I had two interviews: one with an alumnus and one with a staff member at the Tauber Institute. I submitted my application on Jan 4 and received an invitation to interview on Jan 17.
My first interview was over the phone with a Tauber staff member. It lasted about 30 minutes and was extremely conversational. The questions she asked were:
- Why Ross?
- Why Tauber?
- What are your future career goals?
Her questions and my answers took up fewer than 15 minutes, and the rest of the time was spent addressing my questions. I asked about MAP, the interaction of Tauber students with other institutes, the group internship experience and how I could make the most of a visit to Ross. She also passed along the contact information of a Tauber alumna who shared a similar background to mine. Overall, very friendly and low-pressure.
My second interview was the following day with a 2011 Ross Alum, based in the Bay Area (there were four alumni in different Bay Area cities, which gave me some welcome flexibility). We arranged to meet near his office but, when I was given the choice, I opted to do our interview over coffee at Starbucks. Although I was dressed in business attire, his was more business casual. Despite the conversational setting, there was definitely some structure to the interview. Some of the questions were:
- Tell me about a conflict you’ve encountered at work.
- What clubs are you interested in taking part in at Ross (note: he was looking for “extra-curricular” (read: non-professional) interests)?
- Why Ross?
- What are your career goals? How can Ross help you achieve them?
- What are some professional clubs you’d like to join?
- How do you see yourself making an impact at Ross?
Our chat lasted a little over an hour. He put me in touch with a classmate of his, who had been in Tauber. Overall, while the interview was friendly, it was definitely more “business-like” than my phone interview. Fingers crossed!
