All the questions in your b-school PI are important, be it warm-up, technical, logical or the hard-hitting ones. You will have to always be prepared with succinct, moderately-embellished and descriptive answers. In this article, we will be covering some trickier interview questions that you might encounter in your PIs. Yes, the sequence, wording and content of your answer will vary from interview to interview, but there are some general pointers that can help you in your interviews. Hence, this article will help you get ready for whatever that comes in your way. The ultimate goal is to make your answer come across conversational, and believable, that can make the interview better for everyone. Read it here.
For this answer, honesty is the best policy. Tell your interviewers exactly how many calls you have. In case, you have no calls then tell them that. Try to showcase your profile and skillsets in other questions.
If we were to offer you admission right here right now on the condition that you won’t take admission in/ sit for the interviews of XYZ College, what would you do?
There is honestly no right and wrong answer to this. The key is to answer honestly. You can answer it by:
- Incase, the b-school is your dream b-school then you can say - I would not sit for other interviews.
- Increase, it is not your dream b-school then you can say, “No, I will still sit for interview round because I want to explore my options.”
- If you are a fresher you can also say, “This is my first time giving interviews. I will like to sit for other interviews to gain more experience.”
Tell us about your job.
- If you are someone with work experience, this is your time to shine.
- Start the answer by telling about your designation and company.
- What does your company do?
- What do you do for the company?
- How does your work benefit or affect the company?
- Tell them about some of the projects that you have been a part of.
- What was your contribution to the project?
Note: While answering such questions try to be as detailed as possible. Give tons of example and avoid using technical jargons.
During your interviews, the panelists check if you're aware of the concepts of the domain that you wish to pursue you career in, post your MBA. To help you with that, here are a few important concepts across the four domains. Take a look!
Finance
Marketing
Human Resources
Operations Management
This is a difficult question to answer as sometimes you may leave a company under weird circumstances, which you will not like to share in the interview. Following are the things you can say instead -
- I wanted to advance my career,
- I wanted to pursue a masters degree. In your case - MBA.
- I left my last job to take time to re-evaluate and what to do next.
- I learned a lot from my last company, however, I wanted to learn new skills and take more responsibilities.
Note: Don't bad mouth your last employer. The answer has to be more about you and not the company you worked for.
Describe your best friend/ girlfriend/ boyfriend
This is also one of those questions that assess your personality. Parents are something that we cannot choose, but that is not the case with our friends, girlfriends and boyfriends. Making friends is based on a variety of things, including your personal preference. By asking this question they are trying to identify you, your preference, the kind of people you are attracted by or attracted to. So remember the following two things while answering the question -
- Try to compliment the person as a whole and not your friend/girlfriend/boyfriend.
- Don’t try to be materialistic, talk more about the values and traits of the person that you are attracted to.
Tell me any one thing you value the most in life and why?
- Could be anything - professional or personal, person, emotion, thing or even values.
- Try not to be generic.
- Be honest.
- But try to keep it short.
Try to understand what that question is really asking. They are basically asking you to explain why you’re the best candidate for the b-school seat. Apart from talking about formal education, work experience, training, etc (considering you have already answered in the question ‘tell me about yourself’) try talking about your personal traits, and things that make you unique.
Tell us something about yourself that wasn't captured in your resume or form.
This question is often asked as a follow-up to "Tell me about yourself." Your resume states the facts, but your interviewer may want to know the person behind the work/academic history. You can answer this question by -
- Share strengths that are not mentioned in your resume
- Talk about your intangible strength (personal qualities)
- Why do you want to be part of that particular b-school? (Please don’t state the obvious)
- Connect the dots between your academics, extra-curricular, work experience (if any) with your career goals.
Tell me 3 strengths and 3 weaknesses of yours.
- When you are answering this, discuss your weaknesses first so that you can end on a positive note.
- When addressing your weaknesses, draw upon examples relating to either skills/habits or personality traits.
- Give a context to your answer which gives the interviewer insight into your level of self-awareness and commitment to personal/professional growth.
How will your friend describe you?
When you are asked this question, you will have to walk the fine line between confidence and arrogance. Try something that will get you the advantage, a trait that you think will describe you the best. And try not to be vague and generic (don’t say things like a hard-working, people person, etc).
Read the second part of this article.
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Apart from all of the above, keep yourself updated with current affairs! Read The Most Important Current Affairs Topics For Your MBA Interviews!