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SPECIAL TYPES OF INTERVIEWS

STRESS INTERVIEWS

Stress interviews are not much in evidence any more, but they still pop up often enough to merit comment. The idea underlying any form of stress interview is that applying enormous stress to an interviewee will cause him to reveal his true nature and likely performance under stress in the future. A failure to remain poised will reveal a person’s supposed lack of confidence in himself.

What exactly is a stress interview? It can take many forms. You may be put in a position in which bright sunlight will be directly in your eyes, or your responses may be met by long silences. The tendency in this case is to try to fill up the awkward moments by adding to a response, thereby perhaps revealing information you would have been better advised to keep from view.

More likely you will be given too little time to answer questions. This sort of pressure is most readily employed when there are two or more interviewers, one preparing to ask you the next, perhaps follow-up, question while you answer the current one. As you start to answer a question, your response may be ignored or cut short and taken out of context, and the next question tossed at you as fast as possible. (Think of the movies you have seen in which detectives grill a suspect under a bright light.) The interviewer may dispute what you are saying and challenge you very aggressively. Your weaknesses can be pointed out at every turn. The interviewer can also be obviously hostile and rude. This will continue for some time, until you react, most probably by becoming angry or resentful that you are not being allowed to get your full answers out.

The key to this situation is to recognize it for what it is. If you know that it is a game, you can respond with suitable bits of gamesmanship. Once you know that you are deliberately being pressured, you have the opportunity to take control of the situation. (This is one of the few circumstances in which it is appropriate for you to take control.) If the sun is shining directly into your eyes, excuse yourself and move your chair to a more comfortable location. If you are being subjected to the silent treatment, respond by smiling at the interviewer and simply waiting for her to ask another question. If, on the other hand, you are being pressured verbally, start by leaning back, smiling, and not saying anything for a few seconds. Then restate the last question, “You have asked me whether this project was really successful.” Go on to explain that there are, let’s say, four parts to your response. Once you have done this it will be all but impossible for the interviewer to interrupt you until you have finished all four. Be sure to start each portion of your response by saying, “first,” “second,” and so on.

If you are interrupted again, lean back once more, smile again, and say that this approach seems a bit much and invite the interviewer to share information instead.

An international variation on the stress interview focuses on language. More than one applicant to INSEAD has spent the first half hour chatting in her native language about inconsequential, pleasant matters and then been required to respond to rapid-fire questions in French for the last half hour. The questions posed in French are invariably the tough ones, such as, “Why should we take you when we already have nine applicants from your company with higher GMAT scores than you have?”

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GROUP EXERCISES

In a group exercise, you may be asked to work together with other applicants to solve a hypothetical problem or respond to a case. This is meant to test:
        whether you can think on your feet, and stay cool under pressure

        how creative or innovative you are your verbal communication ability

        whether you can work as part of a team

        whether you can lead others

These interviews are inevitably tricky because the other “team” members are all trying to get as much air time as possible, so that they are not easily led. In fact, the applicants often resemble nothing so much as the proverbial seals in a pond at the zoo, yapping for their trainer to throw them fish.

How do you determine your own strategy? Start by determining four things.

1. What type of exercise is planned
2. Your skill set and experiences as they relate to the exercise
3. The skill and experience levels of other applicants
4. Your risk profile: how much of a risk you are willing to take to impress the graders of the exercise, given how high you believe your standing is prior to the exercise

To stand out without looking like a publicity-crazed adolescent, consider prior to the exercise how best to position yourself. Do your homework regarding the exercise, too. Ask the admissions office what to expect in the exercise. Talk with people already at the school about their experiences with this or a similar exercise, or see if another exercise is planned for earlier in the same day, or the day before, and debrief participants as they exit.

