪国人一起工作？为什么最不喜欢的那国人 不是法国人？（我汗！）工作的具体内容是什么？我们公司是做什么事情的？我的具体职责是什么？然后看着短文让我重新口述了一遍自己的那个失败和成功的经历。 然后说到其中的email来来往往， 说他也很受不了这种讨论技术细节的email，总是没完没了浪费很多时间。为什么想读mba？还申请了什么学校？这样来来去去，加上闲聊就过去了一个半钟头， 然后校友留了半个钟头给我提问。

其实我还没有提问， 校友就又问我， 我看你这个上面写的是去枫丹白露， 为什么不去新加坡呢？我说是因为我和老婆去枫丹白露的校区看了， 老婆很喜欢那种法国的乡村生活的感觉， 那我当然就听老婆的话填了枫丹白露了。 然后校友开始花大力气说新加坡校园的各种好处， 比如校园小人少，同学之间的感觉和关系更加亲密之类的。 然后说了一个最重要的理由就是法国大家住的很远， 开party的时候大家都要开车开个十几二十公里， 然后没有车还要拼车很麻烦， 最麻烦的是喝了酒还不能开车。 但是新加坡都不同， 大家都住在相聚很近的两个公寓里， 喝醉了酒可以直接走回家， 如果真不能走了， 被抬这回家也很容易的……说得我真是想去新加坡校区了！当然最好还是给我机会问问题， 我问了问这段学习经历对他的影响。他说现在在工业界的公司里面， 其实这个学位并不象在咨询界里面那么的被value，然后回忆了一下自己这些年的经历。

于是面试就结束了， 总共两个小时， 临走的时候还跟我说， 不管你录取不录取到时候有结果了给我发个邮件告诉我一声把， 我说一定一定！
第二个面试的校友是一个在金融业工作的中国同胞， 他在我面完法国校友的第二天也就是5月4号青年节给我打了电话， 说是房价的时候没有看邮件，今天才看到。 也是非常奈斯的想要把面试尽早做完，问我什么时候有空， 我说我还在吃饭呢， 吃完饭就有空了。 校友说那好， 吃完饭就来我办公室面试吧。 于是我两点钟就出现在他的办公室了， 当时由于从宾馆退了房，还拖着我的拉杆箱就到了校友的办公室。不过真是喜欢这样快速的搞定！

到了之后校友先自我介绍了一下， 然后让我用英语在白板上画画公司的组织结构图， 让我介绍自己的工作内容， 职业发展， 以及为什么不想工作了想读mba。 我说其实最主要的原因还是这个工作总是需要我离开陆地到海上去， 我受得了我老婆也受不了。 校友表示说是啊，家庭还是最重要的。 介绍了大概半个小时之后，  校友就说我们还是用中文聊吧。

于是开始聊天了， 校友问我喜欢看什么书， 最近看了什么书？于是我就开始说我最近一年来看过的书， 聊到了其中的一本是黄仁宇的长沙白茉莉，然后校友也喜欢看黄仁宇的书和历史方面的书。 我介绍并且推荐了一下长沙白茉莉（我和黄仁宇都是长沙人嘛）， 并说这是黄的唯一一个小说， 校友说不是的， 黄有两个小说， 长沙白茉莉是其中一本，他没有看过， 不过另外一本他看过，是叫汴京残梦，是看着一个清明上河图写出来的故事…… 然后还聊到了其他的书。 后来又问到了我来北京玩什么， 喜欢和什么人玩， 因为校友以前读过phd， 所以还聊到了学术圈，最近我在玩twitter， 于是我还介绍了一下twitter圈， 因为感觉两个圈子还是有共同的地方。 这样不知不觉就聊到了四点，于是校友说留些时间给我问问题。

我也问了和上一个校友一样的问题， 他说其实很多东西还是看运气的， 比如如果毕业的时候遇到经济危机， 很可能就很不好找工作，而平时都是很轻松的一个人可以拿两三个像样的offer的。 然后同样的也说到了法国和新加坡校区的区别， 同样是推荐去新加坡校区。 然后还推荐了CFA的一级notes，说这个在上学前看看对没有任何财会经验的人会很有帮助， 让一年的学习能轻松不少。 最后也是让我通知他最后的结果是怎么样的。 还问我本来是申请九月的为什么到一月了， 我说主要是开始没有考托福， 后来又要我考， 我运气很好的正好打了105分， 于是就有了现在这个面试…… 校友倒是觉得这个是因祸得福， 因为他觉得一月份的有个实习，比九月份的要好。 最后还说之所以觉得一月份好其实主要还是因为自己也是一月份入学的，哈哈。

于是两个面试都结束了。 面试还是蛮有意思的， 是整个申请过程中最有意思的过程， 而且和这样的愿意分享的校友聊了这么久的天， 确实也学到了不少东西。 接下来我也什么都做不了啦， 就等吧～～

