MBA Career Services
Interviewing Skills Tutorial
This power point presentation will:
• Give you an interview preparation plan
• Describe the different interview formats: screening, assessment
center, psychological profile
• Describe the different interview types: behavioral, situational,
technical, and case
• Provide preparation tips and resources specific to each interview
type and format
• Discuss important CSC policies for missed interviews
• Answer Frequently Asked Questions (this section will outline WHY
and the rationalization for our recommendations)
Preparing for your Interview
• Research the company and the position
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Check the Hoovers and MarketLine databases through the Gast Library for company and industry profiles.
Read the company’s most recent annual report, either on their website or through Mergent Online (a Gast Library
database), for an idea of the company’s strategic direction.
Know the company’s website inside out – this can give you a good idea of the company’s culture and values, and
help you anticipate what questions they might ask in the interview. Look for a media or investors section of the
website to see recent news releases.
Check Vault.com and Wetfeet through the eRecruiting website.
• Talk to alumni and former interns
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Look for Use Alumni Connection through eRecruiting to identify alumni that currently work at the company. If you
would like to contact an alum whose information is not listed in the database, please contact CSC and they will
attempt to reach the alum and get contact information released to you.
Check for other students who interned at the company last summer.
Check the Discussion Forums on the CSC’s group page on Angel for other students who have recently
interviewed with the company.
Interact with company representatives at corporate presentations, tailgates, golf outings, or other venues
• Schedule mock interviews
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Schedule mock interview(s) with CSC staff, or informal mock interviews with teammates.
Schedule a video taped mock interview with CSC staff. View your DVD with an eye for ‘soft skills’ and nonverbal
communication. Make sure you don’t have any habits or mannerisms that would be distracting to an interviewer.
• Prepare thoughtful questions
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At the end of the interview, many recruiters will ask if you have any questions for them. Have two or three
thoughtful questions prepared. This could be anything from questions about career progression within the
company, to actual job responsibilities, to something you’ve noticed about the company in your research.
Open this link for examples of good interview questions..
Interview Types - Behavioral
• Used to assess how you have behaved in the past
• Interviewer assumes past behaviors will predict how you will
behave in the future
• Each question is testing a specific competency. Try to anticipate
what those competencies might be, based on the job description
or your company research, then determine what questions might
test that competency. For example,
“Give an example of an occasion when …”
“Tell me about a situation where you had to deal with a very upset
customer or coworker.”  To test conflict resolution abilities
“Describe the last time you were unsuccessful in getting
someone to follow your lead.”  Project management
“How would you describe your managerial (or leadership,
communication, etc.) style?”  Leadership
Open this link for a list of behavioral interview questions collected
from a variety of companies.
Preparation Tips - Behavioral
• Look back at your successes - on and off of your resume. Think of
specific incidents or situations where your behavior led to those
successes. The listener will be assessing how a candidate will
handle various situations for this job based on past behavior.
• Think of times you’ve failed, what you’ve learned from those
experiences and how you would behave differently if the situation
happened again.
• Come up with 10-12 stories that focus on different skills or
competencies.
• Use the STAR Technique to structure your answers:
S = briefly explain the background of the Situation
T = identify your Tasks in the situation (or, role)
A = describe what Actions you took to resolve the
situation and why
R = describe the Results of your behavior
Open this link for more STAR technique tips and examples.
Example – Behavioral Question
Question – “Tell me about a time you had difficulty with a team mate not
contributing.”
Step One – determine what behavior is being assessed. This is clearly about
working in a team.
Step Two – choose an example. When have you worked in a team? Notice,
this isn’t about when you were the leader, so don’t be too narrow in the
situation. If you haven’t formally been in a team, consider what a team is – a
group of people working toward a common goal. In that case, your team
could include customers, suppliers, etc.
Step Three – organize your response using the STAR technique. In the
Actions stage, say WHAT you did and WHY you did it. Make sure there are
several action steps. Note that the Results stage indicates the result of the
behavior identified in step one (i.e., your superior teamwork skills) as well as
that of the problem in the Task stage.
The next two slides go through a STAR technique answer to this question.
Example – Behavioral Question
Question – “Tell me about a time you had difficulty with a team mate not
contributing.”
S(ituation) – “I was on a team that was trying to determine the overseas market
size for a product.”
T(ask) – “My role was to analyze potential markets in Europe and study the
applicable laws, as well as identify opportunities for entry. A teammate was
doing the same analysis for Asia, but came to the meetings with nothing.”
Example – Behavioral Question
A(ctions) – “It’s my preference to address people alone when there are problems, but we
were closing in on the deadline and there just wasn’t time. To make communication even
more difficult, the teammate was located off-site, so we only saw her at the few meetings
she actually attended.
• “We started with the positive assumption that something was inhibiting her, rather than
assuming she was lazy (what). We wanted to find out what was hindering her
performance and offer her help where we could (why). In the end, though, we needed to
motivate her to contribute and not absorb all her work ourselves.