For example, one applicant to London Business School was a Scandinavian who had just spent several years working in Asia. He decided that this gave him an ideal positioning opportunity. He knew that the LBS exercise would include a group of international students, some of whom might have weak English skills or be less aggressive than Americans tend to be in such settings. He figured that he could set himself up as the person who draws out the quiet team members. Asking their opinions, asking whether they agreed with what the last person said, would put him in charge of the group for a moment. (It is very difficult for one of the aggressive types who has just spoken to interrupt you because you are not ostensibly being selfish whereas his interruption will clearly be selfish. You can then go on to see whether their views can be reconciled with those already expressed and whether each side agrees with your synthesis. You show yourself to be active, to be concerned to involve everyone, and yet you are not acting selfishly.)
Another role you can play is to question those who have already stated their views. What facts or theories underlie their analysis? How do they feel that it fits with other views already presented (naming, perhaps, some possible area of conflict or agreement)? If you ask questions that are designed to help clarify the proceedings by getting people to amplify what they are thinking, you can contribute significantly to the quality of the discussion.

In general, your analytical approach should be to identify and evaluate alternative courses of action. Do not feel that you must be 100 percent certain that your view is correct before you will participate. If you do, you are unlikely ever to say much. Instead, take the approach that you will participate whenever there is a reasonable likelihood that you are correct. Then listen to others’ views and defend your position if it still seems right, but be prepared to jettison it or compromise if it clearly is not. Do not fight to preserve a clearly incorrect view, since this is hardly a sign of maturity and good judgment.

At a minimum, make sure that your attitude is appropriate. Remain energetic and positive even if you are not able to put your views across. Do not give in to feelings of frustration or despair.

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PANEL INTERVIEWS

Panel interviews are often conducted with harsh time constraints because they represent a large investment of resources (three or more people’s time). This means that you should be particularly certain to arrive in advance. Explain that you understand that this format places time pressure on the proceedings, so you will strive to give very concise answers to questions, but you welcome requests for additional information.
Start each response by addressing the person who asked the question, then look at other panel members, and look back to the original questioner as you finish your response.

If you are asked questions by several people simultaneously, look at the most important (a chairperson for the panel) or someone who has not yet asked a question and ask her (with a smile) if she could please repeat the question.

FRIENDLY CHATS

One type of interviewer will come on as extremely friendly and casual. She will chat away about recent football results or the interviewee’s favorite foods. When she shifts to business matters, she will be completely unthreatening and will agree with anything and everything you say. The danger is that she will lull you into totally dropping your guard so that you end up volunteering information that you would be better off keeping to yourself. You are inclined to consider a person who finds you agreeable, fascinating, and invariably correct to be on your side. Resist this temptation; your interviewer may just be using a technique to get you to open up about yourself.


SPECIAL INTERVIEW SETI1NGS
RESTAURANTS

        Do not sit until the interviewer invites you to be seated.

        Consider the menu when the interviewer invites you to. Pick something midpriced, and do so without lengthy deliberations. Make sure that you choose something familiar and easy to eat. Avoid things that splatter or require eating with your fingers.

        If the interviewer orders a drink or first course, follow suit by ordering at least some mineral water so that you will have something to occupy yourself with while she is drinking or eating.

        Do not order too much, since this suggests a lack of discipline.

        Use your discretion regarding alcohol consumption. The safest rule to follow is that you should consume somewhat less alcohol than would be normal for a businessperson in the same circumstances. In Italy it might well be considered rude to refuse wine at dinner, whereas in America it would be considered a sign of incipient alcoholism to have a drink before lunch.

        In Europe, you should eat with both hands on the table. It is inappropriate both in America and Europe to place your elbows on the table.

        Do not criticize the decor or the food.

        Treat the waiters and busboys very politely.

        Wait for the interviewer to begin the business end of the discussion. She may prefer to wait until after the drink or first course has been consumed.

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WHAT THE ADMISSIONS DIRECTORS SAY ABOUT INTERVIEWS
WHY ARE INTERVIEWS IMPORTANT?

