Admissions Tip: Interview Etiquette
As interview invites continue to roll out, and candidates prepare for their interviews, we wanted to continue our theme of providing interview etiquette and advice and share a few very basic pointers on MBA interview etiquette. Though the content of your application materials and comments during the interview are of paramount importance, it’s also crucial to put one’s best foot forward and make a positive initial impression.
Here are a few guidelines for interviewing applicants to keep in mind:
Be Early
Plan to arrive at least 15 minutes ahead of your interview. This will help remove the stress you will experience if you think you might arrive a little late. It will also help the interviewer, who may have back-to-back interviews, and cannot afford any delays in her schedule.
Dress The Part
Unless meeting with an alum who explicitly specifies a more casual dress code, assume that business attire is appropriate. We recommend that applicants dress conservatively, opting for a dark suit (pants or skirts are both fine for women) and a blue or white shirt. Steer clear of flashy brand gear and loud ties, and go easy on makeup and fragrances; you want to be remembered for what you say and who you are, not what you wore.
For those who do not work in an environment where professional dress is worn on a regular basis, you might want to get comfortable wearing your interview attire prior to your interviews.
Be Pleasant
This likely goes without saying, but we wanted to state for the record that in addition to fostering a friendly discussion with your interviewer, it’s also important to be polite to administrative staff and anyone else you might encounter while on campus or in your alumni interviewer’s office. Flippant comments to the administrative assistant at the front desk often find their way up the chain of command.
Be Aware Of Body Language
In addition to your comments about your experiences, interests and reasons for seeking an MBA, your interviewer will also be taking note of the way you present yourself. You’ll also want to avoid taking notes or reading from your résumé; it can be fine to have the latter in front of you as a reference, but remember that you should be familiar enough with its content to focus on maintaining eye contact and establishing a rapport.
Bring Your Résumé
It is always best to have an extra copy of your résumé with you, in case your interviewer needs it. The only exception to this case is when you interview with the University of Virginia’s Darden School, which is the only school that conducts interviews in a truly blind fashion. But even in that case, you may prefer to have a copy for yourself as you interview – though we caution against using the résumé as a crutch or a prop to the point of distraction, as successful candidates typically can speak to their résumé without needing to refer to it much.
Follow Up
Make sure that you get your interviewer’s card and take his or her contact information in order to send a “thank you” email within 24 hours of the interview. This is not only common courtesy but could also serve as the first step in forging a lasting correspondence.
We hope these six suggestions on etiquette help you prepare for your interviews. Meanwhile, applicants who are curious about what to expect might want to check out the Clear Admit MBA Interview Archive, which features firsthand accounts of interviews at all of the top programs, and the Clear Admit Interview Guides, which offer in-depth, school-specific interview guidance for nearly every leading MBA program.
Good luck to everyone hoping for an MBA interview invite!
This article has been republished with permissions from Clear Admit.
What Do You Need To Know When It Comes To Group MBA Interviews?
The goalposts for group MBA interviews are constantly shifting. For years, we at MetroMBA and Clear Admit, as well as other provincial publications, have been dishing out valuable advice for how to prepare for it. And for those familiar, one of the key points to remember is constantly being familiar with the changes.
Top 5 MBA Interview Questions
Interviews, interviews, interviews … it’s all anyone seems to be talking about these days, and with good reason. Harvard Business School, Michigan Ross and Chicago Booth have already sent out their Round 1 interview invitations. Stanford GSB starts rolling out invites this week and UPenn/Wharton is also scheduled to release all its invites this week.
Instead of driving yourself crazy with worry, why not buckle down and perfect your answers to the questions you are most likely to be asked? To help you prepare, we’ve scoured the Clear Admit Interview Guides and Interview Archive to compile our very own Top Five MBA Interview Questions list of the questions that most often make their way into MBA admissions interviews at leading schools.
While these refer primarily to questions asked as part of blind interviews, they can certainly also come up as part of non-blind interviews. In those cases, you’ll want to be prepared to go deeper into some of the specific experiences you shared in your application (check out Clear Admit’s quick refresher on the difference between blind and non-blind interviews).
For detailed insights into each school’s interview process, the questions they ask, and how to tackle those questions, access Clear Admit’s Interview Guides.
Top Five MBA Interview Questions
Walk me through your résumé.
The real trick with answering this open-ended question is to gauge how much detail is too much. Imposing a structure can help. “It’s best to err on the side of brevity,” says Alex Brown, who asked this very question of many hopeful Wharton applicants during his time working in admissions at the Philadelphia school. “Think of this résumé walk-through as simply laying the groundwork for deeper discussion of your background and accomplishments.” A good idea is to develop a two- to three-minute run-through, beginning with where you grew up and went to college, what you studied and perhaps something you enjoy outside of work. Then move into a concise overview of your work experience, beginning with your first job and continuing to present day, making sure to explain why you made the choices you did and what you learned in each major role. “This kind of high-level overview gives your interviewer the perfect opportunity to ask for more detail about specific points if she wants it,” Brown says. If you have a gap of three or more months due to unemployment or some other cause, you should be prepared to address it, Brown warns, although in a short résumé question as part of the interview, it may not come up.
