{"id":4255,"date":"2010-12-13T13:52:55","date_gmt":"2010-12-13T19:52:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/?p=4255"},"modified":"2022-02-07T14:01:24","modified_gmt":"2022-02-07T19:01:24","slug":"managing-the-mba-interview-what-if-i-am-stumped","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/managing-the-mba-interview-what-if-i-am-stumped\/","title":{"rendered":"Managing the MBA Interview: What If I Am Stumped?"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the release of first-round interview invitations and the subsequent increase in pressure on MBA candidates, we present a five-part series with our friends at Vault<\/a> to help applicants decompress and thoughtfully manage the MBA interview process. <\/em>In this third entry in the series, mbaMission founder Jeremy Shinewald explains what you should do if you find yourself \u201cstumped\u201d by a question your interviewer asks.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em>In our first entry<\/a> in this series, we were very clear that admissions interviewers are not seeking to stump you.\u00a0 Still, regardless of the interviewer\u2019s approach, many business school applicants still worry that, during their interview, they may be asked a single challenging question which leaves them awkwardly silent and that such a moment will be the symbolic end to their candidacy at the target school.<\/p>\n

Although such an experience would certainly be uncomfortable\u2014and we suggest, of course, that you definitely do your best to prepare for your interview so as to avoid this kind of predicament\u2014sometimes even well-prepared candidates can be \u201cstumped,\u201d and we can assure you that an awkward pause in an interview will not cancel out all the positive elements of your application. Still, being ready for such a situation, should one occur, is important, so we offer the following tips on how to mitigate an awkward moment:<\/p>\n