Interview Tips

– Most common interview questions asked

What to Expect During Business School
Interviews

• Business school interviews don't tend to be rigid or

formal. This doesn't mean that it won't feel like a job
interview. It just means that they want to get a sense of
you as a whole person. Your interviewer may ask
specific questions regarding your job responsibilities or
broad questions about your history, personality and
goals. You may talk about your hobbies, a recent cross-
country trip, or even the worst job you ever had.
You can prepare for business school interview
questions in several ways:

1. Know Your Resume

• Identify your strongest achievements and have your
supporting stories ready. These stories and
accomplishments will be the main selling points you can
reference to catch your interview’s attention. Your
interviewer may ask questions about any portion of your
resume, so be prepared to contribute to the conversation
and provide exceptional experience details.
2. Prepare In Advance
• Preparing is one of the best ways to walk confidently into your
MBA interview. Understand the interview process and anticipate
the questions you may receive. Research the program and connect
with others who can give you information about what to expect.

3. Practice Interview Questions

• Practice makes perfect and you will benefit from practicing your
interview beforehand. Find interview questions online or ask a
friend to conduct a practice interview with you. The more
experience you have with these questions, the more confident you
will feel when you walk into the interview.
4. Bring Positive Questions
• One of the best MBA interview tips is to spend time noting worthwhile
questions. Ensure you do not ask questions that the school website
could answer. Instead, ask specific and meaningful questions. If you
know your interviewer’s name before the interview, find them online.
Ask them how they shaped their career and personal growth or about the
program’s strengths.
5. Research The Program
• Always investigate your top programs or schools. Search social media,
email professors and ensure your values align with the school. Consider
visiting your top choices to get a feel for the community culture.
Campus visits allow you to connect with instructors and other students
who can give insight into the interview process.
6. Articulate Your Goals
• Admissions want to know what makes you unique. Explain your
career path and walk your interviewer through your path to
success. Discuss significant career moves and risks. Articulate
your steps to get to your current position and where you plan to
go next. Show your passion by connecting past experiences with
where you want to be in the future.
7. Recognize Interview Importance
• In this digital age, your interview may be virtual. However, your
setting does not lessen the importance. You should prepare the
same whether your interview is virtual or in-person by wearing
appropriate clothing, speaking confidently and making eye
contact with your interviewer.
8. Understand The MBA Landscape
• Each school or program will have a different interview process, and
industry professionals use various interview techniques. For example, you
may meet with an alum who has seen your resume or have an interview
where one person converses with you and another observes. Additionally,
you may be able to work with a team and exhibit industry knowledge.
Prepare for all interview types to get a leg up.
9. Have Consistent Answers
• Your interviewer may or may not have reviewed your application. They
will likely ask you questions similar to those you answered on your
application. Ensure you are honest in all responses, so what you say is
cohesive with what’s on your written application.
9 most frequently asked questions

1.Can you tell me something about yourself?

2.Why do you want to pursue an MBA?
3.Why do you want to pursue an MBA from our institute?
4.What are your strengths?
5.What are your weaknesses?
6.What are your career goals after getting admitted?
7.What is your long-term career goal?
8.Describe a challenge you faced in your personal or professional life and how did you
come out of it?
9.Have you got any questions for us?
Can you tell me something about yourself?

A safe place to start, use this question to talk briefly and concisely
about your background, experience, and accomplishments. Limit
your answer to 2-3 minutes and identify key talking points that
relate to the school or program. Plan to discuss topics such as:
• Your undergraduate education and why you chose the major
you did
• Your past and present work experience and accomplishments
• Your career goals, and your journey to discovering what
matters most to you in your chosen industry
Why do you want to pursue an MBA?

Next, interviewers may seek to understand why you’ve

chosen this particular course of action as part of your larger
career plan. Explain, in detail, your motivations for pursuing
a graduate business degree and how the degree will further
your career goals. Emphasize the specific skills that you hope
to achieve and how these apply to the field, job function, or
industry that interests you. What motivated you to pursue
the degree now? Interviewers are looking for a well-
researched, thoughtful consideration of the endeavor you’re
about to undertake.
Why do you want to pursue an MBA from our
institute? Or Why are you interested in this school?

