UPDATE: This article was originally posted on July 4, 2018. It has been updated with new information and tips below.
With applications to European business schools soaring, INSEAD has become the top choice MBA program for a rapidly increasing number of applicants.
Driven by their interest in attending the world’s most global MBA (with more than 94 nationalities represented), many applicants dedicate countless hours writing INSEAD’s numerous admissions essays and then rush through the video essay component.
This is a huge mistake.
In addition to giving the admissions committee the chance to “put a face with a name,” the video essay is an essential part of the INSEAD application, as it allows committee members to determine if your communication style and values are a good fit with the INSEAD community.
In fact, in our experience helping 98% of all our INSEAD applicants secure a place at the school, we have noticed that the video essay is much more influential in an applicant’s admissions decision than the admissions interview.
That’s why we’ve prepared this guide to help you understand how the INSEAD video essay works and have shared our best tips to ensure you record an outstanding video essay that ensures you pass through to the interview round. As a bonus, we’ve also included a list of potential video essay questions to ensure you put your best foot forward!
Why does INSEAD require a video essay?
When we first started working with INSEAD applicants many years ago, the video essay component had not yet been introduced. However, since its launch in mid-2016, the video essay has quickly become a critical part of the application.
That’s because it gives the admissions committee the chance to truly “meet” candidates — as well as identify red flags in potential members of the INSEAD community.
According to INSEAD’s admissions committee, “The video should be seen as a unique opportunity for you to share your passions, your motivations and who you truly are. The MBA Admissions Committee is interested in obtaining an authentic view of you as a person, to see how you think on your feet and how you convey your ideas.”
With that in mind, it’s extremely important to make sure you fully understand this component of the application.
How does the INSEAD video essay work?
The way the video essay works is very simple.
After submitting your application, you will receive an email from a company called Kira Talent. This email will contain a link that allows you to access the video essay platform.
After signing in and starting the session, you will get five questions in total, four spoken and one written.
The questions are random, yet tend to focus on a few key areas. We’ll go more into detail about the types of questions you can expect below.
The format
If you’ve taken the TOEFL exam, you’ve already practiced for the type of format you can expect in the INSEAD video essay!
After signing in and “starting” the session, a video will appear on the screen. This video will show a member of the INSEAD community, who will read the question you are tasked with answering. The question will also appear in written form under the video.
After the time runs out, the screen video will disappear and your image will be visible on the screen. At this point, your 45 seconds to think will automatically appear.
After the preparation time runs out, the clock to answer (60 seconds!) will start, and you will need to give your answer during this period of time. Remember: you cannot redo any of the questions.
After you answer the question, the system will upload your answer to the server (depending on your connection this can take a while) and will present you the next question.
DO NOT leave your computer during the upload time, even if it’s taking a while. You cannot pause the process, and you may end up missing questions!
Technical requirements
According to INSEAD, “You will need an internet connection, a camera and a microphone. You can test your devices before starting the exercise.” Though the platform states you can complete the video essay on your mobile device, we have found that this does not consistently work.
Furthermore, given past applicants’ issues with the iPad version of the application, we strongly suggest you record your answer on a computer.
If you do end up experiencing technical issues, access the support page here.
Deadlines
Regardless of when you submit your application, you need to submit your video essay response within 48 hours of your chosen round’s deadline. Find INSEAD’s most current application deadlines here.
If you submit your application early, you can submit the video essays at any time, as long as you make the final deadline.
Answer time limits
After receiving the spoken questions, you will have 45 seconds to think and then 60 seconds to answer. There are no opportunities to redo the question, and you only get one chance to speak and provide your answer.
For the written portion, you will receive your question and then have 5 minutes to write your response. Once the time is up, whatever you have written will automatically be sent.
Which types of questions are asked?
For this question, there won’t be a specific prompt you can answer in advance. Instead, you’re going to receive a random behavioral-based question. This question may be focused on your characteristics, or it may allow you to share a professional example that highlights your personality traits.
The best advice for this section is to think about what it’s asking you and what you can show about yourself, your achievements, and your values.
If the question asks about your favorite book, the admissions committee will get a certain impression of you based on what you choose. If you choose a book that’s all about adventure, we’ll assume that’s important to you. If you choose a book about economics, we’ll assume that’s a key part of your life.
So think about how you want the admissions committee to learn about you beyond what you’ve already shared in your application.
If you get a question that’s more like a traditional behavioral interview question, try to draw on examples. Furthermore, make sure to show your human side and demonstrate that you genuinely care for others and want teams you join to succeed. It can be easy to answer in a very conversational way, but doing so can often lead to an answer without a point, so make sure you use your planning time to structure the key elements of your answer.
