IIFT Interview Experience MBA (2015-17)

Name :- Ashish Mishra (B.Tech, CSE, Fresher)

Date :- 02.02.2015 (Morning Slot)

Venue :- IIFT Kolkata.

Going into the first GDPI Process of the MBA Season, I was filled with nervousness and anxiety. Reached the Venue well in time. Friends do keep an Identity card along (PAN, Driving License, Passport, Voter Id) and all the documents.

We were seated in the Conference Room. A total of 30 people were called in the slot with 10 candidates in each group.

The professors came in at 9 AM Sharp and spoke about the the whole process. WAT was to start from 9:10 AM.

WAT :- "Eliminating Female foeticide in India". Wrote some good points raised issues like dowry, compared the states with best and worst gender ratios and how do they differ in socio-economic development, female literacy lingers at approx 65% while male literacy is at 85% , increasing focus on girl education, "Beti Bachao Beti Padhao" project.
Duration :-  (20 minutes)
Overall satisfied with my essay.

GD :- "India will surpass China's growth rate : Mirage or reality"

Everybody got 1 minute to speak individually at the beginning before it was open for group discussion for another 20 minutes. It was an engrossing discussion with no fish market scenario. Chipped in with 6-7 points in between. It was getting better for me :)
Duration :- (1*10+20)

PI :- 3 Panelists, P1 and P2 were Professors while P3 was an IAS Officer.

There was a problem initially they mistook me for another guy who was absent and was slotted to come before me. Told them about it and then they came out with my CV Form. They needed time to scan the form so my PI began.

P2 :- Tell me about yourself.
Me :- Spoke for about 30-40 seconds when P1 cut in.

P1 :- Your scores fell in XIIth and again rose in Graduation. What happened.

Me :- Told, was focusing more on JEE Preparation and admitted my immaturity and spoke about improvements made in Grad and justified it well.

P1 :- Tell me why IIFT

Me :- Told convincingly

P2 :- Why IB.

Me :- Told about the value addition that Internationally oriented subjects provide alongwith the regular subjects. I had mentioned Finance as my interest hence told them that apart from regular Finance IIFT (IB) Course offers International Finance which is something that no other degree provides. They looked convinced.

P3 :- Your father is a lawyer, tell me where does he practise.

Me :- Calcutta High Court

P3 :- Who is the Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court

Me :- Told and also added she is the first woman CJI of CHC. (Luckily I had asked a friend Nitin to search for her name just 5 minutes prior to the interview on his phone).

P3 :- Who is the Chief Justice of India.

Me :- Told.

P1 :- What kind of cases does your father deal with? (Had written my father as my inspiration for pursuing IB)

Me :- He deals with NPA related assets and their recovery for Banks.

P2 :- What is NPA?

Me :- The professor gave me a strange look but I was prepared for this, answered and explained it to the detail, he said Good (First of many in the interview :))

P3 :- What is the process of debt recovery?

Me :- Sir after declaration of NPA for an account legal proceedings are initiated and a Suit is filed in the DRT. (I knew everything in detail because I had worked closely with my father around 3-4 years back on many cases doing all the paperwork).

P1 :- What is DRT?

Me :- Debt Recovery Tribunal which are special fast track courts set for this very purpose. (Good! Again :) )

P3 :- After a matter is settled at DRT without a favourable judgement what is the next step.

Me :- It is sent to the DRAT.

P3 :- What does it stand for.

Me :- I did not know that and hence told. P3 asked me to guess and helped me to arrive at the answer.

P3 :- What is SARFAESI Act.

Me :- I do not know the full form of the acronym but it is an Act which is used in DRT in cases where Debt Recovery is to be done. He told me the Full form and asked me the year, I knew that (2002).

P3 :- Tell me what is the thin line between confidence and over confidence (I had written it in my weakness)

Me :- Answered, was prepared for this. P1 and P2 nodded and looked satisfied.

P3 :- So you are a student and a Part time QA Faculty and also a business Quizzer?

Me :- Yes Sir.

P3 :- Who is the MD of Tata Group

Me :- Sir they do not have an MD but a Chairman and Cyrus Mistry who was previously with Shapoorji Palonji is the current Chairman and Boss. P3 (Very Good!).

P3 :- Who is the MD of L & T?

Me :- I cannot recall his name at the moment.

They informed that the interview was over. It lasted not more than 7 minutes. No questions on acads, project, internship though I was quite prepared for those. The interview did not last very long which is why I feel a bit anxious about the PI. Hoping for the best.

Whether I convert it on not will be a story for some other day. All the Best to the rest of the candidates.

My Advice :- Know yourself well, be thorough with your CV form and read everything about the person who inspired you to pursue a career in BM. Some people were asked questions on current affairs like NITI Aayog, Swach  Bharat, Jan Dhan Yojana so prepare well. People with work-ex had questions on their company, CEO, type of work, etc. Some Freshers also had questions from their academics and Final Year Project.

Interview Experience - IIM A

Name :- Aviral Bhatnagar

Source :- PG

My IIM Ahmedabad Interview Experience.

It was a dream, still feels like one.

CAT 2013:

Aggregate 99.99
Verbal: 100.00
Quant: 99.44

Profile:

Acads
X ICSE 2008 (95.00)
XII Maharashtra Board HSC (Science) 2010 (84.7)

Undergrad Stream:

BTech Engineering Physics IIT Bombay 2014 (85.4)

Work-Ex:0

Extra-curricular: National Business Plan Competition winner, Startup core team Member, Institute Literary Arts Secretary with Organisational Color, National Level Quiz winner, International Quiz participant, Case Competition national runner up.

Interview & Essay 

Venue: The Orchid, Mumbai
Date : 10.02.2014

WAT

There was a case-comprehension and a WAT, given 30 minutes for both together.

Case: A long essay on how the environment and economy are at loggerheads, and the bodies responsible for it.

Questions of the case: Who is the unholy struggle between? Who do you think the author blames for this unholy struggle? Do you agree with the author’s opinion and why?

