5 Tips for the Mandela Washington Fellowship Interview!

  by Tendai Banda, Civic Leadership, Malawi

Happy new year to you amazing young people in Malawi, Africa and beyond! The year 2018 presents us yet another chance to be the change we want to see in our communities! One of such ways of doing this is through pursuing personal development programs like the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders. If you applied for the 2018 cohort, you should have gotten your invitation to a face to face interview by now, well at least this is guaranteed for Malawi. Congratulations on this big first step towards becoming a 2018 Mandela Washington Fellow. If you didn’t then don’t feel bad as you can always try out again for the next cohort or other similar programs. To that end, I have been receiving inquiries from some fellowship applicants in terms of how they can handle the interview so I thought I should put this in writing in case somebody is still looking for a few pointers. On that note, here are 5 tips for preparing for the Mandela Washington Fellowship interview:  

1. Review Your Essays

It may look like the obvious step but reviewing your essays is very important as you prepare for the Mandela Washington Fellowship interview. They have allowed you to progress through this phase because of how you answered your essays and will build on that to establish if you are the right fit for the program or not. So, it is very important to read again what you wrote in your application essays, of course I don’t mean that you should memorize your answers.  

This is your story and you are the best person to explain from the heart how you are leading in your community or have the potential to lead. You may also want to think of other examples of how you are dealing with challenges in your work or solutions that you are offering to the community through your work apart from the ones you listed in your essays. This is to lookout for instances when they ask you to explain something different from what you already gave in your responses. Also expect follow-up questions from the panel to the responses that you will be giving. This is just to understand you better as a leader. 

2. Read about the track you applied for

At this point you already know that there are 3 tracks that are offered by the fellowship including; Business and Entrepreneurship Institute, Civic Leadership Institute and Public Management Institute. You are advised in the fellowship application instructions to rank the sector/track in order from the track that most closely aligns with your daily work, education, or community involvement. You are also advised that if selected for the Mandela Washington Fellowship you may not be placed in your first choice track but you may be placed in a different track that, based on your application materials, fits your profile. It then becomes important to remind yourself again about the track which you ranked high so that you can ably ensure that your answers reflect what they look for in fellows under the particular track and how it relates to what you are doing in your community. You may also wish to read on the other tracks in case you are re-assigned to another track or if you are me, revise the whole application pack to ensure that you are familiar with the fellowship expectations and requirements. If you lost the application instructions you can download on the YALI website (https://yali.state.gov/MWF/) or here.

3. Be able to explain why you want to be a Mandela Washington Fellow 

I remember my experience last year, walking to the interview room with a detailed plan of how I will attempt the usual first question about, “Tell us about yourself?” I had practiced the question and was sure that I would be fine to handle the interview after this ice breaker. I was in for a surprise as after the pleasantries by the panel the first question was, “So, Tendai, why do you want to be a Mandela Washington Fellow?”  

You can imagine how my structured plan fell apart! lol! I managed to put together a response but trust me it wasn’t an easy task. Of course by virtue of being selected to the 2017 cohort, we can assume that it wasn’t that bad. However, if I would do it again I would ensure that I am comfortable with answering this important question. Having an idea of why you want to be a fellow gives the panelists an idea of why you are a great catch for the fellowship. 

4. Link up with a Mandela Washington fellow

During the written application phase most hopefuls approached current or previous fellows to review their essays. This can also be helpful as you prepare for your face to face interview. 

2017 Mandela  Washington Fellows, Malawi

The fellows went through the interviews too and can give tips or address some of the questions you may have for a particular track or anything which I have not covered here. You can also ask them of the questions they were asked if you need to have an idea of what to expect. This can be over some lunch, coffee, whatsapp or Skype. If you can’t find a fellow, anyone who you look up to or who has undergone any similar program can equally be helpful. In my case, my friend Emily helped me prep. 

5. Prepare like you would for any other Interview

Just like any other interview, preparation is key in acing this interview. Ensure that you are well-dressed (suit up if you have to) and on time for the interview. This also includes knowing the interview location before the day of the interview (In Malawi, mostly at the American Embassy Public Affairs Section, Lilongwe). Most of the questions are going to be situational that is asking you to expound on different scenarios which can portray your leadership capabilities or potential. Ensure that you prepare to ably articulate the situation, task at hand, the action that you took to address it and the results that came out of your efforts. You may also want to anticipate being asked to describe your vision as a leader for example where do you see yourself in the next 5 years. Be open minded too as your interview may be different from the previous year which shouldn’t be a problem really if you are prepared. 

In conclusion, feel it in your heart that you are one step closer to an amazing experience that’s going to positively affect your path as a young leader as well as personal or career development. Be confident that if you have been shortlisted from the many applications you have the potential of making it to the final list and being part of the 2018 Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African leaders. The panel is going to make you feel comfortable and you are going to do just fine. Otherwise, I wish you all the best, go and show them what you are made of!

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