Many top business schools have started asking for impromptu video essays as a key part of their application process.
Please note the following before you continue: this article only deals with impromptu video essay questions from schools such as INSEAD, Kellogg and Yale. We do not cover the topic of recorded video essays which are asked by schools like MIT Sloan in this article.
As per the INSEAD admissions team: "The video should be seen as a unique opportunity for you to share your passions, your motivations and who you truly are. The MBA Admissions Committee is interested in obtaining an authentic view of you as a person, to see how you think on your feet and how you convey your ideas."
The Kellogg School of Management has similar expectations from its video essays: "The video essays provide you with an additional opportunity to demonstrate what you will bring to our vibrant Kellogg community — in an interactive way. You will respond to several short video essay questions. The questions are designed to bring to life the person we have learned about on paper."
So how do these video essays work? What do the schools ask? What are they trying figure out?
We tackle all these aspects in this blog post, along with some key tips on how to prepare for them.
Why ask for Video Essays for MBA Programs?
Before we even begin talking about these video essays, which literally feel like an extra hassle for the candidates after they have gone through the entire, exhausting written application, the first question that comes to mind is - why!?
Over the years, more and more schools have started asking for video essays, and have made it an important part of their application. The premise is simple - video essays help them see the candidate in a different light, compared to the written application.
While you might have excellent writing skills, and know your story well, videos help the schools gauge your real-life personality.
Are you someone who can interact easily with their future classmates?
Are you able to think quickly and structure yourself in a short-span of time, while maintaining your calm?
Are you able to present yourself confidently?
All these points are tackled very easily through a video presentation, when you are faced with multiple, unknown questions.
How to tackle Video Essays?
The first thing to keep in mind while addressing the video essays is that their purpose is NOT to filter candidates, rather help the admissions committees get a better idea of their personality.
One key thing that all schools look to understand from their video essays is - how does the candidate react in unfamiliar, unexpected situations. (To know about specific questions asked, scroll down to the bottom of the article.)
The trick to sailing through, therefore, is to remain calm, and be prepared!
How to Prepare for video essays?
We suggest a very simple, step-by-step process to help prepare for video essays.
Step 1: Know the questions.
Some schools, such as Kellogg, provide a pre-defined list of questions that you will face during the video essay section. For Kellogg, a total of three questions are asked, of which the first two remain the same for all candidates, and the third one is a randomised question.
However, for some schools such as INSEAD, all the questions are completely random. However, if you analyze carefully, the questions are usually associated with certain topics that are of great interest to the schools, or directly align with the school's values.
So it's imperative for you to know which kind of questions are usually asked during the video essays.
Step 2: Identify key experiences, events, strengths, weaknesses, and associated examples.
Once you know the kind of questions that might be asked by the school, you should identify your key experiences and examples of your strengths and weaknesses which could help you answer such questions.
For example, if the question asked is - what is your biggest strength, you shouldn't start thinking about your biggest strength while you are about to record your answer. Ideally, you should already know the answer, along with 1-2 examples of situations where you have displayed these strengths.
Step 3: Structure your answers.
So you have the question, you know the content that will fit in perfectly with the question, but do you have the perfect structure which can help you bring forth all the points that you want to make, in the limited amount of time that you have?
The 20-45 seconds of prep time that schools provide after asking the question should ideally be utilized to structure your response.
A highly productive use of this time is to clearly identify the introduction, body and the conclusion of your answer so that you are able to present yourself in a structured and composed manner.
Step 4: Practice. Practice. Practice.
There is no substitute to practicing for video essays for MBA applications. Familiarize yourself with the setup, practice multiple questions, identify the perfect ways to illustrate your various examples, and keep practicing further.
Unlike written essays where you have the possibility to review and edit your essays numerous times before submission, video essays don't provide you that flexibility. Further, they often come with stringent time-limits - try speaking about a key experience and you will realize how quickly 60 seconds pass away.
