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So, you have been lucky enough to be invited to interview by your top choice MBA program. Congratulations! Your chances of being accepted have just risen from maybe 15% to roughly 50%.
While you now have a great opportunity to cement your candidacy, here are some things NOT to do during an interview; things that may just torpedo your chances.
1. Know your resume, but stop talking about it.
As we noted in yesterday’s blog on the top 5 things to DO in an interview, you have to be prepared to take your interviewer through your resume. But the caveat to this is to take them through it … in two minutes or less. An interview should really be a conversation. If you take 20 minutes to explain who you are, there will be no time to talk about the things the interviewer wants to know.
2. Listen.
Don’t be the candidate who starts talking and never quite stops. An interview is not a soliloquy. Answer the question but then listen for the next one. Watch non-verbal cues telling you that you have spoken enough.
3. Not having things figured out.
You are being interviewed for an MBA program so you better be clear about why you want to go to business school, why this particular business school is right for you, and what you hope to do after business school. Don’t give the impression that you are going to business school to “figure things out.” If the interviewer isn’t saying it, he is surely thinking, “why don’t you go somewhere else to figure things out.”
4. Talk about their school like it was any other school.
One explicit purpose of a business school interview is to gauge whether or not you are right for their school. If you start using generalities that would also apply to the business school across town, you lose. Before you go for the interview, know the school inside and out and be prepared to explain what unique aspects of the school excite you.
5. Don’t blame others.
An interview is not the time to blame someone else for your professional missteps or personal mistakes. Everyone has trouble spots on their resume that need explaining, so explain them in a professional way without pointing the finger. That’s what a good teammate does. Take ownership for your areas for development. After all, an MBA should be a transformational experience.
We could probably do another whole list of interview do’s and don’ts, like don’t ask how you did, and, don’t bring your mother to the interview (true story). The bottom line is that MBA interviews represent a unique opportunity to help your candidacy. And they should be treated as such. Interviews require you to do research, practice your story, get your timing right, and be ready to impress. Because no matter how much work you did preparing for your GMAT, hounding your recommenders, or writing your essays, the final decision may come down to a 30-minute conversation you have with a stranger. Be ready for it.