CAT Personal
Interview:
What Does The Panel Look For In A Candidate?
The focus of a B-school interview can
range from specific questions about your job to broad discussions
on life. Approach the interview as a conversation to be
enjoyed, not as a question-and-answer ordeal. It may be
about your hobbies - your recent cross-country trip. This doesn't
mean that the interviewers are not serious. It just means that
you're being sized up as a person and a future professional in
all your dimensions.
Try to be your witty, charming, natural self. Do not try to put
on an act. The interviewers will be able to see through your
mask(s). Students, faculty, admissions personnel, and alumni
conduct interviews. Don't dismiss students as the
lightweights.
The "Ideal Candidate" should be to
articulate themselves in the following
areas:
Justify Your Decision To Pursue The
MBA Program
Don't tell the panel that you are looking for a
"challenging job in a good firm with lots of money, status and
glamour". Instead, you must convey to the interview panel that
you have made a rational and informed decision about your career
choice and your intended course of higher study.
There are broadly four areas which your answer
could touch upon:
Career Objectives: You could
talk about your career objectives and how the two year
MBA program will help you achieve
them.
Value Addition: Value addition will essentially
be in two forms knowledge and skills.
Background: This is where you connect your past
to your future. If you are an engineer, try and say that the
MBA course and your engineering degree
will help you do your job better in the company that you will
join. You should be able to convincingly justify how your
engineering qualification will help.
Opportunities and Rewards: You could also at
this stage mention the opportunities that are opening up in
organizations for management graduates. At this stage mentioning
superior monetary rewards for management graduates may not be a
bad idea.
Why Do You Think You Would Enjoy Your
Chosen Area Of Study?
*In the following sections, we'll look at a
potential answers for the following test questions
"Marketing is key to the success of any
organization and the function has always appealed to me, because
it requires a combination of creativity, strategic and analytic
ability - all qualities that I feel I possess. Through
discussions with some of my seniors, I have a pretty good idea of
what it's like to work toward taking up a marketing job, and I
know I will enjoy the work."
How Do You Spend Your Spare
Time?
"I have a good collection of books of different
genre and enjoy reading. In addition, I love driving during late
evenings or on rainy weekend afternoons. Also, for the last two
years I've been volunteering at the local childrens' hospital on
Saturday mornings."
What Are Your
Weaknesses?
"I used to be somewhat disorganized, but
eventually this got me into trouble when I missed an appointment
I hadn't written down. It was clear that I had to learn how to be
more organized. So, with the help of my senior colleague we
worked out a system that I still use today. Not only do I stay on
top of things, but I'm more efficient, too."
The first thing you need to do prior to
interviewing is assess yourself. This includes listing your
strengths and weaknesses, your accomplishments and achievements,
reviewing your strong and your weak subjects, and recording some
of the key decisions you have made in your life.
You should then review your interests, the disappointments you've
encountered, your work environment likes/dislikes, your business
and personal values, your goals, needs, restrictions, and life
style preferences.
Reference: Ascent Education,
Image Credits: Saint Anselm , Coreyonderick , Obiakpere
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