Admissions Tip: Top 5 MBA Interview Questions
Interviews, interviews, interviews … it’s all anyone seems to be talking about these days, and with good reason. Wharton is scheduled to release its interview decisions tomorrow, Harvard Business School has already sent its invitations out, as have many other top schools.
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, Clear Admit has prepared Interview Guides and Interview Archive to compile its very own Top Five 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. For a quick refresher on the difference between blind and non-blind interviews, click here.
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 Admissions 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?
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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 edited and republished with permissions from Clear Admit.
Verne Harnish Awarded UD’s Siegfried Award for Entrepreneurial Leadership
The University of Delaware Horn Entrepreneurship recently named renowned author and business growth expert Verne Harnish the recipient of the 2017 Siegfried Award for Entrepreneurial Leadership.
According to the founding director of Horn Entrepreneurship, Dan Freeman, “The award selection criteria focus on recognizing anyone who has made outstanding contributions to the understanding and practice of entrepreneurial leadership, which might include entrepreneurs, educators, or consultants.”
There is no question as to whether Harnish has been profoundly influential in the areas Freeman listed. Entrepreneurs are often visionaries in their industries, however Harnish is a pioneer in the field of entrepreneurship itself. In 1987, he founded the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO)—formerly the Young Entrepreneurs’ Organization—with 22 former members of the Association of Collegiate Entrepreneurs. EO is a peer-to-peer network that connects business leaders around the globe. Harnish also serves as CEO of Gazelles, which specializes in coaching and global executive education.
Harnish earned his BS in mechanical engineering before pursuing his MBA from Wichita State University. Harnish is also a columnist in Fortune magazine, and also writes “The Growth Guy,” a syndicated column that explores avenues of business expansion and the challenges that might present themselves along the way. He has also authored bestselling books, including “Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It…and Why the Rest Don’t” and “Mastering the Rockerfeller Habits.”
Robert L. Siegfried, CEO and founder of The Siegfried group and advisory board chair for UD’s Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics, originated the Siegfried Award for Entrepreneurial leadership. Siegfried felt that Harnish was the ideal candidate for the honor for both objective and personal reasons.
“I’ve had the pleasure of learning from and working with Verne, and his contributions to the field of entrepreneurial leadership are so important,” Siegfried said. “Verne helped me clarify the kind of leader I wanted to be and he continues to do that for countless others every day.”
The Siegfried Group was established in 1988, and the CPA firm has since made its mission to help financial executives hone their leadership skills while supporting companies working through challenging projects.
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Stanford International Students Stay Home, Take Study Trip of Middle America
Amidst this divisive political moment, coastal dwellers have begun to reconsider the culture and future of what many might have once condescendingly referred to as “fly-over country.” Stanford recently published an article about some outside-the-box economic strategies currently underway to revitalize the Rust Belt.
After leading study abroad trips to Seoul and Shanghai, Matt Mascioli, MBA ’17, wanted to show off a part of America that folks “don’t typically see on the coasts.” Mascioli co-led 18 international students on a Global Study Trip that included Detroit, Pittsburgh, Charleston, North Carolina, and his native state of West Virginia.
“It’s a tremendous opportunity to lead peers into a place that most of them have never been, and to lead them in learning from a different perspective.”
In Detroit, Mascioli met with the mayor’s jobs and economy team where they learned about the city’s extensive development plans, which include replacing 100,000 vacant homes—a byproduct of a decade of white flight—with public spaces.
For the more rural portion of the trip, Mascioli partnered with two of West Virginia’s “leading economic thinkers,” WVU’s John Deskins and Stephen Spence from WV’s Department of Commerce to give Global Study students a bird’s-eye view of the problems facing the state. Mascioli explains that having locals “devoted to thinking about what is the economic future of that region” is important to clarifying a place’s seemingly impenetrable logic for outsiders. He elaborates:
“It’s easy to assume from the outside that there’s zero rationale about how people are thinking. But once you’re on the ground and get to know people and organizations, oftentimes, it makes a lot more sense.”
