????她還表示：“我們發(fā)現(xiàn)這些視頻非常管用，的確增加了招生委員會(huì)工作流程的客觀性。”通常情況下，當(dāng)一位申請(qǐng)者進(jìn)入面試環(huán)節(jié)時(shí)，他或她面對(duì)的只是招生委員會(huì)的一位成員。有了視頻之后，每一位委員都可以看到申請(qǐng)者活靈活現(xiàn)的樣子。“這有助于我們識(shí)別超級(jí)明星，并做出一些艱難的選擇。”

????在凱洛格管理學(xué)院，MBA候選人需要在幾分鐘內(nèi)，通過(guò)一個(gè)類似Skype的屏幕回答一個(gè)自發(fā)的隨機(jī)性問(wèn)題。凱洛格管理學(xué)院負(fù)責(zé)招生工作和助學(xué)金事宜的副院長(zhǎng)凱特?史密斯表示：“我們覺(jué)得這是一個(gè)與申請(qǐng)者見(jiàn)面的絕佳機(jī)會(huì)，無(wú)論他們來(lái)自世界哪一個(gè)地區(qū)。我們認(rèn)為，就視頻技術(shù)而言，我們已經(jīng)經(jīng)過(guò)了一個(gè)轉(zhuǎn)折點(diǎn)，現(xiàn)在很適應(yīng)了——大部分申請(qǐng)者會(huì)用Skype或FaceTime。

????凱洛格管理學(xué)院的申請(qǐng)者將享有三次機(jī)會(huì)，來(lái)錄制一個(gè)令人信服的答案。如果覺(jué)得第一個(gè)問(wèn)題有點(diǎn)難度，他們可以放棄，并要求回答另一個(gè)——每次的問(wèn)題都是不同的。雖然這聽(tīng)起來(lái)挺有壓力，但招生團(tuán)隊(duì)希望，通過(guò)這種形式，他們可以跟每年申請(qǐng)就讀凱洛格管理學(xué)院的5千多人進(jìn)行更真實(shí)的互動(dòng)溝通。

????“這些問(wèn)題的精神在于，用一種自發(fā)的形式，了解我們的候選人更加個(gè)性的一面，”史密斯說(shuō)。“其設(shè)計(jì)宗旨是，讓那些我們已經(jīng)通過(guò)紙面了解的候選人活靈活現(xiàn)地出現(xiàn)在我們面前，從而讓我們更加深入地了解他們的愛(ài)好、興趣和想法。”

????這種視頻內(nèi)容不會(huì)取代凱洛格管理學(xué)院的個(gè)人面試——這是這所商學(xué)院嚴(yán)格的申請(qǐng)程序的中流砥柱。目前，二年級(jí)學(xué)生和校友對(duì)許多候選人進(jìn)行了面試訪談。

????達(dá)席爾瓦透露稱，幾個(gè)月前，在決定推出視頻申請(qǐng)環(huán)節(jié)之前，凱洛格曾經(jīng)咨詢過(guò)羅特曼管理學(xué)院的意見(jiàn)。羅特曼管理學(xué)院聲稱，即使是那些緊張不安的申請(qǐng)人，通常也對(duì)這種新的視頻測(cè)試稱贊有加。“他們認(rèn)為，這種形式有點(diǎn)令人望而生畏，但他們非常喜歡，因?yàn)樗麄冎溃辽偎麄兪聦?shí)上能夠站在整個(gè)招生委員會(huì)的面前。這樣他們就有機(jī)會(huì)講述自己的故事，盡管這聽(tīng)起來(lái)有點(diǎn)嚇人。”她說(shuō)。

????在試行那一年，羅特曼管理學(xué)院并沒(méi)有給這些視頻材料打分。但現(xiàn)在，這所學(xué)校打算這樣做。達(dá)席爾瓦估計(jì)稱：“其中大約10%到15%并沒(méi)有給我們留下深刻的印象。真正脫穎而出的是一小部分，大約20%吧，它們勝出的主要原因在于內(nèi)容，而不僅僅是表演的精彩程度。”

