How to Answer the “Why MBA Now?” Question in an Interview, Part II

Greetings aspiring MBA candidates! We would like to build on our previous post that delved into the often problematic “Why MBA Now?” interview question.

In our last post, we encouraged interviewees to establish a clear, career-oriented reason for pursuing an MBA. These reasons should revolve around the interviewee’s future career aspirations, which allow the interviewee to explain that an MBA is needed to achieve them. This is primarily a discussion about the future, and that an MBA is essential for the person’s future career development. But we often find that the interviewee’s answer to the “Why MBA Now?” question is limited to this topic only: an explanation of their future goals and that they need an MBA now to achieve them. However, this is really just an answer to “Why MBA?” and does not address the key issue which is why now is the right time to get this education (as opposed to one or two years from now).

To fully explain why now is the right time to get an MBA the interviewee must offer some context about their past experience. Thus, a brief discussion of the past is also critical to providing a complete and compelling answer to this question. If the interviewer does not fully comprehend the interviewee’s past experience, it is impossible for them to fully appreciate why the interviewee needs an MBA now.        

A complete “Why MBA Now?” interview answer will therefore:

a)      Provide some context about the interviewee’s past professional experience. They might briefly point out their progression and the key skills that they have developed which they can build on in the future.

b)      Detail their future career plans.

c)       Explain that after evaluating the feasibility of these plans, they have come to the realization that without an MBA it will be very difficult to achieve them and that now is the best time to get this education.

While a), b) and c) above seem to be simple enough on paper, explaining them in a coherent and easy to understand way in a high pressure interview is extremely challenging which is why a lot of advance preparation is needed.

To further elaborate our ideas about how to best execute the “Why MBA Now?” question we would also like to offer the following sample interview response. 

Sample “Why MBA Now?” response:

“My five years of project management experience in the pharmaceutical industry have been extremely rewarding, and I’ve developed solid leadership, analytical and problem solving skills while driving several important process improvement projects. It’s just been over the past 1.5 years I’ve become quite sure that strategy consulting is the path I want to devote my career to. Merck’s acquisition of my company forced me to quickly learn how major pharmaceutical companies plan and execute their global operations. When I began to see the positive effects the new Merck system was having on my company’s operations and product sales, I became really interested in business strategy and how it could lead to improved performance. I then started networking within the management consulting industry which led to informational interviews with managers at BCG and Accenture. I just became really passionate about consulting at that point, and I knew it was what I should be doing.

Needless to say, with my past education in accounting and experience in project management there’s no way to break into consulting unless I ‘retool’ with an MBA. And at 28, it doesn’t make sense to wait.”

  

In this sample answer we can see that the interviewee has provided some useful context about their previous work experience, stated their career objectives and why this path interests them, and then explained that now is the right time to get an MBA education.

We hope this information is helpful for all you aspiring MBA candidates out there! Please take plenty of time to carefully consider how you would respond to this frequently asked question before you enter your interview. Or if you would like to seek our expert assistance in interview preperation, feel free to reach out to us at info@transcendadmissions.com.  

How to Answer the “Why MBA Now” Question in an Interview

There are several interview topics that every MBA interviewee should be prepared for such as discussions of an important professional accomplishment, a significant teamwork or leadership experience, points of learning from a mistake/failure or their strengths and weaknesses. MBA interviewees should carefully consider how they might discuss these topics when preparing for the interview. But perhaps the most important question that is asked in 99% of MBA interviews is “Why do you need an MBA now?” This question is simple – right? Based on our experience MBA interviewees often struggle to provide a coherent answer to this seemingly simple question. 

When our clients struggle to answer this critical “Why MBA now” question we often advise them to first focus on the purpose of the question. For many MBA interview questions, the interviewer’s purpose is to understand how the interviewee analyzes problems and why they make key life decisions. Getting an MBA is certainly a key life decision and thus this decision should be based on a well thought out plan.

The reason for pursuing an MBA will not be the same for every person and there is not one right answer as to why a person might need an MBA. Thus, when answering the “Why MBA now” question the interviewee must incorporate reasons that fit their specific situation. Here are several acceptable reasons for pursing an MBA:

•          You need to learn more about business and develop new skills to make a career transition

•          Your career progression has plateaued

•          You have gained adequate work experience and it is time to get a general management perspective so that you can move up to management level within your company.

•          You are at a natural break or transition point in career

•          You want to start and run a business but need more skills and a strong network in order to secure funding, deal with investors, customers, etc.

•          You want to learn more about international business and work outside your country

Thus, there a number of logical, career-oriented reasons for why a person might need an MBA at a certain time. In our next blog post we will provide more specific ideas about how to answer the “Why MBA now” question.