Time and Location of interview
I applied in R1 and got an almost immediate response from the adcoms. I scheduled my interview some time in mid November via video conference as, at the time, I was based in India and could not travel out to Barcelona for the open day. I wrote to the adcoms about this and found them extremely supportive. I got the date according to my convinience and mailed them once I booked the room for the VC (for people in India, best place for a VC is the Reliance Web World. Fine, they’re not the *best* but try finding a cheaper place elsewhere!)
The duration My interview lasted for about 45-50 mins which I personally felt enough, as I could cover all the points that I wanted the adcoms to know, without being rushed.
The atmosphere The whole interview was extremely casual as against a stress interview that I was expecting (dreading?). My interviewer put me at ease so it was more like a conversation with an objective rather than the question answer session that one perceives the interview to be.
The interview Since it was to be a VC, I was dressed in a business suit. Unfortunately for me, there were some technical glitches due to which the VC had to be converted into a teleconf even before it began. I was interviewed by the Associate Director of Admissions, Brook Hardwick.
The main topics that I had to touch up on during the interview were –
- Why MBA?
- Why IESE ? I was also expected to elaborate on why I chose to apply to IESE despite the fact that IESE was not yet as well-known a brand in India as perhaps some other US schools.
- A walkthrough of my CV starting with graduation.
- Experience working abroad, in a multi-cultural environment, the issues I faced and how I resolved them
- I was also asked to elaborate on any politically motivated issue that I faced at work and how I came through.
Note that my interviewer was extremely well-versed with my application essays so there were a lot of questions directly related to what I had written. Apart from this, we also spoke about my interests outside work, any role-models that I had and the reasons for choosing that person as a role-model.
The questions were very well framed (read: tricky) so I had to think about exactly what my interviewer expected as an answer and then open my mouth. Thankfully, there was no pressure and I was given as much time as I needed to think.
The Tip Study your application thoroughly, be yourself and try not to talk about anything that’s not true. You can bet the adcoms can smell a faker from a mile away.
