It isn’t easy to get into a prestigious institution and earn a valuable MBA degree. However, when you need to enter the professional world of doing an MBA, the challenge gets much harder. And the initial step in achieving that success is the much-feared MBA interview as it is among the most necessary part of life experiences. Thus, the individual must be completely ready to perform their best during the interview. In this article, we provide some sample MBA interview questions
An MBA interview is usually a personal meeting that takes place after clearing the first examination round by offering various tests such as CAT, XAT, etc. So, to pass this interview, you need to study various kinds of interviews style as it includes a combination of popular and behavioral or situational questions.
So, we have assembled a list of top MBA interview questions asked by the highly experienced interviewers to help you crack the tough MBA interview.
How well are you acquainted with yourself? Tell me anything about yourself.
This is, without a doubt, one of the MBA interview questions that are most frequently asked. The aim of the question is to test your skills in communication and how you present yourself. You will not be able to make a perfect first impression if you don’t know how to phrase your response correctly so you need to be crisp and clear while answering this question. And don’t make the interviewers feel bored by telling long stories related to your life. Only speak reading you interest, your source of motivation, the area in which you want to succeed, and a brief about your family life. Wrap it all up by connecting your response to your passion for the management field.
SAMPLE ANSWER – I am a strong-willed, diligent, eager and interactive individual who has aspiring objectives for the upcoming years. I have established myself as an achiever in the past years, and I am an extremely motivated individual who likes to help others when they need any kind of guidance or help. I am a forbearing individual who knows that if you are able to work hard if you hear to the experience and wisdom of others, and if you fully indulge yourself in anything you do, you can get whatever you want. I am polite, punctual and a good team member and while I recognize that there are many contenders all competing for getting admissions in this MBA course, I believe I am in a good position to be one of the successful candidate because of my varied experience, my enthusiasm and my commitment to the course.
Why have you chosen an MBA as a career option? What are your plans for MBA?
In the initial phase of this question, your answer will purely depend on whether you are a seasoned professional or someone who has just completed their graduation. Never say that you chose it because you didn’t have anything else to do or just took it out of curiosity-you should demonstrate a real interest in the area.
While you will explore your short-term and long-term career goals by looking at the second part of the issue. Speak about the career choices in which you would see yourself and the work positions that will be right for you. And at the end make sure to finish it well with the help of your confidence and a personalized resume.
SAMPLE ANSWER – There are different reasons why I want to pursue an MBA. The underlying explanation is that I envision it as a prerequisite for me to accomplish my eternal or deep-rooted objectives. And in the long run, I just want to do everything with perfection, and this MBA course will help me to achieve that goal. Another major purpose for doing MBA was to enhance my communication and interpersonal abilities, improve my habit of following a personalized time-table, and think creatively.
What are the main strengths and vulnerabilities?
The best way to answer this question is by doing a SWOT review of your strengths and vulnerabilities. As the ultimate predictor of your strengths and weaknesses are you. But you can even take help from your professors or someone senior to you to understand the same thing in a much better way. Also, make sure that your specific strength is ideally matched with the characteristics needed for the work. When you finally answer this question and never lie about your strengths, just mention those features that you could explain nicely. As for your weaknesses, though stating your real weaknesses is important; do not talk about them in a way that would show you in a negative light.
Can you tell me about a time when you were functioning or working jointly including someone who had a contrasting persona from you?
This question helps you to explain how well you are communicating with others. Using the STAR approach will help you develop a well-constructed response that shows your ability to respond to a number of personalities. So, when you deal with individuals with varying personalities, think of a few scenarios and practice your answer until you can quickly recite the scenario.
SAMPLE ANSWER – During my most current occupation, I worked with an individual on several tasks, and she liked to initially work in a rapid state and later on corrected the mistakes. Though, I preferred working after planning a perfect strategy. The first two tasks included fixing errors and spending more time than required, so from the beginning, I clarified my thoughts about making a plan. Although she always had to do the job in her preferred way, since we were able to perform the tasks correctly for the utmost time, the subsequent tasks took us less time. So, I began planning a strategy for every task after that because of our improvement inefficiency.
In the next few years, where do you envision yourselves?
Interviewers usually pose this question to get a glimpse at your personality and competence as they want to understand whether you are a good candidate or not. So, you have to frame your reply wisely. The interviewer is well aware of the work hierarchy, so avoid using generic comments such as “I want to see myself as a manager. “
Alternatively, focus your response on where you envision yourself in your profession over the upcoming years. Speak about the abilities you want to learn, how you intend to expand your experience, how you plan to resolve your limitations, and what your target for the next couple of years is. Be frank in the interview with yourself and the interviewer.
Who’s your role model?
How you answer the question shows the definition of success to your interviewer. In the MBA universe, there are numerous success tales. You also need to hear about a select few inspiring individuals in the industry and their accomplishments because whoever you define as your inspiration must have a backup of your response that why do they motivate or inspire you. List the traits you respect most in your role model and how you aspire to imitate them in your own workplace.
What was your most difficult college experience to date?
Although speaking about hardships can reveal your limitations, you can use this topic as an occasion to show how a difficult experience has been overcome. Think of times when you were glad to over that educational hurdles and describe how you were able to resolve the difficulty.
SAMPLE ANSWER – I had participated in a debate in which I was assigned to compose and give a speech about a topic that went in opposition to my point of view. So, it was definitely difficult for me to express what I felt, but it took a lot of time to understand the opposite sides’ war of words and make a speech that got a passing mark. So, it was more necessary for me to win the debate as compared to presenting a speech that was against my thoughts.
Do you prefer working in a team?
Usually, teamwork is required everywhere as it is the central component of all types of sectors. While every practitioner has his or her individual position and duties, all job tasks involve teamwork to varying degrees.
