Master of Business Administration
Beedie School of Business, Simon Fraser University
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2027 Admissions Interview Question Bank* (SFU BEEDIE MBA)
Can you walk me through your resume and introduce yourself?
Variants
- Can you share something about yourself that is not on your resume?
- Can you please introduce yourself?
- Can you please walk me through your background and introduce yourself?
- Tell me a bit about yourself and your background.
- Walk me through a notable experience from your resume.
- Tell me a bit about yourself and what drives you to pursue this program.
- Can you share a bit about your background and tell me what drives you to pursue this path?
Analysis
- Why asked: The interviewer wants to see how you contextualize your career decisions — not just what you did, but why each move made sense and how it built toward where you are now.
- Expectations: Strong candidates treat this as a narrative, not a data dump — they explain the logic behind each career move and connect experiences to skills relevant to this program.
- Strong answer: Walk chronologically through 2-4 key transitions, state the reason for each move and the biggest takeaway, and close with a sentence on why the degree is the next logical step.
- Common mistakes: Reading the resume verbatim, spending equal time on every role, or failing to explain why you made each career decision.
Why did you choose your current job, and what have you learned from it?
Analysis
- Why asked: Tests whether your career choices are deliberate and reflective — the 'what have you learned' part verifies the experience has produced real growth.
- Expectations: Strong candidates explain the genuine reasoning behind choosing the role and articulate specific, concrete lessons learned.
- Strong answer: Explain your actual decision-making at the time of joining — what drew you to it — then give 2-3 specific things you've learned about business, yourself, or your industry that you couldn't have gotten elsewhere.
- Common mistakes: Giving a vague 'I wanted a challenge' answer, describing what you've done without articulating genuine lessons learned, or choosing learning points so generic they could apply to any job.
What are your strengths and weaknesses? How have you worked on improving them?
Variants
- What are your main strengths, and what are two areas you want to improve?
Analysis
- Why asked: A classic diagnostic for self-awareness and growth mindset — the interviewer pays more attention to HOW you discuss your weakness and the improvement actions you've taken.
- Expectations: Strong candidates name a genuine weakness, describe a specific ongoing effort to address it, and show evidence of progress.
- Strong answer: For strengths, pick one and give a concrete example. For the weakness, name something real and describe a structured approach — course, feedback loop, deliberate practice — you're using to improve.
- Common mistakes: Saying the weakness is 'being a perfectionist,' not demonstrating actual improvement steps, or treating the strength and weakness as equally important — the weakness answer is what the interviewer remembers.
How would your boss describe you? What specific qualities or strengths would they highlight?
Variants
- How would your co-workers describe you?
Analysis
- Why asked: Tests professional reputation and self-awareness — 'specific qualities' means the interviewer wants evidence-backed claims, not flattering generalities.
- Expectations: Strong candidates name 2-3 traits their boss has actually recognized, ground at least one in real feedback, and paint a picture of how they're seen in the workplace.
- Strong answer: Name 2-3 specific traits, anchor one in real feedback your boss gave you, and briefly describe a situation where your boss would have seen each quality in action.
- Common mistakes: Making vague claims with no supporting evidence, choosing traits without any grounding in your actual role, or selecting attributes that don't match what your real position demands.
What achievements or successes have you had outside of family and work?
Analysis
- Why asked: A probe for extra-curricular and personal depth — the deliberate exclusion of family and work forces you to reveal personal initiative and life outside structured roles.
- Expectations: Strong candidates name specific accomplishments in domains like community involvement, personal pursuits, or creative endeavors, and speak about them with genuine engagement.
- Strong answer: Name 1-2 genuine achievements outside the obvious domains, describe what you actually did and what it produced, and explain why it matters to you personally.
- Common mistakes: Claiming there are no achievements outside family and work (reveals limited personal development), giving vague non-achievements ('I travel and learn new things'), or naming activities that are essentially work-adjacent.
Please write about three areas you want to learn and grow in during your MBA program.
Analysis
- Why asked: This self-development question tests whether the candidate has a genuine, specific learning agenda that goes beyond credential acquisition—and whether the three areas are coherent with their career goals and the program's offerings.
- Expectations: Strong candidates name three distinct learning dimensions (functional skill, leadership capability, personal development) that are genuinely underdeveloped relative to their goals, and connect each to a specific program resource or activity.
- Strong answer: An outstanding answer shows that the three areas are interconnected: each addresses a different facet of what it takes to succeed in the candidate's target career, and together they form a coherent development plan for the MBA years.
- Common mistakes: Naming three areas so generic they apply to any MBA student; or listing learning goals already well-addressed by the candidate's current experience—suggesting insufficient self-awareness about actual development needs.
*Disclaimer: This question bank is compiled and generated by MockMore (mockmore.com) based on applicant feedback, historical data, and our proprietary AI model. MockMore is an independent platform and is not affiliated with any university or video interview platform (such as Kira Talent, VidCruiter, InitialView, Vericant, etc.).
Interview Experience Records (from Real Candidates)
* The records were obtained from publicly available data or contributed by users of MockMore (mockmore.com), then reviewed and refined by our AI models.
* The records were obtained from publicly available data or contributed by users of MockMore (mockmore.com), then reviewed and refined by our AI models.