This was probably my favorite interview yet. I am not sure how LBS pairs applicants with interviewers, but my interviewer had worked at the same company as me before attending (albeit in a very different role) and is currently working in my field of interest (different than my current field). We met at his office and the interview lasted roughly 1.5 hours.
We started off with the infamous presentation. My interviewer had purposely selected a topic that he thought, given my background, I would do well with. He apologized profusely since he considered it a bit awkward to start an interview with a formal presentation. He immediately gave me feedback on my presentation, telling me he had heard some bad ones and some good ones, but that mine was probably one of the best he’d ever heard. (Hope he doesn’t say that to all his interviewees!)
After that, my interviewer asked a number of questions about my background and my views on some business issues:
– walk me through your resume
– asking for specifics on what I had done in a certain role
– how good are your language skills in X language (I cited proficiency on my resume)?
– why are you interested in doing X?
– what is the ideal job after MBA? (specifics– what role, what company)
– how will you deal with working in a small group– what role will you play, and how will you handle dealing with people you may not like?
– why London? what are your thoughts around the other schools you’ve applied to?
– what do you think will happen to your current company’s stock price? questions re: biz strategy
– question about the business climate in X country, where I had previously worked for 2 years
– what do you do for fun? (and he asked me specifically to cite the non-achievement oriented activities…)
He asked me lots of questions around the other schools I had applied to, and told me that the only concern was that I was applying to multiple other schools. He answered my questions about his experience and the school, and also shared advice on both my application and on recruitment in his industry. He gave me immediate feedback that he was going to write a positive recommendation. He was very conversational and put me at ease, but still clearly wanted to insure I knew what I was talking about. Definitely pushed London up to the top of my list after talking with him.
