EssaySnark

You are here: Home / Archives for interviewing

($) Things you won’t think of for your interview until it’s too late

by EssaySnark

You may think that some of the suggestions we’ve been making recently for your MBA interview are trivial — like, wear good shoes. You’re likely of two camps: You either don’t need to be told that (because you already know!) or you think such advice is ridiculous (because, what do your SHOES matter??). However, our…

While much of the blahg is available completely for free, the content here is reserved for members with full blahg access only ($9.95/month for six months, cancel anytime). Please login to view this content or purchase a membership.

($) “How do I convince my interviewer that I want to go there?”

by EssaySnark

We were helping someone with their interview prep for a top school recently and after going through their performance in the mock interview, they came back with some comments: Hi ES, Where would I be without you? Thank you so much for this detailed feedback. Iā€™m happy I took your help, though I wish I…

While much of the blahg is available completely for free, the content here is reserved for members with full blahg access only ($9.95/month for six months, cancel anytime). Please login to view this content or purchase a membership.

Want to really impress at that interview? WEAR GOOD SHOES

by EssaySnark Leave a Comment

This goes for men and women alike — and no, don’t worry, we’re not gonna turn into FashionSnark on you.

But these things matter. The impression you create in the world depends in large part on the presentation.

This is an interesting quote — from a 2016 Business Insider article on interviewing :

“Research shows that 80% of hiring executives say shoes are ‘extremely important’ in creating the right impression in work environments, but only 51% of young men even wear appropriate shoes to an interview.”

We cover the perennial “what to wear?!?” question in our MBA Interviewing Guide and you should really be picking that up anyway so that you understand exactly how to prepare for this important opportunity.

They say that the clothes make the man (or woman) but we’d go so far as to say that the shoes do.

Call us old school but we really go conservative when it comes to the interview. Not only should you wear a suit, and iron your shirt, but you should pay attention to things like jewelry and yes, definitely to shoes.

For men and women both, no sandals for interviews. No open-toed shoes.

For women, usually a pump with a slight heel is ideal. For men, dress shoes. They can be Oxfords or brogues or whatever style you prefer. No suede. No boat shoes. Polished loafers might be fine.

If it’s something you might wear to a non-black-tie wedding then you’re probably in the general ballpark.

You don’t have to go shopping for fancy new clothes for your bschool interview — though if you are scratching your head at these suggestions and pondering an empty closet, you may want to. You’ve got some disposable income for this now. When it comes time for interviewing during your MBA recruiting process, you will also want to dress professionally and more conservatively, and if you don’t have those clothes available today, you’d be better off going shopping and building out the basics now. You aren’t going to have the money to buy them when you’re a student.

Even if you got away with interviewing for your current job in a hoodie and sneakers, that’s not the impression you want to construct for your MBA interview. Take this part seriously. Give a nod to tradition. It may be one of the few times where you need to dress up for business anymore — but if you’re saying you want to be a leader in the future and you want to set an example and have others see that you’re taking that role seriously, then it’s likely you’ll be doing so in a suit. May as well start dressing the part now, don’t you think?

Special Feature: (Last Year’s) Journey Complete!!!

by EssaySnark Leave a Comment

Last year we shared with you the journey of one Brave Supplicant who was reapplying to top U.S. schools. This came in the form of audio posts where he recapped what he did differently and how his approach changed after not making it in the first time.

In case you missed it (which most of you did since you weren’t applying to bschool last year!) you can get caught up with his story:

Episode 1: What happened last year, and gearing up as a reapplicant

 
Episode 2: Progress in Round 1!!

 

Today – finally!!! – we are sharing the last installment.

Episode 3: Interviewing

 
He talks about “Round 2 interviewing” at the end because he recorded this in January; we held off on posting till now because we knew that there would be lots of you BSers coming up in Round 1 who would benefit!!
 
 

Disclaimer: The content produced for this series was provided as a contribution to the EssaySnark blahg in exchange for free EssaySnark consulting services. In creating these submissions, EssaySnark offered some ideas of what to present, however the BSer created this on his own. All opinion, advice, and ideas are his own (though obviously we believe he has good ones, or we wouldn’t have invited him to share!).

