What Are the 5 Most Common MBA Interview Questions?
To get into an MBA program, you’ll first have to make it through the interview process. Depending on where you apply, you could be asked a range of different questions, many of which are specific to the school. Unfortunately, this can make it difficult to prepare for success, especially if you’re applying to more than one school at a time.
To help you prepare for your MBA interview, we’ve gathered together the five most common MBA interview questions, along with advice for answering each question. But first, we need to figure out what questions you’re most likely to run into.
Determining the Five Most Common Interview Questions
In a recent podcast on Clear Admit, Alex Brown, who wrote Becoming a Clear Admit: The Definitive Guide to MBA Admissions, tackled some of the most common MBA interview questions faced by current applicants. He unpacked interview questions such as, “Walk me through your résumé” as well as “Give us an example of a time you took a leadership role.”
To get a full idea of the most common interview questions, we took a look at the top ten schools as outlined by the U.S. News & World Report to figure out which questions were asked by the most schools. We looked at:
- UC Berkeley Haas
- University of Michigan Ross
- Northwestern Kellogg
- MIT Sloan
- Stanford Graduate
- The Wharton School
- Chicago Booth
- Harvard Business School
- Columbia University
- Dartmouth Tuck
At each of these schools, there were a few common denominators when it came to questions asked. Here’s what we found:
1. Why did you choose this school/program?
Almost every school, except MIT Sloan and Harvard Business School, wants to know why you’re interested in their specific program. After all, admissions teams know that you’re interviewing at more than one school and they want to know that you’ve done your research and chose schools that were a good choice for you personally. They don’t want to necessarily know that you know the history or prestige of their school or program, they want to know how their program aligns with your goals and interests and how it makes practical sense for you.
When answering this question, you want to try and be as specific as possible when it comes to “why” this program. Be sure to know which clubs, classes, centers, professors, case studies, alumni, or events fit into your MBA goals. This is your best opportunity to demonstrate your research and to show the admissions committee doesn’t question why you chose them, and that you’ve taken the time to imagine what it’s like to attend their school.
2. Why are you pursuing an MBA now?
You can go back to school for your MBA at any time, but why are you interested in going back now? That’s what every school wanted to know except for Wharton, HBS, and Columbia. The goal with this question is to figure out how an MBA fits in with your current goals for your career and objectives.
During this question, you want to talk about your future career plans and why your situation in life is leading you to make a move to the MBA now. You’ll want to discuss your motivation for choosing the MBA now and how the MBA will help your long-term interests be accomplished. Make sure your explanation plots out a path where the MBA is vital to reaching your goals.
3. Walk me through your résumé.
All but four schools on our list asked students to walk them through their resume. Often, this is the first question that you may be asked in your interview. The goal of this question is to allow you to give a summary of your experience to date. This gives the interviewer some groundwork that they can build upon for the rest of the interview. So, how you answer this question is vitally important.
This question might appear very simple at first glance, but it can have a lot of little landmines that you’ll want to avoid. A good approach to this question is to think of it as your resume executive summary but in verbal terms. The interviewer is looking for key descriptive terms that define who you are. This is your opportunity to weave in some strengths, passions, and interests.
We suggest coming up with a two- to three-minute verbal version of your resume that focuses on highlights in your career. Make sure you focus on “why” you made certain career choices to better explain your path and then highlight the outcomes of those choices.
4. Tell me about a time you demonstrated leadership. What did you learn from it?
This can be a tricky question, but it’s definitely one that you could come across since all but four schools were reported as asking it. The goal here is to demonstrate that you’ve had some experience in a leadership role, even if it’s not traditional. During this question, you can speak about any influence you may have had over your peers—outside of traditional hierarchy—or leadership skills you may have gained during a project.
The key is to prepare three to four anecdotes that you can draw from to highlight such things as your leadership style and skills. In particular, make sure you can talk about key leadership skills such as vision, communication, teamwork, and so forth. And if you can, make sure you can quantify the outcomes of your experience.
5. Are there any questions you’d like to ask the interviewer?
At all but two of the schools—Harvard and Dartmouth Tuck—interviewees were asked to finish out the interview with their own questions. While this might appear to be a simple question at first, it is vital that you get it right. No admissions committee wants you to be a passive candidate, and this is your chance to demonstrate that you are thoughtful, prepared, and interested.
The key here is not to be generic and only ask questions like, “Why do you love X school?” Instead, you want to ask questions that are specific to your goals. For example, you might ask, “What other resources does the school offer for this industry?”