What are your career goals?
With any luck, you will already have a well-honed response to this question, developed and refined as part of the process of writing your application essays. “If you are looking to shift industry or function, this is your chance to explain your reasoning and that you have carefully thought through what may be involved in successfully making the transition,” Brown says. Keep in mind why the adcom is asking this question, Brown suggests. “They want to know how focused you are on the MBA and whether you are in a position to take advantage of the resources business school offers or at risk of getting overwhelmed,” he says. Present a very clear post-MBA goal, Brown recommends. “Schools prefer to admit students who can explain exactly what kind of job they want to pursue beyond graduation and articulate how it will set them up to obtain their long-term career objectives,” he says. Schools are also looking, with this question, to see if your goals make sense and are feasible in light of your past experiences; are you able to articulate a clear path and plan?
Why X school?
Here, schools want to see if you have really done your research on their program and whether you are a good fit with their culture. So, do your research. “I recommend a three-pronged approach to make a truly compelling case for your interest in a given school,” Brown says. Start with academics, he says, naming specific courses and professors that you are interested in. “Remember, your interviewer wants to see that you have really researched the school.” Second, mention specific clubs, conferences and other special programs that will help position you for your career goals. “Even better, show how you would contribute to the school community, such as by organizing an event to share specific knowledge you bring with your future classmates,” Brown suggests. Third, show that you have a good understanding of the school’s community, culture, class size and location and have thought about how these fit with your personality, goals and background. “If you have visited campus or talked with current students or alumni—definitely say so, lead with this.” Brown stresses. “Beyond showing that you’ve invested time in getting to know the school, this also helps your interviewer have a mental picture of you on campus.” he says.
Give us an example of a time you took a leadership role.
The way interviewers ask this question can vary—sometimes you’ll be asked directly about your most notable leadership experience and other times you’ll be invited to describe your general leadership style. “It’s important to keep a few basic principles about leadership in mind,” Brown says. “A leader is someone who has a strong vision or point of view and is able to see things others are not,” he continues. A leader must also have excellent communication skills. Choose an example that demonstrates these points. An ideal leadership example will describe a time when you negotiated with and persuaded key stakeholders, such as clients or a supervisor, to buy into your vision and then delegated the work and managed colleagues or juniors. “If you encountered obstacles along the way, share how you dealt with them,” Brown says. “If possible, you should also show success through quantified results,” he adds. As important as a successful outcome is demonstrating how you drew on the help of others where necessary. “No one is successful on their own,” Brown says. Show that you understand that strong leadership means teamwork and playing well with others, he says.
Tell us about a time you failed.
As tempting as it may be to say that you’ve never failed at anything…that is not what that adcom is looking for here. “In fact, this is a favorite question for those who appear to be ‘rock stars’ on paper,” Brown says. But rock stars make mistakes, and having an example in your back pocket of a time things did not go according to plan can show humility as well as your capacity to learn and grow. “The best answer to this type of question ends with a more recent experience where you took the lesson you learned from the failure and put it into play, affecting a better outcome.” he says.
These five questions certainly don’t cover everything your interviewer is likely to ask you, but they do touch upon some of the things you’re most likely to be called upon to share as part of your MBA admissions interview. You can take some of the anxiety out of the interview process by giving each one some thought, drawing on some relevant experiences from your past, and practicing the responses you would give. Don’t practice too much so that you appear overly rehearsed—since it’s important to seem both authentic and genuine—but prepare enough so that you’ll be ready to truly put your best self forward.
This article has been republished with permissions from Clear Admit.
Admissions Tip: Background Checks
With a slew of schools releasing their R1 notifications just before the holidays, we know that many of our readers will be asking about the background checks conducted by leading programs. Here are some quick facts to help explain the process:
Admissions Tip: Essay Polishing
As the vast majority of round two application deadlines are now just a matter of days – if not hours – away, we’re offering up one final round two tip that is geared towards candidates taking a final pass through their materials.
More Tech Hires at Kellogg, Per 2016 Employment Report
‘Tis the season for MBA employment reports, and one of the latest schools to share details about how its most recent class of graduates fared in their quest for jobs is Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management. Released in its entirety last week, the report shows a surge of graduates heading off toward technology firms—22 percent of the class, up from 15 percent last year.
“I do think the tech story jumps out,” says Liza Kirkpatrick, director of career management for the full-time MBA program. “But we really are very proud of this year’s employment outcomes overall.” She went on to cite the fact that 96 percent of students received an offer within three months of graduation, up slightly from 95 percent the year before. The median base salary was $125,000, up $2,000 from the year before.
