LBS interview tips

On the B-week forums there are a few staple questions: how much chance have I got to be admitted to X, do I need to retake the GMAT, what are the interviews like. I'm definitely not an expert, but having gone through the LBS interview process, I have written a few things down in the hope they're helpful for future applicants. NB A lot of this stuff was originally written by me as answers on the b-week forums.

About the interview process
All LBS interviews are held by alumni, never by adcom. The procedure is as follows: once you are invited, they'll start looking for alumni in the location you wrote down in the application, and after a little while send you the details. It is then up to you to contact the alum and make arrangements before a specific date (which'll be mentioned in the email). Interviews last about 90 mins and consist of the regular MBA-interview questions (why now, why mba, why lbs, walk me through your cv) to specific ones about your app. To top it all off there's a 5-minute impromptu presentation which you get a few minutes to prepare for. What they're looking for is to see if you can express yourself eloquently and coherently. In most interviews there's also room for you to ask questions.

About the preparation
I wrote 4 different applications, and although I did not use an admissions consultant to write the essays and I did not 'fabricate' a story (that is: I wrote down what I wanted, not what I thought adcom might like, I figured if they like the Suzy-flavour then fine, if not, then that's not the school for me), it was hard to remember after two months what exactly I wrote. So for me it was crucial to sit down the night before and revisit what I had written, which also helped to get me all fired up again about LBS and how much I would like to go there.

My interviewer, who by the way is a great guy, knew my application inside and out, he quoted from it without having to open it. I suppose what it boils down to is: be yourself, relax, it's supposed to be an enjoyable experience, and you get to talk about yourself for 90 mins! For some people it helps if they practice their interviews with friends.

About the specific questions
Walk me through your resume starting at university, tell me about your job now, why an MBA, why at LBS, what do you see yourself doing immediately after your MBA, how did you handle a difficult situation in a team you worked in, what is your leadership style, what activities would you like to be involved in at LBS and then some specific questions about the industry I wanted to move into. All this followed by the impromptu 5 min presentation. I think I've forgotten a few, my interview lasted about 90 mins, or else I gave quite elaborate answers ;-) In my interview there wasn't one focus, it was sort of a long conversation which flowed quite naturally from one question to another.