Brief Snapshot: Did okay I believe, answered all quite satisfactorily.

Topic: Write about a teacher who has had an indelible impact on your life, how that teacher is different from the others who have taught you and really stands out.
Brief Snapshot of the attempt: Wrote decently well, talked about how one of my teachers helped me improve as a person, better myself academically, topped because of her and so on and so forth.

Rate your preparation(0-5): 2
Rate your performance(0-5): 4

PI:

Panel Members: One young gentleman (P1) and another older gentleman (P2) . The young gentleman was on the left and I think he was an alumni of IIT Bombay (he knew about where the lake was etc.)

Walk in, P2 is at the door and takes me inside. I take my seat, I was quite peaceful, had chit chatted with them a little bit before the PI. I was the first person of my panel (and I think the first person to be interviewed by IIM Ahmedabad)

P1 : So you seem to have run out of space for the essay on your teacher, do you want to add something else? It looks like you ran out of space

Me : No sir, I just overshot a bit, I don’t have anything to add.

P1 : Are you sure?

Me : Yes sir.

P1 rummaging through my file. I see he needs help.

Me : Sir, can I take out my certificates.

P1 : Please do so

I take out my certificate along with the magazine made by our startup, and give to them

P2 : How do you think you did on them? Do you want to discuss something more, or should we move on?

Me : No sir, I think I wrote decently well enough

P2 : Okay, so do you know anything about such problems (with reference to the case) in present day India?

Me : No sir, I can’t think of any. But I am aware of this one. (Pause, so I continue). Sir there was this issue concerning Vedanta (wasn’t there in the case) trying to get a captive bauxite mine.

P2 : So where was this?

Me : Sir it was in Odisha, and the tribals opposed the move. It was given as a verbal confirmation by the government, and Vedanta invested a lot of money in it. But this issue cropped up and the tribals the MoEF opposed it, so it was disallowed

P1 : Okay, so you’re from IIT Bombay, what is your favorite place?

Me : Sir Lakeside (Powai Lake) and Hillside (Sameer Hill)

P1 : Which lake Powai or Vihar?

Me : Sir Powai Lake Sir

P1 : Why not Vihar? You’re in which hostel?

Me: Sir Hostel 4

P1 : So isn’t there a road near Hostel 4 to Vihar Lake (Here is where I guessed he is an alum)

Me: Yes Sir, but it’s restricted now

P1 : Hmm, so where do you get potable water from in IIT?

Me: Sir, there is pipeline that passes by my hostel, I am not sure if it carries potable water from Vihar

P1 : Hmm, so how does Mumbai get potable water? What are the other lakes?

Me : Sir I know of these two and Vasai Lake (which is tiny, couldn’t think of anything else)

P1 : Okay, so you’re from Pune, where does Pune get its water from?

Me : (Damn!) Sir, there is water carried by tankers from the Mulshi Dam area

P1 : So what about Khadakvasla?

Me : (Using sense to come up with something which couldn’t be verified) Sir my area gets it from Mulshi, the other area of the city gets it from Khadakvasla. (Which is sort of true)

P1 : Okay, so you stay in Viman Nagar, what are the landmarks there?

Me : Sir, there are a lot of hotels that have come up recently, it’s become like a hotel road. Malls, and the air force base

P1 : Okay, so you join IIM A and want to get in to hospitality, what are the parameters that you will use to judge a restaurant? (Placements case prep FTW!)

Me : Sir (using paper) footfall (Was going to add more stuff)

P1 : Okay, tell me about hotels

Me : Sir, occupancy in peak season and off season, sir the number of professional engagements like this one organized by IIM A (chuckle in the head)

P2 : (Interrupts) Okay. So you talk about your chemistry teacher who had an impression on you. Why the change from Physics to Chemistry?

Me : Sir, I did both Chemistry and Physics for JEE

P2 : Right, right. But you chose Physics right, what was the reason?

Me : Sir, nowadays Physics has become the node of major understanding of a sciences. Even Chemistry has become more of Physics and more of Chemistry. Sir, I was seeing this interview with the Bharat Ratna CNR Rao on Walk the Talk with Shekhar Gupta. Shekhar Gupta enters this lab and says “where are the Bunsen burners?” and CNR Rao says that we now do more of Physics, Quantum Physics and Schrodinger’s equation. So Sir, Chemistry has become more about manipulation of molecules understanding their effects on a quantum level and so on and so forth

P1: Hmm. So I am layman who thinks Physics and Chemistry are different. Can you give me an example of where they are being used together?

Me: Sir, Semiconductors. Sir we understand the behavior of the matter using the Physics, Quantum Physics etc. and choose between various elements depending on the properties of the two.

P1 : You seem to be forcing physical and chemical properties against each other, aren’t you?

Me : No Sir. Sir Physics is the understanding of the behavior of the matter while chemistry is the macroscopic manifestation of this behavior (I have no idea how I came up with this!)

P1 and P2 look at each other

P1 : Hmm, okay. So can you give me an example of materials used in Semiconductors?
Me : Sir, Silicon, Germaninum Arsenic.

P1 : So any new elements or materials?

Me : (Thinking) Sir, some variant using Carbon, I can’t exactly recall. Sir, Graphene. (Phew!)

P1 : Hmm, so can you tell me a semiconductor manufacturing company in India?

Me : (Dafuq!) Sir Texas Instruments?

P1 : But don’t they have only an R&D lab in Bangalore?

Me : (No idea if the manufacturing facility is there) Sir, I think it is there

P1 : A pilot facility of some sort?

Me : Sir yes I think so (No clue!)

P1 : What are the other manufacturing facilities of Texas Instruments?

Me : Sir, the US

P1 : What about Taiwan?

Me : (Facepalm) Yes Sir, yes Taiwan also

P1: So what is this Brain World Cup that you participated in? Is it something like the Olympics? I haven’t heard of it, it should be quite popular shouldn’t it?