In the end, whether you’ve already been invited to a few interviews or you’re still waiting to hear back, it’s important to get prepared as quickly as possible. By practicing answers to some of these common questions, you can ensure that your interviews go off without a hitch.
Kellogg On Pharma’s Lack of Innovation, and More – Chicago News
Let’s explore some of the most interesting stories that have emerged from Chicago business schools this week.
Everyone Wants Pharmaceutical Breakthroughs. What Drives Drug Companies to Pursue Them? – Kellogg Insights
Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management Professor of Finance Dimitris Papanikolaou recently co-authored new research that illuminates why “pharmaceutical firms these days often make minor changes to existing medications instead of delivering innovative drugs.”
The study, which was co-authored with HBS’s Joshua Krieger and MIT Sloan’s Danielle Li, found that “financial frictions may be limiting innovation.”
According to the article, “The researchers found that firms were eager to work on novel drugs—under the right financial circumstances. When pharmaceutical companies got a windfall, such as a sudden increase in profits, they were more likely to spend it on developing novel drugs than on incremental improvements.”
You can read more about the trio’s research here.
Kadiani Finds Passion for Social Entrepreneurship at Gies Business – Gies College of Business News
The University of Illinois Gies College of Business recently profiled current Master of Accountancy Science student Hamed Kadiani whose social entrepreneurship journey began as part of student organization Illinois Enactus, which helped him understand his desire to see “what the root of the problem is, and then develop a solution that fixes the cause, not the symptom.”
Kadiani later served as project manager for Project Oasis, an “online center that connects immigrants to resources in Champaign-Urbana, provides access to 75 resources in six main focus areas such as healthcare and education, [and] teaches immigrants financial literacy and entrepreneurial skills.”
According to the interview, Kadiani plans to become a CPA but shared his ambitions to some day run for political office.
“I hope I made an impact on campus, but I truly believe this work made more of an impact on me. I am who I am today because of this university and Gies College of Business.”
You can read more from the Gies College of Business News profile here.
Mendoza’s Marketing Major Puts a Strong Emphasis on Digital Skills – Mendoza Ideas & News
Notre Dame Mendoza’s Marketing Department recently recruited Professor Timothy Bohling, who will teaching Digital Marketing to both undergraduate and graduates in spring 2019.
Having previously held senior executive leadership positions at Stratasys, HCL Technologies, and IBM, Bohling’s research and teaching interests are “centered both on scholarly rigor and practitioner relevance in areas of digital marketing, customer relationship management, decision modeling, customer lifetime value and innovation adoption.”
The Mendoza Marketing Department has introduced four specialized tracks that emphasize data-based strategies: marketing decision analytics, brandscaping; consulting and market development; and digital marketing.
You can read more about Bohling, his research, and the 2019 courses here.
Improved Candidates, Working in Puerto Rico, and More – Chicago News
Let’s explore some of the most interesting stories that have emerged from Chicago business schools this week.
Take 5: Tips for Widening — and Improving — Your Candidate Pool – Kellogg Insight
Northwestern Kellogg Associate Professor of Management and Organizations Lauren Rivera and Professor of Finance Paola Sapienza recently published new research that offers discrete advice on how to “widen the talent pool, whether by uncovering your own hiring biases or by turning your sights to often-overlooked candidates.”
1. Be Aware of Biases
According to the article, “Even when we set out to hire on the basis of merit, hidden biases can get in the way. Being aware of those can help us not only act more fairly, but also make the best business decisions.” For instance, “Hiring managers also tend to look for a sense of personal connection with an applicant — with upper-class interviewers generally preferring candidates with similar pedigrees, whether they realize it or not.”
2. Think Small Specialist
According to the article, the late professor of management and organizations Keith Murnighan “found evidence of a bias towards generalists over specialists because hiring managers tend to look for one employee at a time — rather than hire an entire team all at once — it’s hard for them to see exactly which specialists they need.”
Murnighan wrote, “Look at the interactions from a distance and say, ‘What is it that I need to change? What do I know that I’m too close to the process to really see?’”
3. Look to Local Talent
Professors Rivera and Sapienza encourage companies to focus on hiring local talent so “reps are able to build solid relationships with their accounts.” In other words, “firms whose success depends on establishing themselves as a “local” brand should consider the importance of thinking — and hiring — locally.”
4. Value Veterans
Many companies overlook veterans as viable candidates, which is a shame because the military “fosters collaboration, adaptability, leadership, selflessness, and many other qualities that make veterans invaluable in the business world. The article cites research from Kellogg finance professors Efraim Benmelech and Carola Frydman who found that “firms run by CEOs with military experience performed better under pressure than those run by other CEOs.” They also found that “CEOs with a military background were up to 70 percent less likely to engage in corporate fraud compared to their civilian-only peers.”
