Chicago Interview

It's been nearly two months since I decided to close the blog. However, I couldn't help but notice that there are still people visiting my blog! What gives? Haha

Anyway, to get to the point. A friend has suggested that I update the blog with the news of my interview with Chicago GSB. Yup, I managed to get an interview with Chicago! :) It was held mid-February.

The interview was held at a Starbucks. Although I was tempted (and others suggested) that I ask my interviewer whether it would be ok to come dress in business casual, I figured that asking such a question would only make me come across as, dopey. So, there I was, dressed in a suit waiting at Starbucks for the director of an MNC to question me about my motives to attend Chicago. Please keep in mind, the temperature was about 26 - 28 degrees :( Not the best time to wear a suit.

The interview started pretty ok, some small chat about where the interviewer stayed (within walking distance of Starbucks) before moving on to a walkthrough of myself. I realize that maybe I should have state my short term/long term goals as something else other than strategy consulting - mainly because I have to admit, I know little about strategy consulting - as it would open me to very specific questions from a person with far more experience in strategy than I have.

True enough, we moved into my goals and started discussing startegy. I was given a case study on the spot! I think I flopped that, easily :( spent time discussing my current position, my weaknesses (I hate this bit) and my previous experiences. Then there was a very indepth discussion about my extra curricular activity, which I have to admit is something unique. One question which I was not really prepared for was 'What would you do to change the organization?'. Quite a curve ball, but thankfully I was able to address that issue after 5 seconds of desperate thought.

Well, that's about it for the interview. All in, it was 1 hour 15 minutes. Quite a grilling compared to what I've read about other peoples' 30 minute long interviews. I've discussed the time length with somebody who says that's the norm time length for a job interview over here. Too short would have been bad, and anything longer would have been bad - longer doesn't necessarily mean that they are interested, but rather that the interviewer just want to be 100% sure that he's going to reject you!

Other than that, I really haven't been doing much. Work has been eating up my time quite a bit. I'm expecting a few changes to be made to the department. Morale is at an all time low. Turnover is goin to hit 40% just for the the first half of the year. Basically, it looks like I'm stuck on a sinking ship :( Anybody out there who wants to hire me to do corporate strategy? I'm definitely looking to do that.

I will be posting on March 27, the day after admits are announced for Chicago GSB. I'm hoping against all hope that I might be given an admit. But realistically, I think that's highly doubtful. Well, till then!