Me: Sir, yes it is. Very popular in Japan, but not telecast worldwide. It is a quiz competition that is held inter varsity with participants from Harvard Oxford Stanford etc. It was actually televised before the Olympic games in Japan.

P1 : Hmm, so where did you do your internship?

Me : Sir I was working on developing an equity portfolio allocator at Gravitas, as a risk analyst intern. Gravitas is a risk management and technological co sourcing firm.

P1 : What was the goal of your internship?

Me: My project leader asked me to develop a tool that was targeted at retail investors. So I had to make a tool that was cost effective. I used global data sources such as Yahoo instead of Bloomberg which is a paid data source. Using this I made a tool with a simple intuitive interface coded in VBA with Excel as a front end.

P1 : Okay, so if you had to choose between hedge fund management and this economic policy outlined in the essay, what would you choose?

Me : Sir, firstly I have an inclination towards strategy management consulting and I would like to work there and not a hedge fund

P2 : (I guess I wasn’t clear enough) What does strategy management consulting have to do with this?

Me: Sir, I was saying that I would choose strategy management consulting over the hedge fund and it would be a choice between this and the economic policy. I have got placed at Monitor Deloitte, which is a strategy management consulting firm.

P1: Okay, so elaborate

Me : Sir, I think the environment is very important to us, and so is this policy. I have a few friends working on Energy policy making, so I have had discussions with them. The environment is something that will influence our lives (realizing that I am going too much on the environment thing). Parallely, the economy is also important to drive growth for the country. If we need to progress we need to push our facilities and drive growth for more prosperity

P1 : Hmm, go on

Me: Sir, I think we need to strike a balance between the two through good legislature and policies that are inclusive. (Back to my environment crap) Sir, I think when they say they are saving the earth and saving the world, I think it is more about saving humanity. We as a race are the most affected by environmental changes, and not the earth, which has been through great variations. For example, if we see Shanghai, life has become miserable because of the smog. We must progress along with taking care of how the environment is affected. This will only be possible with a strong policy that takes care of various parameters, sustainably.

P2: Okay, so you talked about Strategy Management Consulting. What is it?

Me: Sir Strategy Management Consulting is the process of providing advice to clients to improve efficiency or performance, taking into account various parameters that are important and defined by them

P1 is looking through the startup’s magazine in the meanwhile. He looked quite interested!

P2: Okay, so what is strategy in simple terms?

Me: Sir, it is the path that you design and follow to reach a certain goal

P2: So what is the application of Engineering Physics to Strategy Management Consulting? You seem to be switching again here?

Me: Sir, actually I learnt a lot. I learnt how to communicate complex ideas in a simple manner. Sir can I show you an example on paper?

P2: Sure

Me: Sir, so in General Theory of Relativity we understood how masses behave at high velocities in the presence of an acceleration or gravitational force. Writing the equation of tensors is quite complex. But this idea can be explained in a simpler manner using the space time fabric and that masses create curvatures in this space time fabric, just like balls on a table cloth. We can understand how light bends, or objects behave quite easily using this. A black hole is like a hole through the cloth, more massive objects create more curvature

P2: Hmm, okay (He nodded his head quite a lot during this)

P2: So in your form you write that you worked where you learnt team spirit and drive and motivation. Can they co exist? Aren’t they contrarian?

Me: Sir, I think team spirit is the framework through which a group of individuals synergize and work to use the power of a multiplying force. Drive and motivation is on an individual level, where each individual is driven or motivated to succeed. A team which has team spirit running through it, along with very driven and motivated individuals in superb.

P1 and P2 look at each other (Bakre ko jaane de?)

P1: So, nice talking to you. Here, have a toffee.

I grasp it say my thank you

P1: How did you rate the interview?

Me: Sir I think it was good

P1 and P2 smile: Okay, you can leave

Me: Should I call the next person in?

P1 : No it’s fine.

Really nice interview. Left me with a great feeling. It was really nice talking to such learned and well aware people!

Rate your preparation(0-5):3

Rate your performance(0-5): 5

Verdict : Converted

Interview Experience- NITIE

Interview @NITIE

Name :- Mayank Bhuwania
Currently I am doing my MBA from NITIE and about to complete it in March 2014. Hope my GD/PI experience would be helpful for you guys.
My Profile –
10th – 81.88%12th – 85.40%Grad – 84.11Work Ex – 22 months in Tata Consultancy ServicesName of the college – NITIE

Group Discussion – Is it time for Sachin Tendulkar to retire. (2 panel members : 1 man, 1 woman)

There were 8 members in our group (We were lucky to have 8 as 2 people did not turn up). We were told that the discussion would be of 12 minutes and were asked to start as soon as someone was ready.
The topic was very easy and so most of the people had many points. As there were less people everybody got a decent chance to speak. I chipped in 3-4 times with my points. After some point of time things even started getting repeated which should be avoided. There was no situation wherein there was a fish market and the panel was happy about that. They even mentioned at the end that we were quite good in maintaining the decorum of the group. After 12 minutes were over we were being asked to summarize. They did not pick any random person from our group as everyone could speak in our gd although they did pick people for other groups.

Interview –
In my interview panel there were 4 members. (all 4 men and different from the gd panel)

I had to wait for around 5-6 hours before my interview and after my gd. My interview went on for around 15 minutes. I guess the panel were quite enervated after whole day of interviews. Though they asked all the basic questions from
1) Why mba
2) Why nitie
3) What specialization do you want to pursue
4) Questions were from my favourite subject from engineering
5) Long term and short term goals
6) The day prior to the interview was the railway budget so questions were there on that and my opinion on the same
7) Questions were on my family background and my role model.
The GD/PI experience was good at NITIE. It is just that you may have to wait the entire day for your chance to come so you need to keep yourself calm and focused.

