Interviewed 11/5. Interview was blind, although I had sent over my resume ahead of time.
Questions:
– Tell me about yourself / walk me through your resume.
– Why an MBA – which flowed naturally into Why Columbia.
– What does your team structure look like at work?
– What are top leadership qualities you value / strive to emulate?
– What activities are you involved in outside of work?
– What would you like to tell me that we haven’t covered?
– What questions do you have for me?
The interview flowed very naturally with the alum (class of ’12 I believe) introducing himself and walking me through his CBS experience. This provided me with a bunch of different talking points and ways to connect with him and build rapport throughout the interview. We started with the standard questions like resume review and why MBA/CBS, with the alum asking about particular things I mentioned along the way. We spent some time chatting through what my team and responsibilities looked like, which segued really nicely into the leadership qualities that are important to me. Towards the close of the interview he asked me what I didn’t get to talk about, which I felt like was a ton since I had spent so much time rehearsing answers to a long list of questions. I chose to focus on my long-term and short-term career goals and how thoughtful I am about how CBS will help me solve for those things. Just like any alum, he lit up when I asked him specific questions about his CBS experience at the end of the interview, like which involvements were most important to him and what advice he’d have for someone beginning their matriculation at Columbia.
All in all I was very pleased with how easy and natural the conversation felt. I received a bunch of positive reinforcement from the alum, so my hopes are sky high that I will be receiving positive news from Columbia within the next week. Either way, I know that I gave it my all, so if a ding is on the horizon, I will be devastated, but will take solace in that it wasn’t a fit.
