As a HCM applicant I needed to prepare for two interviews, one with the Associate Director of the HCM program, June Kinney, and the other one with an alumnus.
My phone interview with June was really conversational. She had already read my file, so every time she asked a question she said that she knew what I wrote on my application, but wanted me to briefly answer again and add more details if I wanted to. She asked some questions about my career path and goals and after about 15 minutes she asked if I had any questions. I asked a couple of questions which she answered in detail and with enthusiasm. My advice for the HCM applicants: if you can comfortably talk about what you have done and if you know what you want to do post-MBA, just call June’s office upon receiving the interview invite and make an appointment as early as possible. Don’t worry about anything!
My second interview was with an alumnus in his office. He had seen the resume that I sent him, but didn’t have a copy with him, so I just gave him one. He asked me some routine questions about my career path/goal, why MBA, why Wharton, etc. which every applicant is definitely familiar with and prepared for. But, he then started to ask behavioral questions for the next 30 minutes. The questions were getting harder and deeper and every time he was not completely satisfied with my response, he probed more. Experts say you should be ready for anything in an alum interview, which is I believe a precious piece of advice. Having read so many interview reports, I do not remember anyone facing so many behavioral questions. I’m not even sure if I can call those questions “behavioral”, because I had to imagine myself as a student at Wharton when answering these questions. For example, I wasn’t asked “How did you handle a conflict?”; I was asked “How would you handle a conflict in your Learning Team at Wharton?”.
These are some of the questions I remember:
– What would you do if one of the members of your Learning Team didn’t pull his/her weight on a project? What would you do if you understand that (s)he didn’t help due to the lack of interest in the project/course?
– How would you participate in class discussion at the school?
– What would you do if you saw an irrelevant discussion is taking the class time?
– How would you help your team-mate who needed help? What would you do if you were extremely busy with your own work?
– What would you do if you saw an unethical practice at the school?
– How would you prioritize your time at Wharton? What would be the most and the least important things for you as a student?
At the end I asked him two questions and when he was answering them I realized that I had done a good job in my interview. He explained his experience at Wharton and how it helped him with his current job. He even gave me advice on what I should do in Philly and what options are available for my wife there. I thought he wouldn’t have bothered to go into those details if he hadn’t found me a good match for Wharton. My interview, which lasted 75 minutes, was tough, but I felt good about it. My interviewer looked really smart and sophisticated, which was interesting for me because it was the first time I had the opportunity to meet in person a Wharton’s alumnus.
Outcome: Admitted
