Harvard University – Harvard Business School
Full-time MBA program – Interview Questions
All HBS interviews are conducted by adcom members. In Singapore, HBS offers Skype interviews, but you’d be better served to do the interview in-person in Hong Kong or Mumbai. In order to ensure your preferred slot, you should log into the Harvard online system and schedule the interview as soon as possible.
It may sound like a cliché, but the Harvard interview really is about getting to know you better, not to catch you out.
The interviewer(s) – there may be up to 2-3 (one interviewer might not say anything at all) – will be inevitably nice irrespective of how the interview is going. Also, they won’t push back hard on issues if you don’t answer a question directly…so make sure that you DO answer the questions and not get lost in peripheral discussion.
Etiquette is important – you can differentiate yourself a bit simply by leaving a physical thank you card at the reception while leaving. You should hand-write the card after the interview and include specific details from the interview “I particularly enjoyed discussing…”
Be nice and helpful to other candidates and to everyone – including the receptionist and the janitor.
As usual, dress smartly, turn on the charm.
The interviewer will probably have skimmed through your application before the interview.
The interview will probably last about 45 minutes.
Some commonly asked questions are:
- Walk me through your resume. / Introduce yourself to us. Give us a short personal narrative.
- What are your main strengths?
- What are your main weaknesses?
- How have the personal challenges you faced helped you grow and made you who you are today?
- Explain the choices you’ve made so far in choosing your undergraduate college and your major as well as your employer and your career.
- Why do you want to get an MBA?
- What are your post-MBA plans? / What do you want to do after you get your MBA?
- What are the biggest challenges/hurdles to doing it? Have you thought about them?
- Why not do it right now?
- Tell us about a time when you received feedback from a colleague or a boss?
- What did you learn by working on the project or for the team you described in your essay?
- What do you believe you can add to the class? / What do you think you can add to the class?
- Do you consider yourself a leader?
- What do you think makes a good leader?
- What do your friends say about you? / How would a friend describe you?
- What do you do in your free time? / What do you like to do outside work?
- What global issue keeps you awake at night? / What news struck you most in the past two weeks?
- What did you hope we would ask you in this interview but haven’t? / What’s one question you wish you were asked if we had more time? / Is there anything I forgot to ask? / What can you tell us about yourself that would surprise us?
- Is there anything you want to ask? / Do you have any questions for me?
Within 24 hours following the interview, you would need to submit your impression of the interview in a “reflections” “essay”.
We can help with your interview prep. Contact us:
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