MBA INTERVIEW TIPS

BY

MARK MASTERSON
The importance of visiting schools.
A lot of prospective students skip this part because they think it isn't all that
important. Who's going to know that they were even there? Well, this wrong kind of
thinking can mean the difference between acceptance and rejection to a specific
school.

For starters, you're going to get a lot more information about the school from visiting
it personally than you're ever going to get out of a brochure. You might actually find,
once you've visited the campus, that this particular school isn't as appealing as you
thought, or conversely, much better then expected. Nothing beats actually physically
checking out the school.

Another thing you can do when visiting a school is speak to the students who go
there. How better to get an idea of how good the place is other than speaking to those
who live and breathe it? Sure, you have to take everything you hear with a grain of
salt. Those who like it will make it sound like Nirvana. Those who don't like it will
make it sound like hell on earth. The key is putting everything into perspective and
weighing all the comments collectively.

Also, you'll want to meet with some of the professors, especially the ones who are in
the MBA program itself. This will do two things. First, it will give you a pretty good
idea of what to expect from them. There is nothing worse than walking into a
classroom cold. Second, it will show these professors that you have a genuine
interest. As I said, not every prospective student takes the time to visit schools. This
one activity will set you apart from all the rest.

Finally, and this is probably the most important reason of all, when you write your
essay for admission as to why you want to go there, you can actually speak about the
school with some feeling. You've been there. You can actually talk about what you
liked while visiting.

If you want to really prepare yourself for your MBA Interview, check out this
resource.

MASTERING YOUR MBA INTERVIEW

It will prepare you better than anything I know for that big step...getting into the
school of your dreams.
Applying when and only when you're ready.
At this stage of your life, if you're like most people your age, you probably feel that
everything has to be done today. Each day that you wait is another day wasted.
Because of this train of thought, a lot of students apply for a school way before
they're ready. This can lead to disaster...literally.

Nobody wants to hear this, but most students getting out of college and looking to go
to grad school really don't know what they want yet. Heck, some people don't know
what they want until they're in their 20's or even 30's. This isn't a crime. In fact, it's
perfectly normal.

Okay, so how do you know when you're really ready to get into grad school?
Honestly, nobody really knows for sure. However, you will find that as you reach that
point, you will be less and less apprehensive about it. Your doubts will be few, if any
at all.

That's when you'll know you're ready to apply.

But there is another aspect to applying when you're ready. Aside from emotionally,
you want to apply when you're ready on paper. In other words, you want to make sure
you're applying when your application is as strong as it can be.

For example, let's say you were going to apply in January of a given year but you had
a temp job lined up for February that would run through April that you could put on
your resume if you waited. In this case, if would certainly benefit you to wait until
you could put that job on your resume before you submitted your application.

In other words, wait until the last possible moment before submitting so that you can
get every last bit of mileage out of your application. Maybe a reference can't get back
to you for another month. If it's going to be a strong reference, you certainly want to
wait for it.

If you want to really prepare yourself for your MBA Interview, check out this
resource.

MASTER YOUR MBA APPLICATION PROCESS

The choice is yours.

There is a very fine line between cockiness and desperation. When you're having your
interview, how well you walk that line can mean the difference between getting
accepted or, having to accept second best.

The advice I am going to give you in this installment is not going to be easy to follow
because it reaches the very heart of our souls and existence. In other words...you can't
con a con.

The people who will interview you are pros. They have seen it all. They can tell the
posers from the real thing. If you go in there and try to BS them, they'll know it...and
ultimately...you'll get nowhere in the process.

Probably the most important thing is not to appear desperate. This is actually not too
hard to pull off, even if you have to drink some herbal tea before going for your
interview. There are several keys to doing this.

First, don't talk too fast. Too many students try to get in as much information about
themselves in record time in order to impress the interviewer. This is one of the fist
signs of desperation and it will doom you right from the start. Speak slowly and
clearly.

Second, don't try to cram every little thing you've ever done into your interview and
don't tell the interviewer that you've dreamt of getting into this school since you've
been in diapers. It's not going to wash. They will see right through this.

Third, and I no this sounds like it should be obvious, but don't beg and don't get all
emotional saying that if you don't get into this school your life is over. It isn't over,
they know it, and you'll only come off as being desperate.
You want to speak with confidence but not too cocky. This is the hard one for young
people to pull off. They usually go to one extreme or the other. Either they're too
humble or they come off as a total jerk. Find a balance. If you have to, do a mock
interview with an older person.

Like it or not, how you handle yourself during the interview in this area is going to
make a big difference. So practice your interview skills.

If you want to really prepare yourself for your MBA Interview,

check out this resource.

There are several reasons why.

At the top of the list goes back to a very old saying that goes like this...

"What a tangled web we weave when at first we practice to deceive."

Do you know why this is? Think about it. If I were to ask you for your name, address
and phone number, you would hardly have to think in order to give me the answers.
Why? Because they are true facts. Now, imagine you had an alias with a phony
address and phony telephone number. You'd have to make a conscientious effort to
remember those things because they are not really a part of your real life.

The more things you have to remember (the lies) the greater the chance of slipping up
somewhere along the interview process. Some questions might refer back to other
questions and if you don't have your lies down really pat, you're sunk...plain and
simple. Trust me, you have to be a real pro to pull off a ton of lies at an MBA
interview.

