The MBA interview is your chance to show the admissions committee who you are beyond your essays, GMAT score and application. In many cases, it's a step closer to getting in. It's completely natural to be nervous, but it's important not to freeze up. You also shouldn't approach it overly confident and risk turning off your interviewer. The following suggestions will help you prepare for and go into your MBA interview with confidence and composure.
Since business schools have various interview policies, be sure to find out what the process is at the schools you're applying to. The interviewer will only have 30 minutes to an hour with you. Which means you only have a short time to make not only a good impression, but a lasting one as well. First: prepare your basics. Why do you want an MBA? What are your future goals? Sound like questions you spent hours on for your essays? They should. The committe may use similar questions as a way of looking for consistencies and inconsistencies between your essays and your interview. You'll be showing that you can communicate these very basics to your interviewer orally in a dialogue format. You are engaging with another person, and you must be open to actually having a conversation about yourself and your future. Because speaking about yourself is quite different from writing, it's probably a good idea to practice aloud.
Open-ended questions like "Talk about yourself" (which isn't exactly a question at all) can be tough to respond to. Where do you begin? And where should you end? You shouldn't let any discussion go beyond maybe a few minutes. Interviewers don't want to have to sit through long, rambling answers and speeches. Effective communication is essential in business, so let your responses reflect your understanding of that fact.
No matter how comfortable or uncomfortable someone is in an interviewing scenario, it is highly recommended that you not try to memorize any kinds of answers. That can lead to a variety of bad things, such as wooden, insincere-sounding responses and a kind of self-paralyzing stage fright if the applicant is struggling to remember the exact words he or she prepared at home. Remember that an interview is meant to let an admissions committee see who you really are, behind your essays and transcripts. You have to believe in yourself and not overload yourself with too much pressure. The interview is important, but is not a 'deal breaker,' so don't tell yourself that your MBA future is all riding on the interview.
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