Help me answer this interview question please !!!!!

Hi friends,

I have BP, got my first depression when i was 17, it was 2 years of hard time,needed one more year to recover myself,lost one year of college,i mean i had to repeat that year.
the next 7 years were of hypomania, achieved success after success. completed computer engineering, thought those depressions were thing of the past, then again got hit by it when i was 24, again 2 years of depression,almost recovered this year, now i am 26 and currently here is my question....

Guys i was like having best profile, i had just taken admission into the best college in country to complete my masters in computer science. And then came depression,the lows. I had lot of stress, didn't like food in that university so ate unhealthy junk food. those were the triggers. So i left masters after completing first year.First year is known to be difficult and second i.e. last to be easy. Could have completed second year anytime within four years but didn't .. you know i lost my will to complete my masters. I guess i dont need to tell you guys about what happens during depression. also i am not as big geek as PhD. guys. i am more interested in earning money and shopping and looking good. You know being typical metrosexual straight guy!!

So that was it .. now its after 2 years of depression finally i am over my depression again . I want to pursue my MBA now,and earn lot of money , compensate lost 2 years, I am finally at my best again and just cracked challenging entrance exams of like six best B schools in country. So guys now i have like written aptitude test + personal interview . and i just want admission into one of those six colleges, i am confident about written but interview guys .. what the hell am i supposed to tell them? what did i do in last two years? They are gonna see my profile before that .. they will be impressed by that ,but for last 2 years .... cant tell them truth ... if i did they will throw stones at me .. well not literally but still ...

I am gonna say something like i lost my motivation in doing research in computers, decided this is not the thing i want to do, i was always interested in doing MBA(its the fact) .. and MBA pays lot more than other masters (but cant say this to them they will kick me out).Honestly, i have achieved more in last two years than most of my competition,I got over the depression,my BP,hypomania, mood swings, and recovered from downward spiral. But cant explain this to them. while i thought about suicide thousands of times and self harm like tens of thousands of times,didnt act on them. The biggest achievement in my life is that i haven't yet cut myself ...but they wont understand it ...

So again tell me what should i tell them,when they ask exactly what i did in last two years??????????????????

You cared for an ill family member

That's a brilliant answer. No one can argue with it, and it looks really good. Further, they can't really ask for additional details.

wow ... that is quite brilliant really .... really didnt think about lying and it will fit nicely ....

i can tell them i had some personal problems ... which is kind of true ... might work...

any other ideas????????

The truth: you were getting a college education.

If your going to lie, which "caring for a sick family member" is a brillant one, Don't go into detail it will only trip you up in the future. One lie is easy to remember, multiply ones wont be.

Good luck

It isn't a lie if you were the family member you were taking care of. And you don't really want to talk about it beyond saying that things are better now so you have your time back.

I agree that it is brilliant.

Also, I used to teach GMAT prep and although I was strictly doing that and not helping with the whole admissions process, I did get to know my students and can tell you thaat not everybody had a straight linear career trajectory leading up to the pursuit of the MBA. Admissions officials would have been otherwise bored to death. So, fear not and use the advice aabove.

But it's not a full on lie, you were the ill family member. Just don't tell them it was you, or that it was bp depression. If they pry further you could say it was a difficult family time, too hard and personal to talk about. I know I as an employer in California there are laws preventing me from prying into personal info during an interview. I don't know but would assume other interviewers would follow similar guidelines.

yes, it will work ... and yeah its not really lie, i was taking care of myself, i had BP and my psychiatrist prescribed me antidepressants instead of mood stabilizers ... it was like the most horrible time ...

I will lead by telling them it was personal ... they really wont ask me much after that i think .... and even if they did, i can tell them i am extremely annoyed by wasting my last two years, which is fact , the only thing i want to do is compensate those years , again which is fact... i guess it will work nicely!!!

Regarding you being the ill family member, equally brilliant.

Tell them the truth, then you don't have to cover any lies. Tell them you have a chronic illness and became ill and it was a long recovery, you still need to take medication but you are feeling much better. You took a break because you didn't want to have a failure on your record, because your not the failure type.

In the world of business, that would prevent someone from hiring. No employer wants to hear the person they want to hire might call out, or get sick and use the insurance benefits.

and did i mention i want to be banker ??? yup ... one of those guys who literally screwed up world's economy!! (but it pays great ) well they are not very nice people and they are never friendly... to tell them my weakness will be kind of stupid....

nobody is perfect but some people love to pretend that they are. i wont say anything about my bipolar... will tell them it was because of personal/family problems..
and honestly if i tried to tell them about my BP,dont know how/what will come out...... it was difficult,painful time ...... with painful memories

ABSOLUTELY do not disclose any weaknesses. There is no question about that. What you need is a GOOD story, not a TRUE story.