Tips For Your MBA Video Interview

It's game day. Your interview is happening, here's how to get ready to crush it on the day of. So I'm going way out on a limb today and I'm going to tell you six things that you need to do to get ready for that interview. It's way more than my usual three, it’s double.

1. So the first thing you want to do is figure out who is interviewing you. Almost certainly whether you're interviewing with the admissions committee and alum or student, you will have an understanding of who that person is before the conversation. You'll know their name. You might even have their LinkedIn profile. So definitely look at who you're speaking with, understand their background, and most importantly, understand how far away they are from their MBA experience, if they have an MBA, and how far away they are from your experience. So, if you work for a nonprofit and you're interviewing with an investment banker, then you know that you're going to have to do a lot more to bring them into your world in the conversation so that they understand your accomplishments in situ, like as they happen in your world, since their experience is going to be so different.
2. Number two is continuing on that course. Begin preparing questions for the interviewer. It’s not all about just answering MBA interview questions, but asking too. Start to put yourself in their world and start preparing questions that might be worthwhile to ask them at the end of the conversation when they turn to you and say, what questions do you have. If you haven't learned this from my other MBA, my videos, a good rule of thumb is to always ask questions that give the speaker the chance to talk about their own experiences and to give advice.
3. Number three, choose your outfit. It's really important that you wear something that makes you feel really good. Schools have different dress codes for their interviews. Some schools insist on business formal. Some schools insist on not business formal, business casual. So, look and see what the guidelines are for the school that you're interviewing with. These days in the Zoom world, the rules are probably a bit different. I'll be very surprised if they're insisting on business formal and Zoom call, but who knows? Check and see what their requirements are. But make sure that whatever you're wearing is something that feels really good to you. You want it to be your power suit, your confidence outfit, don't wear pajama pants, don't wear no pants. And if you feel better wearing shoes, wear shoes, put on clothes that make you feel fully present, composed, professional and confident. Very, very important.
4. The fourth thing you need to do is fix your camera setup.
5. Number five, I think it's number five, right? I lose count when we get over four. Number five is to engage in confidence-boosting activities the day of the interview. You have to think really carefully. If your interview is in the afternoon, you probably don't want to be doing any difficult work stuff in the morning that's going to shatter your confidence. And likewise, if the if the interview is in the early morning, you want to make sure to wake up early enough so that you can have your caffeine and you can do all the things that you need to do to get yourself in the right mindset. Some confidence boosters that I've used in the past are talking to a friend, reviewing my resume and reminding myself of all the amazing things that I've committed my time to and how proud I am of where I've chosen to invest my life. And then number three is like, honestly, when all else fails, hilarious cat videos on YouTube somehow also work, it just fills you with a sense of joy. So you want to make sure that you're feeling confident leading up to that conversation.

And then the last thing you want to do, number six, right before the interview. So this is like the last maybe thirty minutes or so before the interview. You want to make sure that you have that time blocked off on your calendar. This is especially if you're interviewing from home, in your power suit, in your living room, make sure that there's nothing happening on the calendar. Turn off your phone, no notifications, no emails, no interruptions, and really just clear your mind. You don't have to meditate, although that is helpful if you meditate. But just breathe and kind of be with yourself, be with your achievements, get yourself in an empty state of mind so that you're really ready to have this conversation.