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Personal Interview Round: The What, Why and How
Personal Interview Round: The What, Why and How
MBAUniverse.com is launching a special series on how to excel on these rounds. In this series, you will know the basics of these rounds, preparation strategy, minute details you should keep in mind during the preparation and the actual round followed by toppers’ experiences and expert guidance.
To help you excel in the final frontier, MBAUniverse.com presents the What, Why and How of the Personal Interview round.
A personal interview is aimed at knowing a candidate more intimately – assessin
Noida,
UP,
India
(prbd.net)
21/02/2012
MBAUniverse.com is launching a special series on how to excel on these rounds. In this series, you will know the basics of these rounds, preparation strategy, minute details you should keep in mind during the preparation and the actual round followed by toppers’ experiences and expert guidance.
To help you excel in the final frontier, MBAUniverse.com presents the What, Why and How of the Personal Interview round.
A personal interview is aimed at knowing a candidate more intimately – assessing the clarity of thinking process, future goals and the 'fit' with the B-school.
What does it test?
According to experts, Personal Interview stresses on the following areas:
-- Goal Clarity
-- Knowledge
-- Communication Skills
-- Personality traits
Goal Clarity
Why do want to do an MBA? How does it fit into your career goals? What do you wish to do after your MBA? These are some hard questions that you will have to answer almost invariably in all Interviews. The only way to answer these questions is to introspect: what excites and motivates you; what makes you perform your best; what would you really like to do in your life, and how do you genuinely see an MBA helping. Tough questions, but answering them honestly is critical for your success!
'Why MBA?' is the most important question that MBA aspirants need to answer. There is no "good answer" for this. You need to think deeply, introspect and find out what it is that really drives you, that really sends a shiver of excitement down your spine when you think of achieving it. It is only this excitement and this drive that can convince the interview panel about your answer rather than any 'manufactured' answer by any test prep faculty.
Domain Knowledge
Given that a good MBA is a demanding program, B-schools would like to know how you will be able to cope up with the academics and the extra-curricular 24 x 7 demands of your new campus. They are also keen to assess how you have utilized the earlier learning opportunities.
Be prepared to discuss different specialty areas in business and their responsibilities. Interviewers will also expect you to discuss current issues in business, including the economy, taxation, foreign competition, the role of technology and ethical challenges in the field.
Interestingly, it is not just about knowledge and answering the questions but also 'leading' the interview panel. Anything you say opens the doors to new lines of questioning and discussion, so make sure you know where you are leading the interview.
So be careful about the gates you open, and be very sure you have in-depth knowledge about whatever you mention. For e.g. if you say you have an avid interest in Badminton, be ready for questions pertaining to Prakash Padukone, Deepika Padukone, plastic shuttles v/s feather shuttles, Saina Nehwal etc.
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Communication Skills
Your speaking and listening skills become very important than the oft tested reading and writing skills. As simple as it may sound, good communication strategy is quite simple. Listen to the question keenly to understand it well, and then offer a precise answer. If you don't know the answer, no bluffing the panel please! The experts are too experienced to notice this and can get switched off.
While speaking, the biggest sin you can commit is beating around the bush and being too verbose. Remember, panel can easily interpret these "tactics" on your part to be lack of clarity or a deliberate attempt to obfuscate your lack of knowledge. Also, while answering questions, please remember it is not a quiz and you can actually pause and collect your thoughts before answering, if required.
Prep Strategy
Reading newspapers and keeping updated with all the major happenings does help a lot. Revising the concepts, at least from courses one liked or did well in, from undergrad in required. Attend mock GD sessions and giving two to three mock interviews. Importantly, preparing for GD, PI and Essay Writing sessions is a good time to reflect and introspect on what are one's career goals and the reasons why one is opting for management career, and one should make use of this opportunity.
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