We are starting an MBA Admissions Interview Series to help applicants answer the most commonly asked interview questions in a way that will impress the admissions committee. We start with

WHY MBA? And WHY NOW?

What do they want to find out?
They want to make sure that the real reason for you wanting to do an MBA is not that nothing else is working and you believe that an MBA is your key to success, your panacea to all problems in life.

They want to know if your decision is well thought out and if you know how an MBA will help in your career aspirations. Because if you don’t have this clarity, you will not make the best of your MBA experience. No one wants a confused, frustrated alumnus who believes that the investment was not worth their time and money.

Preparing your response:
This an important question and would invariably be part of most MBA admission interviews. Ideally, it should be an easy preparation as you would have written your career goals essay in the application describing your short-term and long-term goals.

Here is how we suggest you answer this question:
• Talk about your current professional situation
• Your aspiration, your short & long term career goals. Importantly, add the part about why this matters to you, in other words, why do you want to do this. Your career goals must be personalized to you, would have got shaped out of your experiences. They should not come across as wishful thinking.
• Why an MBA is necessary to bridge the skill gap to transition into your aspired career path
• Include the ‘Why now’ answer in your response. Typically, a plausible response is on the following lines…at this point doing more of the same will not help me get in the direction that I aspire to move into…but you can of course tailor it to your situation.