I had my interview in Europe and it was completely different from what I expected and learnt on internet.
I have received few questions and they were all extremely articulated (2-3 sentences per question), open ended and somewhat vague.
I haven’t received any follow-up question, no additional examples to provide, no details about my work, no current situations (at work or in the world). We were mainly talking about things mentioned in my application and, I suppose, by my recommenders. It sounded like a conversation among two computers: nor stressful niether friendly, just professional.
My questions were (synthesis):
- walk me through your education, why HBS MBA
- confront the two working places you experienced
- another work experience
- cultural clashes and cultural fit
- what can you contribute to HBS case method discussion
- you and the alumni network in the long run
Then a few questions from my side, two burning ones, which made us exceed the allocated time.
Most of the questions were standard, so I had prepared about what to answer, for the others I tried to answer at my best and rambled a bit in search of content.
Frankly, I don’t know how it went, because the interviewer limited any body communication feedback. I missed the answer on the last one, talking only about what I would take from the network and didn’t mention what I would contribute. A big mistake I invite you not to do.
Hopefully, other part of the application will cover that part better.
A note on thank you notes: it is hard to have an email to write a personal thank you email. My guess would be that HBS doesn’t welcome them. If in particular cases you feel the inerviewer had exceeded the normal politeness, than you can write to the adcom in general.