Therefore it is almost non-negotiable that you undergo multiple rounds of practice before attempting the video essays. Almost all schools provide this opportunity to practice innumerable times before you attempt the actual essay questions.
Practicing can also help you get rid of any anxiety, while creating a familiarity with the overall setup.
So, that's mostly it about video essays and how to tackle them.
Now we are going to dive deeper into the various schools which ask for video essays.
Few big names in the world of video essays are INSEAD, Kellogg School of Management, and Yale School of Management. Few other schools such as LBS, Rotman, Georgetown, Oxford Said, and Emory Goizueta also ask for video essays, and more and more schools have started bringing in the video essay component in their application process, but we wouldn't be going into specific details for those in this article.
We believe that once you get the hang of the preparation process for one or two schools, rest of the schools should be much easier to tackle. So, let's start.
Kellogg School of Management
How to access video essays: Link is made available after written application is submitted and paid.
Submission Deadline: 96 hours after round deadline.
The video essay component comprises three questions, each designed to help you showcase your personality and share some of your experiences. You have 20 seconds to think about the question and up to one minute to give your responses.
Examples of questions received by our past candidates:
Introduce yourself in a manner not in your resume.
Tell us something about yourself that we already don't know from your resume.
There are many MBA schools. What's so unique about Kellogg?
Tell me about a person whose experience you leveraged in your professional career. How did you do so?
Tell us about a time you received harsh feedback. What was your reaction and how did you address the feedback?
Tell us about a time where you used unique or creative way to solve a problem. What did you do and what was the outcome?
Tell us about a time you were uncomfortable. How did you feel?
Most important piece of advice you have received, and its impact on your life.
Link for more info: Kellogg Video Essays
Yale School of Management
How to access video essays: Link is made available after written application is submitted and paid.
Submission Deadline: 48 hours after round deadline.
There are 3 questions asked. As per Yale admissions team, "The questions asked are similar to typical interview questions, and there are no “trick questions.” We are not trying to stump you." You get 20-30 seconds preparation time, and responses can be 60-90 seconds long, depending on the question.
Usually Yale asks 3 different type of questions. Below are some examples,
Group 1: Motivation for MBA
Why are you pursuing an MBA at this point in your life?
Why are you doing an MBA now?
Why Yale?
Group 2: Behavioral Questions
You are starting a new project with team members coming from different cultures and educational background. How would you help them get to know each other?
What do you do when someone comes to you with a problem?
A colleague is asking you to help him/her to assess his/her future career options. How do you help him/her grow?
If you were a team leader and you had a worker who constantly underdelivered – what would you do?
What is your management style?
Give me an example of a time you convinced your other team members.
What word describes you best and why?
Tell us about an organization or activity to which you have dedicated significant time. Why was it meaningful to you?
What impact do you have on your co-workers?
How do you deal with conflicts in the work environment?
How do you deal with difficult people at work?
Have you ever been in a negotiation that wasn’t win-win, rather, win-lose or lose-lose?
Tell us about your leadership style.
What does leadership mean to you?
Tell us about a situation that you had to convince others of your opinion
What would you say is the biggest challenge facing leaders today?
What 3 qualities must a leader have and which is your weakest?
Tell me about a time when you showed initiative.
What qualities would your friends use to describe you?
Tell us about a challenging work experience and how you handled it.
What accomplishment are you most proud of?
Tell us about a time when you had to maintain your calm. Describe the situation and how you handled it.
Group 3: Thought-provoking and presenting yourself
Please respond to the following statement: “It is better for a leader to have superficial knowledge of many topics than to be an expert in one topic.” Do you agree or disagree with this statement?
Please respond to the following statement: “It is more important to judge people by their actions than by their intentions.” Do you agree or disagree with this statement?
Please respond to the following statement: “If freedom is about doing whatever you want, then animals have more freedom than humans.” Do you agree or disagree with this statement?
