If you get an MBA admissions interview, will you ace it?
What if you get that coveted invitation to interview coming from HBS itself? Or Stanford. Or Wharton. Or fill in the blanks with that one school whose name in the sender line in your Inbox would make your heart skip a beat. Then what? What do you do, say, wear, project, gush about? Equally importantly, what do you NOT?
First things first though. Congratulations! Receiving an MBA admissions interview invite is excellent news. It means you are “admissible” and they are interested in you. An admissions reviewer, after a preliminary evaluation of your candidacy, deemed you potentially worthy of being offered a seat in their MBA class. All your hard work on the test, the essays, the application forms has paid off. But the race is far from over. Harvard describes an invitation to interview as “a positive indicator of interest but not a guarantee of admission”. At this point, the offer is yours to win. So how do you do it?
You strategize and prep. Here is a quick framework for you to use. The three most important parts to focus on are your story, your examples, and time management. Let’s quickly break each one down.
Your story
It’s the cumulative picture you painted of yourself throughout your application. Reread your answers and essays. Brainstorm what new accomplishments you may have had since you submitted your application – a new project, a promotion, an important contribution.
Decide how you will answer the “tell me about yourself” question you are very likely to be asked at the beginning. It can come in different flavors (e.g. “walk me through your resume”) and the key is to select the major points you want to make in that initial answer. It’s your MBA admissions elevator pitch. Keep it to no more than 3-4 minutes. Practice your timed delivery but do not try to memorize your answer (ever).
Your examples
I’ve seen candidates agonize over what questions will be asked in an MBA admissions interview. There is no need to worry. All the questions will be about YOU so you will most certainly know the answers.
And while the questions will vary from school to school and interviewer to interviewer, they will invariably fall into broad categories – examples of leadership, initiative, teamwork, resilience and humility.
At this point, it is important to refresh your knowledge of what the school is saying on their web site about the qualities they look for in a candidate. This will give you guidance about the substance they look for in your answers, regardless of how a question is phrased.
Stanford for example provides a clear and simple picture of what the MBA admissions interview will be like. The key point is they “invite you to discuss meaningful professional or community-based experiences you’ve had in the past few years”.
So how do you choose your examples?
Three things your answers must be: Honest. Succinct. Vivid.
After you have refreshed your knowledge of the application materials you submitted and have made a list of any new experiences, I suggest you select 7-8 examples that are indeed meaningful but also versatile enough that they can be delivered from different angles.
Remember that each answer is a short story. It paints a picture for the interviewer and if you make the right points and connect them well, that picture will be interesting and engaging.
How to answer the “Walk me through your resume” question in your MBA admissions interview?
First off, recognize the two flavors of this question. Sometimes it’s “Walk me through your resume”, other times the AdCom will ask “Tell me about yourself”.
You could easily use the same approach for both! Start off with a quick snapshot of who you are. Highlight your educational and professional journey, but here's the twist – don’t simply rattle on the facts, explain the motivation behind the choices you’ve made. It's all about connecting the dots.
Focus on the skills you've honed, especially the ones that show you're a leader. And, if your career path isn't a straight line, that’s not a reason to worry. Talk about those transitions, why you chose them, and what you learned from them.
Wrap it up by touching on your current role and how the MBA is the next logical step. Keep it engaging, don't just echo your resume. Make it your own story, the one that sets you apart.
Time management
It’s as simple as knowing your substance and examples well and practicing how to deliver each of them in 2-4 minutes. I cannot stress enough that practicing does not mean memorizing. The interview should be a conversation, not a delivery of rehearsed material. An overly rehearsed answer can easily jeopardize your success. The purpose of practicing is to ensure you stay on track with time and that each answer tells a story with a couple of key points in it. This second part is where too many candidates get tripped up. They go into irrelevant detail or fail to add color. This is where almost every candidate could benefit from the right external help. You can practice with a friend, a colleague or a family member. Or you can seek expert help, the way many candidates do at this very critical point in the application process: Book an efficient, targeted mock interview.
Bonus tip
Here are the biggest pitfalls in an MBA admissions interview. Barring some real disaster, which should be extremely unlikely if you made it to this stage, the major threats to a successful interview are a candidate being:
Long winded
Unexciting
Unable to demonstrate convincing knowledge and interest in the school
But I know if you landed on this page and cared to read what I shared with you, you won’t be that candidate.
Onwards and upwards,
Petia
P.S. Did you know that Get Unstuck is the best value for interview prep? See how one HBS admit used this service to up her interview game.