Interested to learn what MBA interview questions you might be faced with as you navigate the upcoming application season?
Below, David White of Menlo Coaching explains what you can expect and how to prepare for your upcoming MBA admissions interview.
MBA interview questions: What to expect
1. Tell me about yourself?
This question often comes at the beginning of MBA interviews, as it is designed to make you feel comfortable and to give you an opening to mention anything you want.
While your initial impulse might be to rehash your resume in chronological order for this question, you should keep in mind that the interviewers already know the basic facts about your background, like where you went to school and where you have worked.
Instead of repeating information already available to the interviewers, take advantage of the question's open-ended nature to describe something interesting and stimulating from your personal life.
Just be sure that it is not so creative that it has nothing to do with the MBA.
For example, you might talk about a hobby you have outside of work or the deeper motivations that have guided your career. This could be a good opportunity to expand on any extracurricular activities you listed in your application.
The trick for this MBA interview question is to have a memorable answer that distinguishes you from the hundreds of other candidates the interviewers may talk to during the application round—and to start the interview off on the right foot.
2. Why do you want an MBA?
With this question, the interviewers want you to discuss your career goals and your post-MBA expectations. In formulating an answer, you should ensure that your short- and long-term goals are realistic, but still inspiring.
You don’t want to go overboard with something such as “This MBA will make me the next CEO of Google,” but you also don’t want to undersell yourself with, “It’ll help me get a 5% raise at my current job.”
In the end, you want to demonstrate that you have taken the time to understand what the MBA can do for your career while sharing your loftier aspirations.
3. Why is our business school right for you?
Here, the MBA interview moves away from the general and into the specific: why do you want to attend this particular program?
Top MBA programs, although fairly similar, each want to hear how their university is different from other schools and how their unique program is perfect for you. How do the specific MBA program’s offerings help you achieve your (career) goals?
Be sure to cite details about the MBA program in your answer, showing that you have carefully researched classes, clubs, and other resources offered by the program. Business schools want to admit candidates they believe will actually accept their offer of admission. Therefore, the more research you’ve done about the MBA program, the better.
You want to answer this question with a heightened sense of specificity, giving concrete examples and making sure that you mention resources you plan on using if accepted into the program.
Try to mention elements that the interviewer might not hear from all prospective students, such as a specific course with a specific faculty member, or details about a capstone project, for example.
4. Behavioral questions
This type of question comes with the most variations in wording, but essentially the interviewers want you to walk them through a real situation from your background and to describe how you responded to it.
Depending on the wording, the interviewers might want you to touch on a specific challenge from your past experiences that demonstrates:
1. Leadership skills
“Show how your actions as a leader resulted in some important kind of success.”
Good leaders understand the central role collaboration plays in their own success, so you might consider adding detail about the people you led, rather than focusing on yourself. If possible, you could address any lessons learned when answering this question.
2. Teamwork
“Explain a difficulty or conflict you experienced as part of a team.”
The interviewers want to evaluate how you will behave as a student in the MBA program, so ensure that you can show a positive outcome to the conflict you describe. Kicking someone off a team to solve the difficulty will not be a strong answer!
3. Overcoming failure
“Describe a time when you had to overcome a failure.”
Don’t hold back here; describe a situation in which you failed at something meaningful. This kind of question provides the perfect opportunity to show your capacity for introspection and your ability to learn and grow from your weaknesses or mistakes.
For MBA interview questions such as these, a strong response will illustrate your capacity for self-awareness, as well as convince the interviewer of your ability to thrive on campus while earning your MBA degree. Overall, an ideal business school student is a team player with demonstrated leadership abilities.
Towards the end of the interview, the interviewer may also ask, “Do you have any questions for me?”.
You should prepare to ask several well-researched and thought-out questions about your target schools, showing how interested you are in each specific program.
The MBA interview process can be unnerving as it is a crucial step in business school admissions.
By preparing responses to the common MBA interview questions listed above and honing your communication skills, you can anticipate much of the content your interviewers will cover—in 2025 and beyond.
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