Top business interview tips 2

stream

Georgetown :

An excerpt from the Q&A:

Q: How have you changed the admissions process at Georgetown since you last visited with BusinessWeek Online in 2000?
A: Now, we really emphasize interviews. We have more alumni involved, and have second year students plus our staff interviewing.

Q: Yet only 50% of your applicants, and 60% of your admitted students, completed an interview in 2001.
A: That was last year. We'll come close to two-thirds this year, and that's beginning to stretch our resources. Most interviews are done on campus, but we do telephone interviews as well.

Q: How does Georgetown value and evaluate an interview in the application process?
A: Our interviews are straightforward. We don't have a [predetermined] question [that we ask everyone]. Interviews are an opportunity for applicants to address issues they didn't cover in their essays.... Sometimes we get a better sense of their goals from the interview.

Q: What is it that those people who don't interview but who are nonetheless admitted show on paper that makes you accept them anyway?
A: They'll have shown a strong interest in Georgetown in their essays. They'll have more than a generic interest in the MBA program. Generic essays are a turnoff.

For the full version of this Q&A

Comments from Student 1:

I interviewed with a second-year student in a hotel lounge in New York. The second-year student did not appear to have a pre-set list of questions. I am not certain if he had access to my application or resume prior to the interview. I came to learn later that my interviewer was one of the top "catches" at Georgetown and many students would conduct mock interviews with him to get a feel for any and every type of question. Interesting questions included: What was the best team you've worked with? What made this team so great? What was your role?

Comments from Student 2:

Interviewer: Admissions Officer
Location: In my hometown after an MBA Consortium Presentation
When: December 2002
Questions asked:
Overall, [the questions were] pretty basic. They wanted to get a feel for you.
1. Why an MBA?
2. Why Georgetown?
3. What do you see yourself doing after the MBA?
4. What would your ideal job be?
5. Resume specific questions

Comments from Student 3:

I applied to a total of six schools -- NYU, Columbia, Wharton, Harvard, Duke, and Georgetown -- and got interviews with four out of these six (NYU, Wharton, Duke, and Georgetown). I was eventually accepted to three out of four of these schools, NYU, Duke, and Georgetown -- so hopefully I'll be able to provide some helpful insights to prospective students.

In terms of questions asked, some general ones that all four schools asked included:

1) "Walk me through your resume...and why do you feel like an MBA is right for you given your experience to date?" (All schools)

2) "If your friends were sitting in this room with us, what would they tell me [interviewer] about you?" (Duke)

3) "Given your experience/background/personality, what do you think you can contribute to [the school]?" (All schools)

4) "If you had 24 hours to do anything that you wanted, what would it be and why?" (a little strange, but I got this question from both Wharton and Duke).

5) "What are your long and short-term goals post MBA?" (All schools) 6) "Describe a time when you failed -- either a project or personal goal, etc." (Duke)

7) "Describe a time that you had to work with others on a project and what the outcome was. What did you learn from it?" (Duke)

8) "Picture yourself in 20 years, as an alumni of our school. If you were at a reunion function and we were to introduce you, what would you want to be noted for?" (What personal or professional or community achievement?) (NYU)

9) "What are the specific qualities about this school that makes it attractive to you?" (All schools)

The locations and types of interviewers were as follows: Georgetown: During the annual World MBA Forum in New York at the Grand Hyatt with a recent MBA graduate (Class of 2002)
Duke: On-campus at the Admissions Office with a second-year student (Class of 2003)
Wharton: On-campus at the Admissions Office with a second-year student (Class of 2003)
NYU: On-campus at the Admissions Office with the Associate Director of Admissions

stream

pURDUE:

An excerpt from the Q&A:

Q: Once you receive an application, what's the evaluation process?
A: I look at every one of them. Then we pass them around to a committee of faculty and other administrators. [Admissions decisions] depend on a variety of factors -- that's not easy to describe. If there's a unanimous consent among three people, usually [a positive] decision is made.

After reviewing an application, we may ask the person to come for an interview. [For instance,] if you don't have at least a year of full-time work experience, we ask you to appear.

Four different people are involved in the interview process: somebody from the admissions office, from the Program Director's office, from the Graduate Career Services office, and a faculty member. The interviews usually are 25 minutes and may include a class visit. So they're fairly comprehensive and give us a good look at the student.

