The interview was scheduled based on the alum’s availability and lasted for approximately 1 hour. I was matched with an alum with whom I shared the same undergrad school (different industry though). He was a 2010 GSB graduate.
He was friendly and the interview flowed like a conversation – in fact, some 30 minutes into the interview, we took a break for some time where he asked me if I had questions for him (in most interviews this is done towards the end).
The interviewer had access only to my resume. There were a few standard questions at first – Why MBA? Why Stanford? Post MBA goals? I was grilled somewhat on my post-MBA goals and my motivation behind it.
Next, I was asked three more questions:
1. Tell me about a time when you failed.
2. Tell me about a time when you contributed to a team effort, but did not lead the team. (I guess I was asked this since most of my resume talked about me leading teams.)
3. What is something you’re most proud of?
Plenty of follow-up questions on my answers to these three questions. So we explored the stories in depth, as compared to several different stories.
Surprisingly, the alum did not hype up the school too much when I asked him about the experience. Perhaps since he graduated a while ago, he had a more holistic understanding of his experience and told me not too rely too much on the brand name and instead focus on my goals.