MBA Job Opportunities: BlackRock
Though many MBA grads are passionate about their career prospects, those driven to work in the financial industry may be more reticent to commit to a life of uncomfortable suits and harsh fluorescent lights. A TINYpulse study found that employees at financial service companies have some of the lowest career satisfaction rates out there, despite stable salaries. The study put the amount of financial service employees who are happy with their work environment at less than 22 percent. In fact, an eFinancialCareers study found that one third of bankers hate their jobs. So, does an MBA and a penchant for finance mean a life of tolerating punishing work hours with little recognition from colleagues and superiors? Not necessarily.
Recent MBA grads with a penchant for finance will be pleased to learn that BlackRock, Inc., one of the largest asset-management companies in the world, provides a different kind of environment from the majority of financial institutions. Business Insider consistently ranks BlackRock as one of the premier financial employers in the U.S, writing, “The firm is big on employee development plans and employee engagement. For example, employees get to pitch ideas to senior executives at the two-day Innovation Summit, which helps spur new products for retirees and connect coworkers across different departments, according to LinkedIn.”
Why Work at BlackRock?
In a Business Insider interview, Jeff Smith, Senior Managing Director at BackRock’s Head of Global Human Resources Group, called BlackRock, “… an incredibly passionate place with a very clear sense of purpose that comes from Larry Fink, our founder and CEO, to everyone else in the company.”
BlackRock is renowned for its relaxed corporate culture, and 73 percent of its employees report high job satisfaction. The company employs over 130 investment teams in 30 different countries, so there is ample opportunity to join BlackRock beyond its New York City headquarters.
BlackRock’s effort to create a successful and diverse environment has been nothing short of empowering. Since 2015, over 2000 of the company’s prominent employers joined in the “Driving Better Decisions” initiative, which aims to help remove “unconscious bias” in decision-making, according to the official BlackRock website, as well as rethink the way human resources recruits and develops diverse talent. While the gender ratio at the company is still predominantly male, BlackRock has also made a concerted effort to increase female employment in senior management roles to 30 percent by the end of the decade, signing the HM Treasury’s Women in Finance Charter.
Pay Day
According to recent PayScale survey figures, MBA grads, despite their role, earn around $86,000 annually at BlackRock. These figures fluctuate depending on the specific role, rising to as much as $316,000 per year for investment strategists. According to the same data, bonuses at the company are also pretty exceptional. Portfolio managers reported an average bonus of $39,000 per year, while even the lowest bonus figures neared $10,000 per year.
Figures according to PayScale data.
Interning at BlackRock
For students nearing the end of their higher education journey, BlackRock offers summer internships for a glimpse of life at the company. BlackRock’s global Analyst Program is a two year-long entry level program for new graduates. The program kicks off with a training in New York City. Throughout the program, trainees will develop their skills in communicating with clients and understanding how to help them manage fiduciary matters.
BlackRock offers several other internships, and is conscious of promoting diversity in their industry. The Founders Scholarship provides merit rewards and a summer internship to students who identify as Black, Hispanic, Native American, LGBTQ, or disabled. Merit awards for this scholarship can be as high as $15,000.
Getting Hired
In an interview with eFinancialCareers, Jonathan Jones, director of global campus recruiting at BlackRock, gave some insight into how interested candidates can get their foot in the door at the company.
“What I think makes a BlackRock person stand out though, is that we look for people who embody or represent our principles. For example, we have a commitment to innovation. Innovation—original thinking, problem solving, and creativity – is central to our identity. Equally, we have a strong commitment to teamwork, and we look for people who can join the dots between our disparate activities in ways which can solve problems for our clients,” Jones said.
According to Jones, BlackRock hires many recent university graduates with Bachelor’s degrees, and the company also hires MBA candidates who have work experience that is relevant to specific positions, such as real estate and equity research.
A recent highlight from Clear Admit on the best business school’s for MBA grads that want to break into the industry that these five schools produced the most finance employees:
- Columbia Business School
- University of Chicago Booth School of Business
- New York University Stern School of Business
- University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School
- Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management
BlackRock has been actively recruiting at the world’s high ranking universities, stopping by Columbia Business School as recently as last month for an information session. Read here to find out for more events the company is hosting in the coming weeks and months and check out more about a potential career with BlackRock below.
