Interview Tips--给还在准备interview的同学们

General

1. Be yourself; allow your personality to shine.
2. Respond to questions honestly and candidly.
3. Understand what is asked of you. Feel free to ask for a repeat if you don't clearly understand a question.
4. Avoid the "smart-aleck" reply or the clever-flip demeanor (you know, the effort to be cute, snappy alert, falsely witty).
5. Do your homework on the school and program.
6. Be on time. Look nice.
7. Examine yourself. Know something about the MBA and how it can aid you.

Specific

1. Discuss special interests and ask how the school may help you to pursue them. For example, one representative particularly enjoyed talking to a young lady about her interest in fund-raising management.
2. Ask about faculty research and interests, especially in areas that concern you.
3. Review with representatives your work background, highlighting the benefits you received from the experiences.
4. Know something about the MBA degree and what it can do for you. Explore the possibilities of the degree as it relates to what you are seeking.
5. Inquire about the school's philosophy, approach, and direction.  Since management education is young, many schools are still defining and redefining themselves in regard to what they do and how they do it.
6. Inquire about facilities (library, computer equipment), housing, and campus life. A recent graduate chose a school based on its tremendous computer laboratory.
7. If financial aid is critical to you, ask about aid sources, its availability, and the name of the person responsible for administering the program.
8. Describe to the representatives who you are:  your strengths, assets, traits needing development.
9. Discuss your college work, making special reference to those courses/projects that were valuable, exciting, worthwhile, and important to your future.
10. Be frank about problems — real or perceived — without rationalizing, apologizing, blaming, or excusing.  Common problems may include grades, test scores, an inconsistent record, or minimal work experience.
    Left a lot of room for questions, which was great.
    

attic    2003-3-27 6:14:00

for example,

what the typical quesitons for interview?
What Yale care most?
what is the common pitfalls for admission interviews?
What, from the adcom's or yale stuff's point of view, Yale SOM like or unlike most?
Any other suggestion for our Chinese apps to pay special attention?

Just these jump out of my mind.

Thanks for your help steven!

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领悟    2003-3-27 7:31:00

a short answer regarding interview
I remember when I prepared for the interviews last year, I went to www.businessweek.com and www.gter.net.  Maybe you can still find sth. valuable there.  I'll try to find whether I still save the interview question pack in my computer in Guangzhou.  If I find it, I'll share with you guys there.

I also wrote sth. about interview to John a year ago, let's see whether he still keeps it.

Some basic principles during interview (I am sure you already know them but they are really important so I repeat them here):
1. be relaxed
2. wear business attire
3. why MBA, why Yale are sure asked questions
4. show your energy and enthusiasm to pursue a goal (I told the interviewer that I travelled 24 hours by train just to see her and she was really impressed)
5. be familiar with your resume.  If you said you are a banker, make sure you can answer all questions related to your daily work.
6. prepare some examples to show your leadership, team spirit, and achievement
7. like other bschools, Yale likes its student from various background.  So be easy to your own background (you cannot change it anyway) and show your unique achievement or experience through the interview. 

Hope the above is helpful.
Good luck
Cathy

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领悟    2003-3-27 11:20:00

I found some interview questions as follows. However, before reading that, I'd like to remind you a very important advice: don't recite your answer during interview!! pretend that you hear every question and answer it for the first time in your life even though you've practised it for 100 times!

Here are the questions, entertain yourself!

Basic Types of Interview Questions and How to Answer Them
Open Ended Questions - These give you the opportunity to make a case for yourself.  Use your answers to demonstrate the ability to integrate your background and present plans and back it up with specific examples and accomplishments.  Sample questions:

Q. Run me through your resume?
A. Start with college and work forward, outlining your employment history, key accomplishments and transitions.  You need to first be able to do this in about two minutes.  But be prepared to go into much greater depth in response to questioning.

Q. Tell me about yourself
A. Depending upon when this question appears, you’ll need to vary your approach.  If this is the first question, you could use the “run me through your resume” method.  If you have already done this, focus on strengths. 

Q. How would friends describe you?
A. This is a good place to integrate strengths and personality traits important to the job you seek.

Q. How would your boss (or colleagues) describe you?
A. This is another strengths question.
Skills Questions - What in your past will show successful in the future?  Use accomplishments to exemplify skill areas.

Q. What are your strengths?  What attributes would your ideal job include?
A. Those attributes that belong to the position you are interviewing for.  Use the “skill area + example” method.

Q. What are you looking for?
A. The chance to utilize my strengths to contribute to your goal.  Then elaborate.

Q. What are your weaknesses?
A. Think honestly about this question.  Then pick a weakness that is really a strength and show how you’ve overcome the deficiency. (For example, a financial person may say they are overly detailed oriented, but now they are aware of this tendency and vary their level of detail to accommodate the needs of the project.)  Never give two weaknesses.

