{"id":10336,"date":"2012-11-20T11:02:42","date_gmt":"2012-11-20T17:02:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/?p=10336"},"modified":"2012-11-26T10:59:49","modified_gmt":"2012-11-26T16:59:49","slug":"mission-admission-how-to-handle-tough-mba-interviews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/mission-admission-how-to-handle-tough-mba-interviews\/","title":{"rendered":"Mission Admission: How to Handle “Tough” MBA Interviews"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mission Admission is a series of MBA admission tips; a new one is posted each Tuesday.<\/em><\/p>\n

With MBA interview decisions continuing to arrive this time of year, we thought now would be an appropriate time to discuss challenging interview situations. Most business school interviews are straightforward opportunities for an interviewer to learn more about a candidate\u2019s personal and professional backgrounds, goals, reasons for selecting a specific school and leadership\/team experiences, yet interviews can vary dramatically from school to school and sometimes include a few peculiarities. So, what constitutes a “tough” interview, and how can you best navigate one?<\/p>\n

Stoic interviewer<\/strong>: Some interviewers can be unemotional, refusing to give the candidate any indication as to whether he or she is making a positive impression or not. Of course, when an applicant is under intense pressure, this perceived lack of approval can be misunderstood as a sign of disapproval. The key in managing such an interview is to tune out the interviewer\u2019s lack of emotion. Focus on your answers and do your best to not be distracted by anything about the interviewer, tuning out everything except the questions he or she is posing. \u201cReading\u201d the interviewer in real time can be challenging, and you should instead concentrate on showcasing your strengths.<\/p>\n

Philosophical questions<\/strong>: Most candidates are ready to discuss their experiences and accomplishments, but many are not prepared to discuss their values and philosophy on life. Harvard Business School in particular likes to understand applicants\u2019 motivations and will ask questions like \u201cWhat is your motivation to succeed?,\u201d\u00a0 \u201cWhat drives you?\u201d\u00a0and \u201cWhat gives you purpose in life?\u201d The key to answering these sorts of questions is pretty simple: expect and prepare for them in advance (after all, you are being warned right now).\u00a0 You cannot assume that all the questions you will receive during your interview will be experiential.<\/p>\n

Persistent questioning<\/strong>: Sometimes a tough interviewer will continuously delve deeper into a subject, such as by\u00a0repeatedly asking, \u201cCan you be more specific about [the topic under discussion]?\u201d after posing an initial question. These kinds of unusual pressure tactics can be disconcerting, but the key is to simply stay on topic. No matter how persistent, the interviewer is always essentially asking you about a subject that you know quite well\u2014you! So, again, by avoiding the distraction of the tactic and sticking to your agenda, you should be fine.<\/p>\n

mbaMission offers even more interview advice in our\u00a0Interview Guide<\/a>, as well as through targeted one-on-one\u00a0mock interview sessions<\/a>\u00a0and group\u00a0Wharton team-based discussion simulations<\/a>, so check those out!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mission Admission is a series of MBA admission tips; a new one is posted each Tuesday. With MBA interview decisions continuing to arrive this time of year, we thought now would be an appropriate time to discuss challenging interview situations. Most business school interviews are straightforward opportunities for an interviewer to learn more about a … Read More  <\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mission-admission"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMission Admission: How to Handle "Tough" MBA Interviews | mbaMission - MBA Admissions Consulting<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/mission-admission-how-to-handle-tough-mba-interviews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mission Admission: How to Handle "Tough" MBA Interviews | mbaMission - MBA Admissions Consulting\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mission Admission is a series of MBA admission tips; a new one is posted each Tuesday. 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