Hi everyone,

I was contacted by ESADE today to schedule an interview and I was wondering if there is anyone here who has already interviewed with them and is willing to share their experience. What was the mood of the interview, what type of questions were asked, how long was it, etc. Any type of information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Ganesh

Hello Ganesh..congrats on your interview call.. i had my interview in the first round application and i got admitted at ESADE..i will be joining the program in august.

My interview was over the phone.. here are some of the questions i was asked

1. Why european schools (i am applying to only european schools hence the question)
2. Why MBA and Why esade.
3. A situational question " in esade teamwork is of imporance and your grades are dependent on the team's perfromance, having said that how would you deal with a situation where some of the team members are not pulling their weight"
4. Where would you want to work post MBA
5. How did you land your job? how do you get customer leads.
6. how would i contribute to ESADE MBA class?

other questions were with my background and stuff. the interviewer wanted to know more about me as a person. I got positive feedback on the questions i had asked the admission director and also on the overall i was told i am very focused. the interview lasted 45-50 mins

go to this link for other people's take on the interview http://gmatclub.com/forum/esade-business-school-85957.html

Good luck with your interview and hopefully you would do great!

Hi Bajargyan,

thanks for the response. The link you sent me was really useful. Is it alright to send you a personal message if I have any other questions?

Thanks,
Ganesh

I interviewed in person with ESADE, and the questions they asked me were pretty much identical. It was a very conversational and comfortable interview where I got the chance to ask lots of questions. It lasted a little over an hour, but I think mine was especially long because I was the last one of the day and no one was in line after me :P

Hi

I had the interview these days and I can confirm you the same kind of question.

In addition I can tell you they re really friendly and focused on the person.

It was a pleasure to have a talk with them

My interview lasted 1h30, but more because it was really a pleasant talk and we kept going with several questions also from my point of view.

Good luck and I hope we all see in Barcelona in august:)

Andrea -- I thought you said ESADE accepted you without an admissions interview? Did they interview afterward?
Also, have you decided whether you will accept?!

Hi Sally,

yes but it was a misundarstending with them about the interview missing...however in these months I was in contact with them almost every 2 weeks for my update....and they gave me many advices....

then i had the interview these days....but they told me to feel relax bc they can't tell me in official way but there will be no problem.

I'm waiting for the official mail now....

I think I'm going to accept...

I clarified my doubts...

I will do the other interviews but I decided:)

I have to tell u that what I really loved was the attention on the person they had all this period....it was amazing....

Awesome! I'm glad that everything is working out for you! I think you're making a good choice, ESADE is a great program :)
Maybe I will see you in Spain! I definitely want to check out Barcelona while I am there!

u re welcome!!!!

u have my mail and i would like to keep in touch...

i will have now the other interviews bc I already planned them...but I think I decided....

I leave no more then 5% of doubt:)

however thank you a lot for all your advises these period

@ bajargyan, sally, andrea

thanks for the information. I have my interview scheduled for monday so hopefully all goes well and i'll be in barcelona come august.

I'm really nervous but from what i've been reading it seems like it's a very relaxed interview. I'll keep you all posted.

Ganesh

My advice would be to have a good idea of what your career goals are and what kind of job you'll be looking for once you're done with your MBA. I went on about my varied career interests and entrepreneurship dreams, and I think that might have hurt me, since I think the interviewer saw me as unfocused and possibly unrealistic (apparently my kind of response is typical of Americans :P She was joking, but I think partly serious... ) Seems like I should have been more practical and more definite in my answers. Anyway, just a tip! I am sure you are well prepared on that front, anyway :)

sally,
I haven't reached the point of interviews yet but if your assumption that your interviewer wanted you to be more concrete is correct then,i have to say that for people like me...this fact is at least frustrating....

The truth is that;
1)some people want to do an MBA to change industry
2)others to advance in the same field
3)others just dont know yet (and it seems to me,at least theoretically,that as an MBA is a general degree it is also meant for people that have not yet decided what to do exactly )

so, what happens,according to what you have seen, for all the people of the 3rd category?
should someone like that show that he has some clear goals i.e;finance,finance,finance?

what if someone really wants to change, from marketing, to hr, and some years later to consulting....is not that clear enough?..........

I guess those in category three should come up with some pratical goals to explain in the interview. Then, when they get there, they can do whatever they want.

Finance is actually probably not the best goal to choose, unless you already work in that field. It might not be considered practical for someone without a finance background, especially since there are few jobs to go around these days.

When I interviewed with IE, I said I plan to come back to the US and advance in my current industry. That seemed to be an acceptable answer.

I think they just want to make sure you have some kind of plan in mind for getting a job upon graduation :P

The points you have stated are exactly what most MBA students face... and its perfectly fine for people to now know what they want, the MBA adcom is also aware of that..

But what they look for in the interview is for an applicant to have a direction or an idea of what they want to do post-mba, a plan as such - but this does not mean these plans can't change during the MBA as the students become more aware about other industries and their own likings.

At the end of day the adcom wont be attracted towards a student who says "i do not know wht i want to do.. will see what happens at the end of MBA"... i would think no one will accept a person in any program with that kind of attitude.

If a person has decided to do an MBA, then he should have some reason for it..and not simply cos its a higher education which would lead to more higher pay....there should be some orientation nothing concrete but atleast some idea.. which can change during the MBA... as it is.. MBA admission is highly competitive and and these questions are asked to determine the candidate is the best fit for a particular MBA or not..

For the record, I didn't say I didn't know what I wanted to do. I said I wanted to stay in my industry (which is a very competitive one), and potentially work in Europe or the US. I also have an idea for a business start-up that i would like to make contacts to help start in business school. On top of that, I said I didn't want to limit myself when it comes to short term jobs -- and I am interested in exploring other options, such as consulting. It could be that I had too many ideas instead of one clear focus.

Also, I think the interviewer was alarmed that I said I was interested in working in Europe, especially in my competitive field that is, truthfully, on the decline. That's why I played it safe in the IE interview and said I would return to the US, since I have a good network here and getting a job here would probably be easier. I also left out the consulting bit.

Anyway, it's really hard to say what I did wrong in the ESADE interview. Maybe it wasn't the interview, but my overall profile that they decided against -- who knows?

Hey everyone,

Just had my admissions interview yesterday. Like everyone said it was pretty relaxed and more conversational. Questions were pretty much the same but there were a couple that I hadn't been expecting. For example, explain your job as if you were explaining to your grandmother. How are your professional and personal life similar/different, this questions caught me off guard and i was a little disappointed with my answer.

Overall i think it was good experience and i'm glad it's over. They said they'll get back to me next week so it's just a waiting game now.

Thanks to everyone for their help.
Ganesh

Hi Ganesh

very good.

I decided to accept the offering so maybe we will meet in Barcelona at the end of august.

A lot of good luck

congrats andrea ..see you in barcelona!

good luck ganesh.. keep us updated!

Just got the news this morning. I got dinged by ESADE. Looks like i won't be joining you guys like i hoped. It wasn't the best way to start the day. I'll keep working on my other applications and let you know when i do get accepted at another school.

Thanks to everyone for they're help/support.

Ganesh

im so sorry ganesh

anyway keep going:)

let us know