From my experience I would suggest the following:

A complete and thorough reflection of WHY an MBA would help you achieve your career goals. Know very well what you wrote in your essays and make sure that you reinforce it in the interview.

WHY MBA? WHY MBA NOW? CAREER GOALS?  ABOUT YOURSELF? (Hint: Show a career progression and also showcase extra curricular activities) WHY XYZ SCHOOL? (Hint: Bring out the match between your goals and what the school has to offer and also what you can contribute and how you can continue to pursue your other interests.) These are all  typical questions and they must be answered VERY VERY well.

Apart from these questions, the MOST important thing is: Have specific examples in your professional and personal life illustrating leadership, failures, hurdles, accomplishments, contributions to organization, and team work. You should have  covered quite a few of these in your  essays, but you will need more examples for the interview. So, make sure you have an experience to quote in each of these areas. ALSO if you say abc is your strength, have an example ready where you demonstrated that strength. Generally you are asked for two or three strengths, so have lots of examples ready for the interview.

It is the same case with weaknesses. Have an example of a specific weakness and also show how you are working to overcome it – it is important to mention this.

In your recommendations ensure that the recommender actually backs whatever you stated in the essays and anything you would possibly say in interview; CONSISTENCY is very important.

In regards to career goals, you are expected to be very focused and clear. The POSITION you would like to get post-MBA, 5yrs, 10yrs and 15yrs down the line. The industry and function must be very clearly stated and you must be in a position to say which company you are looking at post-MBA. Even if your essays don’t specifically ask for this information,  the adcom (the business lingo for admissions committee ) will most likely ask you this during the interview. They are interested to make sure that the MBA program can help you with your career aspirations.

Due to the high level of competition, schools tend to accept students who put in the effort to find out as much as possible about the school. Attending MBA events, getting in touch with Alumni, current students and staff and class visits are a plus. There may be questions in the interview that test your knowledge about that particular school.

Also, make sure you have questions for the adcom as well. Don’t just ask something whose answer can be found right on their school’s website. IF all this is done, you are all set!   Good Luck on your interview!  I know you’ll ace it!

Tags: facing the interview beast, mba interview preparation