The Kellogg interview.

I spoke with a second year student as a part of the Kellogg admission process. The call came in 20 minutes late. The interviewer seems to have had some trouble reaching me. The interview started with apologies from either end, she for having kept me waiting and me for the trouble she had in reaching me.

The interview began with the interviewer explaining the role of the interview, at this stage, in the overall interview process. All she had were the data forms and my resume. If the applicant initiated interview was granted earlier, the interviewer would have had the same data. So it was just exactly the same kind of interview, being done in a different medium, at a different time. I had spent the weekend preparing for the interview, but i was definitely not expecting what happened in the interview :)

The first question was "Tell me about your undergraduate institution". "Surprise, Surprise" - i thought. I recovered and explained about the college i studied, while i also provided background information about the education system and college admission process over here. "Why did you chose this institution?" was the next question. Once this was answered, she asked "What would you specifically want to mention about your undergraduate experience" and then "While at college, what were the efforts you made to get yourself a job?" Then she moved onto questions surrounding my career progress.

"Tell me about your company", "So you work from the Chennai facility of your company. Tell me about the work done out of your facility and your role in the company", "Tell me about the project you work in and the work you do, in lay man terms please" - these were the questions that came first. The other questions that followed were "What is your role/responsibility in your project" and "What are the other teams in your project". Then she went on to ask some of the usual Kellogg questions. "Compared to your peer members, how do you think your career progress has been", "As a team leader who is leading teams for quite some time now, what do you think were the mistakes you had done in this role?", "Comparing yourself from the early days and now, how do you think you have improved as a team leader?" - were the questions that were shot next.

Finally, we moved into the core of the interview. "Tell me why you want to leave your company and pursue an MBA education at this point of time". This was the first question for which i had a prepared answer :) Once i gave my answer, she asked "Explain me why you want to move into Finance". By this time i had explained and justified "Why MBA", "Why now" and also laid out my long term career aspirations. She then asked "What are your immediate plans after you graduation?". "Why did you chose Kellogg" came out next, for which i answered for something like 5 long minutes - during which i displayed the amount of research i had done and also how passionate i was about the school. She then said, "Finally, is there anything else you would like to add to the discussion". I found that we had not covered one aspect of my profile and i explained that. That was it.

She then let me ask my questions and i asked a few from my pre-prepared list. The answers she gave me showed me that this was a person who loved the school she was studying in :) Once i said i was done, she went on to explain what will happen after the interview and then we bid farewell.

Overall, i am extremely satisfied with the interview. I answered all questions to my fullest satisfaction and now, one hour after the interview, i am still satisfied with my responses. I was feeling good about Kellogg right from the moment i got my invite. I now feel very positive about Kellogg. Cant wait for the results :)