Knowledge is Power

Maybe you don’t really want to lie. Most people don’t. But the pressure is on, you’re given a tough question, you’re sweating, and a silence falls between you and the interviewer after they ask the fateful question. You panic, and the lie just comes out. It’s just a little lie, and it covered something that might sink your chances. Where’s the harm?

Here’s the harm.

A lie is like an unexploded bomb. Several lies are like a minefield. And the thing is, one lie often necessitates a bunch of others. They are spread out all over the place, and you will not always remember where they are, or who you told them to. Eventually, you’ll step on one…kaboom. Goodbye, MBA program.

If I were to ask you for your name, address and phone number, you would hardly have to think in order to give me the answers. Why? Because they are facts, of course.

Now, imagine you had an alias with a phony address and phony telephone number. You’d have to make a conscientious effort to remember those things because they are not really a part of your real life. It would be easy to stumble over your delivery.

Worse, you might say, for example, that you live in Miami. And the later on you might mention how you love to go snowboarding every weekend. The interview will catch that. Now, you have to make a bigger lie to cover the first.

You have to say that you fly north every weekend, like some rich kid. Or you have to say you have a cabin in Vermont. Then later, you may have to explain how you get to Vermont, and where the cabin is. It can all get very complicated very quickly.

The more lies you have to remember, the greater the chance of slipping up somewhere along the interview process.

Some questions might refer back to other questions and if you don’t have your lies down really pat, you’re sunk. On top of that, some MBA interviewers like to review your application and essays after the interview… specifically to look for inconsistencies with what you said to them - like detectives.

Now, having said that, there are ways to tell the truth without having to say anything negative about yourself

should you be asked a question that would require a less than positive answer. For example, let’s say you were asked if you ever had a job in an office and you hadn’t. You could say something like, “No, but I did have office training from XYZ company when I was staying with my uncle over the summer. They showed me around and taught me some office procedures like filing and answering phones. So while I never actually worked there, I do understand those jobs and feel very confident that I can perform them if I had to.”

See how easy that is? What you want to do, when asked any question, is downplay the negative and accentuate the positive. Don’t worry, the interviewer will know you’re doing this but that’s what they want to see…somebody who looks at the positive side of things and presents their strengths instead of their weaknesses. They don’t want somebody to simply answer “No” and then look down at their shoes because they feel like a failure because of it.

Don’t lie…but simply qualify those negative answers with something positive.

Worst case, just confess. If something looks bad on your resume, talk about what a disaster it was. Tell the interviewer you really screwed up there. Then go on to say how it taught you a valuable lesson, and what specifically you have done to make sure it will never happen again.

Look at it as a chance to impress your interviewer. That black mark can sometimes be turned into a selling point this way. Take it head on. Everyone has made mistakes, and most people are impressed by those who can admit their mistakes, learn from them and take moves to correct them.

On the other hand, if you try to cover up, they can often smell it - even if they can’t prove.

So make the right decision here.

Be rock solid when you go to your MBA admission interview. Learn what hidden mistakes will kill your chances, and what you absolutely must say to win over the interviewer. Learn this and more from your free report at: MBA Interview Questions