Posts Tagged ‘interview’
Friday, April 26th, 2013
Let me set the scene… You just completed your MBA admissions interview, the end to a very long day that has also included a class visit and lunch with a student ambassador. You know you rocked the interview because a) you were well prepared, b) you had the right responses to the questions asked, c) you knew all about the entire MBA program and d) you prepared a good list of follow-up questions. Your admissions application had no grammatical errors and you did not make the mistake of calling this school by another business school name to which you are also applying. One month later, you receive your anticipated package from the business school. You hurry with excitement to open it, only to find out that the school has denied you admission into their fall cohort class.
While there are many factors that contribute to students not gaining acceptance into the business school of their choice, I thought I would outline a few items that often get overlooked by many prospective students. While the information presented here might seem logical, I have witnessed the occurrence of at least one of these items more than once during my time here in the UST MBA Admissions office. Realize that while you might have a formal interview on campus at a specified time, the interview process begins once you first connect with the school of your choice. (more…)
Tags: Ambassador, Class visit, etiquette, interview
Posted in Admissions, Admissions | Comments Off
Tuesday, April 16th, 2013
![interview[1]](http://blogs.stthomas.edu/opusmagnum/files/2013/04/interview1-300x214.jpg)
Applying to business school can be a time consuming process. Many prospective students wonder about the “black box” of the admissions evaluation process, which often not only includes taking the GMAT, writing essays, and completing various application requirements, but an interview with admissions team members as well. Interviews can be nerve-wracking for prospective students, but as one of the Assistant Directors of Admissions in the Full Time MBA program here at the Opus College of Business, interviews are one of my favorite parts of the job. Why? Meeting applicants in person is an important part of getting to know candidates on a personal level and assessing fit with our MBA program, which overall, is the goal of most admissions interviews. Admissions directors want students to be successful, and meeting applicants in person to learn about what they will uniquely contribute to their MBA program is an important part of the evaluation process.
That said, interviews do not have to be the anxiety-producing event that some applicants believe they are! From an admissions insider’s view, here are some tips to prepare for – and ace – your MBA admissions interview (p.s. These tips can also apply to interviews for MBA-level internships or full time positions): (more…)
Tags: admissions, essay, interview
Posted in Admissions, Admissions, Career Services | Comments Off
Tuesday, March 12th, 2013
This post by Jessica Bauer, a Career Specialist in the Graduate Business Career Services office, originally appeared on the Career Link Blog.
To show knowledge of the company you hope to obtain employment with, research is key. While knowing their mission statement is a great start, the research should venture much farther than that. Interviewers expect that research of the company has been completed, but in most cases, research of the interviewer themselves should also be done.
Here are a few sure fire ways to get the most from your research: (more…)
Tags: interview, linkedin, preparation, prepare, research
Posted in Career Services, Commentary | Comments Off
Tuesday, March 20th, 2012
Ever wanted to get inside a recruiter’s head? What is he or she thinking when you are relaying past experiences and attempting to answer those behavioral interview questions succinctly with the right amount of detail and passion? What do recruiters deem the greatest interview mistakes and how are they using social media these days? These are a few of the questions that were posed to the recruiters from Target, Buffalo Wild Wings, Moneygram, Datacard and CMD Associates at the Recruiter Panel lunch event held by Graduate Business Career Services on March 6th.
Jennifer Finkelson (Buffalo Wild Wings), Dana Schulz (Target), Stefanie Haglend (Moneygram), Twanda DeBorde (CMD Associates), and Julie Serlin (Datacard Group) spent an hour and half with the full time MBA students providing interview tips and answering an array of student questions. Here is a quick summary of the do’s and don’ts when it comes to applying and interviewing at these top corporations. (more…)
Tags: career, interview, job search, recruiter
Posted in Career Services | Comments Off
Monday, October 31st, 2011
This post comes from the “CareerLink” blog by the Graduate Business Career Services office in the Opus College of Business at the University of St. Thomas, Minnesota.
The idea of doubling your strengths by transforming the way you look at your weaknesses sounds good in theory but is it practical or realistic? A recent article in Business Week by Marshall Glodsmith discusses psychologist Tommy Thomas’s theory that weaknesses are actually strengths and what effect this altered view can have on professionals’ overall achievement.