TIPS FOR GD/PI

SOME TIPS FOR FRESHERS TO CRACK THE GD-PI

Hi Guys,

Sandipan Deb, SCMHRD MBA(HR) Batch of 2012-14, FRESHER 
Graduation:- B.Tech in ECE from Heritage Institute of Technolgy, Kolkata

Since the admissions process at SCMHRD and overall Symbiosis has changed to a centralized admissions process this time onwards, so this post doesn't focus on SCMHRD's admissions process in particular. When I converted SCMHRD 2 years back, the admissions process was not particularly congenial for freshers to convert in the first list and it is a known fact that over the years, people with work-experience are preferred in top B-schools and also during MBA placements. So, I would just share some tips, only for freshers, to confidently approach the MBA admissions season.

For Group Discussion:-
1. Reading newspapers is a must - Economic Times/Business Line, TOI/Hindu. Not only will it make you aware of the present happenings of the nation but also give you enough perspectives which can be put to use in topic-based Group Discussions. Evaluators like numbers and remember quoting numbers and facts and figures in your point will make it all the more credible. So be it about India's GDP growth or FDI policy or some branding strategy of an FMCG, quoting examples along with names would definitely earn you a brownie point.
Eg:-
a) Imagine you are given a topic on AAP - a paradigm shift in Indian politics. Merely quoting that India is in a state of disarray under UPA rule is too generic. Instead if you put in numbers and facts, not only will it strengthen your argument but will also make the evaluator know that this person is well read and well informed.
b) Imagine a Case Discussion where employees are facing problems with their manager OR a company is struggling to maintain it's market position, you quote some employee motivation practice of any organization OR some turnaround strategy of a major FMCG in recent times and the impact of your point will rise manifold.

2. Your communication skills (written and verbal) has to be very good. By communication, I do not mean fancy English words but clear, concise English sentences with no grammatical errors.

3. Your body language has to be perfect. Fidgeting with pens and/or notepads, constantly moving in chairs, facial expressions on not being allowed to speak or when cut by someone is a strict NO.

Remember that a Group Discussion is a simulation of the team meetings which you will have in plenty once you join an organization. And through this exercise, they are evaluating how well you can behave in teams, how easily you can communicate your view-point to the team, how wide and deep you can think about the topic/case in hand and also whether you are being able to earn respect from your team members that they bother to listen to your view-point and use it in the GD.

For Interviews:-
1. Knowing whatever you have filled in your CV is non-negotiable. You are committing a fatal mistake in case you don't know about a single keyword in your CV. My final placements interview at L&T revolved entirely about cricket. This doesn't mean that they are fooling around, they just want to know whether you have written the truth. So every activity you have done in your life, know them in and out. It should be like if you have been the General Secretary of the Student Body in your college and they ask you about it, you should be able to speak non-stop for at least 15 minutes (subject to no interruption from the interviewer)
2. Know your graduation subject and the recent trends in your discipline. This just shows your seriousness about your engineering. Never portray that you did not want to do engineering and are trying to run away from it. This not only shows your casual approach to life but also lack of decision-making ability.
3. If you have been selected for a particular specialization (say finance at SPJIMR or HR at XLRI), know why you want to take up that discipline. Know the recent trends in finance (at least in Indian context). This again will show that you are serious about that discipline. One tricky question for those opting to do HR is Why HR? It will haunt you till your final placements. So here, knowing what happens in the discipline will help you align your answer more to the actual happenings. Answers to such questions should ideally consist of your thought process towards taking up the specialization + how you think you will be able to add value to the specialization through your skillsets.
4. For questions asking you to describe a situation where you showed XYZ quality, mention situations which actually happened. In case you haven't faced such situation, tell the truth frankly. The risk of making up a situation is that in case they delve deeper, you might be caught on the wrong foot.
5. And the most important part, believe in yourself and your abilities. When I went for GD-PI at SCMHRD (it was incidentally the only call I had), people told me that it is impossible, SCMHRD always takes people with work-ex. In my GD panel of 6 people, I was the only fresher and none of the other 5 made it. 

MBA is a profession where your expertise and skills count for nothing if you don't have self-confidence. Trust me, over the next two years, you will need self-confidence in plenty. So prepare well and give it your bestest shot irrespective of the fact whether you have 1 call or 15 calls.

May luck be with you and you get the B-school of your dreams.

For any queries, feel free to reach out to me through FB or drop me a mail at sandipan_deb@scmhrd.edu

Interview Experience - IIFT

IIFT #1

Name  :- Saquib Hasnain

Profile –
10th – 89.8%
12th – 88%
Grad – 8.34/10
Work Ex – 2 years in teaching

Name of the college – Indian Institute of Foreign Trade

Topic of the essay – Role of Nuclear Energy in India's Energy security
You will be given a single sheet and 20 minutes to write down the essay. The panel had told us clearly that there would be evaluating us on the content of the essay and the logical thought flow. And they are not interested in people who just use bombastic words or flowery language.

Group Discussion – Social networking sites disconnect rather than connect people.

There were 10 members in our group. First of all, everyone was given 2minutes to speak on the topic and then the floor was open for discussion for about 25-30minutes

Since the topic was so easy, everybody wanted to speak on it and sometimes the discussion turned into a fish market. I tried not to be a part of the fish market. During those 25-30minutes I could enter only once in the discussion. I was taking down all the important points that were being discussed, just in case if we are asked to summarise.
Luckily when the discussion ended, I was given the chances to summarise and give my final opinion on the topic.

Interview –

In my interview panel there were three members.(2 men and 1 woman - she teaches Managerial Accounting in IIFT in the first trimester)

When I had entered, the first they told me was that my handwriting is good.

The second question took me by surprise – they asked me to till which trust or who owns Heritage Institute of Technology ( this is the college where I did my engg. ).

After that they asked me the following questions –

1. Questions related to work experience – why teaching, what are your learnings from teaching, what are your expectations from your student.

2. Questions on my short term and long term goals – I had mentioned that I was interested in a particular specialization, so that asked me questions related to that.

