I had my interview with an HBS alumnus. My interview was scheduled for 10:30am, but things were running a bit behind at his office so we didn’t actually get started till 11:30. So I spent most of my first hour reading a Crain’s magazine and talking to the office assistants. I thought it’d be better to not cram at the last minute and just be confident that I knew my application, had prepared properly, and would be able to answer any questions that came my way.
When I started, the interviewer briefly explained the process. He had my application in front of him and an HBS evaluation sheet the listed various criteria (he flashed this so I’m not really sure what they all are). He told me that he just had to fill out that sheet and send it in and admitted that the process beyond that was rather mysterious. The interview started with the classic “tell me about yourself” question. So I did. I talked about growing up all over the world and this prompted a few clarification questions. Eventually, I got to why I went to my undergrad and chose my major. We delved into a great deal of other details in no particular order. The interview was VERY conversational, and I’d attribute that to how laid back the interviewer was and that we seemed to hit it off in the beginning which made it much easier. He certainly changed my mindset of the stereotype of arrogant sharks at HBS and made me really want to attend.
One thing I will mention is that he said it was required that the interviewers ask a few, shall we say, unique questions. I’m not sure if these are meant to throw you off of your feet, but I’d imagine it’s to test how well you handle pressure. They expect that you’ve prepared for the basic questions, but the random ones are to get at who you really are as it’s difficult to act when you’re under pressure and an unexpected question is thrown your way. I really liked this. It put me on the spot, but I felt that my life and work experiences had prepared me for it. I was myself, and feel like I answered the questions fairly well…I guess we’ll see come January though.
Questions asked:
- Tell me about yourself.
- Why wouldn’t you just move to Palo Alto and join a startup (I’m entrepreneurial-focused)?
- Why do you want an MBA? Why now?
- What are your biggest weaknesses?
- What would your managers view as your biggest weaknesses?
- Who is a hero or role-model of yours who I would know? Why? You cant say Bill Gates (I have a tech background).
- Do you like sports? What do you think of the Terrell Owens situation in Philadelphia?
- Would you have hired Terrell Owens? Would you have acted the way management acted now?
- What’s your favorite college football team other than your undergrad institution? Why? (I happened to pick his undergrad institution’s team…sheer luck as I didn’t know where he went to school, but definitely helpful)
- Where would you sit in a Harvard classroom on the first day? Why?
- Let’s say you can’t get X seat because it’s already been taken, then what would you do? (I was really confident …maybe too much so…with my answer on this one as I thought it was getting a little ridiculous to throw in so many caveats. In the end I just said that I would be heard, no matter what, gave an example of when no one thought I would succeed and was tremendously successful, and was done with it. He seemed pleased and impressed with this and later said that he would’ve answered the same)
I managed to weave in various leadership stories into the fray. I’m a really passionate guy about various things, so I think that also came across in my answers. He seemed very pleased with how I answered most of the “hard” questions saying at the end that he would have answered them in the same way but he also gave me additional insight into what I could have put into the answers. In addition, he mentioned that he skipped a few questions he was going to ask because I had already answered them (i.e. my interpersonal skills, my self-awareness, etc.), but this does indicate that there are probably a set of questions to identify listed traits that they are required to ask. My interviewer answered all of my questions very candidly, and I really respect and appreciate that. Overall, I’d say the experience was positive. I admire my interviewer a lot for his accomplishments, candor, strength of character, and ability to articulate himself…definitely makes me want to go to HBS.
The one tip I would leave for all of you is simply to be yourself. Everyone says this, but it’s so true no matter how hard it is to do. I doubt that many people could act well enough to get by the pressure situations involved in an interview. And I doubt that even fewer would WANT to get in knowing that they weren’t themselves…I’d certainly regret it for the rest of my life. Just know yourself and your application, be confident that you’re ready for HBS, and you’ll be able to honestly answer any question that comes your way.
