What Do You Need To Know When It Comes To Group MBA Interviews?
Preparation is an obvious key advantage any invitee can have, no matter what school you may be looking to attend. The remaining four principles highlighted in the U.S. News piece focus on how you can conduct yourself during the exercise, which can be important in terms of building partnerships and fitting into a specific school’s campus culture.
Not dominating the conversation goes in line with advice given by financial loan experts Prodigy Finance, which writes, “Making everyone look good will make you look fantastic. It may feel counter-intuitive, but consider the alternative. No one wants to be around someone who knows it all or has done it all, do they? Support and reinforce the suggestions made by others and you will be the one to shine.”
Not dominating the conversation can often lend to stronger active listening. “If a group member has a good idea, acknowledge it,” Blackmon writes. “Also practice the ‘Yes, and …’ rule from improvisation and build on what the other person has shared. During the interview, seize any opportunities to do this or refer to someone else’s point.”
An effort to control body language can go a long way. Not just in group MBA interviews, but in networking and beyond business school. Regardless of whether someone is an undergrad, business school applicant or career veteran, negative body language can be a subconscious fault that hurts chances at success. The trick here, the piece highlights, is knowing your own body language. From there, controlling it is much easier.
Lastly, don’t forget to focus on the group’s goal and not necessarily your goal going into the interview.
“Forgo attempts to grab extra airtime for yourself, and put the team’s goal front and center,” it reads. “Take notes, and help keep the group on track. You’ll only have a short amount of time—30 to 45 minutes, depending on the school—for the task.”
Ross Admissions Director Soojin Kwon highlighted the importance of the group over the individual in a video blog post, saying, “Good teams are made up of diverse people with a wide range of skills and backgrounds—we don’t have a singular definition of what it means to be a successful team member. We are going be looking at how people interact with each other on the team and how they interact with people who have different styles from them.”
As always, stick with MetroMBA and Clear Admit for MBA admissions and interview tips.
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