Carnegie Mellon University – Tepper School of Business
Full-time MBA program – Interview Questions
In Singapore, Tepper offers Skype interviews with a member of the admissions team.
Since this is a Skype interview, therefore:
- Check your equipment: Make sure your camera, mic, speaker, Internet, and Skype work. Make sure Windows is not getting ready for updates and restart. Make sure that you are either connected to power, or your laptop has enough battery left.
- Dress: Dress neatly. Light formals are ok. Wear a tie.
- Clarity: Ensure there is no background noise: visual or aural. Try to find a quiet, well-lit place, with a flat, light-colored background.
- Height: Ensure the aperture of the camera is at eye-height for you. If it’s not, then adjust the height. Also zoom in enough so that there aren’t lots of distracting objects in the background.
- Lighting: Ensure your face is properly lit. If you have to, then use a table lamp in addition to the room lighting.
- Relax: Relax – you will come across better if you are relaxed.
- IC: Foster Skype interviewers ask candidates to identify themselves. Have your passport at hand.
- Distractions: Turn off your phone or anything that might ring or buzz.
- Smile: Don’t need to have a plastic smile pasted on throughout. But do smile appropriately from time to time.
Understand that Tepper asks the interviewers to fill up an assessment form about you. Many interviewers do this during the interview. So don’t panic or take it as a negative if the interviewer starts writing notes as you are speaking. It’s normal. If the interviewer doesn’t take notes, that’s ok too – it’s a stylistic thing and some interviewers fill up the questionnaire after the interview.
Tepper interviews typically last 45mts-1hr. But I’ve heard of 30mts interviews as well, with results at both ends of the spectrum. So don’t attempt to interpret interview duration one way or the other.
It is a behavioral interview and will center largely on your experiences and plans. The objective of the school is to ensure that you have given the MBA a lot of thought, you know exactly what you want after the MBA, and have a plan to work towards it. It would be good idea to familiarize yourself well with your CV and essays.
Some commonly asked questions are:
- Walk me through your resume./ Walk me through your resume, but make sure you highlight just a couple of key achievements. / Tell me about yourself.
- Why do you want an MBA now?
- Why Tepper?
- How did you research Tepper?
- What are your short-term post-MBA goals?
- How will the Tepper MBA help you achieve these goals?
- What are your long-term goals?
- How will your post-MBA position help you work towards your long-term goals?
- What do you do outside of work?/ Tell me about your extra-curricular activities.
- Describe your typical day at work.
- What stresses you?/ What stresses you at work?
- How do you deal with stress?
- What is your biggest weakness?
- Tell me about a time when you demonstrated leadership.
- Tell me about a time when you had to deal with a difficult colleague.
- Tell me about a time when you had to motivate others.
- Tell me about a time when you had to resolve a conflict.
- Tell me about a time when you failed.
- What is your leadership style?
- Tell me something about you that’s not on your resume or in your application.
- Do you have any questions for me?
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