My take from the interviews …member of the class of Dec 2012…submitted app in June 2012,got invite in july 2012 and was interviewed in august 2012
First interview
Who: Upcoming India Tech company – head of sector of the company, based in the City of London very relaxed, but formal, told me he we were there for a converstaion, not interview, to find out more about me…
almost no pressure, very patient, waited me to finish my answer…typical questions…and had a chat for his company…aside from typical questions, here is what took me by suprice
- what is rewarding about your current role…why are you still doing your current job…
- tell me your opinion about this current event
- how can we make sure this doesnt happen again
Second Interview
Who: Startup CEO (tech) – rising star quoted in the papers! based in belgravia…
this guy was completely different from the first one…more pressure and no structure…had only 5 mins to review my app (eve though he asked me to send the full application)… aside from why mba, why insead, future goals, and how to achieve goals…
- why you chose your current role, why chose to live overseas?
- what do you do for your company
- how can you become CEO at your company (i work for an org of 350,000 people…it is almost impossible to become CEO…)
- why emerging markets
- tell me more for your EM interest? which country interests you more? why?
- pros and cons of EM country you selected? challenges in the future? opportunities in EM country?
asked him
- tell me more about your experience of insead
- impact of insead on your career
- challenging aspects of your MBA year
- things you liked/didnt like at INSEAD
takeaways – PREPARE PREPARE PREPARE…it can only help…stay cool, stick to your story…know your story off by hard and dont prepare for a structure of an interview…ie dont expect questions will come in a logical manner… prepare your questions and then mix and match your Qs/As so you are prepared for a CONVERSATION and not an interview…
Results: Accepted.