3. I had mentioned about my dad in the question about who inspired you to do Business management – so they asked about my dad (his qualification, what kind of business, how he does it). They asked me to tell some of the reason for my dad’s success in the business.

4. They asked me whether risk should be taken in business or not and whether my dad took it?

5. Then questions related to team building and leadership skills were asked. I had mentioned about a competition that I had taken part in. So they asked me how did I manage my team, were there any conflicts, how do handle them?

6. Lastly they asked me why International Business and how is that related to the goals that I had mentioned in my 5 year, 15 year objectives.

IIFT #2

IIFT Essay-GD-PI experience:

Date: Feb 2nd, 2010Time: 9:30 AMVenue: Coffee Board, Bangalore
IIFT written score: 38.21
Essay:The entire process started bang on time at 9: 30 with the essay. The topic was "Discuss measures ti improve food security in India". Started with a background, Green Revolution etc...then included some points such as proper distribution channnels and the role of Government. All in all, it was ok but in hindsight, I could have done much better.
Group Discussion:The topic was: Should reality shows involving children be banned?There was 10 guys in the group(no girl). As is the case with all IIFT GDs, 1 min was each person to give an introduction. I gave a small background of the topic and stressed on the role of parents and how they should not pressurize their kids into anything. Also, I highlighted on the importance of knowledgable shows like KBC junior etc.
The discussion then continued for 20 minutes. Points ranged from-parents trying to live their dream through their children, need for a body to keep a check on the way kids are treated. I poked my head two or three times only but made valid points. I actively listened to the rest of the discussion. I just hope the 2 professors(a lady and a Gentleman) took notice. At the end, all of us had to summarize the discussion. A satisfactory GD in the end...
Personal Interview:
There were 3 Gentlemen in the panel. One looked like a corporate guy(P1 ), he had that look and was wearing a blazer. The second one(P2) spoke less and was mainly observing and taking a note of whatever I spoke. The third one(P3) asked most of the questions, he looked like a Professor in IIFT. All 3 of them had photocopies of the CV form we had sent by post earlier.
P1: Tell me something about yourselfMe: Blah blahh...started with schooling, college, job description, was about to talk about passions, and P3 stopped me midway.P3: So you are from an Army background, so what do you have to say about the Avadhesh Prakash controversy?Me: Gave my point of view, views on clean image, and the effect it can have on the men you command...some funda...P1: So, IBM huh? How many offices are there in Bangalore? What kind of business units reside in each of them?Me: told in detail...also told in brief about my sector and the customer I support.P1: So you are from IBM GBS?Me: Yes sirP3: I quote from your form the answer for the question: Career Objectives? You have written "I want to become a successful manager who could be a role model.....etc etc." This answer sounds a little too...Me: Moralistic...I understand sir. Actually, this is more like the kind of professional I intend to become. But as far as career is concerned, I want to do something in the field of sports...to be associated with...(was interrupted by P2)P2: How do you think the condition of sports can be improved in our country?Me: Gave an example of "Apollo Foundation" and their work in Tennis, lans to produce a Grand Slam champion by 2018.P2: Ok, leave Tennis and Cricket, do you think Private partners will be willing to invest in other sports?Me: Of course sir, India is a huge country and has a huge potential. With proper publicity and awareness, and economic security, we can become a great sporting naion. Gave the example of Olympics...India won 3 medals...etc.. Private sector will be willing to invest if they see an opportunity.P1: There is a steep decline in your marks from 10th to 12th and then engineering. Why?
Me: Explained that how Pune University has a strict marking regime. About 12th, told them that I concentrated on my entrance exams...mentioned that in 10th, I was one of the country toppers.
P1: In the question 'last books you have read', you have written "The Fourth Estate". Can you tell me something about it?Me: Explained them...a summary, Power struggle between 2 individuals for the largest media empire etc. etc.P1: What do you think about the current state of media in our country?Me: Explained how media has a big role to play, and how some channels fudge news...etc etc..P3: How do you think it can be improved?Me: Explained how some channels need to learn something from others..P3: Please elaborate..Me: Praised NDTV news channels...P3 didn't look too happyP3 and P1 discussed how at times, even NDTV crossed the line...how Times Now started out as a good channel...I just listened and nodded...P1 to P3: Anything else..? P3 said noI thanked all of them and left...a pretty chilled out interview I felt, any thoughts guys?? Hope they saw something in me

Interview Experiences - IIM Kozhikode

INTERVIEW EXPERIENCE AT IIMK #1

NAME: SAYANTAN MANDAL                                                      B. E (Electrical)
WORK EX: 11 MONTHS                                                       ORGANISATION: DVC (THERMAL POWER)PLACE OF INTERVIEW: KOLKATA                                               DATE: 08.03.’13
DURATION: 35mins

The interview panel consisted of two members: one from Marketing area (P1), the other from Economics (P2).

Morning 9:15. I entered the room. The panel member from marketing area started even before I took my chair. I saw two bowls on the table, one was full of 5 stars, and the other full of chlor mints.

P1:  Well Sayantan, you are 1^st for today’s schedule. I hope you didn’t have your breakfast well because of tension and excitement. So before taking your seat, please tell if you are asked to choose between 5 star or chlor mint, which will you choose and why?

Me: (without thinking anything) 5 Star.

P1: Why?

Me: (suddenly something clicked my mind) Sir, Chocolate is something that makes people happy. Chocolates secrete a hormone, I can’t remember the name of the hormone or from which gland it secretes, that’s the same hormone which is secreted when we are happy. And who does not want to be happy!!!

P1: OK. Then take your seat, have one, be happy, then we are starting.

(I took my seat, thanked him and took a 5 star, meanwhile the 2^nd panellist started)

P2: Well Sayantan, what’s the name of your meaning?

Me: Mam, Sayantan means the person who was born in the evening.

P2: So, you must have been born in evening!!!

Me: Yes Sir. 8:30 evening. (I lied :P, I was actually born at 8:30 morning)

P2: OK. You are from Kolkata. Which part of Kolkata?

