The atmosphere as I checked in was very friendly. When I got to the room in the Student Center where they had us meet, the ladies who welcomed me were smiling and affable and gave me a packet of info about the school, visiting, a map, and a note from Dee Leopold. Since I got there so early, I sat down with a few other interviewees and we discussed our backgrounds. Ten minutes before the interview time, an adcom member led us upstairs to another waiting room. Then one by one, an adcom member came out, called our name, and walked us to our interview room.
The person who walked me to the interview room, interviewer #1, was my main interviewer. Waiting in the room was a second woman, interviewer #2. They were both very friendly and put me at ease. #1 explained to me that she had read my application carefully and would be asking the questions, and #2 was there to observe for the most part. Each had a copy of my resume in front of them, but #1’s was marked up heavily.
#1 then launched into it, asking me questions about my college experience (which surprised me, since I was more than seven years out of college) – had I always known I was going to do ROTC there, why did I choose to go there, what did ROTC teach me, etc.
Then we discussed each of the parts of my military career, with the general focus being on “why” I did various things – why did I choose my branch, why did I get stationed in X, Y, and Z, how did my leadership change over time, what were my challenges at each place. It was a very fast paced interview, I felt like even 30 seconds for answers was a bit long. She had me retell one story from my application essay for the benefit of #2, though I don’t know if #2 had read it before, or if it was a test of an ability of mine. Towards the end, I got some business analysis questions about my current government job – what’s the model of employment like, why is it structured that way, how would I change it?
Then it was done. I got a minute at the end for my last question, “is there anything else you want to make sure we know about?” and then #2 walked me back down to the first waiting room, chit-chatting on the way about running.
Overall, a very pleasant experience. Definitely worth it to know your resume and application essay cold (as if anyone wouldn’t) and have stories ready for each bullet on your resume.