Please respond to the following statement: “The world has changed so much in the past 500 years that it is simply impossible for innovation to keep at the same pace, meaning the next 500 years will change less than the previous 500 years.” Do you agree or disagree with this statement?
Please respond to the following statement: “The people who we remember most are the people who break the rules.” Do you agree or disagree with this statement?
Please respond to the following statement: “Without Arts, education cannot be accomplished” Do you agree or disagree? Why?
Please respond to the following statement: “As businesses become more global, the differences between cultures decrease.” Do you agree or disagree? Why
Please respond to the following statement: “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”Do you agree or disagree? Why?
Some say that the invention of the automobile caused more harm than good to society. Do you agree? Why?
Globalization can be effective only when companies do not have to worry about health, environment, and employees”. Do you agree or disagree? Why?
Link for more info: Yale Video Essays
INSEAD
How to access video essays: Link is made available after written application is submitted and paid.
Submission Deadline: 48 hours after round deadline.
There are 4 questions asked. You get 45 seconds preparation time per question, and one minute for your response.
Based on our analysis of INSEAD video questions, we broadly classify them into 6 different groups - representing the different values or qualities that INSEAD looks for in its candidates.
Note: Candidates can receive questions from any group, in any order - the grouping is only meant to help ease the answer-preparation by identifying common themes. There can also be questions from outside the groups as these are not exhaustive and only meant to provide an easy starting point.
Examples:
Group 1: Motivation for MBA
Why INSEAD?
Please provide three reasons why we should admit you?
Group 2: Managing different cultures, differences in cultures, behavioural
Give us an example of a situation where you interacted with a different culture?
How would you lead a multi-cultural team?
What would you do if you move to a completely new country for a new job?
Please share an example where you faced discrimination because of your cultural background. What did you do?
Group 3: Business-acumen
What is the biggest problem that you are facing in your current industry?
If your company could launch one new product, what should it be?
How has the current crisis affected your industry?
Group 4: Dealing with failures, criticism
Tell us about a time when you received criticism from your manager? How did you react?
Share an example when an initiative you took failed. What did you do?
If you received negative feedback from your colleagues, how would you react?
Group 5: Personal questions
Share your favourite quote with us. Why is it important to you?
How have you changed over the years?
Who is your role model? Why?
What impact do you have on others?
Group 6: Leadership and team-building
What is your leadership style?
How will you build a team in a new country with significant cultural differences from your home country?
Tell us about a time when you handled a conflict within your teams.
Link for more info: INSEAD Video Essays
Oxford Said Business School
How to access video essays: Link is made available after written application is submitted and paid.
Submission Deadline: Same as round deadline.
There are a total of 5 questions. You get 45-60 seconds preparation time per question, and responses can be 60-90 seconds long, depending on the question. There is also a written question to assess your writing skills.
Motivation based questions:
These are designed to give you the opportunity to demonstrate (via video response) your motivations for undertaking an MBA, and why the Oxford MBA is the right programme for you.
Example: Why is an MBA the next step for you to further your career?
Competency based questions:
These will allow you to demonstrate (via video response) the skills and qualities Oxford looks for, such as decision-making, problem-solving, influencing, leadership, teamwork, change management, and communication. They will be randomised, with applicants receiving two competency-based questions from a pool of available questions.
Example: Take a minute to tell us about a time where you’ve overcome a challenging situation, either professionally or personally. What was your approach to resolving the situation?
Written question:
Oxford will also ask you to submit a ‘live’ written response. Instead of a pre-prepared essay that you’ve had weeks to perfect, you will be given a light-hearted question to answer there and then within the Kira Talent platform. The question will allow you to demonstrate your written communication skills and how well you can think on your feet. It will be randomised, with applicants receiving one written-response question from a pool of available questions.
Example: Apples are more versatile than bananas. Discuss.
Link for more info: Oxford Online Assessment