INSEAD MBA R3 interviews
第一个面试人是2007毕业的,在一家很大的通讯公司做corporate developement manager. 从给他写第一封信开始，就感觉到了他对这个事情的重视以及条理性。两封信，确认了面试的时间和地点。面试没有什么很特别的，他人很nice,没有什么很刺激人的问题。
1，go through your CV， 挑了几个重点地问了问
2,  long-term, short-term goals
3,  leadership story
4,  how did you handle the resistance from your team members
5, how would you describe chinese, australia, french and german
提问部分我重点问了课程的设置，请他推荐一些他觉得很好的课程。然后我们聊了dash，还有alumni。面试大约做了90分钟，他没有提任何推荐不推荐的话，回来后我给他写了一封感谢信，他也回信了，就是祝我申请顺利的客气话。

第二个面试人是1995毕业的senior，女性。做过PE，IB，Consultant，siemens, 现在自己开了公司。互通信件,联系时间地点时很客气，让我有了点轻敌的思想，以为面试应该很短，她可能就是走走形式。
她完全没按一般的面试形式走。
1，解释一下你职业生涯的几次大变化，为什么这么选择。
2，为什么重视职业，做家庭主妇有什么不好
3，人生中最大的动力是什么
4，如果你突然有了1000万欧元你做什么
5，人生什么都不能control那读MBA干吗
6，为什么不在中国发展你的事业，要在德国
7，你的终生目标是什么
8，为什么不选择简单的生活，为什么要竞争，要赢
9，对 Pène du Bois（一个艺术家）作品的看法
这些问题里，我觉得可能就是Why MBA回答的稍微弱点。对于一个若干年前已经读了MBA的人来说，他们现在对MBA的看法和正在申请的人绝对是有很大的不同的。她可以举出很多别的选择来驳斥MBA的优选性。她是一个很强势的面试人，虽然面带微笑，但是还是比较容易察觉她对你问题的满意度的。在最后提问时,我只问了关于networking的问题。我们面试大约2小时，她送我出来时，站在雪地里还谈了10分钟，她没直接说推荐的事，但是她说你去ＩＮＳＥＡＤ将大大增加他们的diversity,INSEAD 咨询背景的人太多了，这是非常错误的决定，哈哈。最后让我有了任何结果都通知她一声。

现在所有的面试都完了，回过头来看整个申请过程，最有乐趣的部分还是面试。见到了不同的人，听到了不同的声音。虽然结果还没出来，但是已非己能控制了。
just happy it is done...

Insead 面经 Round 1, Sept 2010 Intake
我申请的是2010 Sept Intake, R1. 10月29号拿到校友的信息。11月18号下午在新加坡面的。第一个面试3点，第二个6点半。

第一个面试在Starbucks。校友是新加坡女士，03年毕业的，但是很年轻，毕业后以前在麦肯锡做过，现在做asset management。面试很随意，没有walk thru resume,没有self-introduction,没有leadership example,没有teamwork example。一上来就顺着我简历上现在的工作经验问，问我们公司restructuring的咨询是怎么做的，就解释了一下，然后给了她一个例子。这个开场白竟然和塔克校友的面试一模一样。看来经济形势不好，大家都对restructuring consulting很感兴趣。后来的问题就比较自然了。前后50分钟。

What are your career goals

Why Insead

Why do you need a MBA if your short term goal is to continue consulting

How did you choose your first job?

Why Singapore campus, Why not France campus

How to manage conflict

What are other schools you apply for


然后又回到career goals，问我为什么会对能源咨询感兴趣。后来就互聊了很多关于咨询的工作，校友直接说她受不了咨询的life style，而且咨询算起来的hourly pay其实很不怎么地，所以就换了。

面试开始一个小插曲，我先到，点了咖啡。校友来的时候，我都快喝完了。而且买咖啡排队的人太多了，她说就不买了。我连忙说，不急，你先看我的简历（之前我没发简历，只发了申请表，简历现场给她的），我帮你买。我排了两分钟，发现前面还有7，8个人，太长了，灵机一动，直接就到柜台前先place order，说等一下deliver 到我们的桌子。再后来，我insist付账，校友也没争。这样我心里也舒坦了很多。想想看校友是女士，这样的殷勤还是应该的，说不定人家还很在意这个呢。

结束了第一个面试，4点钟坐地铁转场第二个面试，在校友的办公室面。找了校友办公附近的一家starbucks，基本傻坐了两个小时，internet surfing也心不在焉, 真难熬。

终于等到了6点15分，上楼。校友是韩国人，一个VC firm的VP，不过很年轻，很有礼貌，04届的。开场白他介绍了一下面试的形式。然后下面是问题的顺序


How did you learn about Insead
What are other schools you are applying for (这个问题出现在第二个好早) 这个问题我说着说着，连带着把why MBA, why now, why Insead is best choice都说了。说完了，感觉讲得有点长，很抱歉的说，不好意思多说了一些。他听得很认真，说没有关系，这些也是他想知道的。

How would your co-worker describe about you

Why did you switch from industry into consulting

Which one is your strength, is it more about execution, or more about managing and coaching people？他问这个是看着我的简历的经历问的。我跟他讲两个都是。在industry的时候，因为工作的需要，要更多的去管理和培养团队；在咨询公司的时候，则更多的是自己必须亲力亲为的，不能期望delegation, 虽然有些时候需要coach一下analyst

Give a brief description of a typical work day of both your current consulting job and your previous industrial job

Did you encounter any challenge when you switched from industry to consulting?

What do you think if people comment that you are too nice as a colleague

Why did you choose Singapore for post-graduate study? Why not U.S. or Europe?

