I was invited to interview by Haas a couple of weeks ago and was matched with an Abu Dhabi alumni with extensive consulting experience with an interesting UN digression. Again my interviewer was an engineer pre-MBA which was again useful interview fodder.

We met at his office in Abu Dhabi and after quickly walking him through my resume, we drilled down to Haas specifics: Why Haas, Why is the culture a good fit? What excites you most about the program? My answers were pretty solid (I know the Haas program well), but I still felt more was expected from me (perhaps actual courses / professors etc).

We then moved on to my long-term plans. Luckily my interviewer had recently written a high-profile report on the Middle East Media Industry and so the conversation flowed into a discussion on the state and future of the sector.

I was then asked what my most embarassing moment in my professional career had been (plenty of examples to draw on!) before we moved on to my questions about Haas.

I asked about the Haas alum community in the region and we talked about specifics of the Management of Tech program which my inteviewer had specialized in. We also talked about clubs and tactics for optimizing the B-School experience.

After the interview, he shared a few reports he had worked on for the Abu Dhabi government on the ‘Cities of the Future’ that were related to some of my experiences working with the Dubai government and on leaving he gave me a copy of the Arab Media report.

I thought we had a good rapport and connection, and I left excited about the Haas culture and the thought of moving to the Bay Area.

Three or four days later I received a call informing me I had been offered a place at Berkeley!