WiFi and My First MBA Interview

I have given much thought as to what happened during my interview with Martin Varsavsky. Is he extremely confident (as opposed to humble)? Yes, but maybe he has to be for the role of a “serial entrepreneur” that he plays. Does he not prefer to deal with IE students because we are “privileged people”? Maybe, but a lot us are exactly that. What I mean by privileged is probably different than what Martin believes. I mean privileged by the opportunity to have this international experience as opposed to income levels. For those of you who are not exactly sure who or what I am talking about you can read up on MV at www.fon.com or http://english.martinvarsavsky.net.

I recently wrote almost two pages regarding the events, but I realized that it did not due justice for Martin, other MBA students or me. Regardless of the situation’s awkwardness there was some real value to take away from the experience. At first I was upset because I didn’t like his interview style nor did I think it was appropriate for the context of the Business Development position I thought I had applied. However, I realized it was irrelevant what I thought. It was his interview and he could conduct it however he so chooses. Therefore, what I should do is learn from it and not let it happen again in the future.

First, size up the potential interviewer and how they might go about the interview. This is where I failed most in this situation. I should have known that Martin is an entrepreneur before a manager, and that his inquisitions could come from anywhere and everywhere (as they did). Second, don’t let this style catch you off guard and force you into a state of nervousness or confusion regardless of who the person(s) is sitting across from you. Next time, take control and guide the interview in the direction that you want it to go in from the start. And when questions about the inner workings of a computer, or whether or not Banana Republic is a brand, are asked; one should answer briefly and honestly, but at the same time take the conversation back to your strengths. DO NOT waste each other’s time by bull shitting and pretending to know something you don’t. It might be even better to just say, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, so can we move on to the next question.”

My ego is not big enough to think any different of FON or MV after the botched interview. Actually it drove me to think about one person and how I could change that one person to make him better for the next time something like this happens. And that one person is me. Remember friends, that with the exception of very drastic circumstances we are responsible for 90% of the events that play out in our lives. So take control and move on.

t_h