Interview Guide

You will be interviewed by either a member of the faculty, a senior member of

admissions staff or a Sector Consultant. All of the interviewers have experience
interviewing MBA candidates, and they are experts in what we look for in an MBA
student. The interviewer will have read your application beforehand; this is not a
blind interview. Be ready to remember what you wrote in your application. Oxford
Saids interviews tend to be short (30mins). Therefore, interviewees should deliver
their messages succinctly. British interviewers may go on a monologue and
suddenly ask the question so it pays to be alert. If you are unsure of the question
asked, request the interviewer to repeat the question. Be prepared to explain what
unique qualities youd bring to the program.
They tend to ask follow up questions to what you have answered based upon your
experience and will go into quite a lot of detail to what your job entails. Be prepared
to answer them in a clear and easily understood manner. They will also ask you for
your interested industry (post-MBA) and to test your knowledge, will try and ask a
real-life current situation related to your said interested industry, so read up on
current news related to your interested industry. They will be brutally honest with
you if your interest industry is not Oxford Saids specialty.
A lot of their questions will be follow up questions and will constantly drill down
further based on what you answer. There is no set format of questions they must
ask, if they find something interesting youve done to latch onto in their questions,
they will ask it. So be sure to know your resume well and to be able to explain every
action/achievement/responsibility you have to further detail.
You will have time at the end of the interview to ask questions. Please make sure
that you have some questions to ask your interviewer about the programme, these
questions should show your knowledge about Oxford and our programme, as well as
you interest in learning something new.
- What sort of questions will you be asked:
o Your academic and professional background: your career choices, your
progression, your international exposure, your industry knowledge
o Why do you want to do an MBA and why Oxford: You need to show your
understanding of what an MBA is and what Oxford has to offer.
o Your career aspirations: what are your plans, are they well thought through, how
does the MBA fit, do you have a backup plan?
o Your soft skills: leadership, communication, team work, etc.
o Weaknesses or inconsistencies in your application
What is important to Oxford Said?
Strong self motivation - Oxford is looking for people who know exactly what they
want to do and be prepared to be 100% sure and defend your interested
industry/role. Be ready to be asked on why you need a MBA to achieve this and

what your back up plan will be. This is because they understand that their career
services is still very new and developing compared to their competitors in
Cambridge/LBS, hence they really want to be sure that you will be strongly
motivated in finding what you want to do with or without the schools help.
Entrepreneurial drive/spirit Oxford is looking for people with independent
drive. That may come in form of entrepreneurial experience in the past or an
interest to pursue independent ideas. Oxford has a well funded incubator program
as part of the MBA program, so be sure to indicate interest in the area. Else, you will
need to show youre independently focused through your actions in work
experience, whether that is taking initiative as a leader or overcoming difficult
situations with solutions.
Industry/general knowledge They want people who are self aware of current
economic situations, especially in the industry they choose to pursue. If you are
interested in telcom technology, be prepared to talk about the market strengths and
opinions of Apple vs Samsung vs HTC in the mobile phone wars. If youre interested
in entrepreneurship, be prepared to talk about cost vs labour tradeoffs. The
interviewers may not be experts in all fields, but they are knowledgeable in current
affairs.
Oxford Questions:
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6.

Why MBA, why now and what are you looking to gain from MBA
Why Sad?
What makes you stand out from the crowd?
Tell me about your role at XYZ company.
Give me an example of a time you lead a group.
Give me an example of a time you were involved in a dysfunctional group?
How did you cope?
7. What would your friends say your strengths/weaknesses are?
8. Consideration on choosing an MBA
9. Your career plan
10. What is your contribution to class
11. Qualities thatd make you good at what you do in your future job
12.What would you do if you can go back for half a day (exclude
family/friends/volunteer related subjects)
13.Leadership example when you didnt have authority
14.What do you consider leadership traits?
15.What are your values?
16.A situation where you thought differently from others and how you went
about convincing others of your point of view?
17.Tell me one experience where you had failed and what did you learn from it ?
18.What are some of the weaknesses in your candidacy and how do you plan to
mitigate them ?
19.Lastly, why should you be admitted to Said Business School ?

20. Would you like to give me 3 words to describe yourself ?

21. Describe a challenge that you have faced, and the steps that you took to find
a solution.
22.Describe a time that you had difficulty with a co-worker. How did you handle
the situation?
23.What are your career goals and why did you decide to pursue a MBA? (And
related question) Why did you select Oxford?
24.Which other schools did you apply to and why?
25.Have you heard back from the other schools? What were the results?
26.In your current job what are the areas where you think you have room for
improvement?
27.In which areas (skills) do you think your supervisor wants you to improve?
28.In which areas (skills) do you think employees who you supervise want you to
improve?
29.What is the biggest weakness on your resume? What would you have done
differently to address this weakness?
30.Have you informed your company that you are applying to business schools?
31.How will Oxford MBA help you achieve your goals?
32.You have half a day and a magic wand that can take you anywhere on earth.
Where would you go and what would you do if that thing you do is not related
to family or business?
33.Before you come to this interview, what was the most important message
that you want to communicate across to me?
34.What questions do you have for me?