Perfect Answers

to MBA Interview
Questions

An Accepted Admissions Guide

Table of Contents
Introduction............................................................... 3
Tell Me About Your Weaknesses ............................. 4
What Questions Do You Have? ............................... 5
Why This MBA Program?......................................... 5
Walk Me Through Your Resume .............................. 7
Why Do You Need an MBA?.................................... 9
Epilogue ................................................................. 10
About the Author .................................................... 10

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Introducing Perfect Answers to MBA Interview Questions

MBA interviews come in all shapes and sizes, so while you can never totally predict
which questions will or will not be asked, you can safely bet that certain popular
questions will likely make an appearance.
You should definitely be prepared to answer common interview questions such as Tell
me about your weaknesses, Why this MBA program, and Walk me through your
resume, among others.
Thats why weve created Perfect Answers to MBA Interview Questions to present you
with the most popular interview questions and then to advise you on how to best
approach them.
Remember, a more prepared interviewee is a calmer and more confident interviewee.
Prepare for your MBA interviews with Perfect Answers to MBA Interview Questions
nowsucceed in wowing your interviewer later!

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Tell Me About Your Weaknesses

Reason for asking the question: To ensure the applicant is humble enough to
recognize that nobody is perfect, and to see how introspective he or she can be in an
assessment of oneself.
How to prepare: This question requires some real reflection. Nobody is perfect, yes,
but one can always be striving to be his or her best self. In a work context, what areas
do you need to develop? Where do you find yourself stuck? Is there a consistent theme
that comes up in your annual review something you need to work on? Jot a few things
down as you work on answering this question. Sometimes we dont want to
acknowledge our weaknesses to others a natural thing!
Once you have identified a few areas for improvement, think about how to portray those
weaknesses so they could also be considered strengths. For example, being too detailoriented might bog you down with too much work, but it ensures you are thorough,
leaving no stone unturned. In this particular example, you are overworked, BUT you
also have a strong work ethic.
Important things to remember: As you detail your weaknesses, be sure you also
identify how you are working to improve them.
Additional things to consider: Try to have at least two weaknesses to discuss, and
dont have them be situational, such as, my network is weak since I am primarily
surrounded by IT people.

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What Questions Do You Have?

Reason for asking the question: To make sure the candidate has all pertinent
information necessary about the school, as well as to confirm that he or she has
thoroughly researched the program and consequently has thoughtful questions
How to prepare: This will most likely be your last opportunity to ask questions of the
program before you find out the admission decision, so make sure the questions count.
Take enough time to consider this prior to your interview, since this is perhaps the only
question you can be positive will be asked in the interview. Write your questions down if
need be.
You do not want the questions to be procedural in nature, such as, When will I find out
about your decision? Those types of questions can be asked at the very conclusion of
the interview (if necessary), but well after your primary questions. Questions should be
well thought out and perhaps give the interviewer pause before answering. After all, the
interviewer has had YOU in the hot seat for the last thirty minutes with challenging
questions, so you should have some in return!
The best questions are the ones that make the interviewer have to dig deep into his/her
knowledge to answer, or better yet, might be ones the interviewer cant answer then and
there. In this case the interviewer will need to check into a question and get back in
touch with you. YES! One final opportunity to have a connection with someone critical to
your admission decision. Thoughtful questions could focus on big picture things like
school strategy, trends or specifics related to particular coursework.
Important things to remember: Even if you have memorized all the content on the
schools website, visited campus and already asked (and had answered) all the
questions you think you could possibly ever have, you better not have a blank stare, or
a simple, None, answer.
Additional things to consider: As a general rule of thumb, plan on two-three
questions (not of the procedural type).

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Why This MBA Program?

Reason for asking the question: To gauge the sincerity with which the candidate is
approaching the school.
How to prepare: You need to make sure you show that your reasons for applying to the
program go well beyond the obvious reputation, location, or network. Your job in
answering this question is to convey your sincere enthusiasm for the school. You need
to be as specific as possible. Appropriate topics for a convincing response:
1. Unique curriculum necessary to reach your goals
2. Faculty you are excited to learn from
3. School clubs or organizations you are particularly passionate about joining
4. Components of the program that intrigue you study abroad,
entrepreneurship project, etc.
5. Aspects of your visit to the school (provided you have had the chance to visit)
that really got you excited about being a part of the community classroom
environment, conversations with students, admissions officers, or other
prospective students.
Important things to remember: When preparing your answer, select aspects that are
unique to the program, and make sure your answer isnt one that could be valid for
other schools you are looking at. Hopefully this is an easy question for you to answer
since you are legitimately excited at the prospect of attending the school.
Additional things to consider: If the school is not a top choice, you still need to do the
job of convincing your interviewer that it makes sense to offer you admission, and if
admitted there would be a decent chance you would attend. Even if this is a safety
school, you need to be respectful of the school and interviewer.

