PI tips- know your grad a little 🤏
Today during a mock, the candidate was a law student who had worked in internships here and there. He talked about how law was a passion at one time but now he’s looking at business. That’s fine, but once you’ve laid the basics, you need to be prepared for deeper questions. So, when I asked him a business law question—let’s say about the Sales of Goods Act, consignment, and other such topics—he wasn’t able to answer.
My immediate thought was: If you haven’t studied what you’ve been doing for five years, why would you pay attention in an MBA class? This kind of question often comes up, and it’s a valid concern for the interviewer.
Similarly, I had a chemical engineering student in another mock. I asked them to quickly create some benzene-related compounds on a piece of paper—a basic-level question—and they couldn’t do it, citing that it had been a while. Again, these are fundamental concepts from their field. Not being able to answer makes it very jarring for the person taking the interview.
- If you’re asked surface-level questions and can’t answer, take a breath, think hard and say,. “Sir, I did read about this then, I remember (mention a closely related topic if you do know one) but can’t quite pin my thoughts on this exactly”
- If you’re not prepared, come up with an exceptionally good excuse . If you have work-ex you can still save yourself just be smart at that point but if you don’t- God help us all.
I say this point number two just because some of you still haven’t left your job yet. I mean what can we do, it is what it is.
Full disclosure: I’m preparing a few folks online in my personal capacity but love to share insights to help anyone who cares.