我直接说911后签证很难，当时美国一个学校的offer后来没去成，很郁闷。但是现在看来是更好的一个结果，因为what I learned from my experiences in Singapore shaped who I am today..blah blah举了几个小例子，说因为这个自己后来变得很positive. … whatever happens, it happens the best for me… 他听了应该很有共鸣，因为后来他分享了当时insead毕业后没有进入到自己最想进的管理咨询, 很沮丧，却机缘巧合进了VC，现在他觉得这是一个很适合的选择。

Do you drink wine? 看来韩国人很注重把生意和喝酒联系在一起啊，我老实的说喝得不多，但是可以喝。然后强调一句，我卡拉okay唱得不错，哈哈

What do you do outside of work

Where have you traveled to? Which country you like most

Where do you prefer to work in terms of location after MBA…
这个校友真的很坦诚。说他读insead的时候，因为之前是software engineer的背景，所以读的蛮吃力，不像其他一些同学很enjoy the study life。然后说学校也是一个大林子，有jerk，也有bitch（呵呵，听到他用这两个词我满shock的）。然后说韩国教授Chan Kim的蓝海战略课其实有点被外界过度推崇了。不过尽管这样，这还是一门非常unique的课，很值得上，而且他说他很有幸和Prof Chan Kim面对面的沟通过，这样的机会是很宝贵的。我接着问了几个关于VC行业的问题。结束面试的时候他送给我一句话, 说不管申请的结果怎么样，记住，这个世界上有很多成功的人士是没有读过MBA的，只要你明确了自己想做的东西，就大胆的去做。。。

好了，就写这么多了。祝大家申请顺利。

Insead MBA 校友面试 - 香港

I had my interview with two alumnis in HK last week.

I scheduled both on a weekend in a coffee shop because I live in Shenzhen.

Both interviews were very similar in terms of questions:

1) Walk me through your resume
2) Why MBA
3) Why Insead
4) Why Now
5) What would you like to do 5 years down the road
6) What can you contribute to Insead
7) What would your coworkers describe you
8) How do you motivate team members
9) What do u think makes a good leader

First interviewer was a guy and was more probing than the second interviewer who was a woman. First interview lasted 45 minutes, and second around 1.5 hours. Both were very friendly. The first person started giving me tips on what to do after I get to Insead, so I am assuming that's a sign that he will recommend for me. The second person didn't give any clear signals. She told me her input might account for a very small % of my overall mark. So if I don't get in, write to her and she'll give me some feedback. Umm...

Anyways, hope this helps for any future interviewees

INSEAD 面试1 and 面试2

今天上午做了面试，面试官比较NICE。

开始我们先用中文聊了聊其它的话题，然后转到英文，面试题目为

1）self introduction

2)  specific questions in the self introduction: * what made you succeed in the work  * how did you adapt new enviroment

3)  how do you understand leadership

4) how do you manage team

5) outsdie of your work

6) why mba

7) why insead

I will post my 2nd interview next week, hope to help you, guys.

今天完成了INSEAD的第二个面试，在ARCH里面做的，面试官非常NICE.

问题是

1）introduce yourself

2)  your company strength

3) where you learned English

4) how you made up your mind to apply MBA

5) what is your leadership experience

6) any other questions

finish insead. Hope to hear good news in Dec ;-)

INSEAD面经(1) 和 新添的 2
我刚刚面试过一个,丹麦人，现在在新加坡和印尼之间做生意。 昨天晚上突然给我短信说今天面试，还让我自己选地方，于是我就挑了一家星巴克，好赶。。。

那家星巴克环境很好，由于我去得早，有一个好位置。他人很nice, 我们从12点20一直谈到2点半，一共谈了两个小时还多（饿死我了），其间他买了两份咖啡。。。我一杯都没喝完（汗！）他问的东西很细致，先是聊他的business, 然后问我一些关于IT technical 方面的东西，几乎面试所有的问题都包括了，也怪我给了他整个application package, 他就从头问到尾，真是一点都不落。。。

Why mba? Why now? Why Insead?

What other schools? why not choose American business schools? or choose NUS business school?Do you know CEIBS?

career progress until now?

Career goals?

Extracurricular activities? Hobbies?

What are the most impressive things when traveling in South East Asian countries?

Any idea about Vietnam’s economy? What are the challenges of Vietnam? Any suggestion? （他将来要在越南做生意）

How to maintain relationship with my girlfriend if I go to France to study?

If in my current company, what positions do I want most?

Teamwork experience?

How do my colleagues or friends describe you?

Have you told your bosses about your plan? How they react?

Failures (except the one in application form)?