• “The rest of the team discussed our approach in advance (what) to make sure she didn’t
feel threatened (why).
• “We met with her, where I led the discussion (what) to reduce the feeling of being
attacked (why). She was defensive at first, but as the conversation progressed she saw
we wanted to help.
• “We asked about her attendance first (what) because that seemed the least emotionally
difficult issue (why). Our meetings were held in the evening, and her family obligations
made that difficult. That was easy to address, we would meet earlier in they day.
• “She did admit that the ambiguity of the task was a challenge for her. We offered to
share with her our data sources and the spreadsheets we had created (what), that she
could use to start her work (why). She was also concerned about keeping our respect as
a professional. By helping her to be successful (what) she saw that we regarded her as
an equal with the same expectations we had for ourselves (why).
R(esult) – “She was able to attend more meetings, and soon began bringing in some data
and analysis. She became more a part of the team. Her contributions allowed us to give
a more global perspective on the product launch.”
Interview Types - Situational
• Used to assess how you would react to a situation. Similar in
structure to behavioral interviews.
• Interviewer sets up a hypothetical situation and asks how you
would behave.
• Structure your response with a modified STAR format (note that
the employer will have already provided you with a situation).
Identify your Task or responsibility, outline what Actions you would
take, state what Results you would expect from those actions and
why.
• This technique may be used when the interviewer does not expect
you to have already demonstrated a certain competence. If you
have actually been in a similar situation, you could respond to the
situation and then turn it into a behavioral question. “I was in a
similar situation when …”
Interview Types - Technical Area
• Used to assess both your functional area knowledge AND your thought
process. Functional interviews are most commonly seen in Finance or
Marketing interviews, but could be used cross-functionally. These could
also be called technical or mini-case questions.
• Examples of Finance questions would be:
• How would you value a company?
• What happens to each of the three primary financial statements when
you change gross margin (or capital expenditures, etc.)?
• More examples can be found in the Career Paths in Finance handout.
• Examples of Marketing questions would be:
• How would you market and sell this pen?
• Should (some product) do a line extension?
• More examples can be found in the Career Paths in Marketing handout.
• Examples of HR questions can be found in the Career Paths in HR handout.
• Examples of Supply Chain questions can be found in the Career Paths in
Supply Chain handout.
Preparation Tips - Technical Area
• Talk to your CSC functional area staff member for typical questions
and specifics on how to prepare – especially if your concentration
is Finance or Marketing.
• In the interview:
• Don’t panic!!! These questions don’t necessarily have right and
wrong answers.
• Take your time. Think about how to frame your answer.
• Be consistent. Changing your mind midstream will sound
confused.
• Ask thoughtful questions. If the problem is not cut-and-dry, get
the necessary clarification, then proceed.
• No one is perfect. If you make a mistake, admit it and then
correct it.
• Use this as an opportunity to showcase your knowledge and go
beyond the question. For example, if asked, “What is net
present value (NPV)?” answer responding with a comparison to
IRR to show your grasp of both concepts and the relationship
between the two.
Interview Types - Case Interviews
• Used to assess analytical ability given a set of facts and a situation (the
case).
• Can be either oral or written and in some cases are conducted in group
format.
• Can seek to integrate a broad, strategic perspective; a functional, focused
perspective; or simply your quantitative, problem solving skills.
• Skills assessed in the case interview:
• Leadership, analytical, presentation, energy, attention to detail,
quantitative, flexibility, maturity, intelligence.
• Sample case interview situation:
• You are advising a credit card company that wants to market a prepaid
phone card to its customers. Is this a good idea?
• Your client is losing market share across all three categories of hair
coloring (women’s, men’s, specialty) and are concerned about
profitability. Analyze the situation and create an action plan.
• How many square feet of pizza are eaten in the U.S. each month?
(‘Brainteasers’ or ‘guesstimates’ are assessing your quantitative and estimation skills, as
well as soft skills such as grace under pressure and the ability to think on your feet.)
Sample taken from The Vault MBA Career Bible, 2007 Edition
Preparation Tips – Case Interviews
• Practice, practice, practice!
• Schedule up to three case interviews with CSC staff.
• Form or join a student practice team, where 5-6 students meet to
deliver and critique case interviews.
• See mini-books located in Career Services.
• Know the basic frameworks of the four types of questions.
• Example for Marketing: Utilize the techniques learned in
classes: segmenting, targeting, positioning, etc.
• Example for Finance: Utilize alternative capital structure
considerations
• More info can be found in the Career Paths in Consulting handout.
• Other good resources are through Vault.com, WetFeet.com (“Ace
Your Case! Consulting Interviews”) and “Case Interviews
Interactive”—a 90 day license, available by request of MBA CSC.
The Candy Questions
There are certain questions that all recruiters will expect you to
have prepared. If you don’t have a ready answer, that’s a good
indication that you are not serious about the job/company, and it is
highly unlikely that you will get the offer. All of the below are an
opportunity to use your pitch. We recommend students have
prepared a 30-60 second pitch and a 2-2½ minute pitch.
