Clearing the entrance test, be it CAT, XAT, or any other MBA entrance test, and getting the call from a particular college does not guarantee your admission there. The battle is only half won yet. Getting past the GDPI is another big hurdle. Although most admission processes don’t conduct Group Discussions (GD) anymore, they still take the Personal Interview (PI). Selection into a business school is judged on various components and out of them Personal Interview (PI) holds significant weightage, making it a crucial factor in securing admission. 

Necessities

Your Interview could be both online or offline. But since the online medium has proven more convenient, most interviews are taken online. But your interview could be taken offline. In both cases, you have to take care of certain things, which are necessities. For an offline interview, it's simple to be there at the right time, be dressed appropriately, and make sure you carry all the necessary documents along with you.

For an online interview, 

• Make sure you have a high-speed internet connection
• Join the meeting at least 15 Minutes prior to the interview slot
• Ensure your camera and microphone are working properly and are of good quality.
• Your background is not distracting (Preferably plain & white)
• You are dressed appropriately (Business Formals Preferably)
• Keep a notepad/book handy
• Keep your valid ID proof and all the necessary documents handy

They may sound very basic, but you have no idea how many times interviews have gone wrong by something very silly as having the wrong Windows version. Make sure that you don’t become victim to anything like that or else all of your preparation in this MBA journey goes in vain.

Important Interview Questions & How to Answer them

Tell me about yourself.

This is a very important question that every aspirant needs to prepare for because most of the time the interview will entirely drive around the things that you stated in this question and this is a very good opportunity to grab the attention of the interviewer. So, start curating your answer in such a way by highlighting what you want to be questioned about, which should differentiate you from other candidates. Mention your work experience, if you have done any internships or live projects in your graduation, have an exciting hobby/interest, have volunteered, or have received awards or achievements. 

If your introduction is not very interesting and does not make any meaningful questions, he will start asking questions about what you have studied in graduation or random questions, which you may not be prepared for, leading to a bad interview. 

In the first case, you have already given him leads as to what questions to ask and have answers prepared, and in the second case, you have to answer his tricky questions. Note, that the answer shouldn’t take more than 2 minutes, and make sure you only state the things that you are sure and confident about. 

Why MBA?

This is a certain question that you would be asked. The motive is to know your motivation to do an MBA, and the answer to this question should be well-prepared. There are some prompts upon which you can answer this question:

1. Where do you want to be, and how is an MBA going to get you there

If you have a particular role in mind, like becoming an investment banker or becoming an entrepreneur and starting your firm or having your own startup or family business, that will be, “ Where do you want to be” Then you will highlight how an MBA will help you accomplish your goals and progress in your career.

1. Suppose you are from a business background like BBA or B.Com. You can mention an MBA as the next progression in your Business Journey, which will help you get a great start and no upper ceiling to growth.
2. If you are from a field that doesn’t have many job opportunities, like a humanities background, you can mention the career scope and opportunities that are intriguing to choose an MBA.
3. If you are from an engineering background or any other non-business background but are already working, you can mention your interest in the business and management domain.

Whatever answer you give to this question must be logical and well thought-out.

Why MBA from our College?

To answer this question, you have to research their college and what are the differentiating factors about that college that would make you choose it over other similar colleges. It could be their excellent faculty, or the college is known for a particular specialisation like MICA Ahmedabad is known for Marketing, IIM Calcutta is known as the mecca of Finance, and NITIE Mumbai is known for Operations management. Mention these unique selling points.

What are your Strengths and Weaknesses?

To answer this question, you need to introspect, find your strengths and weaknesses, and think of instances when you have realise them. Try to align your answer with the MBA perspective. Mention the strengths that would be useful in an MBA, like being a go-getter, quick learner, sociable, and your weaknesses should be something other than things that would make you a less desirable candidate. A good way to mention your weaknesses is the weaknesses that you used to have and how you overcame them. 

Why should we choose you over others?

In this question your impulsive answer would be to showcase your worth but the intention to ask this question is how humble you are and how you see other applicants. The ideal answer to this question should be that,” I should only be hired if the interviewing team see me as a deserving candidate for the seat as there are other well deserving candidates also that might be deserving this admission more.” Or something along these lines. You can mention your strengths and differentiating factors after saying this as ,”... However, I would like to mention …” 

These are only a few interview questions; other questions can come from Current Affairs and your background. So keep up with the news, especially those with a scope of discussion because sometimes the interview may begin with an extempore to gauge your viewpoints and awareness. If you don’t know the answer, just say that. Don’t try to make up an answer. Lastly, be yourself throughout the interview process, don’t try to copy anyone or their answers, and express your learning desire and zeal throughout the process.

Practice

Framing your answers won’t be enough. For the preparation of CAT, Mock CATs are important. Similarly, for the PI, taking Mock interviews would make you well-prepared for D-Day. If you don’t want to spend money, you can ask your friends to take your interview. However, a wiser option would be to go for the paid option and give mock interviews with reputed Coaches of the CAT interviews. TIME, IMS, Career Launcher, and Unacademy are some options you can explore.