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Walk Me Through Your Resume

Your interviewer already knows what youve done. Now she wants to know why.
Reason for asking the question:
1. This question (or some version of it) is very often the first question asked in an MBA
interview, since it should be a fairly easy question to answer and provides a foundation
for the rest of the interview. Can the candidate remain focused on answering the
question? Is he or she especially nervous? Can the candidate summarize his or her
work accomplishments succinctly while at the same time providing a narrative about
career progression? All of this information is helpful to manage the interview.
2. The interviewer has already had the chance to look at your resume, but wants to
understand the why of it. The responsibility of the candidate is to highlight some career
accomplishments, but primarily to explain the reasoning and motivation for the most
significant career moves made.
How to prepare: The answer to this question should be 2-3 minutes long, so once you
have chosen the things you would like to highlight, practice your answer several times
to make sure you can fit it into that timeframe. The point is not to summarize everything
you have done at every job, but to briefly discuss accomplishments and the
circumstances surrounding moves from one role to another. The logical starting point is
your graduation from college. Summarize the degree you received and how it made
sense to pursue the career you did based on your education. From there, look closely at
your jobs. In one-two sentences, how would you discuss your time in that role? What
was the motivating factor to move from that role to the next one? For your current job,
lay out your current responsibilities. While it may be tempting to continue on and also
answer why an MBA when you get there, just wait until that question is asked.
How to highlight particular circumstances: Situation 1: Worked two years at a
consulting firm, then switched to work in marketing at a pharmaceutical company.
While at XX Consulting I had an extended engagement with a major pharma company.
Working there made me realize the growth and potential of the industry, and I no longer
wanted to be an outsider looking in. I wanted to XYZ.

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Situation 2: Worked in operations at a manufacturer, then switched to finance.

During my time in operations I worked closely with the finance group in preparing our
supply chain forecast. Through that experience I came to realize that I really loved
numbers, and finance more closely fit with where I saw my career going. I made the
case to senior management, and after recognizing my capabilities in the area they
found a spot for me.
Situation 3: Moved up in the organization from analyst to senior analyst to associate.
I was fortunate to be involved in projects that gave me a lot of responsibility early on
and had supportive mentors along the way. This allowed me to be recognized for my
contributions and move up in the organization. [In this type of situation, mentioning a
few details of the projects would be appropriate.]
Important things to remember:
1. Do not rehash everything on your resume. Remember, the interviewer will have
already read through it, and seen several details. They want to understand WHY you
have done what you have in your career thus far.
2. Stay focused. Dont get bogged down in details that the interviewer doesnt need or
want to know. HIGHLIGHT and move on.
Additional things to consider:
Its possible the interviewer might ask Tell me about yourself instead. In this case, it is
still appropriate to give the details about your work experience, but also to give some
background on you. Possible things to share: Where you grew up, interesting
information about your childhood/schooling, why you chose to go to the university you
did, and why you chose to study what you did. Essentially, by wording the question this
way, the interviewer is encouraging you to include more personal details about your life,
both current and from the past.

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Why Do You Need an MBA?

Reason for asking the question: The interviewer wants to make sure your reasons for
getting an MBA match up with what the MBA degree will provide you.
How to prepare: This is hopefully one of the easiest questions for you to answer.
Coming from almost any function, the likely answer is that you have a significant
amount of depth in a particular field (marketing, finance, IT, engineering), but in order to
break free of being labeled as simply a subject matter expert, you need more breadth.
Most people look to get an MBA in order to move into a management role or to change
fields. To succeed in management, you need to have understanding of all functional
areas of business, from finance to operations to technology and more. An MBA degree
provides the toolbox you need to succeed in management in the shortest amount of
time.
For career-switchers, a fulltime MBA program provides one of the best opportunities to
make that switch. It gives you everything from critical coursework to training in soft
skills and leadership to the all-important summer internship.
Important things to remember: This is not meant to be a gotcha question, and you
should in no way feel threatened by it. The interviewer simply wants to ensure that your
expectations for the MBA are in line with what the program delivers. They want to know
you are realistic.
Additional things to consider: There is no doubt that adding an MBA degree to your
resume will bolster credibility and prestige. You want to make sure you dont come
across as only going after an MBA degree because of the pedigree. That is a big turn
off.

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Epilogue
Feel more confident now that youve reviewed Perfect Answers to MBA Interview
Questions? Great were glad we helped!
Now its time to hit full-capacity readiness by working one-on-one with an expert
interview coach. Check out our various MBA interview services, including our Mock
MBA Interview Package and MBA Interview Coaching.
Have questions? Please be in touch contact us anytime or post a question on
our Facebook wall!

About the Author

Jen Weld worked as an admissions consultant and Former Asst. Dir. of Admissions at
Cornells EMBA program (4 years) prior to joining Accepted.com. She has an additional
10 years of experience in higher ed and corporate marketing.
Would you like to work with Jennifer on your application? Just fill out an inquiry
including any information you think will be helpful. Jennifer will contact you ASAP.

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