How to Prepare Yourself for an MBA Personal Interview

Common Entrance Exam or CAT is an entrance examination conducted every year by IIMs for MBA aspirants to get admission into top business schools. MBA stands for Masters of Business Administration, and to pursue it as a career, students need to pass the CAT entrance examination. It is a challenging task to crack the CAT entrance exam. So, students should begin their entrance exam preparation with the syllabus and then solve last years’ question papers, mock test papers, and other practice materials.

It is quite reasonable to get nervous before the interview, as it decides your future. But, passing the CAT entrance exam is just half the battle; next comes the personal interview round. During the interview round, some students get tense and lose confidence, which affects their overall performance. Students need to go through the personal interview process to get into B-schools like MBA colleges in Delhi, Bangalore, etc. There is nothing to get panicked about and nervous about during the interview if you have well-prepared yourself.

5 Essential Tips to Succeed in an MBA Interview

One of the most crucial tips to clear the MBA interview round is to answer all the questions confidently. During the interview, the panellists will test the candidates’ communication skills, team skills, confidence, stress management, presence of mind, adaptability qualities, clarity of thought, future goals, etc.

1. Improve your overall personality

In the personal interview round, you will be welcomed by 2-3 panellists. The panellists will judge you based on the following criteria:

• The first and foremost thing they will look at is your body language.
• Secondly, the way you dress up and overall appearance.
• Thirdly, they will evaluate your future goals.
• Fourth, they will analyse how transparent your thought process is.
• On the fifth, they will evaluate your general awareness and knowledge.
• Sixth, how good you are in specialised subjects.

2. Be Confident and Make the Best First Impression

We all have heard the famous phrase; the first impression is the last. So remember to take care of small things and make the best first impression. When you get ready for your interview, dress professionally. Follow all the ethics like knocking on the door for permission to enter, don’t sit until not asked, greeting the panellists, maintaining eye contact and speaking confidently, and introducing yourself briefly. While answering the questions, be concise and don’t be overconfident. Before leaving the room, thank them or say have a good day.

3. Prepare yourself for the common questions

Most interviewers pre-prepare a list of common questions they ask all the candidates in the personal interview round. So, while getting ready for the interview, prepare yourself for the commonly asked questions.

Some repeated questions in MBA interviews are:

• Why do you want to pursue an MBA?
• Tell me about your life’s aim?
• What authorities can you handle confidently?
• Where do you want to reach in the next five years down the line?

4. Be confident during the group discussion round

Before stepping into the personal interview round, students need to go through the group discussion (GD) round. So, students shouldn’t take the GD round lightly. In the GD, you should keep the following things in your mind:

• The group discussion will be of 15 to 20 minutes.
• There will be a group of 7-12 candidates in the debate.
• To prepare for the topic, you will get 5 minutes, and roughly every candidate will get 1-1.30 minutes to share their opinion.

You will be judged based on the parameters such as communication skills, hand gestures, clarity of your thoughts, body language, confidence in your voice and impeccable language. Before sitting for the group discussion, keep these points in mind to get you through without any difficulty. A personal interview (PI) round is crucial for getting into a prestigious MBA college like MBA colleges in Mumbai as it will decide your future. Students get stressed because of the interview pressure. They should understand that it is not so challenging to crack the interview round. One should not fear the GD-PI rounds and behave professionally and confidently. While speaking, make them believe that you can be a great leader and discuss your achievements.