For the full version of this Q&A

Comments from Student 1:

Insight into the Purdue Interviews
I believe around 20% of admitted students were asked to interview. I have been told almost all applicants with less than three years work experience are asked to interview. My wife, Natalie, and I were both asked for an interview. Initially we thought it was because we were on the fence for gaining admission to Purdue. After talking with others in this situation, we discovered that Purdue also brings people in because they want more information about a resume for consideration in offering assistantships, scholarships, etc. One of my interviewers was the head of the Computing Center where I now have an assistantship and Natalie received a substantial scholarship.

The Purdue Interview Process
The typical interview process at Purdue consists of four 20-minute interviews with four different people throughout the Krannert School of Management. Interviewers come from your expected concentration area, career services, and admissions. In most cases, people seemed to have two difficult interviews out of the four. Ironically, Natalie and I had only one interviewer in common, and while I thought it was very tough, she thought it was her easiest of the day.

Tips for Success
Professional dress and being yourself are givens. My interviews were not much more than casual conversation, but with a direct purpose on both sides. In fact, the tough and leading interview questions confirmed to myself that Purdue was the right school. Natalie noticed that the interviewers asked questions about potential weaknesses in her application. We had prepared answers for these types of questions ahead of time, which really helped in the actual interviews.

If you are asked to interview, keep in mind that they want to find out how serious you are about attending their school and are very ingenious about uncovering your motives and desires. Expect to be "grilled" in a casual manner. In many of my interviews, I was asked questions that really targeted my desire to attend Krannert. One interviewer went as far as to say that another school might be a better choice for me. As that person later admitted, they wanted to see if I could defend my position for wanting to attend their program.

If you can explain why you want an MBA, why Purdue is the right choice for you, and can address any weaknesses you might have, you will be just fine. If you try to fake your way through, you will be in trouble. Purdue was my first choice, so it was not a problem. I like the way they interview. As a future alum, I feel it best targets successful people who want a Purdue MBA.

Pros of the Purdue interview process
You have four 20-minute interviews that will give you an excellent opportunity to convince Purdue that you are a strong candidate. I thought Purdue outshines many others schools, because they are not solely driven on statistics. Purdue will give borderline candidates the chance to show more than the average test scores say. In fact, they give you four chances with professors and other professional employees of the university, not just an alum, or student assistant on the phone. Also, this is an opportunity to interview for assistantships. Many of the people that interview will be the ones that hire assistants in the upcoming year. It is a great way to put your best foot forward in consideration for possible aid later.

Cons of the Purdue Interview Process
You have four 20-minute interviews, back to back, to back, to back. It is a very stressful situation. Also, there are no phone interviews, which may add to your stress, and it means you will have to travel to campus.

stream

Emory:

An excerpt from the Q&A:

Q: How does the interview process work? Do applicants initiate it?
A: More or less it's applicant-driven. Anybody who comes to Atlanta can have an interview any time. We don't require that there be an application on file.

We also go to many cities -- all the major ones in the U.S. and a large number outside the U.S. In some cities, there will be a waiting list [for interviews]. For example, when I recruit in Beijing or Shanghai, there are so many requests that we pre-screen them. In some cases, not just anybody can interview. In some cases they're screened.

If we don't go to a city where a candidate is, they have to apply and [be] selected for an interview. In those cases, we do phone interviews.

Q: What types of interview questions should a prospective student expect?
A: The focus is on gaining a deeper understanding of their work responsibilities, as well as their career progression. It's typical for candidates to have had several jobs by the time they apply, and sometimes it's with different companies -- that's fine. We want to know, maybe, why they changed jobs. How they got their job is always an interesting question, I think. And we also ask what are their key responsibilities. Ultimately, we want to know what will this candidate contribute to class discussions.

Beyond that, we look at interpersonal skills. We want to know their team skills. We want a sense of what role they typically play on a team, how their teammates might describe them. It's a conversation -- we do not want it to be a stress interview. We want them to have a chance to present their best self. So we try to make it a pleasant experience.

We're one of the few schools where the vast majority of interviews are done by a member of the admissions committee. That makes the process more consistent. It also means that the candidate typically has an advocate on the committee.

