Sharad has asked me to contribute to this blog and I will gladly oblige. When interviewing candidates at my current employer, we often look for people who we don't mind spending several hours with (i.e., in a cramped conference room, during a flight delay, etc...you get the point).
So anway, this reminds me of a video I saw on youtube. It's from a guy who is waitlisted at UCLA's MBA program and he created a video to send to the Admissions Office with the hopes off getitng off the waitlist.
You can find it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVxcC7gSAH4
I am curious if this will work out for the chap. I thought it was fairly effective, but I thought he came off as arrogrant when showing how much $$$ he makes.
What do you guys think? Would you want him as your co-worker/classmate?
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Thanks for the first post.
ReplyDeleteBefore I give my opinion on this tool (yes, he's a tool)....a couple questions.
1) Why did you find his approach effective?
2) If you interviewed him, would he pass the O'Hare delay test?
3) Does he get into Anderson or not?
Note, the following response was written after only one viewing of the video a few hours ago. I don't remember every detail but I'm going on my general opinion
ReplyDeleteI don't know that I agree with Sharad in saying the guy's a tool (for a better representation, see Aleksey Vayner), but I don't think the video was effective.
Before I explain why, let me clarify one reasonably safe assumption I am making, which is: Adcom read his application, evaluated his credentials, interviewed him, and then made a decision to waitlist him. There was something about his qualifications that gave them pause. His objective, then, is to portray any additional information that may help him get in. I don't think he did that.
There were two instances that maybe portrayed information that would influence an adcom decision:
1) The interview with the friend/alum. But while this did serve to introduce a new 'recommendation', it seemed like more of a name-drop than a substantive testimonial.
2) The brief discussion of his work experience since applying. However, the paycheck thing was just really weird and drew my attention away from what he was saying. I don't remember being impressed.
Everything else in the video seemed like a waste of time. The ex-smoker and kids thing seemed like they were trying to create sentiment out of nothing, and the discussions with random students seemed pointless. Would I, as a hypothetical member of adcom seasoned in the admissions process, really need to hear what other students think is the best approach to get off the waitlist?
All in all, the guy gets points for creativity and courage in trying something unique. I'm indifferent about his personality - so we'll call that a push. But as far as providing any new information that changes my decision, I don't think he got me there.
wow, Amish spent some time psycho-analyzing this guy....love it
ReplyDeleteI felt that his video was very hokey. it was semi-original, but I feel like this is something that high school guidance counselors will use to warn their students.