Tips on how to tackle interview season at Goizueta
Heart racing. Walking into the Career Management Center, suited up, Goizueta padfolio in hand, smile spanning ear to ear. Waiting patiently on the couch, heart still racing. Stepping into the quiet office, sitting opposite of a complete stranger who’s here to evaluate my every word. My resume, peeking out from under my counterpart’s files, other papers scattered around with jotted notes and other students’ fates. Firm handshake, pleasantries, questions, answers, then the case. Forty-five minutes later, I exit the room. Where did the time go? On to the next one.
Interview season is a whirlwind of stress and excitement — networking, resumes, cover letters, more networking, interviews, happy hours, coffee chats, sleepless nights and small celebrations in between. I remember the first couple of interview invites — sitting in class, waiting anxiously for the email invites to be sent. As time passed, it became a bit easier and more methodical, and people began to pursue their different paths and find success.
To help prepare, I found the best approach is to go into the process ready to give it 110 percent and commit completely. It truly is a full-time job on top of classes and other activities. There is not, necessarily, a recipe for success. It seems to come down to the strength of your network within Goizueta and across firms, the stories woven through your experiences, and frankly, your performance and connection with your interviewer on the day of the main event. Even though there is no step-by-step guide on how to get perfectly prepared, do exceptionally well and stay sane through the process, I have a few tips and best practices collected from classmates and from my own experience:
- It is never too early to start networking and connecting with people. I started when I first quit my pre-MBA job, and I ended up having several familiar faces to turn to when recruitment really kicked in.
- Do what you need to do to make it to that coffee chat or phone call (even if that means skipping a get-together or two).
- Start preparing for case interviews early on if you can. It truly is an exercise of exposure, repetition and constant refining.
- Behavioral interviews matter – knowing what your story is and why you are doing what you are doing stands out.
- Do take the extra time to perform company research. It can be uncomfortable when you can’t answer the “Why do you want to work at [company name]” question.
- Know what you are about and stick to that throughout the process. It is easy to get caught up in other people’s plans and milestones, but that is not what this is all about.
