Martoma: What Makes An MBA Go Wrong?

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Behind the MBA Interview Process

“Put your cards on the table.”

That’s bad advice in cards. It’s worse advice for negotiations. If you interview with an adcom, it may just be your ticket into business school.

At this point, you might believe that getting into a Wharton is a must. But the difference between Wharton and a Stern or Ross won’t break your career. Sure, not being accepted may make your path a little harder. Ultimately, talent, grit, and character win out over time.

This week, a series of articles tackled the b-school interview process. In The Globe and Mail, Adam Stanley explored the value of interviews for schools and applicants. For adcoms, the interview is a chance to get to know the person behind the application. “When you think about getting a résumé from someone, it’s a high-level sketch that they want to tell you. Résumés are usually polished, while an interview is raw,” explains Shai Dubey, director of the MBA program at Canada’s Queen’s University. “There’s no voice for them [résumés] – it’s black ink on white paper. We still don’t know the personality of that person. So the interview answers questions that you can’t find out about by looking at numbers.”

In other words, interviewers want to learn if people are as personable and passionate as their application indicates. And there’s no where for applicants to hide when they’re one-on-one, Dubey assets.  “There are a lot of behavioural questions that are asked – ‘Talk about a time where you had difficulty with a colleague or superior and how you dealt with it,’ [for example] – but they’re standard questions. [The applicant’s] personality comes out and we start to see the motivation for why they want to do the MBA. It’s not so much the questions we ask them, but the questions they ask us.”

However, applicants are also interviewing the school according to Mike Kenigsberg, a graduate of the University of Western Ontario’s Ivey Business School. “What I needed confidence in was that there was a sense I was joining a place that, essentially, would prepare me for success. The interview process is the first signal a candidate gets that indicates they’re working with people who have gone through this process.”

So how should applicants prepare for the interview process? According to an article from MBA Prep School in Beat the GMAT, they should understand the who, what, where, and when.

Let’s start with “Who.” Based on who is conducting the interview, applicants should change their approach to the interviewer.

“If an admissions officer is interviewing you, you should carefully review every element of your application. If a current MBA student will interview you, then your interview style will need be more collegial, and you will want to ensure that you have very solid answers about why you want to attend that particular graduate business program and what you could contribute to next year’s class if accepted. In the case of alumni interviews, you will often be sent the name of your interviewer in advance. If so, you should learn as much as possible about him or her as part of your preparation. This isn’t to impress them with your research skills; rather, it just might help you tailor your messages somewhat to your audience.”

When it comes to the “what,” the applicant should consider the information that the interviewer already has, along with the style and tone of the interview. Here, MBA Prep School advises candidates to “know [their] resume backward and forwards,” giving credence to the information that drew adcoms to their applications in the first place. In addition, applicants should also place themselves in the interviewer’s shoes, asking themselves, “What questions would I want more information on related to the MBA application this candidate submitted?”

What’s more, applicants should factor the interview “tone and style” into their preparation. And that starts with spending time talking to current students and alumni to know what to expect. “HBS, for example, is known for a probing and somewhat provocative interview style, whereas Kellogg, which interviews all applicants, has a reputation for a more conversational and laid back interview style.”

Finally, candidates should weigh the “when” and the “where.” For example, MBA Prep School is ambivalent on whether a candidate should sign up for an early or later interview, counseling instead for applicants to focus on “thorough interview preparation.” When it comes to “where,” the author believes interviewing on campus gives candidates a slight advantage, as “[it] does demonstrate a higher level of interest in the school.”

So what do actual interviewers recommend? In a recent post on the Ross Admissions Director Blog, Soojin Kwon provided three rules for prospective students to consider:

1. “Know what’s on your resume and the “Why’s,” “How’s,” and “So what’s,” not just the “What’s”
2. Know your answer to the question, “Why Ross?” That means knowing how Ross can help you achieve your goals and why it’s a good fit.
3. Know what your career goals are. They could change after you get to b-school. But it’s important that you can articulate a vision during the interview since we no longer ask about your goals and why MBA in an essay.”

DON’T MISS: NAILING THE MBA ADMISSIONS INTERVIEW

Sources: Beat the GMAT, University of Michigan (Ross), The Globe and Mail