The MBA interview can be a nerve-wracking experience, but it also presents an opportunity to showcase your skills, achievements, and interests to the admissions committee. Here's how to take control of your interview and present yourself in the best light.
- Research the Program and School: Before the interview, do a deep dive into the MBA program and the school you're applying to. This will demonstrate your interest in the program and show that you have a good understanding of what the school has to offer. Read the school's mission statement, browse the website, and familiarize yourself with the faculty and resources available to students.
- Prepare for Common Questions: MBA interviews often cover a wide range of topics, including your academic and professional background, as well as your goals and motivations for pursuing an MBA. Get familiar with common interview questions and prepare answers that highlight your strengths and achievements.
- Highlight Unique Experiences and Skills: Admissions committees are looking for applicants who bring unique experiences and skills to the program. Emphasize your unique experiences and how they will contribute to the program and make you a valuable member of the school community. This can be a unique work experience, a skill you have developed, or a leadership role you have held. Use storytelling to entice the interviewers and encourage follow-up questions.
- Ask Thoughtful Questions: Your interview is not just a one-way street – it's also an opportunity for you to ask questions and learn more about the program and school. Show your engagement and interest by asking thoughtful questions. This also demonstrates your commitment to the program and eagerness to learn more.
- Be Confident and Professional: Be confident but not overconfident, and present yourself professionally. Dress appropriately and make sure you are well-groomed. This shows the admissions committee that you take the interview seriously and are committed to making a good impression. Maintain a calm and confident demeanor, even if the interviewer is challenging you.
- Be Yourself: Finally, be authentic and let your personality shine through. The admissions committee wants to get to know the real you, so avoid trying to be someone you're not. Let your passion for the program come through in your responses.
It is advisable to practice in front of a mirror, a friend, a mentor or a co-aspirant who knows about your strengths and weaknesses. Body language is often an overlooked factor while preparing for MBA interviews.
The best way to feel and show confidence is to prepare the expected questions in advance. These are the set of questions which are generally asked at the beginning of the interview to assess your readiness, communication, confidence and commitment to the program.
10 Most asked questions in MBA Interview
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Can you tell us about yourself?
This question is a staple in not only MBA interviews but in a variety of recruitment and admission-related interviews. The objective of this question is to gauge your communication skills and the clarity of your self-introduction. The interviewer wants to know more about you and use this opportunity to get you talking. While it's tempting to share all about yourself to engage the interviewer, it's important to remain focused and avoid going off-topic. A good strategy is to provide a basic introduction of your background and highlight your education, work experience, or recent internship. Mention a few of your most relevant and interesting points, but don't go into too much detail. This will steer the conversation towards what you want to emphasize and give you more opportunities to speak. -
Why did you choose to pursue an MBA?
This is a commonly asked question in MBA interviews, and it is meant to evaluate your clarity of purpose, motives, and commitment. The panel is looking for candidates who are truly committed to their studies because pursuing an MBA is a significant investment of time and effort. Even if your driving factor is not purely non-monetary, that's okay. The most important thing is to be able to convince the panel of your reasons. Use examples and talk about industry leaders that you admire, and explain how their stories relate to your aspirations. Clearly articulate your goals and explain why an MBA is the best path for you to achieve them. A bonus would be to provide a realistic timeline and explain it to the interviewers. -
Why This MBA Program?
In this interview question, the panel aims to evaluate your genuine interest in the MBA program and how much effort you put into researching the college before the interview. When answering, make sure to mention the factors that appeal to you about the program, such as its program fit, peer group, course duration, location, recruiting companies, etc. It's crucial to have a thorough understanding of the college before the interview, and it's an added advantage if you can provide some placement statistics or name a few faculty members to support your points. A follow-up question to this may be if you've applied to other colleges or if you have received offers from other schools. When answering, be honest and highlight why you would choose this program over others. It's important not to appear desperate to join this program as it can have a negative impact. Stay practical and realistic in your answers. This question is not intended to judge your interest in the program but to gauge your level of desperation. -
How Will You Contribute to the Program?
Before applying for an MBA, it's important to analyse your profile to see if it fits the peer group and if your work experience is relevant. If you feel out of place, consider doing some internships to explore your interests before applying. Why is this relevant to the question? MBA programs are a two-way street, and you need to have something valuable to offer in order to be considered a good fit for the program. If your profile lacks relevance, you won't be seen as a good addition to the cohort.
