Hanna Renaldi's Blog: 7 Tips for Writing Harvard Business School’s Post-Interview Reflection

Tips for writing HBS's Post-Interview Reflections

Congratulations! You’ve just completed another step on the road to acceptance to Harvard’s MBA program – your interview. Now you have 24 hours to send HBS your Post-Interview Reflections…so let’s get started!

As soon as possible after your interview, sit down and think about the interview. Try and complete tips 1-3 immediately after the interview. You can complete 4-7 after you get home or at least back to where you’re staying in Boston.

1. Think about your responses that weren’t as clear as you wanted them to be.

Make a note of any answers where you didn’t hit the nail right on the head, or where you feel that your logic or story was a little fuzzy. How could you clarify?

2. Analyze the responses that were incomplete.

Jot down answers that you wanted to add something to later, but didn’t think of during the interview. What should you have included?

3. Take note of the responses when you did a great job.

Don’t ignore the answers that were on-point, where your thought process was organized, you were articulate, and got your point across. Give yourself a pat on the back! And also make a note.

4. Choose which elements you want to focus on in your Reflections.

Most of your Reflections should be from 1 and 2 above. Choose the points that you feel are most important for HBS to know about you. Since you don’t want your Reflections to only be about clarifications and adding things you forgot in the interview, weave in and attempt to close with a point related to the answer that you believe you aced.

5. Think of your Reflections as a one-on-one conversation with another person, or as HBS advises, “Think of it…as an email you might write to a colleague or supervisor after a meeting. “

Write to that person as you would in a business email: you can use the second person and the first person in your writing. Keep it cordial, and be sure that it is well-written, grammatically correct, and professional.

6. Write succinctly.

Don’t repeat information from your application or interview. They already have it on file. And don’t just repeat what you said in the interview. They heard it already.

7. Be sure to thank them for their time and continued consideration.

Remember, they are people, and like all people, they appreciate appreciation for the time that they’ve put into meeting with you.

Taking the time to consider your HBS interview will make writing your Post-Interview Reflection a much easier and meaningful experience. The result: a more effective, articulate piece of writing. Learn more about the HBS Interview Reflections here.

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