I had an alumni interview back in Nov of last year. While preparing for the interview, I relaized that an alumni interview could go anywhere….from being very casual to a to-the-point question based interview… My turned out to be of the second type…
It seemed like my interviewer had either done very few interviews before or mine was her first…Here were some typical questions.
- Walk me through your resume?
- Tell me about this extra curricular activity you participated in college?
- How different is being a leader at and outside of work (I had a lot of leadership experience in both places)
- Is your company sponsoring your MBA?
- Tell me in detail about your current project? ( I am in consulting and my resume referred to several projects)
Overall, the interview centered around what I had presented in my resume. I have heard from my friends that their alumni interview was held at a restaurant and it was very informal. My advice is for one to be prepared for either situation.
I felt that my interviewer wanted to go by the instructions Wharton had given her. I could glean from my conversation with her that Wharton strictly (!!!) says that the interview cannot be longer than 45 minutes. She was, in my opinion, looking for the following.
- Whether I could back-up what I had said in my interview
- Whether I was able to communicate properly. One of the biggies during an interview for any university is to make sure that the candidate really has any meat in his profile and to eliminate the possibiilty of a ghost writer for the essays….If the essays are shakespearean and the candidate cannot tell his ass from his hand during the interview, it would be a big red light…
My advice to candidates would be to be yourself….demonstrate passion and interest and clearly elucidate your candidacy….you will be all set for your 2 year stint at Wharton..