        We have tried to correlate placement success and GMAT scores, undergraduate grades, years of experience, and everything else imaginable. The strongest correlation is with interview rankings. The personality strengths that are visible then are also what employers value later on. Jon Megibow, Darden

        We want to see if they are the right lit for the program, but applicants need to do the same and the interview is a good opportunity to do that. Julia lyler London

        We interview people to see how interested in the program they are. We want to know how enthusiastic they are. It’s hard to know this sort of thing from the application alone. Gea 7Yomp, Rotterdam

        At the end of the day, you’ve got to go out and persuade somebody to give you a job and that happens in a face-to-face interview, so we want the interview to be an important part of our admissions process too. Carol Giraud, INSEAD (Paris region)
HOW IMPORTANT IS THE INTERVIEW?

        An interview is not required, but it is highly recommended, and we mean it. A person who lives in Boston and hasn’t interviewed we assume is not interested in Tuck. We interview 85%—86% of our admittees. Henry Maim, tuck

        For us, the essays may be slightly less important than they are for some other schools because you can always prepare your essays—rewrite them ten times. But you can’t answer a question ten times in a face-to-face interview until you get it right. So for us that spontaneity is important in learning about a candidate. Carol Giraud, INSEAD (Paris region)
WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN THE INTERVIEW?

        I do the interview to get beyond the essays. I know what you’ve done; I need to know why. Brian Sorge, Kellogg

        The successful applicant will represent Tuck two years from now, We can polish somebody quite a bit in two years, but if they are a lump of coal rather than a diamond in the rough even we won’t be successful with them. If they have serious problems in communicating in the interview, they are likely to have serious problems in the classroom. Henry Maim, tuck

        We try to see if the candidate has more to offer than was apparent on paper. We connect a face/person with the application and hope that we can learn more about the individual in the face-to-face interview. Linda Baldwin, UCLA

        We look for team players. This quality is most apparent in interviews—we can tell how candidates feel about working with other people by the way they talk about it. Mary Clark, JESE (Barcelona)

        Interviews give us the chance to see who people are and to check a lot of the information in their applications. Gabrielia Aliatis, Bocconi (Milan)

        We want to test their ability to engage in an argument and to withstand a challenge. We want to see if they can express their views clearly. We also look at the reasons someone wants to do an MBA, why more specifically at the London Business School. We’ll look at his interpersonal skills. A lot of the work we do at London Business School is in a team environment, so we want to know whether someone will be able to cope with that. We want to be sure London Business School represents a good fit for him. And, at the end of the day, we want to know whether someone is going to contribute to the school and, having done an MBA, then go out and sell it for us. Julia Jyler London

        Because INSEAD is different from other schools, we would expect an interviewee to know that, to know how it differs from other schools, and to be very clear about why he wants to come here. A very clear motivation for coming to INSEAD should be present. Carol Giraud, INSEAD (Paris region)

WHO DOES THE INTERVIEWING?

        We have our admissions officers, alumni (we have 850 volunteers), and second-year students do the interviewing. Henry Malin, tuck

        We interview everybody. In contrast to U.S. schools, the admissions officers don’t do the interviewing. Alumni and faculty do it. Julia Tyler London
WHAT INFORMATION DOES THE INTERVIEWER HAVE ABOUT THE APPLICANT?

        The interviewer conducts the interview “blind,” on purpose. We want the interviewer to give an unbiased view of the applicant, which is impossible if the interviewer sees the folder in advance. Don Martin, Chicago

        Our interviewers generally work from the interviewee’s résumé rather than a complete file. Judith Goodman, Michigan

        Unlike most schools, our interviewers have the applicant’s folder. We don’t interview everybody, and we don’t use students to do the interviewing, so we can make sure that our interviewers have the data on interviewees. Schools that have students do interviews cannot share sensitive, confidential data with them, so they don’t see applicants’ folders. James Millar Harvard

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ADVICE

        A good interviewee will be succinct but persuasive about his accomplishments, show that he knows the direction he wants his career to take, make it clear why he wants an MBA and why he wants to get one at Michigan. This means that he knows the school and the curriculum and can explain why they are a good match for his needs. Judith Goodman, Michigan