能记起来的就这些了，两个小时实在是够问所有的问题了，。。。不过他很friendly, 所有这些更像聊天。。。他记了满满一张纸，还画中国的地图，让我告诉他我的家乡，还有我女朋友的家乡。。。说了很多鼓励的话。。。

呵呵呵呵。。。挺有意思的。。。

[原创]INSEAD面试小记

面试官：Min Chen （DunHill），中国mm.她好像是02年进入dunhill，现在是推广部主管。

下午5:00开始面试，全英文，大概的问题如下：

Why MBA? Why Now?
Why INSEAD? Why not 2-year school since I only work for at most 3 years when entering the MBA?
Besides the top-10 reputation, what else do you know about INSEAD?
What's your career goal?
What do you do in your leasure time?
What will you do if your team members have very different personalities?
嗯，中间穿插了一些小问题。

最后留了些时间让我问她问题，大概问出来的答案：

Students often can learn more from peers rather than from the course :-)
INSEAD is a party MBA, which means a lot of exciting parties are held frequently;
To study the second language ASAP before the MBA once accepted, because once the semester starts, a lot of fun is ahead :-)
Many MBA students find their real strength through MBA :-)
整个时间差不多是45分钟。

总体感觉，面试官很nice，也给了很多constructive 的建议。

期待月底的news.

昨天INSEAD在上海面的

在校友的办公室，上海杨浦长阳路。校友是一个40多岁的法国人， 汉语非常好。 一上来他就说，由于英语都不是我们的母语，我们讲中文吧。 接下来的面试用中文进行的：

先过了一遍简历，之后是
why MBA,
why INSEAD,
career goal,
management experience,
道德困境，
人力资源管理等等问题。
跟他特别交流了零售业的一些观点， 跟我所在的行业进行了比较。中间聊的比较轻松，我还问他， 无锡水危机是否是他们公司展示social responsibility的时机等等。 感觉校友问的很细致，尤其是我的简历，包括父母的职业什么的? 不明白为什么要关心这些问题。

Total 1.5 hr, including my questions。

心里没有什么底， 感觉用中文面，深度和广度都有了， 不知道校友是否这样认为。。。 下面就要看运气了啊。 我的经历估计也够奇特的

INSEAD Interview experience(story)

I just finished the two interviews required by the school. Here i'm sharing my story, not just interviews.

Both of the interviewers are super busy and i struggled 3 weeks to finally set up the time slots. Both of them are based in a city about 1.5 hours flight away. I was sopposed to be there on Monday for the appointment at 4pm, but i sat on the plane like a idiot for 3 hours and then off-loaded because the flight was cancelled. The air company said there was something wrong with the engine!!! What a joke!!!! I had to make a hundred phone calls to re-organize the whole thing.

Anyway, the next day my first interviewer, Paul, interviewed me in a 5-star hotel by a stunning beach. Pual graduated from INSEAD in 1995 and was a banker with Barkley(UK) and then joined Mckinsey after INSEAD. Now he is Principal (means senior Partner?) of Mckinsey. Paul is nice and was kind enough to buy me a skinny flat white, which i didn't have chance to touch at all. The interview last approx. 30 minutes and there is not much to say but just standard questions such as Why MBA, why INSEAD and why this career goal. Anyway it's not bad.

I said goodbye and checked in a backpackers' in the city central cause i had another interview scheduled the morning next day. Here comes the drama.

I was in deep sleep at 5am in the lower bed. All of a sudden, it rained!!!! You know what? The British guy living in the upper bed peed!!!!!!!!!! He was drunk and I couldn't wake him up. Jesus Christ!! I rushed into the bathroom to have a shower and had to ask for another room. The receiptionist promised to kick him out, hahaha

OK, let's get back to the interview thing.

Peter, my second interviewer, was with Bain before and after INSEAD (1995 as well, I guess). And now he is a Director in a prestigious PE. His last title in Bain was Partner or something even higher. BTW, the office of that PE is the most luxurious office that i have ever seen (British style with super harbor view). This time the interview went very well (thanks to the British guy). I was asked to tell the story of myself. It last about 45 minutes and I got absolutely positive feedback. Actually, it was so positive that not only he imply to recommend me to INSEAD, but also he promised to write a letter recommending Bain to keep in touch with me, as my career goal after MBA is management consultant as well. Actually, I got the copy of this letter, in which he forward my resume to his former workmates in Bain, when i was killing time in the airport.

Again, there was a thunder storm that kept me in the airport for another 2 hours.

All in all, terrible journeys but good interviews.

By nnm, 28-Feb-2007

INSEAD interview experience: two rounds

I applied INSEAD 2007 Sep intake and just finished 2 interviews. Share with the rest as what I can still remember.

The first interview was with a consultant of a management consulting firm. she was quite busy and I was waiting in her office for over 20 minutes since she had a urgent discussion. The alumni was quite kind and friendly and she apologized for making me keep waiting. To me, it is a good chance to get familiar with the environment.

Questions are pretty simple and standard, such as:

tell me something about your education, career and your current work
why MBA and why INSEAD
How do you work with people from different culture and background
what are the social groups you have been involved?
How well have you adapt to the foriegn environment? (i am abroad)
any questions for her
we talked about her job and her own experience in INSEAD, the tough program (8am to 9pm course work) etc. and i also asked for feedback, according to her, my profile is pretty ok, except that I have fewer working experience (3 years), but it should not be a problem because of my achievement within the 3 years.

