I’m a US development worker in Africa. My interview was conducted over Skype with an adcom member in mid-January. I was notified of the time in mid-December so I had ample time to prepare.
Questions asked:
- Anything new to add to your resume since submitting application?
- What item would you like to highlight from your resume?
- Tell me about a time when a teammate wasn’t pulling his/her weight, what did you do?
- Tell me about a time you received feedback from a supervisor. How did you feel and what did you think when he sat you down to talk? Have you received any feedback from your current supervisor?
- Tell me about a mentor or a person in your life who has influenced you. Describe that influence.
- Tell me about a recent setback you’ve encountered at your current position. What happened, how did you feel, and what did you do?
After that I was asked to explain the reasoning and evolution of my past jobs. My work experience seems a bit eclectic on paper, Global Fortune 500 intern > nonprofit > political campaign mgmt > Peace Corps & international development, so I explained how each position fit together and why I’m now choosing to pursue my MBA. She asked a few questions about Peace Corps and choosing to work abroad.
This led to a question on how I learned about MIT Sloan (since I’ve been living in Africa for past few years) and why I wanted to attend.
Next I was asked what I thought she would ask but hadn’t yet, and what would I want her to take back to the other adcom members about me as a candidate.
Then a couple minutes for me to ask questions.
Overall the interview lasted 42 minutes and had a casual tone during most of it; more of a conversation than a formal interview.
What I was most unprepared for were the probing questions about my work background. I may have come off defensive on some questions when the adcom was asking about how my work applied to business school. In hindsight I should have prepared a concise explanation of my nontraditional career path and why it’s a good fit for Sloan, instead of focusing entirely on behavioral question prep.
