Personal Interviews: 5 Situations That May Stump You

Several personal interviews are held with the explicit purpose of testing the students’ mental calmness. Interviewees are on purpose, subjected to heavy-handed questions. While preparing for MBA admissions, you need to know the types of personal interview questions that may stump you and how to handle them.

By Aritro Dasgupta

This article was first published on February 2, 2019.

The first thing that students, shortlisted to personal interview (PI) round for MBA admission need to realize is that there are broadly, different interview types. The vast majority are those that focus on personality and career clarity. This is especially more common at the post-graduation level, say for selection to an MBA programme. Such personal interviews focus less on content, as that has already been tested at the previous rounds, involving usually a written paper. But for younger aspirants at the under-graduate level, the focus often stays on academics. Students need to be prepared for all kinds of eventualities. There will be several situations where the PI goes against a student’s plan. He/ she thus needs to plan accordingly.

As the MBA admission season starts now, it is time to prepare for personality assessment rounds. Following are some PI situations where an MBA aspirant may get stumped by the conversation not going one’s way:

Situation 1: Counter Questions

It is one thing to say that “I love listening to Music”, quite another thing to answer “what genre do you listen to?” or “name some two names from X genre”. Things could get even messier if the student mentions reading as a hobby, as it is highly cliched. Bottom line is, interviewees need to be prepared for questions that will justify the previous statement made by him. The student needs to drive the interview in the direction he/ she wants.

At such situations, it is best to admit one’s ignorance, and to pledge that one will do further research on it. It is never a good idea to beat around the busy.

Situation 2: Stress Questions

Several personal interviews are held with the explicit purpose of testing the students’ mental calmness. Interviewees are on purpose, subjected to heavy-handed questions. These questions need not necessarily be tough, but could be spoken in a harsh manner. Questions could be like, “do you think a fleeting interest in Literature should give you an opportunity to study English Honours at ABC College?”, or a statement like “business models prepared at school do not always stand the test of time in a management institution”.

The student must remember, that the interviewer is merely testing his/ her resolve. So, the candidate has to remain calm, and not show too much of emotion.

Also Read: MBA PI Questions: How to Answer Why MBA Question? With Example

Situation 3: Questions on Career Switch

This is one area students prepare thoroughly for, but somehow it can always be a tricky question. While Engineers opting for an MBA programme has by now become fairly commonplace, several other combinations may arouse curiosity or even derision. Examples could include a class12 Humanities student opting for a BBA, a Science student wanting to do Liberal Arts or a Doctor wanting to go for a General Management degree.

The interviewees must remain honest as far as possible, and tell the real reasons for opting towards an unconventional career path. They may have made some mistake with a career choice in the past, but commit to not veering off track again.

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Situation 4: Technical Questions

As much as one may prepare, it may just never be enough. This is especially true for working professionals, as for them, the academics is a thing of the past. In addition, the questions often depend on the whim and selective knowledge of the interviewer.

At such situations it is best to acknowledge the truth, and admit that one’s knowledge may be incomplete. One could also suggest the interviewer to ask on a related topic that the candidate mentions, but not one which is far off from the question. So, a management graduate being asked about the BCG Matrix, may have forgotten the topic, but could suggest that he spell out the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Never at this stage must the student suggest to be asked on Accountancy, as that is a totally different subject, and shows ineptitude in an entire subject, in this case Business Studies.

Also Read: 32 common questions asked in PI

Situation 5: “Do You Have Any Questions For Us?”

Inevitably, in a number of personal interview rounds these days, this is the parting question. On the face of it, this might sound most harmless, but actually there is much going on within this question. This is especially true for professional courses, where students or even their mentors during the preparation stage, focus primarily on the monetary gains post the degree. In those cases, the only use candidates may find from the college brochure or website, is the knowledge on the average pay package. On the other hand, if the student is genuinely serious, he/ she would definitely have scanned through the entire college content. Post a detailed scanning, genuine questions would definitely come up.

An advice to students is to thoroughly scan through the brochure and website of whichever college one is applying for and been shortlisted for interview. If not, one may end up with a very lame question just to please the interviewer, but may backfire, as it shows the lack of research on the college itself. It may also demonstrate that the said college is nowhere near the top choices, but merely one of the many options. One must also avoid operational questions, such as “is your hostel single seater or twin sharing?”, or “how is the food at the mess?”.

All candidates who have gone through the personal interview round of MBA colleges would have faced one of the above scenarios at some stage or the other. The best response is to remain calm, and give a fitting reply. One needs to be polite, yet confident.

Crucially, students must avoid making any references to campus placements. This is because once that is mentioned, the monetary aspect assumes too much of importance in the student’s mind. The outcome of one’s interview is also not always dependent on what goes inside the room.

Sometimes, the interview itself could get stressful simply because of the time of the day. Post-lunch, interviewers are known to be a little drowsy at times. Towards the end of the day, they are too jocular, while at the beginning, too serious, so ask much of technical questions. Thus, one need not get deterred by the seeming body language of the interviewer, but play one’s own game to the best of possibilities.

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About the Author:

Aritro Dasgupta is a Teacher, Trainer and Content Writer. He has taught at several leading colleges and coaching institutes in both India and the UAE. Several of his students have finished in the top 10 of various national level exams such as CLAT, AILET and DUJAT. He is also a prolific content writer, having written for several leading publications in India, while currently, also working for one in the USA.

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