Each step of the graduate application process is difficult, with the last step, the admissions interview, being the most challenging, pressurized, and crucial.
The all-important admissions interview will certainly be stressful, but having a strategy for success, taking adequate time to prepare, and covering your bases will allow you to interview with as much confidence as possible. Of course, video interviews add a different wrinkle than traditional face-to-face interviews, but by preparing in advance, most of the same advice applies to both formats. This post will share a basic checklist of things you should do to be prepared for your interviews.
If you are looking for support or practice opportunities as you prepare for your upcoming interviews, Transcend Admissions offers mock interview practice sessions. Click here to understand the service better and book one or more sessions.
Review your materials. You’ve just written numerous essays, summarized your work history, and considered your skillset, strengths, and weaknesses in great detail. Use that work to determine what your best stories are and how to best display your strategy and strengths in various interview responses. Know your stories front and back. It is amazing how many people can’t seem to clearly remember their most important experiences. Review everything in your resume and essays, think about your ambitions, experiences, why you need an MBA, and what you can contribute.
Do not memorize. An interview is an opportunity to showcase your personality, values, philosophies, and your ability to think on your toes, and memorizing scripted answers defeats that purpose. In addition to sounding robotic, memorization risks having a mental blank and doesn’t prepare you to respond dynamically to follow up questions or interjections. Instead of memorizing, create bullet points and understand how they are related to the whole story. This can allow you to adapt answers as needed and tell stories more naturally.
Understand the school’s interview format. Research the school’s interviewing style by reading their interview guides, seeking out interview reports on messageboards and chatting with alumni. Some schools conduct comprehensive interviews and ask many behavioral questions. Other schools do blind interviews and ask the typical questions. Understanding the format can significantly affect your preparation and interview experience.
Practice walking someone through your resume. “Walk me through your resume” is a common interview request, and while it looks simple enough, many people do a poor job responding to it. The interviewer is not asking you to read your resume line-by-line – they have probably already done that. Instead, they would like you to bring those experiences to life, sharing a blend of your responsibilities, achievements, personal growth, and job change decisions. A good answer to this question transforms your resume from a black-and-white description to a vivid, personal set of experiences that have brought you to the decision to apply for an MBA.
Understand the program and how you can contribute. Graduate programs want to feel that they are entering into a long-term relationship with their applicants and students. They have studied your materials enough to have invited you for an interview to get to know you better. You should also have done your research and have a detailed understanding about the program’s distinguishing features, such as its curriculum, values, teaching style, student clubs, and important annual events. For example, if you’re applying to IESE you should know about their use of the case study teaching method; if you’re applying to Duke you should be excited about the “Team Fuqua” culture; if you’re applying to Carnegie Mellon you should know about how they integrate technology across all their programs and their commitment to diversity and inclusivity.
Make a connection with the interviewer. Try to make a connection with the interviewer and make the situation conversational, but follow the interviewer’s lead. If the interviewer has a no-nonsense approach toward the interview, then you should match their serious attitude. If the interviewer talks fast and is very enthusiastic, then you should be, too. Don’t be afraid to try to make conversation and make that person laugh. The most important thing is to be yourself and give them opportunities to like you. It is important to make a connection with the interviewer. One way to do this is to steer the conversation towards something you know that the interviewer might be interested in. To prepare for this, look up the interviewer on LinkedIn to learn about their academic and professional background so that you might be able to ask questions that could help you make a connection with that person.
Practice as much as possible. Practice involves considering the many aspects of the interview. Tactically, you should be aware of your time management and keep most answers to 2-3 minutes or a bit shorter. Get comfortable talking in front of your computer/camera. You can practice recording your answers to questions or ask a friend to help you practice if you don’t have much experience with this from work meetings.
Prepare stories with different perspectives. Find stories that are flexible and can be molded to fit different questions. View the story through a different lens. Think of your key points (knowledge, skills, personality traits) – then figure out where you can sell them through your different stories.
If you are looking for support or practice opportunities as you prepare for your upcoming interviews, Transcend Admissions offers mock interview practice sessions. Click here to understand the service better and book one or more sessions.