The 2nd interview was with a IB associate, he was pretty serious and didnt talk much about things outside of MBA. It lasted for 45 minutes (1st one lasted around 1 hour) and he asked fewer questions, such as:

brief introduction of my education and career
why INSEAD?
He placed a lot of weight to dicuss on this topic. It is understandable, INSEAD is kind of special compare to other schools
my career goals
how can I compete with consultants from other firms when 4.1 I apply for INSEAD? 4.2 I graduate from INSEAD and look for consulting jobs?
why you think your personality fit INSEAD?
How can you make people be interested in you? in terms of experience, background and personality
any questions for him? (as i feel the interview is a bit short, so I asked a few questions and try to reflect more about myself during those Q&As)
For these 2 interviews, I felt the personalities of the alumnus are quire different and quite consistant with INSEAD's style: diversity, direct, short and focused. quite different from interviews from the US schools as I expereinced. They are indeed busy and excellent. both of them gave me 3 days to stand by for the interview and they called me in the morning to have the interview in the evening. I would say it is really difficult to prepare and actually no need to prepare anything. Just think about 1 question" Who am I".

Good luck to everyone

1st and 2nd interviews / Alumni / Off-campus (Published May 13th, 2010)

First Interview: I had interview with a Bain partner in Shanghai. The interview was quite standard. He asked a lot of questions about why INSEAD, why MBA, long term career goal, short term career goal, why go to France, how would colleagues describe you, what is your weakness... What is the cultural difference between China and France… And I have taken some chances to ask back on some of his questions. Time was very short, I hadn’t had chance to ask a lot of questions.

Basically the interviewer is formal. I had won some smiles on his part when talking about his travelling in China. He had given some insights on the private equity market in China.

Second Interview: I interviewed with a Chinese alumni who has 10 years of experience in sales and marketing before joining INSEAD. And he is now an entrepreneur in the energy-saving space. Basically he asked about standard questions, introduction of me, my personal goals and professional goals. How to reach the goals… etc. He questioned about my leadership capabilities because I don’t have a title of manager. He asked about leadership qualities demonstrated in non-leadership positions. Then we talked in Chinese about the current state of China. Why he created the company in energy space. I asked to keep in touch. He said we keep in touch no matter what the result of INSEAD.

Round 2 / September 2010 intake / 1st and 2nd interviews / Alumni / Off-campus (Published March 5th, 2010)

I received the interview notification on the final night of the deadline (INSEAD is notorious) for sending out bulk of the notifications on the final day (or night depending on your location, i was in US). The MBA Admissions Coordinator, who was a really nice and thoughtful lady helped me setup the interview. I received contacts of two alumnus both of whom were working / had worked in the field I was interested in (Alternative Energy / Entrepreneurship). Here I must mention that INSEAD alumni is very impressive and very diverse. One of the assigned interviewer did Law from Stanford after completing his MBA from INSEAD and is not a partner in a major law firm. The other is pursioung his passion for environment and pursuing a degree from YALE. I have to reschedule one of the interviews to India, due to a family emergency and the Ad Com was very supportive and helpful in rescheduling the interview to India.

Well without any further ado, I will get into details of the interview. First some helpful tips:

Prepared to be grilled. Unlike other schools INSEAD choses alumni who have deep experience in your chosen area. Thats why they take upto 10 days to find the right alumni. Therefore its important that you do your homework.
Be global and local at the same time. Know the minutest details and be ready to talk about business problems at a global scale.
Relax and be ready for a conversational interview - you get to drive the discussion as much as the interviewer, but do not overreach
Read your application and resume a 100 times. Read all you can about your chosen area of study and be ready to defend why that area of study.
INSEAD alumni are busy ppl. Expect time delays in email response / difficulties in getting time on their calendars.
Now to the questions:

Why MBA? Why second MBA (I already had an MBA from a school in India)
Walk me through your resume? Why did I join my current company? Why US, SIngapore and India?
Why entrepreneurship - do you think INSEAD will make an entrepreneur out of you? (Really grilled me here, because as we all know 10 months donot maketh an entrepreneur - I defended by saying that I need alumni network, mindset and skills in all sorts of areas - that I am more likely to succeed with an MBA from an international school like INSEAD than not doing an MBA)
Detailed questions on energy - alternate enrergy, my proposed venture - its business model, how to raise capital, whats the market segment I am looking at, how much energy, what kind of source for energy (basically my interviewer was totally into it)
Questions about my family? Is my wife ready to move from US to France? (I talked about how we love to travel and have travelled to all over the world and moving to France will be an excellent opportunity. The alumnus also talked about his family, which I thought was nice to break the ice and make me conformable when the interview got a little too hot.)
General conversation about healthcare, India, US, differences (Here I talked about my international experiences - which I think is a big draw for INSEAD)
Any questions (I asked about his career progression after INSEAD, the INSEAD difference what did he gain from INSEAD)
I shamelessly asked for feedback on the interview !!! At first the alumnus was diplomatic and said there is no good or bad interview but he finally said that he was very hopeful for me.
Although I have extracted questions here, I must mention that the entire interview was very conversational. We were sharing opinions about alternate energy, socialing vs capitalism, US vs Europe vs Asia.

The other interview was very casual and lasted for just 5 minutes. The interviewer told as me:

Walk me through the resume
Why INSEAD? (Why not some other school like MIT or Kennedy School if I want to work in Alternate Energy) - I responded by saying that Energy is not a technology but an economic problem.
The interviewer asked about my background - extra curricular.
Within 5 minutes she said that she would definitely recommend me.
So the good cop bad cope theory for INSEAD still holds true in 2010.

