HBS Students Dish On The Interview

What would you say is the brand of your undergraduate university?

What is your favorite kind of chocolate?

What is your favorite cartoon?

How has the recession affected you?

How would your parents describe you when you were twelve?

Explain the ‘C’ on your transcript in this economics class.

What company do you follow that isn’t Google or Apple? What issues do you think keep its CEO up at night?

What would be your dream job and why?

What’s the one thing you’ll never be as good at as others?

GOOD, PRACTICAL ADVICE FOR HANDLING THE ODDBALL QUESTIONS

In each case, the editors serve up good, practical advice for how to handle these curve balls. The counsel is valuable, even for the confident and self-assured, though the guide’s editors are not exactly putting words in your mouth to spout out.

Consider that last question on the one thing you’ll never be as good at as others, for example. Here’s the advice dispensed by the guide:

“HBS students have an often unfair reputation of being egotistical. If you respond ‘nothing’ to this, it indicates a lack of self-awareness. If your response is ‘modesty,’ you’d better hope your interviewer has a good sense of humor. There are so many honest, personalized answers to this question that it should not be difficult to come up with an example. Be honest; don’t try to hedge it or spin it. Just own it.”

While the questions and the analysis that follows each one is the meat and potatoes of the guide, there’s enough other core advice that is quite helpful to allow you to vicariously go through the experience before actually showing up for it. Consider these tidbits:

“Without a doubt, the quickest and easiest way to botch an interview is to show up late,” according to the guide, which suggests arriving 20 minutes before your interview time. And as soon as you are scheduled for the session, the students advise applicants to adapt a new morning routine.

“Browse all the headlines of all the major business news sites (WSJ.com, the New York Times’ business section, Economist.com), read any stories that seem particularly pertinent, and be sure to hit up any sites that cover your industry in particular (you don’t want to be broadsided during your interview!).”

In the weeks leading up to your interview, the guide suggests that you read through your application “constantly until you know it backwards and forwards. Then read it more so that you know it inside and out. The interviewer can and will refer to specifics from your application, and the quickest and easiest way to blow your shot at HBS (besides being late to your interview!) is to appear unfamiliar with—or worse yet, to actually contradict—your application.”

On the week of your interview, Harvard students advise you to “get your suit dry-cleaned, your shoes polished and your hair cut, make any last-minute travel arrangements, and tie up any loose ends at work.”

All somewhat obvious, but smart counsel on how to approach the whole, anxiety-ridden process.

‘I SAY, CUT THE CRAP’

In a brief essay, Co-Editor Kate Lewis makes clear her view that Harvard’s recent changes in its application have created unnecessary criticism. “Some critics of the circumscribed essay portion assert that non-traditional candidates will suffer from lack of space to explain their backgrounds to admissions officials who might be less familiar with their industry or firm than they would be with a candidate from Goldman Sachs or McKinsey,” she writes. “I say, cut the crap. As a newspaperwoman, I am a fan of concise writing. Eight hundred words, almost twice the length of the Gettysburg Address, leaves more than enough space for an applicant to reflect thoughtfully on relevant experiences.”

DON’T MISS: HOW NOT TO BLOW YOUR HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL INTERVIEW or INTERVIEW QUESTIONS HARVARD WILL ASK