Stern Interview
At the scheduled time, Ms. ABC ushered me inside the meeting room. She was a beautiful tall American woman with a wonderful smile. The smile was instrumental in calming the initial nerves.
She invited me to sit so that we could both begin. She began by speaking a bit about herself. She then talked about how on having read the application, the Stern admissions committee was keen on talking to me in order to learn more about me. This was the reason that the two of us were having the discussion here in Mumbai. So far so good…
I was aware that unlike most of the other business schools, NYU Stern interviewers have complete access to the entire application file. A lot of this has to do with the fact that a senior member of the admissions committee is the person conducting the interviews. In this case, I believe it was one of the Executive Director of the Admissions committee. Nevertheless, I was amazed with the level of understanding and thoroughness of the interviewer in knowing and analyzing my application.
With the initial small discussion, we began the interview.
* You have mentioned in your application that you graduated from Goa University. Is
this the same Goa… (well read application #1)
-- You needed to seen the grin on my face as it lit up hearing this. It was a great way to break the ice. I told her that it was indeed the fabled Goa, the land of sun, sand, and sea that I hailed from. I mentioned how I had studied there all my life, before moving in search of my dreams. She asked whether I missed being out there. I shrugged and told her that one had to do what he/she had to do. I told her how had it not been for the lack of opportunity, I would not have left. However, there were no opportunities in the space that my eyes set were on. I asked her if she herself had been to Goa. She replied in the negative. She said that she had been to Delhi before and visited the Taj Mahal. Due to her grueling schedule, she would not be able to visit Goa, although it was something she wished to do… I exhorted her to visit Goa at the first possible opportunity.
Max: + 2 points
* I see that you have worked with ABC and are now working with PQR. There seems to be a logical flow between what you want to do and what you currently are.
(well read application #2)
So can you tell me a bit more about the reasons that you chose to leave your job with ABC.
-- I explained the reasons behind the same and she seemed satisfied. She mentioned that sounded good. There was a smile of approval.
Max: +1 point
* You believe that it was the right step that you took?
-- Yes! I told her how it had worked in the right direction. There was another approval.
* So you mentioned that you chose to join a startup
(well read application #3)
You were one of the early birds. Why did you make the choice?
-- I explained the reasons behind my decision. I told her the absolute truth. There were no negatives, in fact a heap of positives for the old as well as for the new firm. She seemed to appreciate that. However, she was non-committal at this point.
By this time, the initial jitters, if any, had long disappeared. I was listening very intently to what she was saying. I was looking into her eyes. This is extremely important because:
- You need to let her know that you are confident.
- You need to let her know that you are listening and are attentive.
- You need to make her feel comfortable.
- She needs to know that she has your complete undivided attention
- She needs to see your communication skills
I kept a calm and composed (and yet enthusiastic) voice. I found myself using many hand gestures as I put my point across to her. This was in fact a sign for me that I felt calm and confident. This tends to have a cascading effect and in turn, helps me perform better. The going was good at this point. I was feeling confident and that is the single most important factor in an interview.
Firm believer of the power of confidence here…
* You said that there were many challenges that you faced because of having joined the startup arm of an MNC.
-- I talked about having synergies, each person getting something new to the table and how it was difficult to bring all of this together in a small cohesive unit. We have since grown into a big organization. However, it was important to have patience in those early days. Although we are a huge MNC, there are always the pains of the initial hiccups. Despite all of this, we brought it all together and made it happen. We had an opportunity to formulate the work culture, the ethos, and the team spirit. We attempted to do the best we could to ensure that we married the US culture of the firm with the Indian ethos to arrive at something that was within the boundaries of the firm and yet catered to the Indian sensibilities.
* Is there any specific challenge that you would like to discuss?
-- I was totally zapped with this question. It was not that I was exaggerating or speaking something that was untrue. It was merely that at that moment, I was unable to recollect a sensible and meaningful answer to this one. I bought some time for myself by asking her to repeat the question. In the meanwhile, I scanned before my eyes the entire experience. It was probably the only time that I realized that I was not paying complete attention to what she was saying. The horrendous taste of the brewed coffee from the vending machines, our irritation with the lackadaisical attitude of a few support staff (who polluted the atmosphere around with their arrogance and negativity) or our complaints against the transport policy were neither serious nor appropriate to the occasion.
Eureka! Just when it was looking like I would not have anything to say, I recollected it. I almost wanted to stop her from speak it and blurt it out, lest I forget it. But I managed to hold the trigger until she stopped. I talked of our tirade against a few of the finance policies and the problems on a general level. Due to company policies governing issues such as these, I chose to keep them out of the purview of the interview. And out of the purview of this blog…
Max: +1 point – Getting out of a tricky situation
Max: +2 points – Respecting confidentiality agreements
Max: -0.5 points - Initial Confusion, jittery and confusion
* How has your experience been working with teams? What is the single most strength that you bring to a team? How will you use that in your stint with the NYU?
-- I talked about growing from a small team of 2 to a much bigger team now. I talked about how it was important to work in a team and the ethos of our own team. I mentioned that I was grateful to my team that has helped me grow as a person.
The single most important strength that I bring to a team is my communication skills (she better have seen them there) and my ability to work with diverse individuals with relative ease.
This then worked towards how I would bring this to a synergy at NYU as well.
There were a couple more questions. But I believe by this time, I was fairly confident that this was going to be a hit. I smiled, laughed, cracked jokes and kept the conversation lively and jovial.
At the end, I asked her about specific clubs such as the Emerging Markets Association, the Stern Private Equity Club and the Graduate Finance Association. We also spoke about student life in general.
There were a couple of specific questions about the admissions process, the financial aid process and the VISA process.
At the end, I got up, thanked her for taking the time to come all the way to India, wished her a pleasant stay ahead and exited from the interview. Contrary to popular view, I did not lean on my knees and kiss her on her hand (A couple of over-zealous friends seemed to believe so!)
I left believing that I was going to achieve my dream of spending my New Year at the Times Square! :)