Consulting, long the destination for the majority of Kellogg grads, still drew one in every three—33 percent—though this represents an ever-so-slight dip from the 35 and 36 percent in each of the past four years. Financial services, which drew 19 percent of last year’s class and 20 percent two of the three years before that, dipped to just 13 percent this year, the most significant downward shift of any industry.
According to Kirkpatrick, the drop off in financial services could be nothing more than a reflection of the aspirations of this particular class. “We look at it as just an indication of the interest of the Class of 2016,” she says, noting that 14 percent of the class took finance internships during the summer between their first and second years, in line with the 13 percent who took full-time offers.
Not Surprisingly, Salaries Highest in Consulting, Financial Services
Though student interest in financial services is lower than it has been, it’s certainly not because of waning paydays. The highest starting salary of the class—$250,000—went to a graduate going into private equity. Median starting salaries for students headed into financial services were $125,000. Overall, consulting led the way in terms of pay, with a median starting salary of $145,000 for these graduates.
Technology trailed slightly, with a median starting salary of $120,000, although Kirkpatrick was quick to point out that salaries for those entering more technical roles at technology firms remain very high. “The more technical your skills are, the higher your base compensation will be,” she says. Stock options and other non-salary compensation also factor into the allure of tech jobs, she adds. “Stock options are very attractive, and we see tech companies using those to attract talent whether for technical or non-technical roles,” she says. Unlike some other schools, Kellogg does not include information about non-salary compensation as part of its employment report. Median signing bonuses were $25,000 for consulting and technology, bested by a median bonus of $32,500 for financial services.
Diversity of Jobs, Employers the Real Story
More than money, it’s the diversity of tech jobs that seems to be drawing Kellogg students, Kirkpatrick says. “There is such wide variety in the types of tech jobs our students take,” she says, noting that graduates went everywhere from very small companies like Narrative Science to medium-size companies like Uber to large firms like Google. They also went into a wide range of functions and an array of sub-sectors, from software to hardware, mobile to the “Internet of Things.”
Both in technology and beyond, the breadth of hiring companies is the real story in Kellogg’s most recent employment report, says Kirkpatrick. “What stands out for me most is the diversity and range of employers that come to Kellogg,” she says. “They are looking at our students—who have a balanced and dynamic skillset, excellent general management skills, the emotional intelligence to motivate teams and make an impact and a global perspective—and they are finding places for them in their organizations.”
There has also been an increase in data-related jobs, she adds. “There’s such a surge in data, and we are increasingly seeing employers look at the MBA skillset as a solution to that,” she says. “We continue to see a broad breadth of employers come to Kellogg, but we also see that how they are using the MBA in their organizations is evolving, too.”
In terms of absolute numbers, McKinsey snapped up more Kellogg grads than any other firm, hiring 43 members of the Class of 2016. Boston Consulting Group and Bain & Co. followed, hiring 25 and 24 respectively. In tech, Amazon led the way, luring 23 grads, followed by Google with 12 and Apple with 10. Notably, companies hiring three or more students accounted for just over half (290) of the jobs, with the other half split between scores of firms each taking just one or two grads, underscoring Kirkpatrick’s point about breadth.
Outside of these numbers were the roughly 15 percent of the class—95 students—who were company-sponsored and returning to their employers. As well, 13 students were focused exclusively on starting their own business, a slight uptick from 11 last year, but still representing just 2 percent of the overall class.
Career Services Adjusts to Changing Recruitment Landscape
As the nature of recruiting has become more diverse, so, too, have the services Kirkpatrick and her team offer. On the employer side, the Kellogg Career Management Center (CMC) has a team of business development leads working to create opportunities for students across industries, geographies and companies. On the student side, a team of one-on-one coaches works intensively to help students identify their target companies and understand what their recruitment journey will look like. If it does evolve to an off-campus process—as is the case for a growing percentage of the class—a personal coach is available to help them navigate it successfully. “What we offer is very customizable to what the student is looking for,” Kirkpatrick says.
“We are always looking at ways to improve our services to students,” she continues. “We do find that students coming in have an increased demand for one-on-one coaching. Students want to have a relationship with their coach, someone who understands their story and can help them achieve their goals. In Kellogg’s CMC we pride ourselves in knowing our students and how to help them on their job search journey.”
Though traditional on-campus recruiting has remained a very robust channel at Kellogg, Kirkpatrick says, the trend toward off-campus, just-in-time recruiting is something she and her team are paying close attention to. “As students’ interests expand, Kellogg’s Career Management Center services and support evolve to support every students unique job search.”
To view the 2016 Kellogg MBA Employment Report, click here.
This article has been republished with permissions via Clear Admit.