Me: Alipore, mam.

P2: Umm. Alipore. You must be rich.

(I smiled)

P2: OK Sayantan, tell me something about Kolkata which you think most of the Kolkatans don’t know.

(I answered the question very well, focusing on the fact that everybody knows that Job Chernock was the founder of Kolkata, which is actually not not true according a 2003 Kolkata High Court Verdict, and Kolkata doesn’t have any founder)

(The 1^st panellist was going through my CV, and suddenly started)

P1: Sayantan, you have written Geography and Indian Railway in the interest column. So, can you please draw the map of India?

(The 2^nd panellist also asked simultaneously)

P2: Sayantan, can you please tell how induction motor start?

(I was literally in a perplexed state that which answer should I give first, but the panel members came to my rescue by saying: OK, draw the map, and simultaneously tell how Induction Motor Starts)

Me: Drew and told.

P1: Then locate Kozhikode, Malabar Coast, Vindya Range in the map.

Me: pointed all of them correctly.

P1: A GK question on Geography. Where do the zero degree latitude and zero degree longitude meet?

Me: (Took a pause, visualizing the map of the world and told) it will be somewhere inside the Atlantic.

P1: what is the nearest land.

Me: (told) North Africa. (later checked I was wrong, it would be Central Africa)

P1: OK. I can’t understand why you are so much interested about Indian Railways! Why?

Me: Told something on why I am so much interested about Railways.

P2: OK. We need some information about Indian Railways. Is there any direct train from Kolkata to Kozhikode? If yes, then from where it departs, when, in which day of the week, how much time it takes)

Me: told everything correctly (except the time taken to reach Kozhikode, I told around 42 hours, actually it’s 38 hours)

P2: What is the largest railway station in South India?

(Told Chennai Central)

P1: Well, now please tell me why are leaving the 50k job?

(Told the readymade answer :P)

(They tried to convince me I would face monetary loss if I opt for MBA, but I was also trying to convince them about higher studies and value addition)

P2: OK. Final question, did Career Launcher or TIME told you to get dressed like that?

(Told that yes, they did, but also told that it was my decision too, bla, bla)

Both of them: OK. Thank you Sayantan. All the best!

Me: Thank you Sir!

Interview Experience - IIM Kozhikode #2

Background :- Electrical Engg.
Work-ex : CTS(IT), 5 months

GD topic:Will entry of foreign universities help the education system of India?
Duration of GD :15 min
GD experience:It was okay. A bit chaotic. I gave 2-3 facts and 3-4 points. I wanted to give another 1-2 points but time was up.

WAT topic:Same topic
WAT experience :Given one page. Took some time to jot down my points. But 15 min is too less to write down all the points. I started off nicely but at the end due to lack of time could not conclude.
No. of people in the interview panel:2

Questions in PI:
1. Tell me about yourself.
2. You are almost a fresher and an electrical engineer. I am not an electrical engineer. I have heard that government wants every house to have a solar panel and it can be connected to the grid. How?
3. What is a substation?
4. Why do you require a transformer?
5. Explain the testing bay of motor.
6. What is the rpm of 4 pole machine?
7. How can rpm be measured?
8. rpm of a motor is 1550, explain.
9. What type of language is Java?
10. What is the difference between java and c?
11. what is object oriented language?
12. procedural language?
13. Why should we use java over c?
14. Your hobby is painting, so what type of painting have you done?
15. Layers in painting?
16. Have you heard about Arvind Kejriwal? I think he needs electrical engineer now to tell him what to do. Do you what has he done in Delhi?
17. What is BSES?
18. Do you have any queries? If not you can leave.

Duration of PI: 15 min

Cheers! 

Interview Experience - IIM Kozhikode #3

IIMK Experience- Converted, Currently studying at IIMBProfile :- B.com, CA,CS, X – 93%, XII-96.5%

WAT: On human chessboard every move is possible
PI-
p1 : what have you been doing after graduation?
me : sir i was doing CA, my articleship got over in march 2012,then was looking for placement and entire focus on CAT
P1 Have you completed CA?
ME yes sir,i am a qualified CA & CS
P1 Oh thats a great achievement (to p2 now) probably CAT form doesn’t permit to mention all these so it seemed that she had been doing nothing after grad(to me) its a pleasure to hv u here. Where have you done you aticleship from? me told p1 what do thy do?
me :answered
p1 what was your role? me :answered
p1 Do you think audit is an effective tool?
me depends sir,we need to rely on management representations at times
p1 can you do that every time?
Me: No sir,we need to exercise judgement and have the authority to go for external confirmation,gave an example
p1 can you think of a recent big fraud in indian history
me :The satyam scam p1 What happened? me sir,mr.ramalingam raju was inflating the profits
p2 interrupts Raju or the company?
me Sir,Mr. Raju because in his confession letter addressed to the board
p2 INTERRUPTS AGAIN ok get back to his answer p1 so it was the auditors fault?wasnt it their responsibility?
Me: I wont be able to comment on that ,PWC was involved
p1: you are an accountant but dont wana do accounts?
Me: in the long run,i want my own enterprise of corporate consultancy
p1 what kind of services will it offer?
Me: sir initially i wl hv to start up at the small scale ,the services will remain confined to M&A,underwriting
p1 interrupts do small firms go for m&a?give me an example
me I thought for a while and then said sir, i won’t be able to name them but yes they do go,for instance my father started as a sole proprietor ,expanded into a pvt co. and now going for merger with some other co. because that firm has more goodwill in the market
p1 who was st. thomas?(my school's name) me I don’t know
p2 What is yogah Karmasu kaushalam?(i wrote tht in my form)
me diligence leads to excellence
p2 whats the role of impression mgt in it?

