NuclioManiac

Monday, March 20, 2006

CARNEGIE MELLON INTERVIEW

Next in line was a carnegie mellon ( Tepper ) interview.

A perfect example of what not to do on an interview. It was a telephonic blind interview. a fact which i had not known at that point of time and assumed that like the ISB interview the interviewer would have read my application and eliminated a lot od important information.

FIRST ERROR: INSUFFICIENT RESEARCH INTO TYPICAL B-SCHOOL INTERVIEWS.

Secondly i was out of town in Delhi, at a friends place and decided to give my interview from there. the result was that i was out of my comfort zone, and the surroundings were pretty alien to me.

SECOND ERROR: TELEPHONIC INTERVIEWS SHOULD BE IN A FAMILIAR PLACE

Thirdly, i did not check for obvious things like reception and mobile phone connectivity. the result was that i could not use my mobile phone to give the interview and had to use the landline, which tied me down to a certain place. quirky that I am, i am used to walking around and talking on the phone and sitting in an upright position and looking at a blank wall for 30 mins while answering tricky questioons were unnerving to say the least.

The recpetion was so bad on the mobile phone as well as the landline that the call got disconnected 4 times, yes 4 times. extremely unprofessional on my part.

COROLLARY TO SECOND ERROR: DECIDE COMPLETELY ON EQUIPEMENT AND LOCATION.


Fouthly, the plan was such that my buddy whose place i was at. would come and take his keys and ciggies or whatever and get the hell out of there while i gave my inetrview. he would do this before my interview started and leave me alone for the duration of my interview. This did not happen. on the other hand 2 syllables into "Walk me through your resume", and the dude came with a friend and couple a beers. Sheeeeeeeeesh.

Gesturing madly i instructed them to sit, but the flow was lost. after that proceeded fortwith to stay there listening to me speak.

Call me Wierd but I become concious when i know people can hear me interview + add the silly smirks passed during cliched answers. all 0f these create an extremely unpleasant environment.

If everything was not lost already, my pal's phone started ringing and i signalled like a madman to take his call out of there. finally he persisted and the other guy followed but left the door open. this by the way was a ground floor annexe building and wind started billowing in. January Delhi weather. I started tottering in the cold, unable to bear it any longer i had to excuse myslef and go and shut the door.seconds after fumbling with excuses and shutting the door, those guys return.

confidence shattered I give extremely short answers and ask limited questions and wrap up the interview in 20 mins flat !!!!!.

So what have we learnt.

THIRD ERROR: MAKE SURE YOU BLOODY WELL LOCK YOURSELF IN A ROOM WHEN YOU GIVE A TELEPHONIC INTERVIEW.

next in line

Tuck interview ( again Telephonic )

2 Comments:

  • Let alone a professional who works 60-plus hour weeks and who hasn’t had to write a personal essay since college. MBA Admission 2012

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2:50 pm  

  • Someone applying to three different MBA programs will probably write a dozen different essays, ranging from 250 words to 10 pages.

    By Anonymous MAT MBA Colleges, at 2:51 pm  

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