For the full version of this Q&A

Comments from Student 1:

I scheduled the interview over the phone. It was held at a hotel bar in San Francisco, they come out to interview in San Francisco twice a year. [The interview] was with a former admissions officer, who is currently in charge of student life. I had not yet applied, so she just had my resume for the interview. This was a very friendly/comfortable interview. It was more of a conversation than an interview, which in my opinion makes for the best interviews. She spent a great deal of time telling me about Goizueta and the different areas that might appeal to me. We went through my resume and through the standard why B-school, why now, why Goizueta questions. The only different question was why would I want to move to Atlanta.

Comments from Student 2:

I ended up interviewing with four of the five schools I applied to: Harvard, MIT, UCLA, and Emory. The Emory interview was with an admissions officer on-campus, the rest were off-campus with Alumni (mainly because I live in Germany). Regarding locations, MIT and UCLA were in the Washington, D.C. area over Christmas break. Harvard was by far the most organized with their Alumni interviews and the most international - they were able to set up my interview a few blocks away from my apartment in Hamburg, Germany! On top of that, the man that I interviewed with was a top executive and on the board of one of Germany's largest and most successful companies (very motivating for an aspiring MBA student).

For all of my Alumni interviews, I found the Alumni to be professional, friendly, and open to speaking with me about their school. For Emory, the admissions officer was just fantastic, making me feel comfortable right away, asking insightful (she read my application) questions and answering all of my questions about the program.

The interview questions were amazingly similar between all of the schools and I did not find that they asked me any out of context or trick questions. The questions were focused on me and my experiences. In the case of Harvard, it was more of a behavioral interview than the others, trying to gather information about how I react in certain work and life scenarios. Most of the interviews included questions like, "What brought you to Germany?" "How did you end up getting a job abroad?" "What are your career goals?" "Why business school?" "Why now?" "Why this school?" At the heart of it, they all seemed to be trying to figure out what made me tick, what I could bring to their program, if my goals and personality seemed consistent and aligned with the way I presented myself in my application, and whether I would be a good fit with their program. Many of them also asked me questions that were similar or an extension of my essay questions. For example, if I wrote an essay about an ethical dilemma at work, they would ask me how it was resolved in the end or to provide them with additional details about the scenario.

As far as advice for preparing, the best preparation is completing the application for the particular school before interviewing and then reviewing the essays just prior to the interview. Applicants should have a clear idea of why they want an MBA, their career goals, why this particular school, and what they can offer the school. These questions were consistently asked on essays and in interviews. I used my interviews as a chance to openly discuss and expand on what I considered my weak spot -- my undergraduate GPA. This turned out to be a good approach, not just because I got accepted into my top choice school, but because it let me explain the situation and how I overcame the weakness in a more personal way then what was possible on an application.

stream

Smith:

An excerpt from the Q&A:

Q: How do interviews factor into the process?
A: Interviews are very important. At Maryland, interviews are by invitation only. But once the invitation has been extended, the interview becomes a required part of the application.

Q: How do you decide to whom to extend an invitation?
A: Candidates who present themselves well in their application. Candidates who spark the interest of the admissions committee. The interview is a very good thing at the Smith School because it basically says you've piqued our interest, now continue the sale.

Q: What percent of applicants can expect an interview request?
A: Last year, around 40% to 50% of the applicant pool received an invitation to interview.

Q: And of those, how many people got into the school eventually?
A: Sixty percent.

Q: What types of questions can a person expect on the interview?
A: Why are you interested in the MBA? Why are you interested in the MBA at this point in time in your professional experience? What do you do for fun? Think back on your last performance-review evaluation with your employer. What were the things that your employer said were your strengths? What were the areas that need to be developed? What steps have you taken to develop those areas?

Q: Who does the interviews?
A: There are four professional staff members who interview, and there are 10 [student] admissions ambassadors that facilitate interviews, as well.

For the full version of this Q&A

Comments from Student 1:

I interviewed with an assistant dean of admissions in her office in the Admissions office. She had thoroughly reviewed my resume, essays, transcript, and letters of recommendation ahead of time. She said that she was so impressed with the materials that she bypassed all of the "standard" questions and focused on one perceived area of weakness. I came to later learn through conversations with other prospects that they had similar experiences during their interviews with Smith.
Interesting questions included:
*How have you used your time while unemployed?
*How can we be assured that your layoffs won't hurt you when looking for internships or full-time work?
*How can you assure a recruiter that your layoffs were an aberration?
*Did you choose not to look for work? Or were you unable to find work?

stream

msu:

An excerpt from the Q&A:

Q: All of Michigan State's accepted applicants complete an interview. Are those interviews conducted on campus or by alumni?
A: Not all of the people who apply are granted an interview. We encourage any candidate that can to come to campus to do an interview, but we also allow for candidates to interview via telephone.