Personal questions. Here the interviewer may be looking for information on your attributes, style, character, and value system. 
Q. What were the two most important decisions in your life?
A. This is asking for your values and your approach to problem solving.

Q. Why did you decide to go back and get your MBA?
A. Again this looks for values and goals.

Q. What were your most important successes?  Failures?
A. Success illustrates strengths.  Failures are probed to understand how you handle adversity, so it is important to show how you got our from under.  Pick one that is a reverse strength, which tends to function for the good.  Again limit failures to one.

Q. Where would you like to be in five years?
A. value and goal question. 

Q. What are your hobbies?
A. They are asking this for consistency and personal fit. 

Behavior-Based Questions.  When answering behavior-based questions, you need to be complete and concise.  It’s helpful to think of the acronym STAR, when answering these types of questions.
1. the Situation and/or Task
- What did you have to do? What was your role?
2. the Action taken
- What did you do?
3. the Result(s) achieved
- What happened as a result?

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attic   2003-3-30 14:51:00

To tell all of your guy the truth - when I asked the questions, I never expected that there will be some answers.

This really exceed my expectation! I do not know how to express my appriciation.

While big help can be reciprocated by a mere word of " thanks", I still want to say

Thank you for steven ardent introduction! and

Thank you for cathy's invalueable info while I even did not know you before!

I feel real sense of community here!

Although it is kind of the earthy, that is the word from my heart -whether attic admitted or not in the end, he will remember this in his heart!

Anything Attic could help, just tell!

Finally, if not bother you cathy, what questions did you think is the smartest ones to ask the interviewer in the end?

Attic

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领悟    2003-3-28 13:40:00     

You are welcome
Attic,
Actually, I don't believe there is any "best answer".  If there is one, it should be the one that best express your unique strength.  You have to answer each question out of your own background/situation.  I don't think there is any "ready answer" for basic questions such as "run through your resume" "why MBA" "why Yale" "What's your most biggest achievement/failure" etc.  I asked several Chinese classmates, and surprisingly, they all said that they didn't prepare anything before interview.  Now you can see that acting naturally and spontaneously is really important.

Try to answer each question in a concrete way, if time is not running out.  For example, when you said you love Yale.  Why? You got to give some concrete reason.  Either it is because its fame, its ranking, its small class size, its courses, its professor, its beautiful campus in fall, its location, or it is your mother's dream, whatever.....

Again, don't follow the ready answers if you find them.  Try to come out sth. new out of your own situation and try to talk with your interviewer like with a friend or a client, i.e. be relaxed and natural.

Put yourself into the shoes of your interviewer.  If you find the applicant answering you by reciting sth. or by giving you a standard response, you won't be impressed, right?

If you have more questions, feel free to ask.

Cathy

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attic   2003-3-30 15:51:00

Hi Cathy,

Thanks again for your careful suggestion. I will pay additional attention to them.

Another question for you, cathy. Often, at the end of the interview, the interviewer will ask the interviewee if he/she has any questions.

How do you think we could take this chance to take initiative and show passion by asking smart questions? 

What questions would you ask in such situation?

I am very grateful for you time and replies!

Attic

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领悟    2003-3-28 15:59:00     

Yeah, it's a headache.  The principle is that do not ask questions that you actually can find it easily from Yale's website.

I'd like to ask questions such as:
"How long you've been with Yale? and what's the part that you love Yale the most?" - to adm officer
"How a Yale MBA degree help you in your career after graduation?" - to alumni
"What's the most unforgettable experience when you were at Yale?"

When I had interview with admission officer of Yale last year, I asked "Tell me more about the spouse scheme at Yale.  I want my husband have a good time there while I am studying".

Usually, asking two questions are suitable.

Just my 2 cents.

Cathy

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attic    2003-3-29 11:01:00     

Great! very smart questions!

Thanks again cathy!

Hope that I could be one on the Yale alumni list one day!

Attic

BTW, Just heard your interview, very impressive!

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领悟    2003-3-30 3:44:00     

Attic,
Good luck to you.
Share with us your good news here after your interview.
Cathy

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attic    2003-3-30 5:39:00     

Certainly I will!

And thank you for Ur good words, Cathy!

God bless all of us!

Attic

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attic    2003-3-31 1:05:00     

Hi Cathy,

I am back after two day tour to Yale! I think I did not blow it!

However, after I review my essay, I don't think I did a good work. Therefore, the odds is still 50-50.

I will get final notice till 4/11

Thanks again for your help!

Attic

BTW, I have sent you a message, please check your chasedream inbox!