Now, having said that, there are ways to tell the truth without having to say anything
negative about yourself should you be asked a question that would require a less than
positive answer. For example, let's say you were asked if you ever had a job in an
office and you hadn't. You could say something like, "No, but I have had office
training from XYZ company when I was staying with my uncle over the summer.
They showed me around and taught me some office procedures like filing and
answering phones. So while I never actually worked there, I do understand those jobs
and feel very confident that I can perform them if I had to."

See how easy that is? What you want to do, when asked any question, is downplay
the negative and accentuate the positive. Don't worry, the interviewer will know
you're doing this but that's what they want to see...somebody who looks at the plus
side of things and presents their strengths instead of their weaknesses. They don't
want somebody to simply answer "No" and then look down at their shoes because
they feel like a failure because of it.

Don't lie...but simply qualify those negative answers with something positive.
What does your GMAT REALLY mean?
There is so much misinformation going around in regard to the GMATs that it's
enough to make you want to each for an airsick bag. Truth is, most MBA prospects
don't really understand the significance of the GMAT. Hopefully, this installment will
clear that up.

Okay, for those of you who think it is some kind of IQ test, it is not. The GMAT has
nothing to do with your IQ. In fact, some people with high IQs do poorly on their
GMAT and others with a low IQ do very well. So that's the first thing you need to get
out of your head...the GMAT does NOT measure intelligence. This may or may not
be good news for you.

What it does tell you, and nothing else, is what the probability is of you doing well in
the first year of your MBA program. Ideally, you want to score above 700 if you can.
However, that is no guarantee that your first year of grad school is going to be a piece
of cake. There are some students who score 700 or even 800 and drop out after a
year. Then there are those who score in the 600s and do very well.

Also, as far as acceptance goes, scoring a 700+ is no guarantee that you're gong to be
accepted, just as a score of 600 does not mean you are going to be rejected. The
GMAT, in spite of what people think, is not the determining factor on acceptance. If
it was, there would be no need for essays, resumes and letters of recommendation. It's
just one more tool to evaluate you.

Having said that, you certainly want to score as high as you can. Below, you will find
a site that will REALLY prepare you for your GMAT. I think you will find it to be
the best program around for the money.

Click here to see how you can master this process

Guy's 5 foot 2, pimples all over and walks with a limp. He's got his eyes set on this 6
foot tall fashion model. What do you think the chances are that he's going to land her.
And if he does, how happy do you think the two of them will be in the long run,
especially when she's never home because she's out modeling all the time and he's a
homebody?

Okay, kind of a silly analogy, but I think you get the point. No matter how badly we
might want something, sometimes what we want is just the wrong fit for us. That can
be true about the MBA program we're thinking of getting into.

Not all schools are the same. Each one has a

True story. This guy always wanted to work for AT&T. He finally got an interview
and landed the job. After 6 months, he quit. Why? He hated it there. In spite of the
reputation of the company, he found that the stuffiness of the atmosphere just didn't
sit well with him. He ended up taking a job with a smaller company, became head of
the computer department and stayed there for years.

When you meet with an admissions officer, they're looking for somebody who is
going to compliment the school. And trust me, they can usually tell when somebody
isn't going to be the right fit based on the questions they ask and the answers YOU
give...which is why you never want to lie. You just might end up getting your wish
and regretting it.

Here's the bottom line. If you go to a school that really isn't a fit for you, you're not
going to connect with the classes, professors or students, which is ultimately going to
lead to an unhappy time. This will ultimately lead to poor grades and possible
dropping out of school.

So make sure the school you want to go to is the right fit for you.
ADMISSIONS PEOPLE DO NOT SLEEP IN COFFINS

I've saved this for last because it is probably the one thing that can destroy the
mindset of a prospective student more than anything else. In this installment, I want
to talk about the admissions people. And yes, they are just that...people.

We all want to think that when we apply for a college that the people doing the
interviewing are some kind of automated robots. All we have to do is give them the
right answers and we're in. In some cases, sad as this is to say, that's exactly what
happens. Why do I say sad? Again, let's get back to the admissions people
themselves.

As I said, they're not robots...they're people. And as people, they have different
personalities and different ways of doing their jobs. Some will go through it very
methodically, not putting any real thought into it. Give them the "right" answers and
you're in...even if you're not a good fit for the school.

Some, however, will really put a lot of thought into the interview process and try to
determine, in spite of your answers, whether or not they think you'll be good for their
program. Because of this, some admissions people will allow you in even though
your answers weren't the best, but because they saw something special in you.
Conversely, some will reject you because they felt you had no real conviction behind
your answer.

And then there is this. Everybody, regardless of who they are, has good days and bad
days. You might very well have an interview with somebody who just got into a car
accident before coming to work and are thus in a very bad mood. Maybe they had a
fight with their spouse before work. Like it or not, when people have bad days, they
sometimes bring those bad days into the office. As a result, you may not get accepted
due to nothing that you yourself did.

Also, please understand that these people are looking over a ton of paperwork.
Essays, letters or recommendation and resumes take a lot of time to go over and, like
it or not, the process is more subjective than you'd like to think. When a human being
is going over all that material, error becomes part of the equation.

If you understand this and can accept this, it will go a long way to helping you deal
with whatever rejections come your way.
I hope you have enjoyed this series and have gotten something out of it. Again, there
is a great resource that will completely prepare you for getting into the school YOU
want to get into.

Here is the site one last time.

I wish you the very best of luck and success in your bright young future.

You have the whole world ahead of you. Now get out there and take action

To YOUR MBA Success,

MARK MASTERSON