If you are a beginner with no experience, you should talk about seminars or events where you have had to collaborate with other people in a team. Speak about the ability to adjust to changes and to value others’ viewpoints. Since collaboration cannot always end with everyone agreeing on one point.
The key, however, is to slip through those gaps in order to find common ground. You should list occasions where, when operating in a squad, you showed your leadership abilities.
Describe a moment when you’ve struggled to fulfill the needs of others. How have you been handling the situation?
This query provides you the chance to talk about a tough challenge because everyone has flaws within themselves, and the interviewer needs to understand how you twisted the unpleasant event into a learning moment. And in addition to learning from your error, by clarifying your intention to the issue, you will also show the interviewer your dispute resolving abilities.
The ones you remember break the rules the most. Do you agree?
One way to fix this problem will be to first understand that many individuals who violate laws end up hurting others and ultimately pay for the outcomes. This paves the way for the distinction between rule-breaking and rule-changing to be pointed out creatively that the ancient norms are no longer applicable.
How can you benefit from the services we provide?
This interrogation gives you the opportunity to explain to the evaluator what you know about their curriculum and how you intend to improve your career using your abilities. Various MBA course sections cherish when their students excel because it represents their course’s accomplishments directly. So, clearly explain to the interrogator what you understand about this course and how it would help you.
SAMPLE ANSWER – Before deciding to apply here, I have already researched about the various colleges providing such courses. But I selected your coursework because it fulfills my need for whatever I wanted to pursue and will help me grow my career and accomplish my future objectives.
In three words, how can those close to you identify you?
Easy planning is the secret to responding to this question. So, have three to four features ready, through the eyes of others that you know reflect you well. You might also have any of your friends or advisor’s opinion. This can be used both to give you some clear examples and to verify their experiences against your own point of view. And once you have mentioned your interviewer’s particular terms, be prepared to clarify why you choose all of them.
Why are you hoping to work with us?
You must have basic information about the business while applying for a company because going without having prior knowledge about the organization might put you in difficulty. So, the finest technique to know about a business is via the official web page of the company. It will have all the knowledge about the business is its past, the products/services in which it specializes, its consumers, executives, customer testimonials, etc. So, do proper research and work out how well-suited the market is for you and vice versa. Don’t use any sing and give honest evidence so that your interviewer might get impressed. Thus, a well-rounded understanding of the business would also reflect your sincere interest in being part of its family and growth.
KEY TIPS TO QUALIFY THE MBA INTERVIEW
- Present yourself in a very short and formal manner.
- Limit the presentation to yourself entirely and unless asked by the interrogator, do not talk about your family members.
- Answers should be given in a precise manner and to the point.
- Don’t be overconfident or hostile. And certainly, by using those crammed lines, do not attempt to win the evaluator.
- Formal wear.
- Answer the questions posed by the interviewer in a clear and simple manner.
- Respond in small phrases.
DIFFERENT STYLES OF INTERVIEW
Structured Conversation
These interviews are often structured in nature and very coordinated. These kinds of interviews typically begin with an icebreaking session whose aim is to calm you before asking hard questions. And a self-introduction is the most frequently requested question. Secondly, the panelists will try to know your reason behind pursuing an MBA, preceded by a no. of questions such as your graduation learnings, extracurricular, and job experiences. At last, they will interrogate you whether you want to ask anything for them. So, you need to have few questions ready for the same matter.
Stress Interview
During the concluding selection procedure, this type of interview is primarily used by interviewers. The interrogation in a stress interview is often the same as those that might be asked during a formal interview. However, since the interviewer may seem busy or insensitive to you, there may be a disparity in the conduct. The main objective of these stress interviews is to test the applicant’s response to the lack of concern, dismissal, and overall stress. Therefore, it is strongly advised to focus on the issue and not how it is posed to wander through the discussion.
The characteristic of a stress discussion is odd questions. Throughout the discussion, the interrogator will ask you some odd and off the subject questions. So, don’t forget to remain patient and refreshing during the whole interview procedure.
Group Interview
Just one group is questioned at a time in this form of an interview, which is a kind of group debate. Using these techniques, the willingness of the individual to command, their composure and, communication abilities can be assessed. And to see how candidates respond to each other, this process is pre-planned. So, initially all the applicants are taken together and secondly they are interviewed. On the other hand, applicants are given a specific subject matter for debate and watched as to know who will initially start the conversation, how they will express their thoughts and respond to the opponent’s point of view. So, try to bring evidence into your judgment in a very straightforward and composed way.
Panel Interview
In several interviews, the jury will have from 3 to 4 representatives who will interview you. The primary objective behind this is that before the concluding selection of the individuals, they will like to know the opinions of other members of their panel as well. So, while responding, concentrate on the primary interviewer who interrogated you, along with making a proper sidelong glance with the other members too.
DO’S DURING AN MBA INTERVIEW
- Prior to applying for a program, do sufficient research.
- Show yourself as an all-around character.
- Bridge the difference between the priorities of your profession and the facilities given by the B-school.
- Make a perfect and precise resume including all the correct information.
- Dress nicely.
- Be compassionate yet self-confident.
- Maintain your body posture throughout the interview.
- At the end, make sure to have a follow-up with the HR of the company.
DONT’S DURING AN MBA INTERVIEW
- Do not offer general reasons for your answer.
- Do not be a deceptive individual.
- Don’t try to please the interviewer too much.
SUM UP
So, these are primarily the different forms and questions of interviews that can be discussed in the concluding selection procedure. In certain situations, interviewers may opt to use a mix of different types of interviews. But you’ll be able to adjust to the circumstances they bring to you as long as you’ve planned well. So, when responding to all the questions, just be self-assured and truthful.