In terms of career development, the word “weakness” always takes me back to the common interview question, “Tell me about your areas of development.” Interviewees are encouraged to take their weakness and make it a positive. Looking at your all your characteristics in a positive light actually makes answering this question easier. The trick is researching the company you are interviewing with and determining what the company deems a strength/weakness. Here are a couple common “weaknesses” as seen by many U.S. Fortune 500 companies and a way to look at them as a strength. (more…)
Tags: business week, interview, strengths, weaknesses
Posted in Career Services | Comments Off
Friday, October 29th, 2010
In a recent Jargon Genesis about vis-à-vis, I discussed the multitude of French words that have infiltrated our daily conversations. Today, let’s add résumé to that list. It is important that I include the acute accents here so we don’t get confused with the far less interesting word, resume. Though it is worth pointing out that in English, résumé and resume are both acceptable spellings of the word referring to the document you hope will land you your dream job. (more…)
Tags: career, interview, job, resume
Posted in Career Services, Jargon Genesis | Comments Off
Wednesday, July 21st, 2010
It is no secret that the job market has been extremely tough during the past two years. I frequently speak with recent college graduates and MBA students with limited work experience who tell me that they are unable to find an internship or full-time job due to their lack of experience–it appears to be a Catch-22. Mrim Boutla of justmeans.com, however, writes that young professionals need to think more creatively when it comes to gaining relevant experience.
Even MBA graduates with significant work experience have had difficulty landing full-time jobs post-graduation. Lindsey Roberts discusses her decision to accept an unpaid internship in order to keep her career on track. One very valid point she makes (more…)
Tags: career, interview, job, networking
Posted in Career Services | Comments Off
Wednesday, June 30th, 2010
You’ve got your foot in the door at a job interivew. Things are actually going well. What a relief. Then, you’re asked, what questions do you have for us?
What do you ask? You should know everything from the website already, right? Now what?
Career Rocketeer, a career search and personal branding blog, helping ambitious career entrepreneurs to “launch” their careers to greater heights has some great ideas on “interviewing your interviewer“:
Most people, when interviewing for a new job, forget the process is supposed to be a 2-way street. It’s as important for you, as a candidate, to determine if the job, the company, the culture, and the work environment is right for you as it is for the company to determine if you’re right for them. You do yourself no favors by accepting an offer for a job that is not a good fit. It will make you miserable, your employer dissatisfied, and likely not end well.
Here’s a few examples of good questions to ask: (more…)
Tags: career, interview, interviewing, job
Posted in Career Services, leadership | Comments Off
Friday, June 25th, 2010
As the competition for jobs continues to be fierce, every step of the way employers and hiring managers are finding new tools to test job candidates to find the best one for the job.
Why do you want this job? What motivates you?What are your strengths and weaknesses?
It’s fair to assume that you’ve been prepping for just these types of questions. And, certainly, you know exactly how to describe your “shortcomings” with a smile on your face and a positive spin–”I’m hyper-organized.”
Yet at many companies, those old stand-bys, asked every day by hundreds of managers and human resource officers trying to assess job candidates, have been joined by a new line of questioning. (more…)
Tags: hr, interview, job
Posted in Career Services, leadership, Student Life | Comments Off
Monday, April 26th, 2010
Have you ever been on an elevator, and just before you get to your selected floor, you jump with perfect timing and feel weightlessness for one blissful second? This was a favorite pastime of mine. (OK, it is a favorite present-time of mine, but I probably shouldn’t admit that). Still it makes for a good segue to my topic of the week, “Elevator speeches are not just for elevators job interviews!”
Admissions representatives from the UST MBA programs interview hundreds of candidates each year, and we’re looking for the “best and the brightest.” So whether you are coming to learn more about the program or for a formal admissions interview, you need to know your elevator speech. (more…)
Tags: elevator speech, interview, interviewing
Posted in Career Services, Take it from me | Comments Off
Research – the Key to Interview Success
Tuesday, March 12th, 2013This post by Jessica Bauer, a Career Specialist in the Graduate Business Career Services office, originally appeared on the Career Link Blog.
To show knowledge of the company you hope to obtain employment with, research is key. While knowing their mission statement is a great start, the research should venture much farther than that. Interviewers expect that research of the company has been completed, but in most cases, research of the interviewer themselves should also be done.
Here are a few sure fire ways to get the most from your research: (more…)
Tags: interview, linkedin, preparation, prepare, research
Posted in Career Services, Commentary | Comments Off