How to make a great first impression on AdCom at MBA Fairs

Aah, the MBA fair is round the corner.

• What do I wear?
• What do I carry with me?
• How do I prepare?
• What do I ask the admissions committee that would make them notice me?

Should you be in a position where one or more of the above questions seems familiar, continue to read on.

What do I wear?

At most events, it is prudent to dress in business formal which for men would include ties (do I hear a groan somewhere), and for women would include closed-toe shoes. Given this may be your first interaction with a school, you want to dress to impress as like it or not, you are being evaluated on whether or not you can be a good brand ambassador of the school. Schools guard their brand with their lives and you will be subjected to all kinds of scrutiny before they are convinced of your ability to uphold their brand.

What do I carry with me?

I would recommend carrying your visiting card even to share with some fellow attendees. To share a short story, while attending one of these events in Chicago, I met this girl and we struck up a conversation and it turned out we stayed in the same building. It was a huge relief to have someone to talk to who was going through the exact same thing and would not get bored of constant “MBA Talks”.

Regarding carrying resumes, I would take a pass on those unless you have a prior individual appointment with Admissions Committee. You might see some students trying to get AdCom to glance at their resumes and such but I would advise against it unless the school’s process demands it (which I believe is the case in some schools). Furthermore, MBA Resumes are different from your typical Job Resumes and you do not want to put the wrong foot forward by showing a half-baked Resume to the AdCom in your zeal.

How do I prepare for my meeting with representatives of the school?

A 30 second elevator pitch is something you should have thought through and rehearsed a couple of times to be comfortable with. Hey, even Steve Jobs needed to rehearse his product releases even after doing it so many times!

Some of you may have heard this term before. An elevator pitch is how you would sell an idea to the CEO of your company if you happened to be taking the elevator with him/her. Given the short duration of the journey, you are forced to focus on a few facts as opposed to telling about your idea in detail. This makes you think hard and edit what you have to say so it becomes really concise. Brilliant! This is exactly what you need to do here.

Prepare a 30 second pitch that makes you memorable to the AdCom member and differentiates you in their mind.

To give an example:

“I am a third generation manager/owner in a family business that deals in ophthalmic lenses having 10% market share in India; I am also an avid photographer having exhibited my work in Europe and Asia; My work and my hobby also lead to another interest i.e. traveling and have enabled me to travel across 20 countries in the past 2 years“

That took less than 30 seconds and would immediately leave an impact in the reader’s mind with certain key themes that make who you are:

(1) 3rd generation family business with 10% market share

(2) Serious photographer

The fact that you have exhibited your work across the world tells them this is not an amateur

(3) Traveler

CTM Bonus: Now, get cracking on your elevator pitch as I cannot stress this point enough. If you need feedback on your pitch, drop me an email at nupur@crackthemba.com with your pitch and I would be happy to provide feedback.

What questions should I ask the AdCom?

The simple answer is “actual questions that you cannot get answers to off the website or with some basic research”.

But I thought I could ask anything and no question is a stupid question?

While you will hear that a lot, I certainly don’t believe in that.

As an example, if you wish to know the average GMAT at a school, look it up online first. In all probability, you will find the answer on the school’s website or can easily find that out through some basic searching. If you don’t do the research on your end, it shows that either you are not capable of leveraging the resources available to you or you are not serious about the school, both of which are not going to present your candidacy in a positive light. I am not saying that this question would be a bad question under all circumstances,  but it warrants some research before being asked.

That is why factual questions can be tricky at times as they are easier to get answers to and typically, not personal and engaging. To strike a rapport with the AdCom member, you could ask a question that has a subjective answer which could go like, “In your experience, ….”. “In your opinion, ….”. The qualifier tells the AdCom member that you are specifically interested in their opinion and they are going to be more likely to answer the question since it’s not a generalized question but a specialized question.

Also, as a general rule, please don’t be that person who wants to hog the limelight and keep talking to the AdCom. That would reflect badly on you and show that you are insensitive of other people and not a team player. So, while I know all of this would sound like common sense but let others get air time, do not push, be polite to everyone….