To answer this question, you must summarise your interests, experiences from jobs/internships/courses and tell the interviewer what you bring to the table. Highlight your soft skills and technical skills and that you are willing to apply these and share with your peer group. If you are not able to articulate how you will be able to contribute, you will be considered dead weight. A perfect answer will include an area of expertise in terms of technical skills (like Marketing, financial knowledge, IT skills, Creative skills, etc.), a soft skill (like team building, public speaking, etc.) and your willingness/interest in active participation. -
What are your strengths and weaknesses?
This is a tricky one! You must list down your 3 strengths and 3 weakness in advance and be prepared with how you would use your strengths to your advantage and what you are doing to tackle your weaknesses. You should also keep in mind that your strengths should be relevant to the context. Physical or manipulative strengths do not work when it comes to management. Try to stick to soft skills or technical skills which seem more realistic. Also back it up with stories on how you demonstrated these strengths in real life. Keep it as realistic as possible. Coming to the weaknesses, your weaknesses should not be fatal to your MBA or your career. Try to mention weaknesses which are easy to tackle and back it up by saying how you are actually trying to tackle them. -
What is your educational background?
When asked about your educational background, go in reverse chronological order and justify why you chose what you did. Justify if you have any breaks if you have and highlight your achievements right from your school days. Remember that they are more interested in how you will leverage your learnings rather than how difficult or prestigious your degree is. -
Questions related to your work experience
This question needs to be answered similar to your educational background question. You need to specify your achievements. Remember that they are not interested in your job profile or designation, rather your growth path and the impact you created. Highlight your initiatives and their impact on yourself and your company. Highlight your internships and the key takeaways if you don’t have a relevant work experience. You can also show how you developed the interest/need to pursue an MBA through your work experience. MBA Colleges highly value your network. Be sure to highlight the important contacts you made during your stints. -
General Knowledge – mostly related to current happenings and business/economics news
You need to be aware of the business world around you. Especially in these quick changing times, you need to be up to date with all happenings in the society. As an MBA graduate you will not just be working for yourself or monetary benefits but also towards the betterment of the society. Even your personal performance and growth is highly correlated with the current economic trends. Hence, the interviewers expect you to have a basic understanding of the world economics and business world. You may not be able to answer all the questions but be ready with at least the area of your interest, be it IT, AI/ML, world politics, Crypto, Banking system, Marketing trends, etc. -
Why should we admit you?
This question is usually asked towards the end of the interview or towards the end of your interaction with any one the panellists. This is your chance to convince the interviewer and impress him/her. Consider it an opportunity to express what you might have missed in the entire interview. Structure your answer in three parts –
- How your aspirations match the goals of the college?
- What you will bring to the table in terms of your skills and how you fit in the batch?
- Why is it the perfect time for you to pursue MBA given your stage in the career?
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Do you have any questions for us?
This is one of the most underestimated question in interviews. As an MBA aspirant, the panellists expect you to be curious and serious about the course. As a result, they also expect you to have numerous questions, but they also expect you to make use of the opportunity and be as precise as possible. Hence, it becomes very important to take this opportunity and show your interest in the course and college by asking questions and also to ask only the most important questions to show that you value the opportunity and their time.
The best questions to ask the panellists are related to your preparation for the college and how you can better align your profile for the course. For example, you may ask how you can better prepare yourself for the course before you join it. This will show confidence, maturity and your commitment towards the course. You may also ask about the campus life or related things to show your interest towards the program and college. Or ask a genuine doubt if you have any.
In the end, no matter how much you prepare, you can’t be fully prepared for an MBA interview. You need to maintain your calm no matter what the situation. If you have come this far, you are most likely to have multiple similar opportunities. If things turn south, take it as a learning and prepare for the next interview. Also remember that no situation is difficult enough to stop you from coming out of it. If you are stuck somewhere, take a step back, take some time to think and rephrase your answer if needed. Panellists usually appreciate if you are able to collect yourself in pressurising situations and are able to come out of it.
All the best for your next interview!!
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Rishabh Srivastava
Manager, Great Lakes Institute of Management