($) Questions to ask your MBA interviewer

by EssaySnark

Many of you are starting to think about interviewing — we’ve got some help with that available, of course. Today we’re going to talk about what happens at the every end of your MBA admissions interview: The interviewer asks you, “Do you have any questions for me?” Now, the truth of your answer SHOULD be,…

While much of the blahg is available completely for free, the content here is reserved for members with full blahg access only ($9.95/month for six months, cancel anytime). Please login to view this content or purchase a membership.

($) “I’m on the waitlist. Can I ask my interviewer for feedback?”

by EssaySnark

Got a question last spring from someone who was waitlist after the interview at a Top School that’s worth discussing today: From the blog and [Top School]’s official policy on their website and response to a question in chat, I’m assuming it’s a bad idea to ask my interviewer for feedback on my application even…

While much of the blahg is available completely for free, the content here is reserved for members with full blahg access only ($9.95/month for six months, cancel anytime). Please login to view this content or purchase a membership.

Interview Tips

by EssaySnark Leave a Comment

Or something… šŸ˜‰

Cartoon: "My short-term goal is to bluff my way through this job interview. My long-term goal is to invent a time machine so I can come back and change everything I've said so far."
h/t @KimWhitler

 
 
If you’ve gotten an invitation to interview at a top business school, our best tip is to PRACTICE! Have a friend sit down with you and go over some standard questions — like, what are your career goals? Why do you want an MBA? Why are you interested in this school specifically? Have them ask random questions, that you don’t know are coming, to get you more comfortable with thinking on your feet. Then have another friend do the same, all over again. And do it some more. Whether it’s an open interview or blind*, and alumni, a second-year student, or an admissions committee member, these basic steps form the foundation of your prep.

 
 
 
Don’t know what all of this means or why it matters? We discuss in our interviewing guide!

“EssaySnark, what will help me more to prepare for my big-time MBA interview?”

by EssaySnark Leave a Comment

We were offering our good wishes to a Brave Supplicant who scored an interview invitation recently — yes they’ve started!! — and we got a question or two that we discuss in a fair amount of detail in our SnarkStrategies Guide for the school that this person is interviewing at. So natch, we asked, “Oh hey! Have you read the guide??”

And the follow-up we got was, “Oh, should I get the strategy guide or go for the interview prep you’ve got?” Which is a fair enough question to ask in this situation!!

Here’s what we said in response:

Well, that’s kinda like asking, should you get more exercise, or should you drink less alcohol. šŸ™‚ They’re kinda useful in different ways, yet also synergistic, so it’s hard to choose! The essay guide offers lots and lots of insights on the school and how they approach their evaluation. However, either (or BOTH!) of our interview support products are advisable, for sure; most people vastly underestimate what’s needed to be prepared for the interview. If you’re confident that you have been doing sufficient practicing and are truly ready, then you don’t need anything from the ‘Snark. Many people tell us they’ve prepped, though, and then they do our automated interview prep and they really choke. If you’re just starting out with interview prep then the Custom Interview Questions can be great. If you’ve done a bunch of interviews already then you should be in proper form and you don’t need any of that, and could just rely on the guide.

Our advice though, is get all of it! šŸ™‚

Obviously we’re biased…. šŸ˜‰


EssaySnark's MBA Interviewing Guide

Are you interviewing?? CONGRATS!! have you picked up our MBA Interview Guide yet?


($) Which top bschools interviewed lots of applicants in Round 1?

by EssaySnark - Discusses , , ,

Multiple Choice:

When an adcom issues interviews to lots of their candidates in Round 1, that means:

1. They’re being nice
2. They have a lot of uncertainty in how the season will play out
3. Lots of applicants were disappointed on decision day

 
 

While much of the blahg is available completely for free, the content here is reserved for members with full blahg access only ($9.95/month for six months, cancel anytime). Please login to view this content or purchase a membership.

($) “What other schools have you applied to?” Take 2

by EssaySnark

Another post from the ‘snarchive dusted off, because it’s good to gain a Round 2 perspective sometimes. A few months ago we offered some advice about how to handle the question that most schools ask in their applications about which other schools you’re applying to. And now here you are…. having not had as much…

While much of the blahg is available completely for free, the content here is reserved for members with full blahg access only ($9.95/month for six months, cancel anytime). Please login to view this content or purchase a membership.