MBA Interview Preparation Guide

MBA Interview Preparation Question Mock Business SchoolDuring MBA interview preparation, it is important to know what are the questions that will be asked. I have taken the time to look at what are the most frequent questions asked by MBA schools based on the Clear Admit interview reports. The questions asked at each school tend to be very different, which is why I have broken the MBA interview preparation guides down by school.

My recommendation for MBA Interview Preparation:

  1. Write down an answer to the 10 most common questions for the school. It is ok if you just write down an outline. Whatever you are more comfortable with. Do not use complicated industry jargon that the interviewer won’t understand.
  2. Each story you tell should have 3 components:
    1. Problem – This is the set up and background. Keep it as short as possible. Aim for 10% of the speaking time.
    2. Decision or action – This is what you did to solve the problem and should be more than half of the the speaking time.
    3. Impact – This is the result of what you did. It could be something like you getting promoted, increasing profitability by $10 million or improving customer satisfaction by 15%. Try to use numbers to quantify the result whenever possible.
  3. Use your webcam to video record yourself giving the answers to the most common questions.
  4. Watch the videos and critique your responses for the content of what you are saying, empty words, friendliness and excitement. You want to come across as a nice and friendly person so it is important to smile. You also want to seem excited and passionate about the school. All schools are worried about their yield, so if you look bored then the school may think that it is just your safety or that you are not client ready.
  5. Practice mock interviews with as many people as you can. The best people to practice with are current students or alumni of your target school. They know more about the school than you and they were able to make it through the interview process. Other good candidates are people who have an MBA or are in more senior position at work.
  6. Take feedback from mock interviews and incorporate it into your responses. You may want to practice recording your adjusted answers and do a few more mock interviews.

My guide for interviewing is more time intensive than most candidates are willing to commit. If you are interviewing at a safety then it might not be necessary. However, if you really want to get into your dream school then you can set yourself apart by following my guide.

School Specific MBA Interview Preparation Questions:

UPenn / Wharton MBA Interview Questions

HBS MBA Interview Questions

MIT / Sloan MBA Interview Questions

Northwestern / Kellogg MBA Interview Questions

Dartmouth / Tuck MBA Interview Questions

NYU / Stern MBA Interview Questions

Johnson / Cornell MBA Interview Questions

10 thoughts on “MBA Interview Preparation Guide

  1. Holly

    Hi DG,

    Your website is awesome. Thanks for doing this for the mba folks.

    I’m prepping for r3 interview with Cornell and wondering if you have resources for the school? If not available, which school would you recommend to look into among the ones you have developed extensive resources for?

    Thanks a bunch DG. I really appreciate it.

    H

    Reply
  2. ANKUSH BAGWALE

    Holly did you get the interview invitation? I thought the invitations are given on April 15, 2015 for the round 3? Are you an international appplicant or domestic?

    Reply
  3. Frank Wen

    Hi DG

    Your site is probably by far the most informative and useful site on this field. I am just wondering if you have any interview questions analysis for Booth?

    Thanks so much in advance.
    Frank

    Reply
    1. Data Guru Post author

      Hi Frank,

      I have started looking at Booth’s interviews but have not finished. Here are some of the most common Booth Interview questions:

      1) Walk me through your resume.
      2) What are your post MBA career goals?
      3) Tell me about a time that you failed.
      4) Why Booth?
      5) Was there a time when you had a direct conflict with a coworker?
      6) Why MBA and why now?
      7) How would your colleagues or clients describe you?

      For more info you can check out the source:
      http://blog.clearadmit.com/category/interview-reports/school/chicago-booth/

      Reply
  4. Swati

    Hi DG,

    This is awesome, thank you for your thoughtful resources! Do you have interview guides for Stanford and Berkeley as well?

    Best,
    Swati

    Reply
    1. Wayne Atwell Post author

      Hi Swati,

      Unfortunately I don’t at the moment. Check out Clear Admit, it is pretty helpful for preparing for your interviews. My guides are just a summary of their reports. Good luck with your interviews!

      Reply

Leave a Reply to Frank Wen Cancel reply