Q: Does one interview carry more weight that the next?
A: Obviously, if somebody's willing to take the time and effort to visit our campus, that will have a little bit of additional emphasis when it comes to the review by the committee. It shows a slightly higher level of professionalism.

That said, we understand the difficulty of coordinating a trip from Beijing to Michigan, and we wouldn't necessarily expect that a candidate do that. So if you are a strongly qualified candidate, a telephone interview is not going to hurt you. At the same time, if you are a candidate that is not meeting our base level criteria, an on-campus interview probably won't help you either.

Q: What's the main reason applicants don't make it to the next round after an interview?
A: There's a sub-segment of that [failed interview] group where English skills are the primary issue.

Sometimes, we see significant team-skill issues. For instance, a candidate that has a much more individual orientation -- if we see some metrics in addition to that, things like letters of recommendation or the essays that also indicate [individual orientation], that could give us a cause for concern.

The biggest thing that would take somebody out at the interview phase would be if they state a set of career goals that we don't think we're well suited to provide.

Q: Teamwork is something Michigan State brochures mention often. How much time should an applicant devote to that topic in the application or interview?
A: We devote one of two [required] essays to teamwork. We assess not only whether they understand what causes a team to not work properly but also if they understand how to take a team that isn't working and move it into a positive direction.

We want to see if they understand the difference between being a team leader and a team member. Often, a lot of candidates applying to the program focus solely on being the team leader, and don't understand that sometimes it's all right to just be a team player. Either position can be effective, depending on the situation. We also dedicate up to a third of our interview on interactions, for instance personal interactions in a business setting, as well as team activities within a business setting.

Q: What are some examples of interview questions an applicant may face?
A: In general, [to get at team issues] we'll probably ask about how they dealt with a difficult coworker or a difficult or successful team setting. Maybe also the kinds of situations that they have been poorly equipped for, but have learned to adjust to.

For the full version of this Q&A

Comments from Student 1:

As for the interview questions [for the Michigan State admissions interview], they're a bit hazy, but they were along these lines...
1) How do you see yourself applying your MBA degree once you graduate?
2) Tell us about a teamwork situation where there was a problem, and how you overcame it.
3) Tell us about an experience where you had an ethical dilemma, and how you resolved it.
4) What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?
5) Tell us about an experience you had as a manger where you had to deal with a problem employee.
6) Tell us about an experience where you had to resolve a conflict with a superior.
7) What student organizations do you see yourself becoming involved with?
8) Why did you choose to apply to Michigan State?

stream

dARDEN:

I interviewed at the University of Virginia (Darden) in October 2002 and at Cornell (Johnson) in March 2003.

For Darden, an interview was required as part of the application process, so that in order to hit a certain application deadline, both the requisite paperwork and an interview had to have been already completed. I was able to set up my on-campus interview through Darden's online application system, which allows you to select a date and time; I also set up a class visit and information session for the same day. (I know that Darden also makes arrangements for off-campus interviews if applicants are not able to travel to Charlottesville.)

For Cornell, the school invites certain applicants to interview only after it reviews the written applications. I was notified (I believe via email) that I needed to come in for an interview; as with Darden, I was able to schedule my interview through the school's online application system, which allowed me to choose the date and time which were most convenient for me. I again interviewed on-campus, although Cornell also offers off-campus interviews to those who cannot get up to Ithaca.

The Darden interview was, in my opinion, very casual. The interviewer was a second-year student who prior to the interview had only had access to my resume (as my written application was not yet submitted), so she primarily asked me questions about my undergraduate experience and professional background. I believe she was mostly interested in understanding my decision-making process: how and why I had chosen the school and jobs I did and how my experiences so far had led me to believe that I needed an MBA. I remember discussing Darden in particular -- what made it a good fit for me and why I thought I was a good fit for it. Overall, the interview was actually more of a conversation; none of the questions were difficult given that I had recently had to think through most of the same information for my essays.