        If you view interviews as information exchanges you will be more relaxed and sound more sophisticated than if you prepare yourself only for the purpose of responding to questions. Linda Baldwin, UCLA

        They should treat the interview like a job interview. They should be prepared about the school itself. They should talk with graduates and students of the program, not just read the brochures and guides. Henry Malin, tuck

        People should be prepared (although too often they aren’t). They need to know about the school and why they are there. The other problem is nerves. We try not to make it nerve- wracking, but people inherently feel that it is. They need to relax. They need to be themselves and be ready to discuss things and to have a good dialogue. Brian Sorge, Kellogg

        It’s good to prepare, but not to be ready with orations you will deliver on topics you expect to be asked. You want this to remain a one-on-one exchange, not a series of canned speeches. Fran Hill, Haas (Berkeley)

        Know about the school and be prepared to state the reasons for your interest in it. You want the interviewer to feel that you’ve done your homework and are making some intelligent choices. Fran Hill, Haas (Berkeley)

        We are impressed when someone has done his homework and knows about our program— someone who obviously wants to come here. Andrew Dyson, Manchester (England)

UNUSUAL INTERVIEW FORMATS (notice that these exist only among European schools)

        If we question someone’s academic ability, we’ll use an interview to assess the person’s intelligence as well as interpersonal skills. We may ask a business case question or have them do an impromptu presentation to test their business orientation and business skills. Kal Denzel, IMD (Switzerland)

        We give people a case to do. They’re relatively brief. We give them an hour to write a response. Professor Leo Murray, Cranjield (England)

        We have an “observed group” situation as part of our interview day. We’re not looking for someone to take over the group, to be aggressive and a leader; we’re looking for someone to encourage other people, bring the best out in others, be a good team player. Five or six people would be asked to deal with a problem as a group. They’ll be observed by an organizational specialist on the faculty (typically). It lasts for an hour. It’s the process more than the result that interests us. Helen Ward, Manchester (England)


BIGGEST MISTAKES

        Someone who doesn’t know the program at all, It’s not good enough to say that it’s great or ranked number one. They need to know the style of the program and whether it will suit them. Suzanne Cordatos, Wharton (Lauder Institute)

        The biggest mistake people make seems to be arriving at the interview unprepared to ask specific questions about our program. If people are going to spend the time and money to come here, I would have thought that they’d have questions about our quite unique program. Don Martin, Chicago
People tend to be either far too brief or too long-winded. Judith Goodman, Michigan

        One of the worst mistakes is to dominate proceedings, to wrest control from the interviewer. Fran Hill, Haas (Berkeley)

        It’s unfortunate how many applicants have not thought out what they should expect us to ask. Mary Clark, IESE (Barcelona)

        Too few interviewees know much about our program before they interview and too few are ready enough that they have serious questions to ask about it. Gabriella Aliatis, Bocconi (Milan)

        Too many people are too casual about the interviews. We expect them to treat interviews as they would a job interview in terms of their presentation (manner and appearance) and being prepared. But on the other hand, they shouldn’t be so stressed out that they aren’t open enough and friendly enough that there can be a good dialogue. Carol Giraua INSEAD (Paris region)

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HOW TO DEAL WITH THE INCOMPETENT INTERVIEWER

What marks an incompetent interviewer? Examples are: talking too much, going off on tangents, failing to maintain control of the interview, and dwelling on inconsequential matters. Here are some tips for dealing with the most common problems:

She talks too much. The more an interviewer talks, the less information she can get about you. Build rapport with her by providing nonverbal encouragement. You do not want to offend her or be rude, but you still want to get some points across. Do so by appearing to agree with her, following up on one of her comments by immediately saying something like, “In fact, one of the things that first got me interested in school X was.. .“ And, of course, take advantage of the break she gives you at the end of the interview when she asks if you have any questions. Phrase your questions as questions, but make sure that they are really short advertisements for yourself. For exam- pie: “I wonder whether my background—having a PhD in mechanical engineering and a lot of practical work experience in several industries—would be a good fit with the program at Acme University?”

