The purpose of your written application is to secure you an interview. The purpose of an interview is for admissions committee to gain insight into a) your interpersonal skills, b) your ability to lead/persuade others, c) how you think and tackle issues (your cognitive abilities) and d) your capacity to think laterally/creatively and finally e) whether you’ll add value to their community.
In a good interview you’ll provide logical and well-thought-out answers to the practical and behavioral questions put to you. In a great interview you’ll also manage to:
- Control any insecurities
- Radiate a positive attitude and polish/executive presence
- Demonstrate that you will bring value to the school and the employers that recruit there
- Crush any negative judgments or pre-conceived ideas the interviewer may have about you
Deliverable: Mock interviews last 1.5 hours and are conducted over the phone or via a video conferencing platform like Zoom. At the end of your mock interview you’ll receive an audio recording of the call.
Process: Before our mock interview I’ll email you to confirm what type of mock interview is the best fit for your needs (school specific? behavioral? traditional?) → You’ll send me any requested documents (such as your application, resume etc.) → 1.5-hour Phone Call (Mock Interview) → You’ll receive an audio recording of your mock interview.
Generally, mock interviews play out as follows: I’ll ask you an interview question. You’ll answer it as best you can. Then I’ll provide you with immediate feedback and ideas on how to improve your response. You can let me know whether you prefer to pause for feedback after each question (the approach I recommend) or wait until the end of the mock interview for feedback (a more traditional approach).
Mock Interview Focus: Content Development and Content Delivery
Mock interviews focus on a) content development and b) content delivery.
- Content Development: I help you develop scripts and stories to answer interview questions.
- Content Delivery: Content delivery feedback looks for ways to improve on your body language, eye contact and voice cadence.
Mock Interview Questions: Behavioral and/or Traditional
- Behavioral Interview Questions: Behavioral interviews leverage questions about past situations and behaviors to predict future performance. Behavioral interview questions are easy to recognize because they usually begin with some variation of ‘Tell me about a time when…’ Here are some examples: ‘Tell me about a time when…you were part of a team that was under-performing? you mentored someone? you received unexpected feedback? you persuaded someone to see things from your point of view? you were forced to compromise? etc.
- Traditional Interview Questions: Tell me about yourself. What are your strengths and weaknesses? Why are you interested in pursuing an MBA at Wharton? How will you contribute to the MBA community at Stanford? Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years? etc.
- 50/50 Mix: These interviews contain a mix of traditional and behavioral interview questions.
