Interview is the final round based on which your selection to a b-school is done. Most management schools do have preliminary rounds like written ability test, group discussions, case discussions, and group exercises before the interview round. During your interview, your academics, work experience (if any), extracurricular and everything else will be under scrutiny. Many b-schools even give extra 10-20% weightage to the interview process, which can ultimately brighten or dim your chances of selection. Hence, this is your one and only chance to know everything about the interview, types of interview, process in order to ace it. This article may help you out.
What is an Interview?
Interviews are kind of a structured conversation between the interviewer (the one who asks questions) and interviewee (one who answers those questions). Interviews can be done for various things but in the context of b-schools, interviews are done to see how you react and if you have the ability to think on your feet. Interviewers basically try to figure out and understand your thought process. In top b-schools, an interview is more like a test of attitude. As it's the aspirants ‘attitude’ towards various situations that will determine the level of success he/she will achieve in b-school and professional life.
Types of Interviews
Personal v/s Group
| Personal Interview |
Group Interview |
- You alone will be face-to-face with the panel and will have to answer questions put to you.
- You will be evaluated based on your knowledge and attitude (behaviour) in an individual setting.
- IIMs and many other b-schools have Personal Interviews after preliminary rounds like - GD, WAT, CD and GE.
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- A group of students along with you will be interviewed at the same time.
- You are observed both on your knowledge and group interaction.
- SPJIMR is known to conduct group interviews.
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Open v/s By-invitation
| Open Interviews |
By- Invitation Interviews |
- There are very few b-schools that do open interviews or application initiated interviews.
- You can choose to request an interview.
- If your b-school has this option, you should grab the opportunity.
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- Most b-schools are selective of whom to invite. Hence they opt for by-invitation interviews.
- An invite is a good signal that the school sees you as a potential fit for their program
- They call the interviewee via call or email.
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Non-Blind V/s Blind
| Non- Blind Interviews |
Blind Interviews |
- The interviewer is familiar with your profile and tailors questions based on your profile.
- As the interviewer has all your information, he/she can form a pre-judgement ( mostly an unconscious bias about you).
- Interviewer has more control over the interview flow.
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- The interviewer may know your name or a few facts. Other than that, they have no information on your background.
- Makes the interviewing process more bias-free.
- You can control the flow of interview and information you want to add or omit.
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Stress v/s Non-Stress
| Stress |
Non- Stress |
- It’s more of a stress-induced discussion.
- Interviewee is deliberately asked a lot of stressful questions.
- Interviewee is not given enough time and often interrupted by the panellist.
- This is done to see how the candidate handles stress and pressure.
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- It’s more of a free-wheeling discussion.
- There is a casual flow to the interview.
- Interviewee is given enough chances to answer questions.
- There is no underlying intention. Non-stress interviews are quite straight forward.
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- B-school interview is a formal event, so please dress according to the occasion.
- Try to control your body language (like shaking your leg, biting your lips, losing eye-contact). Don’t let the nervousness, anxiety, and inner turmoil come out.
- Try to be your natural self and don’t try to flaunt unnecessary business jargon.
- It might sometimes feel weird to talk about yourself. Hence, practice talking about yourself (especially your accomplishments) in front of the mirror, your parents, even your friends. This will help you get off the awkwardness and help you become more confident about yourself.
- Come up with 2 or 3 points which you will want the interviewer to remember you by.
- Finally, come up with a strong and convincing answer to "Why this school?”, and “Why MBA”? questions.
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Hope this article helped you understand different types of interviews and how should one prepare for it. Meanwhile, if you have any comments or suggestions then please comment down below.