• Tell me about yourself. Give your pitch, then briefly walk through
your resume: quick descriptions of where you’ve been, your
motivation for any major career changes, how and why you came
to MSU, where you want to go from here, etc.
• How did you hear about (company name)?
• Why are you interested in (company name)?
• Why are you attracted to this position?
• Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Handling the Unexpected
• Be flexible. There are too many possible interview questions and
targeted characteristics to prepare for them all, be ready for a
‘curve ball’ question or two.
• LISTEN closely to the question. If you don’t understand, or need to
stall for time, ask the recruiter to repeat or rephrase the question.
Note: don’t ask for repeats of every question, only use this once
or twice in an interview.
• Put yourself in the recruiter’s role. What characteristic(s) is this
question trying to assess? If one of your stories matches with that
characteristic, use it.
• Think before you answer. Recruiters generally prefer a pause
followed by a well-thought out answer to a rambling non-answer.
• Keep responses reflective of professional work experience.
Classroom may also be appropriate when examples from
professional experiences are not available.
CSC Policies – Missed Interviews
• It is fully expected that all students will follow good business practice and responsibly
keep every interview appointment scheduled. Late cancellations as well as missed
interview appointments inconvenience employers and penalize your classmates.
• To cancel an interview, contact Pam Jehner, MBA Career Services Center, Associate
Director, either by phone (517/432-3681) or in person (211 Eppley Center), at least
two full business days prior to your interview date. This will allow the CSC
sufficient time to contact and receive responses from other students desiring an
interview opportunity.
• Students who cancel less than two days in advance or miss an interview appointment
are considered “no-shows.” A “no-show” status is excused only under extenuating
circumstances. To request to be excused, follow the instructions below:
• Schedule an appointment with the appropriate functional CSC staff person to
discuss the reasons for your missed interview.
• Provide the CSC staff with documentation to support your reasons (i.e., medical
excuse, car towing receipt, etc.)
• Submit to the CSC staff a letter of apology addressed to the employer, along with
a stamped envelope for mailing by the CSC after approval from the staff person.
• An unexcused “no-show” will result in your access to on-campus interviews
being limited to only those companies preselecting you.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
When can I ask about compensation?
After you’ve got an offer. Until then, asking about compensation earns
you no points, and can put you at a disadvantage in negotiations.
I had an interview with a company, now what?
Send out thank you notes (email is generally acceptable) to each person
you interviewed with. If there were more than one interviewer, try to
make them distinct – those notes may well all end up in the same file, so
you don’t want it to look like a form letter. And remember, your thank
you note is yet another opportunity for your pitch.
I’ve been turned down for a second interview, is there anything I can
do to change their mind?
Unfortunately, you have to respect the recruiter’s decision. However,
you can request feedback from the recruiter to help you develop for
future opportunities. This can be a touchy subject, so ask your CSC
advisor for help with specific wording before you send it out.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
I’ve been invited to interview with a company, but I’m not that
interested. What should I do?
Remember that every interview slot you take is potentially removing an
opportunity for another candidate. If you would not accept an offer from
the company, don’t interview. Talk to your CSC representative about the
situation for the appropriate steps to take.
I recently interviewed with a company, and I feel as though I was
treated unfairly. Is there anybody to whom I can complain about
this?????
Talk to your CSC representative, as they might want to be aware of what
happened for the relationship with the employer. Sometimes comments
can be misconstrued, and you don’t want to jump to conclusions.
However, recruiters are human, and they do make mistakes. In these
occasions, the CSC can help you navigate this delicate situation.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
I know I flubbed an interview question. Is there any way to make up
missed ground?
You may be able to correct an error of omission or a misunderstanding
through a strategically worded thank you note. Visit Vault.com's online
career library for details.
What should I bring to a job interview?
Always bring several copies of your resume and business card, a couple
of pens, a notepad in case you want to take notes and/or to write down the
interviewer’s contact information. You might also want to bring a list of
references and your transcripts, just in case. Keep it all organized in a
professional leather portfolio.
Help! I know I’m supposed to send Thank You notes, but I forgot to get
the interviewer’s contact information.
If you interviewed through the CSC, they often get a copy of the recruiter’s
card, so start there. Otherwise, you can contact the office where the
interview was conducted, or ask other students who interviewed before or
after you. As a last resort, call the company’s main number and hope for
an understanding receptionist.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
If you're running late for an interview, is it better to reschedule or do
the interview late?
Please, please, please try to be on time for your interviews. Plan on
arriving 10-15 minutes before your scheduled interview time, especially
if the interview is not in the CSC. However, if you are running late, call
the CSC to let them know why you’re running late and when you expect
to arrive. If your interview is off campus, try contacting the recruiter
directly, then let the recruiter decide on the best course of action.
Is it necessary to reconfirm an interview? Who is the person to
confirm - the interviewer or interviewee?
Confirming an interview is not necessary, but it is polite and can remove
any confusion – especially for phone interviews across time zones.
Confirmation can be done by either the interviewer or interviewee.