Status: Accepted.

Round 1 / January 2010 intake / 1st interview / Off-campus (Published July 28th, 2009)

The interview took place in the office. I had sent the interviewer my entire application (it is possible to send just the first 6 pages, but I wasn't able to split the pdf file) to review beforehand. The interview was organised via email and telephone.

I would advise researching your interviewer if possible (via sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook etc.) as it is quite rare that no information can be found. Also, it seems as though INSEAD tries to pair you with interviewers from a similar background to your chosen post-MBA path (although it may just be that a high number of consultants attend the school). This interviewer had spent many years working in consulting before moving to industry. I was quite fortunate as his industry and my current profession are tangentially linked so we were able to establish good rapport pretty early in the interview.

The interview itself was quite relaxed, I was very nervous but he put me at ease very quickly. The questions covered the usual suspects (why MBA, why INSEAD, etc.) and there was a fair bit of probing. For example, in a question about your post-MBA goals it's pretty important to be able to highlight why you have those goals, and link them to how INSEAD is going to help you achieve them. The interviewer was very comfortable about probing me for further detail so it's important to be well prepared.

The interviewer's style was very conversational and I was pretty relaxed, which is great, but also potentially a pitfall as you may not be as sharp. Having said that, I felt confident in my preparation and my answers and there was nothing out of left-field. I was reassured by his responses to my answers, which were along the lines of: "yes that makes sense" and "I agree with your logic". The interviewer also asked me where else I had applied (as well as how I had progressed) and I was fortunate enough to be in a position to let him know that I had already been accepted by one school, waitlisted by another and interviewing for 2 others. I think this also helped him decide how valuable I was as an applicant.

Towards the end of the interview, I had the opportunity to ask questions. Questions to the interviewer can be tricky, and I chose to focus on his experience of the school, linking it in with my own research. I was also able to highlight the fact that I was visiting the Singapore campus the week after my interview and I think this was met with favourably.

The interview lasted about 1.5hrs and I left feeling confident that I had performed well (and relatively comfortable that he would recommend me). I sent a follow-up email to thank him for the interview and he responded that he would be happy to answer any further questions. I received the admission decision a couple of weeks later (admitted) and let him know, whereupon he sent me a congratulatory email.

Round 1 / January 2010 intake / 2nd interview / Off-campus (Published July 28th, 2009)

This interview took place in a coffee shop towards the end of the day, and was the same day as my first interview. I had deliberately scheduled both interviews as late as possible during the interview period to maximise my preparation time. (I was fortunate that there was an information session for my city during the period so I could use it as a reason to postpone the interviews, as otherwise both interviewers would have been happy to interview me with only a few days notice.)

I felt the first interview went very well and felt confident I would perform in the second interview. My interviewer arrived early (about the same time I did). The first question he asked me was: "Why INSEAD." My response was: "Many reasons…" and he interrupted to ask: "Yeah, like what?". The tone of the interview was much more abrupt and direct than the first interview. Again, this interviewer used to work in consulting (my post-MBA goal). When we discussed my post-MBA goals in detail (incl. geographical region), he floored me by insisting that the companies I was interested in working for had no offices/presence in the regions I wanted to work in. While I knew this to be false (having done my research), I did concede that perhaps I may have been mistaken. However, after my interview, I sent him an email thanking him for his time, as well as pointing out which specific offices existed in my preferred region for work.

This interviewer asked me only a handful of questions - Why INSEAD, which campus and why, describe a time you failed, post-MBA goals. He then asked me to ask him questions, which surprised me because he had asked me so few. I was particularly concerned as he didn't allow me to put forward a lot of the material I had prepared to standard questions and I was worried he was the type to make up his mind in 10min whether I was a good candidate or not. However, I spent 40min probing him with questions (although I could have handled it better in hindsight by linking it with some of my answers).

The interview went for just over an hour. The experience was incredibly draining as I felt he was very combative - the opposite of what I have read about on various forums. I was convinced that I had performed poorly, although after the admission decision (admitted), he gave me feedback that I had managed fine and he was being deliberately difficult. It was also interesting that I felt very confident going into this interview, while he thought I appeared extremely nervous - probably as a result of how aggressive his questioning was. I am very pleased with the result, but believe that he could have come to the same decision without being so aggressive.

Round 1 / January 2010 intake / 2nd interview / Off-Campus / Alumni (Published June 29th, 2009)

The interview took place at the alumnus’ office in Paris. We had an appointment in the morning and I arrived slightly ahead of schedule. To arrange this appointment, we had exchanged emails and finally phone calls. The interview started on time.

I had done my research on the WEB and find out that he was a partner at a big consultancy firm, responsible for the practice on energy sector. I therefore had prepared myself intensively, meeting with friends who were working in this sector to polish my knowhow on this topic, since I had mentioned in my application form that I wanted to move to this sector after graduation. Interestingly enough, he didn’t want me to send him my essays, saying this was private information and that he would only look at the profile and CV part. As a result, the interview was very much like a job interview.