me sorry sir
P2 whats the role of impression mgt in it?
me Impression mgt?
p2 yes
me sorry sir i m not aware
p2: let me put it in a different way,how does impression mgt help in it?
Me: sir may b it means impressing upon the minds,the focus in such a way that they dont get distracted and work to get excellence
p2 started laughing like anything..is it something technical you talked just now,(looking to p1) even he could not understand what you said..ok what is regression?(stats as a subj in CS Foundation)
me Its a statistical tool
p2 interrupted laughing still louder..is it a stat tool?i nevr knew it?(looking at p1) oh god,is it so?I am asking you the meaning of regression
me sorry sir i dont know
p2 OH they didnt teach you the meaning so u didnt bother to know..told a sentence
me: it means degradation
p2 now tell me why is regression analysis so called?
Me: sorry sir,i am not sound with regression
p2 what did you study in labour laws?
me told the names of few acts
p2 year of factories act?
me 1948
p2 r u sure?
me yes sir
p2 do you dance?(mentioned in my accomplishment)
me sir m not professionally trained
p2 do you dance or not?
me yes sir on social ocsns
p2 where did kuchipuri originate?
me i am not sure
p2 which is ur fav form of dance?
me nothing as such,m not pro at any
p2 its a straight questn
me sir,ballet
p2 tell me something about it
me its one of the most graceful dance p2 interrupts which dance isnt graceful
me for example hip-hop,its a street dance,requires lot of boldness and attitude while in ballet the posture needs to be very delicate
p1 ur hobbies? me sir papercraft,i like making cards and gift packing
p1 so you support felling of trees,you are not environmental friendly
me sir i use handmade papers which are recycled form of papers,even if I go to a paper store,the handmade papers look so attractive that I end up buying them
p1 Why dont you make e-cards?
me sir i do make ppt for my long distance friends n relatives
p1 ppt?( started laughing)..ok who was la martiniere?(my schools name)
me: La martiniere was no one.it was claud martin and i went on explaining
p1 you prepared the ans for la martiniere but not for st. thomas..
me: sir its not about the preparation
p1 interrupts who is your fav author
me I dont read a particular author
p1 the last book you read?
me Jonathan Livingston Seagull
p1 author?
me could not recall , sir currently i m reading tuesdays with morrrie by mitch albom
p1 interesting, thats all,any questions for us?
me no sir thanks
p1 thanks we are done
me thank you
TIPS: Stay calm and confident, Be aggressive if necessary, smile is the most important key.

Interview Experience - IIM Kozhikode #4

Pradipta Baisya - PGDM, IIMK, Class of 2013Mechanical Engineer, BESU Shibpur, Tata Steel - 44 Months (Plant Operations), E&Y - 4 Months (CDM COnsultancy)Currently, working as Consultant - Strategy & Operations, Deloitte Consulting LLPIIMK Interview Experience:

Processes Involved - Essay & PI
Essay - Abstract Topic (don't remember the topic though)
PI Experience :
Lasted for around less than 10 minutes. Interview was very structured and predictable starting with Introduce Yourself, Why MBA, Why did you leave Tata Steel for EY, Explain CDM Concept (Clean Development Mechanism), Is it sustainable in the long run? Explain a CDM project for steel industry.
The interview concluded with the question which I found very tricky , the Prof asked me - "Seeing your knowledge and passion about energy management, I think you are more suited for PhD, not MBA" - had to handle that diplomatically.

Key Points to be highlighted -

1. I think my work experience (core manufacturing coupled with niche consultancy) played to my favor.
2. As they say first impression matters, I was really very confident while explaining them the concepts of CDM, application of CDM in steel industry etc.
3. Lastly, I handled the question of PhD vs MBA in a polite and diplomatic manner focusing more on the importance of energy management in the business context

Word of Advice :

Be very thorough with your work experience related matters, also try to study more about the industry (IT, Steel, Power, Finance etc.) like national policies specific to those industries, growth drivers, recent trends, future outlook, competitive landscape etc. This will help you in handling questions beyond the obvious, earn brownie points and may help you earn an IIM seat.

For any queries, please feel free to reach out to me :
pradipta.mech@gmail.com

Interview Experience - IIM Shillong

Note :- Scroll Down to view all the interviews for IIM S.

Interview Experience - IIM Shillong #1

Name :- Nishant

I reached the place at 1:40. I was the only one without a tie, so that made me a bit nervous. But when they came to the waiting hall at 2:00, I felt relieved to see them. They were casually dressed. At around 3:10 my turn came. I entered the room.
Good Afternoon.
P1: Good afternoon. Sit.
P2: Introduce yourself.
I gave them a brief introduction. And Is there anything specific you would like to know about me?
P2: Tell us about your strengths.
I told them what I had written in the form-that I was ……….
P3: So you are still in the final year?
Yes Sir.
P3: St, Xavier’s College? Park Street?
Yes Sir.
P3: The same St. Xavier’s School too?
No Sir. The one I studied is independent of the St. Xavier’s school in Park Street.
P1: So you are born and brought up in Bengal? Do you keep track of what’s happening here these days?
Yes Sir.
And we had a 10 minute discussion about Bengal – its political condition, its geographical location and about Gorkhaland. Mostly P2 asked the questions about Bengal. Questions like “Which do you thing is a better decision making process the one Mamta Banerjee follows or the one that CPIM followed? Tell about the merits and demerits of both the types of decision making. I told that Left Front took decisions by consulting senior ministers whereas Mamata takes decision mostly all on her own. Mentioned merits and demerits of both. P3 interrupted saying even Mamta has her senior ministers like Amit Mitra. I told them ministers are there but she doesn’t respect thm. I gave the example of Dinesh Trivedi. Then what are the neighboring states of Bengal? I told all. Then What are the advantages and disadvantages of having Bangladesh as a neighbor? Trade opportunities and Infiltration. In your opinion Should people of North Bengal be given a separate state? I told them they must be given a chance to govern themselves. Made a few strong points in their favour and also mentioned the negative sides associated with it.
Then suddenly P3 became very active and started questions about my acads. All questions were basic statistics and probability. Luckily he didn’t ask anything which I was not so good at. Questions were What was I studying now? Design of experiments and Sample Survey. Explain design of experiments to us.I explained. There was paper and pencil so it was easier explaining.
P3: Who started Design of experiments?
I don’t have idea about who started it Sir.
P3: Have you read clustered sampling?
Yes. And I explained. He asked to apply it to any survey in Kolkata. I did it.
P3: Have you read probability?
Yes Sir.
P3: Ok then tell us…( he gave a simple problem on total probability and Baye’s Theorem)
I did it and told him the answer. He didn’t check it properly. He just asked me how I did it. I explained clearly.
Then there was a discussion about my scholarship and my extra curricular certificates.
P2: And what do you do in your spare time?
Sir, I play Sudoku and card games, listen to music and read books sometimes.
P3:You play Bridge?
No Sir. I play 29 and Hearts.
P3: Oh. I play bridge. And I don’t consider these two card games.
Sir, but they are played with cards.
P3 starts laughing.
P3: Do you know anyone who has studied Stats and taken PGP after that?
No Sir. Personally I don’t know anyone like that.
P3: Then what made you decide so?
I explained them. This answer I had prepared after a very bad mock PI experience.
P1: So when is your next interview?
I told them.
P3: Thank you Nishant. Please take some candy.
No questions were asked on economics .It was a good interview where only relevant questions were asked. Rather a lucky one since they didn’t ask anything except basic statistics.