She goes off on tangents. If you want to get the discussion back on track, use such phrases as: “Let me be sure that I understand this correctly” (and then repeat the couple of key points briefly); “Could we go back to that first point, such and such”; “In our remaining time, I hope that we will have the chance to touch on the following points which are particularly important for me: X, Y, Z.” Be very friendly and nonconfrontational, showing that you are not trying to take over the interview, but are instead trying to take advantage of an opportunity to learn more about the school or sell your own abilities.

She constantly interrupts. Make a note of where you are in the conversation when the interruption occurred and recall this for the interviewer’s sake when the interview recommences. She will be impressed that you have kept your focus while she was losing hers.

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AFTER THE INTERVIEW

First, debrief yourself regarding what went well and what went poorly, and why. This will help you with later interviews for other schools; you will be able to anticipate what you might be asked concerning an apparent weakness.

INTERVIEW CHECKLIST

        Clothing: My dress was/was not appropriate and comfortable.
        My entrance, including handshake and greeting, was/was not positive.
        My physical actions (smile, eye contact, body language, avoidance of fidgeting) were/were not appropriate.
        Attitude: I did/did not appear confident, enthusiastic, and friendly.
        Questions I handled well (list each, with what was good about your answer):
        Questions I handled poorly (list each, with what was bad about your answer, and suggestions for improvement):
        General comments:
—        I spoke too much/too little.
—        I did/did not establish rapport quickly and easily.
—        I stayed on a more or less equal footing with the interviewer.
—        I did/did not impress the interviewer without bragging.
—        I balanced sincerity and humor appropriately for this interviewer’s style.
        My ending questions were/were not appropriate (and sufficient).
        My exit was/was not smooth and upbeat.
        I was appropriately knowledgeable about the program (and the school).
        Interviewer’s impression of me:

--Personal:
--Professional:

Second, send a brief thank-you note to your interviewer. Note something that occurred during the interview to make it clear that this is not a form note. You can mention, for example, that you were glad to learn that it will be very easy to get moderately priced housing near the campus. The one absolute requirement of the note is that you get the interviewer’s name and title correct, so be sure to get her business card during the interview.

SPECIAL CONCERNS FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

Interviewing in a language that is not your own is not easy, especially when you are under substantial performance pressure. This is precisely when your worst verbal tics are likely to show up, including mistakes that you have not made since early in your study of the language. Similarly, normal manners of speaking in your own language can be bothersome to others. Highly educated French speakers are accustomed to using a large number of “uh’s” and, if anything, seem to gain respect for doing so. To English speakers, this same trait when expressed in English can be highly annoying. Check your performance under realistic conditions and go the extra step of asking a native speaker what verbal mannerisms are best eradicated.

Cultural differences manifest themselves at many points in an interview. For example, Americans at all social levels discuss a range of sports and expect others to follow them as well. A CEO would not find it odd to discuss baseball, football, or basketball as well as such sports as golf and tennis. In the UK, discussing soccer (i.e., football), darts, or other working class sports would be regarded as bizarre; CEOs would limit
themselves to cricket, tennis (i.e., Wimbledon), or the like. Anyone doing business in America should expect sports to serve as a metaphor for business, with constant use of sports terms, whereas little sports terminology would find its way into a British business discussion.

The physical distance people maintain between themselves, amount of eye contact, and many of the behaviors discussed in this chapter are in fact culturally defined norms. Give some consideration, and some practice time, to incorporating these norms into your interview performance so that you will appear to fit into the school’s cultural context.

The best way to prepare for a cross-cultural interview is, of course, to speak the appropriate language, and if possible spend time in the appropriate setting, for as long as possible immediately prior to the interview.

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