To Succeed, Question Well
(This is written with my business school experience in mind, though asking great questions applies to all school choices.)
“What are your questions for me?”
I have heard this line over and over and over since I left the military for business school. From admissions officer to prospective employers, every interviewer ends with “What are your questions for me?” In fact, this line does not stop after you land a job post b-school. With several other new hires, I recently had breakfast with senior partners from our firm. After they discussed a couple agenda items they asked, you guessed it, “do you guys have questions for us?”
I guarantee that, if you are applying to business school, you will be asked for questions during your admissions interview. This portion of the interview is an amazing opportunity to differentiate your candidacy and win admission. So what makes a great question? In our opinion, great questions are three things: researched, thought-out, and interesting.
1) Great questions show that you have done some research
Research, research, research your target schools! You should know the classes your school offers, the rock star professors, and the clubs you want join. You should have an idea of how the class schedule works and how the students are divided up into teams and groups. Finally, you should Google your target school + interview questions. This will typically turn up a list that you can apply a PAR format too (see Interviewing 101).
With research, you can craft superb questions. For example, a poor question would be something like “What can you tell me about the classes at School X?” A great question would be “I’ve heard that Professor Okun’s Managing Growing Companies class has propelled recent entrepreneurs to launch their ventures, what other classes and professors are not to be missed?” The great question tells the interviewer that you have done some quality homework on your target school.
2) Great questions show that you have thought out your business school choice
Applicants do not win admission if they do not know why they want to go to a particular b school and how that target school will help them achieve their goals. Business school is not a place to find yourself, it is a place to get things done. Great questions show that you have thought through this process and know exactly what you want from business school and how to get it. For example, a great question could be “I’ve heard that consulting internships can be difficult to land, what have you seen students that are successful in landing internships do differently and what would you recommend as a potential backup internship to consulting?” This question shows that you have thought through the career process and are ready to hit the ground running.
3) Great questions are interesting
To borrow from Tim Gunn of Project Runway fame, great questions have a “Wow” factor. They are questions that are thought provoking, interesting, and unique. They could also be challenging (yet friendly) or prompt the interviewer to talk about something they like (people like talking about their interests). One of my favorite interesting questions I call “favorites” questions. For example, “What has been your absolute favorite thing about being an admissions officer at X School?” or “Who has been your favorite applicant and why?” or “What has been the best essay you’ve ever read?”
If you’ve connected well with your interviewer, you may even want to try a challenging question. An example of this could be “What could X school improve on?” You never want to make your interviewer feel awkward, of course, so keep the tone of the question friendly and only ask if you feel like you have made a strong connection.
If you ask great questions you will set yourself apart as a candidate not only in business school, but also in job interviews and in your career. Set yourself up to win admission by developing well thought out, researched, and intriguing questions.