The Cornell interview was only slightly more structured. Although the interviewer (the Director of the Johnson School's Office for Women and Minorities in Business) had a list of questions provided to her by the committee who had reviewed my application, she also conducted the interview in a generally casual fashion. She asked me about my overall application process: why I thought I needed to attend business school and why at this particular time in my career, as well as what schools I was applying to and why. Like the Darden interviewer, she seemed interested in understanding my decision-making process; I remember that we discussed in detail the major I chose in college and how I went from that major and a pre-med focus to a career in business. She also was very interested in hearing what I thought I could contribute to my classmates and to Cornell, as the school is strongly committed to both its own community, as well as the surrounding area.

stream

usc:

An excerpt from the Q&A:

Q: In 2001, the full-time program interviewed 42% of its applicants and 85% of the people it admitted. It seems that getting in front of an admissions rep can do an applicant good. What can someone expect from their USC interview?
Vaughn: This year in the first round -- and those are the only [application] decisions we've sent out thus far -- we interviewed 99% of the people that we admitted. In the interview, we're looking for an opportunity for the applicant to demonstrate interpersonal skills and characteristics that our Corporate Advisory Board members say they expect from managers in their own organizations, such as leadership, teamwork, the ability to recognize opportunities, and to quantify risk.

Applicants are always curious about what questions they'll get in an interview, and the questions depend upon the conversation that takes place. We start as simply as: "Tell us about yourself. Give us an example of where you demonstrated leadership within your organization. How do you know you're a good team player? What sort of feedback do you get within the organization that demonstrates to you that people think that you're being a good team player?"

For the full version of this Q&A

Comments from Student 1:

I first contacted Marshall in mid-January 2003 via email and received a reply from Monica Ferrell, Assistant Director of Admissions. We traded a few emails then we spoke on the telephone. Monica spent 30 minutes discussing the program with me and signed me up for the EMBA information session on February 1. When I arrived at USC on February 1, I spent about 30 minutes talking with Monica. After attending an outstanding information session, I had lunch with Evan Bouffides, Director of Admissions, Dr. Diane Badame, Marketing professor and Associate Dean, and Brigitte Engel, Administrative Director. There was ample opportunity to ask questions and become acquainted. This was my first "informal" interview. (At lunch every visitor had either administrative or faculty members at their table.) At the end of the day I spent another 15 minutes or so with Evan. We spoke about the program and my background. Another "informal" interview.

On February 19 I had my official interview with Evan Bouffides at Popovich Hall on the USC campus. Because of our discussions at the information session, Evan knew who I was and why I was very interested in the EMBA program. The interview lasted a little over an hour. He seemed intrigued by my childhood, which is a great conversation piece since I was born in Scotland and immigrated to the U.S. with my family when I was young. Then we walked through my professional career. I tried my best to follow the chronology of my resume. Evan asked insightful questions about certain positions I have held. At the close of the interview he shared some candid observations about the EMBA program...what was strong and what could be improved.

The interview was very casual, comfortable, and conversational. I didn't have to field any zingers like "if you were a legume what one would you be." I prepared by knowing every aspect of my resume backward and forward. I had taken the time to mentally review what wasn't covered in my resume, which proved helpful when we went off on tangents. I was thankful to have thought through the issue of "why I was a good fit" for the Marshall EMBA program which we addressed very naturally during our conversation.

I felt fortunate that Evan, Monica, and Brigitte were already familiar with me when my official interview time arrived. The information session and telephone conversations had provided excellent opportunities to build acquaintances and possibly, an advantage. The more a school knows about you the better. Face time is an obvious benefit and Marshall's EMBA information session is perfectly structured to allow this to happen. All the right players are there.

My official interview was simply the culmination of five weeks worth of contact with the players at Marshall. The Ad Com had my application, my essays, my transcripts, my letters of recommendation, and hopefully positive impressions from Evan, Monica, Dr. Badame, and Brigitte.

Comments from Student 2:

[I was] invited to interview. I was sent an email and given very short notice that I was to interview in Los Angeles at USC sometime in the next three weeks. Luckily my job was flexible. I interviewed with an admissions officer who said that he had not read my file. Apparently two officers read the file and another officer [conducts] the interview, then they get together to talk. All of the questions were standard, "Why B-school?", "Why Marshall?", run through your resume and explain how you decided to apply, etc. It was a short interview, about 20 minutes, and he left a good amount of time for me to ask questions and was very open about the answers. [It was] a very comfortable atmosphere for an interview.