How to interview like a top MBA

“A must read! As someone who has also recruited top MBA can- didates for investment banking, I unequivocally recommend How to Interview Like a Top MBA. It does an exceptional job of explaining what recruiters at the most sought-after corporations look for when deciding whom they should hire.

Praise for How to Interview Like a Top MBA “A must r e ad! As someone who has also recruited top MBA can- didates for investment banking, I unequivocally recommend How to Interview Like a Top MBA. It does an exceptional job of explaining what recruiters at the most sought-after corporations look for when deciding whom they should hire. Easy to read and very well organized, Dr. Leanne’s book covers important aspects of the interview process and provides valuable anecdotes. Read- ers will find the ‘100 Tough Questions and How to Answer Them’ particularly useful. I wish I had had this book as a resource when I was interviewing for a job years ago.” —Y AHPHEN Y VONNE C HANG Columbia University and Oxford University graduate Vice President, Debt Capital Markets—Investment Banking Group BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. “Dr. Leanne’s How to Interview Like a Top MBA has codified the nuances of landing a job in a way that I—a former recruiter for McKinsey & Co. who currently hires for my Venture Capital Firm and, at the Board Level, selects senior management in portfolio companies—find extremely compelling. I highly rec- ommend How to Interview Like a Top MBA!” —D ALE L E F EBVRE MIT graduate, Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School graduate Former McKinsey & Company Consultant Managing Partner, Pharos Capital This page intentionally left blank. HOW TO INTERVIEW LIKE A TOP MBA Job-Winning Strategies from Headhunters, Fortune 100 Recruiters, and Career Counselors DR. SHEL LEANNE Copyright © 2004 by Shelly Leanne. All rights reserved. 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DOI: 10.1036/0071458573 Contents Preface vii Introduction xi PA RT I Best Practices CHAPTER 1 Create a Great First Impression 3 CHAPTER 2 Do Your Homework in Four Key Areas 15 CHAPTER 3 Use Your Résumé as an Effective Interviewing Tool 33 CHAPTER 4 Demonstrate a Fit Through Your Responses to Key Questions 55 CHAPTER 5 Shape the Interview with Responses to Open-Ended and Turnaround Questions 69 CHAPTER 6 Address Clear Weaknesses (Without Apologizing!) 81 CHAPTER 7 Present a Strong Explanation if You’ve Been out of Work 87 v For more information about this title, click here CHAPTER 8 Demonstrate Business Relevance if You’re a Nontraditional Hire 97 CHAPTER 9 End Your Interview Excellently 111 CHAPTER 10 Follow Up, Reinforcing a Positive, Lasting Impression 119 PA RT II 100 Tough Questions AND HOW TO Answer THEM General Résumé Questions 127 Questions About Career Goals 137 Questions About the Available Job 141 Questions About Your Education 155 Questions About Your Qualifications 163 Questions About Your Leadership 171 Questions About Your Career Progression 187 Questions About Losing or Leaving Your Job 191 Other Difficult Questions 195 Personal Questions 201 Personality Questions 209 End-of-Interview Questions 223 Index 227 vi Contents PREFACE O ver the years, I have benefited from outstanding academic and career advice and from excellent mentoring and interview coach- ing. Many of my successes—from gaining admission to top universities, to landing jobs within prestigious companies such as McKinsey & Com- pany and Morgan Stanley—would not have been possible except for the wonderful mentoring I have received over the years. My gratitude for this assistance created in me years ago a dedication to empowering other people with knowledge and resources, helping enable them to make their own dreams become reality. For more than fifteen years, I have devel- oped my own perspectives on interviewing and career management best practices, and I have conveyed those perspectives to others, helping them to secure access to excellent jobs and academic programs as a result. I have enjoyed designing educational resources using different tools that prod people to think deeply about how they can best develop their talents, how they can put them to use, and how they can effectively draw on educational resources to open doors of opportunity. In this work, I am happy to share important insights about inter- viewing. The art of interviewing excellently is relevant not only for those in business, but for those pursuing employment in many other fields—from law to the nonprofit sector. Similarly, the insights of this book can help you regardless of whether you are seeking full-time employment, part-time employment, internships, or admission into aca- demic programs. vii Copyright © 2004 by Shelly Leanne. Click here for terms of use. In the past, I have enjoyed serving as an interview coach to students at Harvard College, the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and Harvard Business School. I have equally enjoyed witnessing the impact that interview coaching can bring, as I have watched those students gain access to top graduate schools such as Harvard, Stanford, Yale, and Columbia, and top companies such as McKinsey & Company and Gold- man Sachs. As one student commented after gaining admission to Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business, “The admissions interviewer actually told me before we finished that he was very im- pressed by my answers!” Indeed, when it comes to interviewing, delivery is key—in terms of your résumé presentation, and in terms of your interactions with the interviewer before, during, and after the interview. It is not merely your qualifications that matter, but how you communicate your qualifications, and whether you effectively portray yourself as an excellent choice and a wonderful fit for the job or opportunity at hand. Those who know how to interview excellently generally fare better in securing job inter- views, internships, scholarships, or admission to competitive academic programs. When you have become adept at communicating your qual- ifications and candidacy in compelling terms and promoting yourself in ways that will make the interviewer see you as the ideal candidate, you are likely to be pleased more often with your interview outcomes. I hope this work will help provide you with knowledge and best prac- tices that empower you in the interviewing process. By coming to understand the underlying purpose of questions posed and how to pre- sent your qualifications in the most compelling light, it is my hope you will learn how to interview excellently. In this book, I draw on input from professionals who are or have been engaged in recruiting efforts at Fortune 100 and other top com- panies such as IBM, Procter & Gamble, J. P. Morgan Chase, Verizon, American Express, Cisco Systems, Intel, Lucent Technologies, Staples, Prudential, Oracle, Smith Barney Citigroup, McKinsey & Company, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Ernst & Young, and Pricewater- houseCoopers. I must thank the Fortune 100 and other corporate exec- utives for sharing their insights with me. I must also thank those corporate executives, executive recruiters, and career counselors who viii preface took the time to allow me to interview them, so that we could include their insights directly in this book. I hope you enjoy the excerpts from my conversations with them, which are woven throughout this text. I thank Wilbert Watts, Jr., my wonderful husband and best friend, for his love and encouragement. I thank my family, the Geigers and the Holloways, for their years of dedication and support. Thank you in par- ticular to Aunt Mildred Geiger, Uncle William Geiger, Aunt Ann Lewis, Uncle Alonzo Lewis, Uncle Edward Geiger, and my lovely brother David Geiger, Jr. I express gratitude to Christine Baker, for- merly of the Harvard Bureau of Study Counsel, for years of excellent mentoring. Thank you to Lorelee Parker and Julie Taylor, two won- derful friends. Thank you to Sponsors for Educational Opportunity for their excellent work. I express my deep appreciation to Nina Graybill, my literary lawyer, for her steadfast support and insightful advice. I give a hearty thank-you to my editor, Mary Glenn, who was so dedicated and encouraging throughout the entire editing process. A big thank- you also to Nancy Hall, my project editor, who provided excellent work and support, which helped bring this book to fruition. preface ix . Praise for How to Interview Like a Top MBA A must r e ad! As someone who has also recruited top MBA can- didates for investment banking, I unequivocally. access to top graduate schools such as Harvard, Stanford, Yale, and Columbia, and top companies such as McKinsey & Company and Gold- man Sachs. As one