Some Common MBA Interview Questions (PART 1)

There are a lot of students who want to post graduation in MBA. This is the reason they prepare hard for B-School Exams such as CAT, XAT, CMAT, etc. and some even manage to qualify in those exams. But qualifying in B-School exams is no one way ticket to top MBA colleges like IIMs, XLRI, etc. there are some other qualifying rounds which students have to clear before final conversion of admission in top B-School.

One of the most prevalent qualification rounds after the B-School exam is the Personal Interview (PI) round. In this round candidates had to participate in one-on-one interviews with the host (interviewer) (there can be multiple hosts). Host can project a variety of questions to the candidate which can be related to their personal life, background, career, and you say what not. You might be thinking ‘Why is this round so prevalent?’ Well, the answer is simple; students of the college are the face that college. So, it is obvious that every college wants the best possible student on their campus. For this purpose, colleges set PI rounds so that they can hand pick the student they want on their campus.

Though the question pool is so immense, there are many questions which are frequently asked to different candidates. Book My Colleges once again is here to help you with your B-School admission journey. Today, we will look at those questions which are frequently asked and try to form an answer which can satisfy the hosts.

1. What is the MEANING of your name? 
   
   

There is a huge pool of candidates appearing for Interview, with so many candidates to interview there will be so many unique and interesting names. Interviewer might ask you the meaning of your name, name is the most crucial thing of a person’s identity, it is the first thing with which a person identifies themself. This question is asked to check the self-awareness of the candidate. Host will analyse the candidate’s answer and determine how well the candidate connects with his/her name and how well the candidate can serve the objective of the institution.

It is advisable that before interview candidates go through college’s detail thoroughly, especially Colleges Value, Motive, and Objectives. Then try to build an answer by aligning the candidate’s name with the college's value, motive, and objective.

2. Why MBA?
   
   

This question must not only address the interviewer, but also to the candidate themself. Most people do MBA only because they think it is a way to earn a lot of money. Though they are not wrong, MBA from top colleges can offer lots of opportunity to earn money, however MBA is much more than that. As I had stated above, students are the face of college, they are responsible after its value. Therefore, every college will choose those students who don’t think only inside monetary framework, those whose ambitions fit with what college offers and can contribute to college’s image.

Candidates should be confident of the purpose because they want to do MBA other than monetary motive. Have complete knowledge of College’s Value and Motive.

3. Why do you want to join this B-School/College?
   
   

This is the question asked by the interviewer to determine how much the candidate knows about int college and how much they are serious toward the college. They also want to know what the candidate’s expectations are from the college. And also, how can the candidate stand up to college’s expectation. Interviewer wants to see if the candidate and College can come to the same ground. If yes, he wants to explore that ground as much as possible.

To tackle this question, candidates have to have full knowledge of the college (of course). Apart from that, they should apply for those colleges which they really want to be part of. This is for the best for both candidates and college.

4. Why should we take you in?
   
   

This question is just the same as the previous one with the changed perspective, ‘why does the college bother to teach you’. In the previous question, the candidate is asked how college can be beneficial to them, now in this question the host wants to know how the candidate can be beneficial to college. What they are going to bring to college and if not do any harm to college. Answers to this question determine how disciplined and ambitious a candidate is toward college, and how much they desire to be a part of the college.

Just like the previous question, candidates should have a degree of confidence in the college. They have to prove their worth to the college.

5. What are your STRENGTH and WEAKNESS?
   
   

An old saying goes like “Everyone has their strength and weakness”, though I don’t know how much it is valid but candidates who are eligible for the interview are expected to have some strength and weakness, which is what the host wants to explore. Such questions highlight subtle details about candidate personality, personal life, upbringing, and its social life. This helps the host identify the suitable candidate for the college. Strength shows candidate’s skills and expertise which can be beneficial for favour, weakness on the other are habits which are self-sabotaging in nature and can put college on disadvantage.

Candidates should do thorough introspection. Identify his/her strength and weakness first for themselves. Then try to find the way in which their strength can overshadow their weakness.

6. Discuss your Achievement?
   
   

This question is a direct question to get to know about previous achievements of the candidate (if any). This helps the interviewer to know how much experience the candidate has in various things. The word ‘Achievement’ is not limited to academic or extracurricular success, it also deals with personal and emotional achievements like, earning the first salary. By this interviewer can judge the candidate on an emotional and personal level. 

Before the interview candidate must make a list of all the meaningful achievements, they are proud of themself and are comfortable to share it with confidence.

7. What are your short term and long-term goals?
   
   

This question asks about a lot of information from the candidate and had to be dealt with very carefully. Short term goals are all those goals that the candidate has to fulfill within 1-5 years and long-term goals are those goals which the candidate wants to complete after 5 years and before they retire or die. Answers to this question shows what the priority of the candidate is, how visionary the candidate is, what he/she expects from the future, how realistic the candidate is, how deterministic the candidate is, what their plan B and much more. This information is really vital because it helps to identify the suitable candidate.

Candidates have to make an expected blueprint of their life; this includes their short-term goal and long-term goal. They should also make contingency plans and plan B before appearing for an interview.

Book my college thanking you for reading this article, we are very enthusiastic that this article will be helpful to you. Remember the key to clear the interview is ‘CONFIDENCE’ if you have enough confidence in yourself, your chance of being selected will increase. This was part one of this topic, follow us to stay updated for part two and other interview related content. for more college related information contact us on following details:

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