How to prepare for a business school interview?
You put in the hours of research to identify the right business school and the right program for you. You prepped and studied for those pesky entrance exams(We’re looking at you GMAT, GRE, IELTS, and TOEFL) You also wrote out THE greatest statement of purpose chronicling your life story.
Boom! Then comes the email — “You’re a strong candidate. Let’s chat!”
This is your time to shine. The time to show them why you’re the greatest business school candidate ever and an obvious future titan of industry. You know it, we know it, now how do we show it to those admissions folks?
- Check the type of interview
If they haven’t explicitly mentioned the type of interview it is going to be, ask them. Every business school has a behavioral interview round. What are behavioral questions?
Questions like :
- What do you do when…
- Have you ever…
- Give me an example of…
2. Prepare
The behavioral round is a great place to showcase yourself in a defined structure. We’ve listed some of the most commonly asked questions here. Canada loves to hear interview answers in the STAR format.
What is STAR you ask? You. You’re the STAR. It is also a popular storytelling format.
Situation: Set the scene and give the required details of your example
Task: Describe what your responsibility was in that situation
Action: Explain exactly what steps you took to address it
Result: Share the outcomes your actions achieved
3. Write it down
You have the questions, now you know how to answer them — write them down! I can’t stress this enough. Write the answers to the questions in STAR format and start reading them, once a day. (Twice won’t hurt either)
The reason we ask you to write it down and read it daily is very simple. The more often you read it, the less rehearsed it seems on interview day. It ensures you don’t miss out on points you want to emphasize
4. Practice
Fun fact: Almost everyone thinks they’re better at interviews than they actually are. Interviewing, like any other skill can be learned through practice.
Practice for video interviews with someone. A friend or even a current student. (Not so shameless plug: You can connect and practice with them on the StudentFirst platform)
5. Showcase yourself
Don’t be a robot and talk just about your professional achievements. Showcase your personality, talk about your life stories, your passion and hobbies too. Recruiters aren’t just looking for a resume, they’re looking for candidates that can add value to the classroom in more ways than one. Add in a little humor but be careful, humour can get lost in translation sometimes.
6. Prepare questions
Every interview will end with them asking if you have any questions. This is an opportunity to show how much due diligence you have done on the school and program. Ask insightful questions.
7. Enjoy the chat
It’s a conversation, not an interrogation. So enjoy yourself, talk about yourself, get to know them, and have a good 30-minute chat.
Good luck! We’re rooting for you!
StudentFirst is a free platform to help you find all the information you need and manage all your international college applications in 1 place. Not only will we help you track your progress, but we’ll also help keep you on track just when you need some motivation too!