5. Consider the Ex-Offender
Another population that job searches tend to neglect is ex-offenders. According to the article, “Many employers are reluctant to hire people with criminal records, assuming that they possess fewer skills, are more likely to behave unethically in the workplace, or both.”
“Not only can doing so save money on turnover costs, but from a societal level, it also can help keep ex-offenders from going to jail again.
Research from professor of managerial economics and decision sciences Nicola Persico, finds that “ex-offenders who do get hired are no more likely to be fired than non-offenders — and are about 13 percent less likely to quit, resulting in lower turnover costs for the companies that hire them.”
You can read the rest of the article here.
Testing the Waters: How a Team of MBA Students Put Their Business Skills to Work in Puerto Rico – Mendoza Ideas & News
Notre Dame MBA candidate Corey Waldrep ’19 samples the result of a low-cost water filtration kit in Puerto Rico. On the right is dirty, debris-filled water and on the left is filtered water. (Photo by Matt Cashore/University of Notre Dame)
Last month, Notre Dame Mendoza College of Business MBA students and former military veterans Tyler Shields, Luke Wilson, Dan Weathers, Corey Waldrep, and Robert (R.J.) Dulin, as well as advisor Andrew Wendelborn, traveled to Puerto Rico as part of nonprofit Waves for Water’s initiative to provide global access to clean water in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, whose 175 mph winds “destroyed more than 80 percent of the island’s power lines and left 3.4 million Americans in the dark” last September.
According to the article, the objectives of project were for “students to gather and utilize important demographic data; gain first-hand experience in working with an NGO partner to provide crisis support; learn a model for creating self-sustaining practices for local populations; and become immersed in best practices for working with indigent populations with dignity, equality and compassion.”
Shields writes, “A lot of what we did over there in Puerto Rico was so-called guerrilla humanitarianism. You don’t necessarily know where the need is or what the need is. You just know that there is a need.”
You can read more from the article here.
As Uber, Lyft Eye Public Offerings, Gies Professor Says Clock Could Work to Smaller Rival’s Advantage – Gies College of Business News
University of Illinois Gies College of Business Clinical Assistant Professor of Finance Rob Metzger took to the blog to offer his expertise drawn from 20 years in investment banking on whether Lyft or Uber should go public first.
According to the article, Uber’s $120 billion IPO is more likely to go public first in late 2019. But Lyft’s roughly $15 billion IPO could beat them to the punch in spring of 2019.
Metzger writes, “I think the Lyft team feels that, even though they’re significantly smaller, they believe that their financial metrics are better, their operating metrics are better, and they haven’t had some of the negative press that Uber has had.
“So [Lyft] may want to be out on the forefront to tell that story, as opposed to being in Uber’s shadow.”
Notre Dame Mendoza Announces New Master’s, and More – Chicago News
Let’s explore some of the most interesting stories that have emerged from Chicago business schools this week.
Notre Dame’s New One-Year Graduate Business Degree Focuses on Nonprofit Leadership – Mendoza Ideas & News
The Notre Dame University Mendoza College of Business recently launched a new one-year, 36-credit-hour lockstep Master of Nonprofit Administration (MNA) degree intended especially for nonprofit leaders.
Angela Logan, the St. Andre Bessette Director of Nonprofit Professional Development, says, “ Students enter the program with ‘a servant heart,’ and we believe when they graduate, they will also have ‘a business mind.’”
“The Notre Dame MNA affords students who have a commitment to serving the nonprofit sector an opportunity to learn from world-class faculty, who provide a solid business education to prepare them to lead global nonprofit organizations.”
You can find out more about the brand new Notre Dame Masters program here.
How Peer Pressure Can Lead Teens to Underachieve—Even in Schools Where It’s “Cool to Be Smart” – Kellogg Insight
A new study from Northwestern Kellogg School of Management Professor of Managerial Economics and Decision Sciences Georgy Egorov finds that in “smart-to-be-cool” schools, “kids shy away from showing effort in front of their peers” either because they might “face a social stigma for publicly making an effort to excel” but in “cool-to-be-smart” schools, they simply may not want to “reveal their poor grasp of the material.”
Egorov explains, “In a cool-to-be-smart school, students might be more likely to attend an after-school program if it is called “enrichment” rather than “extra help.” But in a smart-to-be-cool school, kids might find it more socially acceptable to seek “extra help” to avoid failing a class than “enrichment,” which suggests trying to excel.”
According to the article, “the reasons why some students fail to take advantage of educational opportunities can differ greatly depending on the school’s overall culture.”
