Interviews

Interviews

Interviews by Institutes abroad is very rare and is usually limited to some business schools. You most probably will not have to go through one. But, just to let you know, sometime somebody comes from the university or college in your home country to interview applicants. Some universities and colleges conduct interviews telephonically and some others through their alumni who are based in the city you live in.

If you happen to be applying to an institute that wants to interview, you ought to be prepared.

Preparing for the Interview

• Have the right attitude and do your homework
• Consider the interview as your final opportunity to market yourself. Establish your objectives for the interview. Think about ways of reinforcing your strengths and addressing your weaknesses. Be prepared to support your claims in the application essays. Good preparation will also help you relax somewhat during the interview
• Know all that you can about the school and the program - the school brochures and the website can be useful sources. Carry out a search in Google or Yahoo by the name of the school and read the relevant results. This could make you aware of some specific details about the school or the program, which would reflect in your answers during the interview. It could pay to protect yourself as a person who pays attention to detail. It also conveys your interest in the school.
• Prepare for the typical interview questions. Most of the interview questions come from two categories
  
  1. Standard questions for all students like Why MBA
  2. Questions tailor-made for you based on your essays and your resume.

The interviewer may wish to probe into some of your claims to fame in your essays. Be sure to review your application, essays and resume prior to the interview. The worst thing you can do is contradicting yourself at the interview.

Important Interview questions

Following are some important interview questions that the interviewer asks mostly.

• Why do you wish to pursue the program that you have applied to?
• Why do you want to attend this school?
• Name some other schools that you have applied to?
• Tell me about yourself.
• What are your career goals?
• Where do you see yourself in ten years?
• What value can you add to the program?
• What are your greatest achievements?
• What do you consider your three top strengths/weaknesses?
• Why should we accept you?
• Do you have any questions?
  

Most of the above interview questions would have been covered in your essays in one form or the other. Review the exercise that you did in the essays section to get your life in perspective.

The interview is your big chance to elaborate on things that you could not cover in your essays. You should also be ready with 3-5 good questions that reflect your concerns about the school and your success in the program.