Interview Experience - IIM Shillong #2

WORKING IN IBM INDIA-2.5 YEARS ELECTRONICS AND TELECOMMUNICATION FROM JUINTERVIEW PANELIST:- THREE PERSONS. One person was very senior, others were middle aged.

P1: Are you working in IBM? In sector 5?
P1: What do you think, Is SLR necessary for photography?
P2: (As I told them about quality) what do you mean by quality?
P1: Who won Oscar for life time achievement?
P1: In which year?
P1: Who is his favourite photographer?
P2: What are the countries that share boundaries with India?
P2: What is the capital o Bhutan?
P2: Where are One-Horned Rhinos found?
P2: Do you know any other wild life sanctuary apart from Kajiranga in Assam?
P2: What are the states of NE India?
P2: What is the capital of Mizoram?
P3: Do you know Ratan Tata? What is his present job?
P1: Give me an extempore on "Greed snatches a man's wisdom"
P2: What is the planning commission of India? Who is its chairman?
P2: Do you know which organization of UN takes care about children?
P2: Where is the head-quarter of UNICEF?
P3: What is your present job role?
P3: More details please………………….
P3: Do you remember anything about Network and Communication?
P3: Why a mobile phone is called cell phone?
P3: What is the shape of a cell? Why not round?
P3: What is the difference between dipole antenna and loop antenna?

Interview Experience - IIM Shillong #3

IT Engineer, 2011 pass out
28 months of IT experience in Infosys.
Venue : Kolkata

There were a total of 3 panelists : P1: guy in early 30's, P2: guy in early 40's, P3: a senior one.

P1 welcomed me in after we sat, questions started.

P1 : So what is this toastmaster (Club a Infosys, I am part of)
Me : Answered what the activities we do.
P1 : Is this not the international Toastmasters club?
Me : No this is internal to Infosys
P1 : Tell me about your experience with Infosys..
Me : told about work culture, employee cares, infrastructure, nature of work.
P1 : Do you work with the same set of people as you started with, why not , where they moved, Infosys attrition rates.
P1 : Name some people from higher management who moved out of infosys? Why?
Me : Was not able to recall Balakrishnan's name 
P1: Why are they leaving? Do you think Narayan murthy is involved? How ?
P1: How do you see Infosys at a global level.
P1 : Who do you think will win the Lok Sabha Elections this year ?
Me : Told conditions state BJP, and then some statements to back what conditions.
P1 : Why not congress?
Me : Started speaking, was interrupted.
P1 : Any other alternative other than BJP and congress.
Me : Told about AAP.
P1 : Who are the key people in AAP?
Me : named some leaders
P1 : What are their backgrounds ?
Me : told about arvind kejriwal, kumar vishwas. Was only able to recall backgrounds of these too. 
P1 : So do you think poets are good enough to run an economy ?
Me : Thee is a seven member panel working as an advisory committee for economic related activities. Other experts from industry also joining in.
P1 : Do you feel AAP is going on a recruitment drive without a salary with out any kind of other checks?
Me : Told about the huge 12 page form required to be filled in before joining the party which includes various questions.

P2 : What do you do in your free time?
Me : Said cooking
Then got some questions on types of cuisines, traditional bengali food.
P2 : Who were the key persons involved in the amendment of Indian Constitution
Me : Could recall only B.R.Ambedkar
P2 : What the rights and duties? How do you differentiate?
Me: told about 2-3 rights and a duty about paying taxes, abiding by the law.
P2: If I as a citizen of India find you are not paying taxes can I sue you in the Indian Penal court?
Me : Not sure

P3: Looking at my marksheets.. Tell me about operations research?
Me : A subject I had in 5th semester but forgot everything. Was not able to speak a word.
P3 : OK..so What have you learnt in engineering that you are applying in Infosys?
Me : Told about Java and SDLC
P3 : Name some SDLC models
Me : Waterfall, iterative waterfall..stopped
P3 : Take up a scenario of a project and apply waterfall model to it.
Me: told about various phases.. Got questions with feasibility, design phase.
P3 : Difference between data mining and data warehousing.
Me : Told, although he dint seem satisfied.
P3 : What is SAP? ( I used it while answering the previous question)
Me : Told a little bit.
P3 : You also had Industrial management as a subject, what did you learn there?
Me : Hardly could make any here.
P3 : Thank you, Looked at the other..do you have any questions..they said no.
P1 : Thank you, have a candy.
Me : took 1, Thanked them, wished them a good day ahead.

Note :-More to come keep following.