Some of the interview questions are listed below (this part in English): - Walk me through your resume - Why an MBA - Why now - Why INSEAD

This lasted for about half an hour and then it was my turn to ask questions. This second part was conducted in French. As for interview 1, I had come with my printed list of questions and this was a good basis for further discussion. We discussed about various topics such as life at INSEAD, his job, the energy sector and this was the opportunity to use what I had learnt: I could pitch the Stern report about climate change, the Mc Kinsey report about energy productivity and some other points.

Overall the interview lasted for about 1,5 hours and at the end, I decided to wrap-up as I had the feeling it could last even longer but I didn’t want to take too much of his time. It seemed for him the right time to break as well as he told me that, as I might have felt, he would recommend me.

As for interview 1, I shared the decision with him and he also replied quickly with very kind words.

Round 1 / January 2010 intake / 1st interview / Off-Campus / Alumni (Published June 29th, 2009)

The interview took place in a Parisian “Café” with an alumnus. The date and place were agreed via email exchanges. Both of us were right on time and we sat at a quiet table. She apparently had read my complete application form, including my essays, which I had decided to send to her. Indeed, I was convinced my essays were strong and since she was willing to have them (although you are not obliged as per INSEAD’s intructions) this could only help strengthen her perception of the quality of my application. The interview, from beginning to end, was conducted in French. It was a quite formal interview and I at least managed to order her a coffee.

Some of the interview questions are listed below. What I can remember is that most of the questions were rather personal and we almost didn’t cover my career or current job. - Speak about yourself, what has been your life so far? - Why an MBA now, - Why INSEAD, - In your essays, you mention you’re passionate about everything you do, describe some of those passions and what drives you - You mentioned an interest for the Energy sector and your motivation to tackle climate change. What do you do in your day to day life to address climate change? Are you engaged in any not-for-profit organisation? - You work in the cellular telecommunication systems. How, as a father, are you dealing with the health hazards coming from radio emissions? - You are a musician; tell me about you and music. How long have you attended lessons, what level have you reached? Do you still play?

This lasted for about an hour. Then she told me she had covered all her questions and was open to answer any of my questions. I had prepared and printed a fair list of questions, since I wanted to demonstrate my motivation to join this MBA and to show I had done my homework. I could engage discussion on some of the famous faculty members such as Chan Kim. I could also speak about business or political leaders that had come on the campus. We spent some time on the accommodation aspects where she described me all the possible options and strategies for INSEAD students in Fontainebleau. I felt this part was more informal and we were both more relaxed. I was much more at ease than during the first part during which I had to answer many unexpected questions for which I had no prepared answers.

But she seemed pleased and at the end she concluded she would support my application 100%. The interview had last for about 2 hours.

Later, when I shared with her the news that I was admitted, she sent a very nice email, saying she was really happy for me. I found the message really sincere.

Round 1 / January 2010 Intake / 2nd Interview/ Off-Campus / Alumni / First shared by OutOfMyJeans (Published June 16th, 2009)

My 2nd interview was 2 days after my first one, which was incidentally on a Wednesday. This didn’t really leave me with too much time to ruminate over my bizarre 1st interview. I decided not to prepare for this one and instead go in with a relaxed attitude.

The 2nd interview was at a coffee joint at 10 AM. I had taken a half-day leave from office that day. My interviewer this time was the Marketing Director of a well-known technology company.

He arrived in a t-shirt and jeans (this is why I said suits are overkill) and his demeanor in general was extremely easy-going. For lack of a better word, I’m going to call his approach soothing. He was extremely well-spoken, polite and immediately put me at ease. We started off with my background and he asked questions whenever appropriate and had some very nice comments about my varied non-professional experience. We then spoke about my professional experience and my reasons for changing jobs and the kind of responsibilities I handle.

He then had some situational questions for me. I list them here for everyone’s consumption:

When you’re in a gathering, what attracts your attention first?
What makes you extremely angry/ passionate?
What is your style of negotiation?
How do you deal with a person who’s determined not to listen to you even though he/ she knows you are right?
How do you deal with a boss who is not as smart as you?
Additionally, he also had the usual INSEAD questions of why now, why MBA and why INSEAD. He was particularly pleased with me when I told him that one of my biggest motivations in joining INSEAD was to actually experience different viewpoints because I believe that different cultures breed different thought processes.

We spoke for nearly an hour-and-half and then he concluded the interview.

INSEAD MBA面试--北京

拿到pre selected的邮件之后三周才拿到两个面试人的联系方式， 还能再慢一点吗……等死了。 两个面试人倒是都很奈斯的想要把面试尽早的做完交报告到学校。 我28号发了一个邮件给两位校友， 第二天早上就接到了其中一位法国校友的回复，约好在3号面试。

法国校友是在一个德国的做高铁的公司工作，约好在办公室面试。 话说那天我装着西装衬衣皮鞋人模狗样的去校友办公室面试了， 那天的办公室里空空荡荡没有一个人工作， 就校友在那儿，穿着拖鞋T恤， 对比之下我很overdressed的样子，汗。 校友一进们就开始说让我别紧张， 说校友面试就是看看大家气场和学校合不合， 还一个劲的自己调侃法国人如何如何， 其实我开始还有点紧张，但是一看到拖鞋真就一点都不紧张了……