????羅特曼管理學(xué)院正在進(jìn)行一些調(diào)整。在試行期間，所有申請(qǐng)者都被要求回答一個(gè)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)問(wèn)題，第二個(gè)問(wèn)題則是從一個(gè)大約由25個(gè)問(wèn)題構(gòu)成的問(wèn)卷庫(kù)中隨機(jī)抽取的。每個(gè)問(wèn)題要求的回應(yīng)時(shí)間都不超過(guò)一分半鐘。

????但有時(shí)候，一些申請(qǐng)者開(kāi)始以匿名形式在留言板上張貼問(wèn)題，從而使視頻問(wèn)答環(huán)節(jié)喪失了出其不意的效果。所以，羅特曼管理學(xué)院今年取消了標(biāo)準(zhǔn)問(wèn)題，并將問(wèn)題清單擴(kuò)大至100多個(gè)——其中一半與候選人的價(jià)值觀有關(guān)，剩下一半則涉及他們的經(jīng)驗(yàn)和興趣。

????本文開(kāi)頭提到的那位羅伯特輕松地通過(guò)他的試鏡。羅特曼招生委員會(huì)認(rèn)為他信心十足，能言善道，盡管該委員會(huì)對(duì)其申請(qǐng)材料的其他方面有疑慮，比如他目前處于失業(yè)狀態(tài)等等。看來(lái)，即使鏡頭前的發(fā)揮非常出彩，也不見(jiàn)得能夠完全打動(dòng)這些苛刻的招生官員。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

????譯者：任文科

????"We found it incredibly helpful," she adds. "It really allowed the admissions committee to bring more objectivity to the process." Usually, only one member of the admissions committee will interview an applicant when he or she is presented in committee. With video, every member of the panel can see the applicant in action. "It's been helpful to identify superstars and to make some of the tough decisions."

????At Kellogg, MBA candidates will have several minutes to answer a spontaneous, randomized question on a Skype-like screen. "We felt like this was a great opportunity to meet our applicants from wherever they might be in the world," says Kate Smith, Kellogg's assistant dean of admissions and financial aid. "We felt that we were past the tipping point in terms of video technology and comfort with it – most applicants would have used Skype or FaceTime."

????Kellogg's applicants will have the luxury of three tries to record a compelling answer. If they bomb the first question, they can discard it and request another one – they'll receive a different question each time. While it sounds stressful, the admissions team hopes it will lead to more authentic interactions with the more than 5,000 people who apply to Kellogg every year.

????"The spirit of the questions is to get to know our candidates on a more personal level in a spontaneous format," Smith says. "They're designed to bring to life the person we've learned about on paper in the application, including their passions, interests and ideas."

????The video component will not replace Kellogg's personal interviews – a mainstay of the B-school's rigorous application process. Currently, second-year students and alumni conduct many of the in-person interviews.

????Kellogg, says da Silva, consulted with Rotman a few months ago before deciding to launch the video essay. Rotman claims that even jittery applicants have generally given the new video test a thumbs up. "They thought it was a little daunting but they liked it because they knew that at least they would be able to get in front of the admissions committee virtually," she says. "It gave them the chance to tell their story, although it was a little intimidating."

????During its pilot year, Rotman didn't grade the videos. But now it intends to do so. "About 10% to 15% were just not very strong," estimates da Silva. "Then there was a small percentage, about 20%, that really stood out, largely because of the content and not just delivery."

????Rotman is making some adjustments. During the pilot, a standard question was asked of all applicants and then a second question was randomly chosen from a bank of some 25 queries. Each question required a response no longer than one and a half minutes.

????But the element of surprise was sometimes lost when applicants anonymously began posting the questions on message boards. So this year, the standard question has been tossed and the list of questions has been expanded to slightly more than 100—half of them on the candidate's values and the remaining half on their experiences and interests.

????As for Robert, he easily passed his screen test. The admissions committee at Rotman thought him confident and articulate, though it had questions about other aspects of his application, including the fact that he was currently unemployed. So even his stellar on-tape performance didn't completely sway the admissions staff.