Regardless, be careful about what you choose to show here. Keep in mind that Kellogg prefers globally-minded leaders who embrace diversity, so don’t miss an opportunity to reinforce your personal brand and your fit with the school’s values.
Here is a list of the types of questions you can expect:
- Your teammate is shy. How would you help this person speak up?
- What helps you keep motivated and engaged at work?
- Tell us when you had to interact with someone who didn’t speak your language or had a strong accent. How did you communicate?
- You were just hired by Tim Cook. What feature would you develop that helps the company stand out?
- What challenges do you think you might have during the MBA program?
- Why pursue an MBA at INSEAD right now?
- Share a situation where you interacted with a person from a different culture than your own.
- Tell us about a time you made a decision without your manager’s help or input.
- What makes you stand out from other applicants?
- Do you believe you are fully conscious of your own bias? If yes, how?
- Imagine a situation in which your team has a specific delivery for a project, but everyone except you is unmotivated, resulting in low-quality results. What would you do to address and overcome this situation?
- Tell us about some of the biggest risks you have taken in your life and what have you learned
- What do you do when someone on your team is frustrated?
- What types of projects motivate/interest you the most? (this question shows up a lot)
- What would you do if a colleague was not able to formulate a strong argument in English?
- Do you believe that getting to know a different culture expands your view of the world? If so, how?
- Tell us about your hobbies and why you enjoy them.
- Tell us about a time you had to make an ethical decision. How did you approach it?
- Tell us about one of your passions.
- How do you expect to be treated by others who are culturally different from you?
- If you were a global leader, what would you do to improve people’s lives?
- Tell us about something unique to your culture, that other cultures don’t do.
- What does bad team management look like to you?
- You were assigned to a critical project and you’ve done all the work but when presenting to your manager, a colleague takes all the credit. How would you deal with it?
The Written Question
Unlike many other schools, you will also be required to complete a written question for the INSEAD Video Interview.
Remember there are no right answers to this question. INSEAD simply wants to see how you communicate in writing and how you structure your thoughts. As long as you answer the question and have a clear flow from idea to idea, you’ve done a great job!
TOP TIP: Though you might be tempted to just put the question into ChatGPT and copy/paste the text, we highly advise against this. Yes, AI can be a great tool for brainstorming written texts. However, here, you don’t have enough time to use the AI-generated answer as a jumping-off point for your own unique answer. Furthermore, most schools consider copy/pasting AI-generated content plagiarism, so it’s best just to write your own text here. Yes there may be a few mistakes, but it’s better to have a few mistakes and have it be your own work than be dinged.
Here is a list of the types of questions you can expect:
- Describe a time when you had to make a difficult decision that went against popular opinion. What was the outcome?
- What do you think is the problem humanity needs to solve the most urgently and what do you think can be done?
- Tell us about a challenge you faced that changed the way you view failure. How did it impact your approach to future challenges?
- Explain a situation where you had to navigate an unfamiliar environment or culture. How did you adapt?
- Describe a time when you stepped out of your comfort zone to achieve something meaningful. What did you learn from the experience?
- Tell us about a time when you had to take responsibility for a mistake. How did you handle the situation and what was the result?
- Describe a situation where collaboration with others led to an unexpected success. What role did you play in the outcome?
- Tell us about a situation where you took a risk and it backfired on you.
- Tell us about a time when you had to balance competing priorities under pressure. How did you manage the situation?
- Describe a project or task that pushed you to develop a new skill. How did that new skill serve you in the future?
- Reflect on a time when you faced an ethical dilemma. How did you resolve it and what guided your decision?
The difference between a good and great video essay
Given the importance of the video essay in your INSEAD application, it’s crucial to make sure you don’t just have a good video essay, but that you have a great video essay.
Now that you’ve learned how the video essay will work, we’ve gathered our top 5 tips here to ensure your video essay performance brings you one step closer to reaching your goal of attending INSEAD.
Make sure you shine
You have stressed about every aspect of your INSEAD application, and now you are ready to record your video essay! With the right preparation, this can be your chance to shine and get a highly-coveted spot at INSEAD.
However, maybe you don’t know where to start in preparing, or maybe you ramble on and lose your focus while answering. Maybe you’ve even downloaded the sample questions and written out your answers. The problem is, when you try to apply these templates to your own story, it doesn’t quite work.
Our video essay prep focuses on helping you determine how to present yourself to INSEAD while using appropriate, impact-driven language without being artificial, or worse, robotic.
That’s why 98.9% of our clients are admitted, like our client Georgia, who recently secured a place at INSEAD with a €20,000 scholarship. Here’s what she had to say about the preparation process:
Want to put the Ellin Lolis advantage to work for you?
Schedule your preparation session with our team of interview experts today!
Real MBA Essays That Got People In
School-specific sample essays that got our clients accepted