“Administrators should understand their school’s culture when designing policies. For example, making class participation mandatory in a smart-to-be cool school could reduce the stigma of raising one’s hand. But in a cool-to-be-smart school, the same policy could provoke struggling students to disrupt class so they can avoid participating.”
You can read more about Egorov’s study here.
Student Innovator Re-imagining Restaurant Menus – Gies College of Business News
The Gies College of Business News recently profiled student Patryk Swietek, whose augmented reality app Menu3, which “allows customers to view a digital restaurant menu that features a 3D overlay of a dish right on their phone,” was a direct outgrowth of the iVenture Accelerator.”
Swietek writes, “The iVenture Accelerator was on my scope of things to do before I even started here. I’ve known for a little while now that I want to pursue entrepreneurship, but I thought it would take a little while to start on a project worthy of iVenture.”
Menu3 users can rotate photos for a 360-degree view to “help customers better understand portion sizes.” According to the article, Swietek’s first restaurant partner became Champaign’s Maize. They have since added Paris Super Crepes.
iVenture director and co-founder Noah Isserman writes, “Patryk and the Menu3 team exemplify iVenture’s distinctive, community-focused approach to entrepreneurship.”
You can read more from the Patryk profile here.
New MBA Jobs: JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and More
It’s always good to see when MBA jobs flourish, with lots of MBA employment opportunities around the United States. Check out just a few of these exciting new MBA jobs at firms like JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, General Mills, and more below. Continue reading…
Gies Caterpillar Partnership Announced, and More – Chicago News
Let’s explore some of the most interesting stories that have emerged from Chicago business schools this week.
Government Got You Worried? It May Be Affecting Your Shopping Habits – Kellogg Insights
Northwestern Kellogg School of Management doctoral candidate Jessica Gamlin, along with professors of marketing Ping Dong and Aparna Labroo, found that “when consumers are thinking about politics, they are drawn to products they view as utilitarian rather than pleasurable.” In other words: “the more you fret about the state of the government, the more spartan your shopping cart might be.”
Speaking with Kellogg Insights, Gamlin explains her fascination with the dissonance between a seemingly banal meal-kit ad placed amidst a divisive political debate, “I was curious about why advertisers were choosing these different podcasts to advertise on in different quantities.”
Labroo also adds, “A desire for the government to do things in a more responsible manner translates into higher-order goals for the consumer, herself, to be responsible in her actions.”
Dong adds, “The reason is the more people think the political system is irresponsible, the more the desire to see the government be responsible is activated, and therefore, the more the consumer’s own goal is also activated.”
You can read more about the research here.
Caterpillar Invests in Students’ Futures with Illinois Business-Engineering Program – Gies College of Business News
As part of a decades-long relationship between the University of Illinois and the Peoria-based construction equipment manufacturer, Caterpillar has recently invested in the Gies College of Business and the College of Engineering’s new collaborative Hoeft Technology & Management undergraduate minor, in which “teams of business and engineering students learn and work together to develop comprehensive solutions to real-world problems.”
In the announcement, Caterpillar CTO and VP Tom Bluth says, “Becoming an affiliate of the program is a natural fit for us, because the intersection of business and engineering is at the core of how we develop the products and solutions that benefit our customers.
“We’re also proud to have been connected to the T&M Program since its start: A member of our Caterpillar family had the vision to create the program and the passion to make it possible.”
You can find out more about the Gies Caterpillar partnership here.
Six Marketing Fundamentals Founders Need to Succeed – Chicago Booth Magazine
Catherine Littell ’08
Chicago Booth Magazine recently profiled Catherine Littell (’08), whose Care Concierge LLC has taken an innovative approach to senior-care consulting. Littell, an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the James M. Kilts Center for Marketing, discussed her “multipoint approach to launching a business in the digital age.”
- Know your customer. “There are a lot of great ideas out there. But can you take that idea and create a product for the right customer at the right time?”
- Hone your message. “It’s really about understanding your customer and creating an authentic experience.”
- Let the data speak. “Data will tell you whatever you want it to, good or bad, so make sure you use it to inform rather than just to affirm your decisions.”
- Run the numbers. “Starting a business is about gut feelings, but knowing the numbers can help you figure out whether or not a business is profitable or can be profitable.”
- Be comfortable with change. “You’ve got to be able to trust your gut and say, ‘If it works, great, and if it doesn’t, let’s change tactics and move forward.’”
- Hire the right team. “If you find people who have drive and passion, plus they love your product and can define what you do and stand for, that’s really powerful.”
You can read the full article here.
