The interview was very relaxed and casual, which I am grateful for. I was quite nervous beforehand because London Business School is a top choice for me and my brain was in the “better not mess this up” mode.
The interview began with the alum giving a short introduction about what he was currently doing, and then gave an overview of how the interview would go.
Here are the questions I was asked:
1) Tell me about yourself.
2) Why MBA, why LBS?
3) Talk about an experience where you had to negotiate a conflict while working in a culture different. (This wasn’t the exact question in terms of phrasing, but that’s the essence of what I was asked and it naturally arose from my responses to the prior questions.)
4) What are qualities you believe are important for business leaders to possess in this day and age?
5) What has been your most significant international experience to date, and how has that experience shaped who you are?
I was then presented with the case study that is unique to the London Business School interview. My interviewer chose a case for me and left the room for 5 minutes allowing me time to jot down ideas. After 5 minutes he returned and I had 2-5 minutes to present my recommendations. The point of the case study is to see how well candidates think on their feet, and to also assess presentation skills. I don’t think you can really prepare for this beforehand, but I might suggest thinking about simple business problems, and being able to articulate ideas, risks, and recommendations succinctly.
After the case study, the interviewer allowed me to ask any questions about the LBS program, at which point we discussed some of the clubs and extracurricular opportunities unique to the school. It was a very pleasant interview, and in total, lasted roughly an hour and a half.
The interviewer will have read the entire application, so they might comment or ask about things from the additional essay as well. They are aware of the GMAT score, so if it’s on the lower end, they might ask if you’ve thought about retaking it. I would suggest going over your application and especially the essay responses beforehand.
Another thing to note is that reading all these debriefs will give you a sense of the type of questions they will ask, but the interview will be very personalized. Your responses will determine follow up questions, so having a good idea of what you’ll say for the Why MBA? Why LBS? Why Now? type questions might give you a good idea of what you’ll be asked next, so I highly recommend having solid answers to those responses, which you’ll need for the video assessment anyway and would have already provided in the school essays.
I also don’t recommend just re-telling the resume. If they open with “tell me about yourself,” talk about your professional experiences, but illuminate aspects of yourself that aren’t stated on paper. The first 5 minutes of the interview are the most important in my opinion because it’s your chance to grab the interviewer’s attention and make his or her time feel worthwhile since these are busy alums.
Best of luck to the other candidates and I hope my debrief will help with the preparations!
