The Interview Guide
I.E. The Rules of the Game
by Miguel Torrez · X-HEC Entrepreneurs Mock Interviewer
Important Notice
Please read this after you have conducted a mock interview, not before.
"After having interviewed God knows how many, these are some of the general takeaways I can give each of you. This is my personal opinion."
The Reality Check
If you are here, it means you are absolutely brilliant on paper — and you can and should be proud of landing an interview.
However, assume that there are at least ten other people who are just as impressive as you, on paper.
The objective of this interview is NOT for you to repeat everything in your essays and CV. We know you're brilliant. If the jury wanted to accept you on accomplishments alone, they would have already done so.
The objective is to evaluate whether you are a passionate enough human being worth investing time and effort into. Are you honest with yourself about why you're here? Are you smiling even when everything you've built is being criticized? Are you humble, yet filled with ambition?
How to Talk About Yourself
Your speech should be based on how you felt during your experiences — your adventures, leaps of faith — backed by facts. It is useless to repeat things from your CV without adding human emotion. Explain the rush, the joy, the fear. Show how you turn everything into a learning experience, whether failure or success.
"I built a company that made 5k MRR then I closed it, because my co-founder left me alone."
"I understood the importance of trust and having to align long-term visions and values when building a venture together, after closing a company due to vision misalignment."
Every line in your CV has value — you just have to extract it.
- Worked as a cashier? That taught you how to smile despite long hours in a monotonous job, taking shit from people who don't even know you.
- Worked as a salesman at a market? You know how to sell. If you can't sell in business, you're dead in the water.
- Worked in a hospital with the elderly or sick kids? Go find someone else who can still keep their composure in those conditions.
Core Frameworks
Structure is Key
Invert the way you structure your sentences. Start with the conclusion. Always. Impact is the name of the game. That way you're guaranteed to say everything you need to say.
And I'm looking at you all, spending ages explaining things because that's how you were taught — not a single one of you has avoided this trap.
Proof over Promise
Every statement NEEDS proof. "I'm disciplined" — everyone is. "I'm resilient" — astonishing. Instead:
Instead of "I'm disciplined"...
"For an entire month I ran a marathon each day even if my feet were hurting or bleeding."
Instead of "I'm impact-driven"...
"On weekends I volunteer at local shelters because I believe we should take better care of animals."
Words mean nothing. Action speaks volumes.
The "Ice Cream" Trap
Every time they try to pull you off-topic — news, random questions, anything — redirect it back to yourself.
Warning to engineers: You fall into this trap the most.
The X-HEC ecosystem has very strong cohesion. Show how you fit into it over the long term. Be a giver — give as much as you can — and in time, it will give back to you.
Prep Checklist
Know the program. Two missions: Creation and Redressement. Know the seminars (Impact, Sales, Code, Jura, Navale). Pick a favorite.
Know the history of the program — created by Robert Papin, oldest entrepreneurial master in France.
Know the success stories of the program.
HOT TAKE: Know the failure stories MORE than the success stories. Everyone knows the winners. You'll stand out if you know the other side too.
Know the current people: Guillaume le Dieu de Ville, Alain Raynal, Alain Bloch, Julien (Klaxit). And alumni.
Deep introspection: Why are you here? What do you want? Being honest with yourself is the hardest thing.
Run rough dry runs. Prepare for the worst, expect the best.
Prepare 3 pitches: 30s, 1min, and 1min30. Each shorter one must be contained inside the longer one (in case you get cut off).
Use intimate, human examples to show your motivation. People who lost loved ones, who had to carry their family, who overcame illness. It shows authenticity and honesty.
Humble. Authentic. Human. You can tell when someone is lying about their motivations. Just don't.
Accept the good, the bad and the ugly in your CV and extract as much value as you can from it.
What They're Looking For
Individuals with PASSION, driven by it. HUMBLE individuals. CURIOUS individuals. GENEROUS individuals.
People who will use the "entrepreneurial mindset" to drive change — whether now, or in 10 years.
Final Warning
If they make you doubt yourself, they win.
You are here to say as much as you can about yourself and what you bring. They are here to make you think you're not great (which you are) and to make you talk as little as possible.
Written by Miguel Torrez · X-HEC Entrepreneurs Mock Interviewer