At some point, the interviewer may ask why you’re

interested in this particular program or location.
Comprehensively discuss all the reasons the school or
program is ideally suited for you. Include factors such as
faculty, culture, curriculum, industry connections, and
job placement. Talk about any aspects that make the
school or program unique and why, in particular, that
interests you. Your response will help the interviewer
picture you as part of the community going forward.
What are your strengths and weaknesses?

You may be asked about your strengths and weaknesses in

two separate questions, or in one combined question. Either
way, the interviewer typically aims to measure your humility
and self-awareness. Start with describing your weaknesses,
like telling a story about how you’ve improved a personal
shortcoming. From there, addressing strengths is fairly easy:
Pick one or two that you feel set you apart from the
competition and validate with concrete examples. For
example, start with an observation about a personal quality
and how it contributes to tangible positive results.
What are your career goals after getting
admitted?

Interviewers may put you on the spot by asking, point

blank, why they should choose you for the program.
Use this MBA interview question as an opportunity to
demonstrate your ability to address topics directly and
with supporting evidence. Cite your accomplishments,
highlight the skills you’ve strengthened so far during
your career, and reveal how your academic and
professional experience will enrich the program for
others.
What is your long-term career goal?
Some interviewers won’t directly ask you what your career goals
are. This question can also be disguised as, “Where do you see
yourself in five years?”. Long-term career goals are generally more
significant than short-term ones and take more time to complete.
Some long-term career goal examples are:
• Running a company
• Getting promoted to a specific job title or level
• Moving into a managerial or leadership role
• Changing careers
1.Defining your goals
Your goals are milestones you want to achieve over the course of your
professional life. However, for the admissions committee to be able to
understand your goals fully, you need to explain your motivation to achieve them
– why do you want to achieve these specific goals? Why are they important to
you?
2.Define a plan of action
Even if the path you take to reach your goals may change over time,  the
admissions committee will judge you on your vision and foresight.
3.Connect your past experiences with your future career goals  
You may choose to provide some details about your existing professional
experience, and how that shaped your goals for your career in the future. This
connection should provide a glimpse of your professional persona, and also
explain why you believe this particular b-school is the right choice to take you
where you want to go.
Describe a challenge you faced in your personal or
professional life and how did you come out of it?

• They might look for evidence of specific characteristics, such as

resilience, adaptability and a positive mindset. They also want to
see how you react to challenge and pressure. By breaking down
your answer using the STAR format, you can cover all the key
criteria an interviewer is likely to be looking for:
1. Describe the situation concisely
2. Tell them about the task
3. Explain the actions you took
4. Tell them about the result
Example…
• Situation: 'In my final year, I had to complete a research assignment. I chose to
design a study about people's reaction times. This involved one-to-one sessions where I
asked participants to react to prompts on a screen. I planned to test whether reaction
times changed when listening to music in the background.'
• Task: 'I completed extensive background reading and research evaluation. The week
before I was due to start the practical session, the university switched to remote
learning because of Covid-19. I was no longer able to carry out my planned interviews.
I did not have time to change the subject of my research, so I needed to adapt it.'
• Action: 'I used my existing study material to develop an online version of the test. I
researched online platforms which I could use to host the study and used my networks
to recruit participants virtually. I had to update much of my work to consider the
limitations of conducting the study this way but still managed to record the number of
test results I had planned.'
• Result: 'I was able to complete the project and write up my research. I accounted for
the change in study design and factored this into my conclusion. I received a 70% first-
class pass on the project and praise for my adaptability and ability to think of an
innovative solution.'
Have you got any questions for us?

• When given the opportunity to ask about the program or the

admission process, be sure to prepare at least one or two
concrete questions for the interviewer. Genuine questions help
convey your interest and thorough research so far. If possible,
return to topics that arose during the discussion to ask
elaborative questions, which in turn demonstrates active
listening during your time together. Avoid questions that are
easily addressed by reviewing the school’s website or marketing
materials—these can have a negative impact on your interview
if they make you seem like you haven’t adequately prepared.
Although there are many variables to the
MBA interview, you can come prepared by
reviewing these common questions and
practicing responses that allow the
interviewer to get to know you as a person
and as a candidate. 
What Admissions Committees at Top Business
Schools Really Want

• Career goal
• School fit
• Personal Background
• Collaborative / Helpful