校友自己先自我介绍了一番， 然后让我自我介绍， 我说我是长沙来的， 还让我到办公室里面的大地图上指出长沙，然后很自豪的告诉我他们在长沙也有办事处。 接下来就是拿着他打印出来的申请材料短文一点点的问。 问我大学为什么不去上海读而要去北京读？问我接下来为什么想到去日本读研究生？然后毕业后为什么不在日本留下来工作？觉得日本人怎么样？和中国人有什么区别？为什么想去挪威工作？在挪威的娱乐活动是什么？最不喜欢和哪国人一起工作？为什么最不喜欢的那国人 不是法国人？（我汗！）工作的具体内容是什么？我们公司是做什么事情的？我的具体职责是什么？然后看着短文让我重新口述了一遍自己的那个失败和成功的经历。 然后说到其中的email来来往往， 说他也很受不了这种讨论技术细节的email，总是没完没了浪费很多时间。为什么想读mba？还申请了什么学校？这样来来去去，加上闲聊就过去了一个半钟头， 然后校友留了半个钟头给我提问。

其实我还没有提问， 校友就又问我， 我看你这个上面写的是去枫丹白露， 为什么不去新加坡呢？我说是因为我和老婆去枫丹白露的校区看了， 老婆很喜欢那种法国的乡村生活的感觉， 那我当然就听老婆的话填了枫丹白露了。 然后校友开始花大力气说新加坡校园的各种好处， 比如校园小人少，同学之间的感觉和关系更加亲密之类的。 然后说了一个最重要的理由就是法国大家住的很远， 开party的时候大家都要开车开个十几二十公里， 然后没有车还要拼车很麻烦， 最麻烦的是喝了酒还不能开车。 但是新加坡都不同， 大家都住在相聚很近的两个公寓里， 喝醉了酒可以直接走回家， 如果真不能走了， 被抬这回家也很容易的……说得我真是想去新加坡校区了！当然最好还是给我机会问问题， 我问了问这段学习经历对他的影响。他说现在在工业界的公司里面， 其实这个学位并不象在咨询界里面那么的被value，然后回忆了一下自己这些年的经历。

于是面试就结束了， 总共两个小时， 临走的时候还跟我说， 不管你录取不录取到时候有结果了给我发个邮件告诉我一声把， 我说一定一定！

第二个面试的校友是一个在金融业工作的中国同胞， 他在我面完法国校友的第二天也就是5月4号青年节给我打了电话， 说是房价的时候没有看邮件，今天才看到。 也是非常奈斯的想要把面试尽早做完，问我什么时候有空， 我说我还在吃饭呢， 吃完饭就有空了。 校友说那好， 吃完饭就来我办公室面试吧。 于是我两点钟就出现在他的办公室了， 当时由于从宾馆退了房，还拖着我的拉杆箱就到了校友的办公室。不过真是喜欢这样快速的搞定！

到了之后校友先自我介绍了一下， 然后让我用英语在白板上画画公司的组织结构图， 让我介绍自己的工作内容， 职业发展， 以及为什么不想工作了想读mba。 我说其实最主要的原因还是这个工作总是需要我离开陆地到海上去， 我受得了我老婆也受不了。 校友表示说是啊，家庭还是最重要的。 介绍了大概半个小时之后，  校友就说我们还是用中文聊吧。

于是开始聊天了， 校友问我喜欢看什么书， 最近看了什么书？于是我就开始说我最近一年来看过的书， 聊到了其中的一本是黄仁宇的长沙白茉莉，然后校友也喜欢看黄仁宇的书和历史方面的书。 我介绍并且推荐了一下长沙白茉莉（我和黄仁宇都是长沙人嘛）， 并说这是黄的唯一一个小说， 校友说不是的， 黄有两个小说， 长沙白茉莉是其中一本，他没有看过， 不过另外一本他看过，是叫汴京残梦，是看着一个清明上河图写出来的故事…… 然后还聊到了其他的书。 后来又问到了我来北京玩什么， 喜欢和什么人玩， 因为校友以前读过phd， 所以还聊到了学术圈，最近我在玩twitter， 于是我还介绍了一下twitter圈， 因为感觉两个圈子还是有共同的地方。 这样不知不觉就聊到了四点，于是校友说留些时间给我问问题。

我也问了和上一个校友一样的问题， 他说其实很多东西还是看运气的， 比如如果毕业的时候遇到经济危机， 很可能就很不好找工作，而平时都是很轻松的一个人可以拿两三个像样的offer的。 然后同样的也说到了法国和新加坡校区的区别， 同样是推荐去新加坡校区。 然后还推荐了CFA的一级notes，说这个在上学前看看对没有任何财会经验的人会很有帮助， 让一年的学习能轻松不少。 最后也是让我通知他最后的结果是怎么样的。 还问我本来是申请九月的为什么到一月了， 我说主要是开始没有考托福， 后来又要我考， 我运气很好的正好打了105分， 于是就有了现在这个面试…… 校友倒是觉得这个是因祸得福， 因为他觉得一月份的有个实习，比九月份的要好。 最后还说之所以觉得一月份好其实主要还是因为自己也是一月份入学的，哈哈。

于是两个面试都结束了。 面试还是蛮有意思的， 是整个申请过程中最有意思的过程， 而且和这样的愿意分享的校友聊了这么久的天， 确实也学到了不少东西。 接下来我也什么都做不了啦， 就等吧～～