Reflections:Interview Experience

Disclaimer: This was written way back in March but didn’t feel like posting it anywhere after the Indore debacle .But now that  i have got over  that loser-feeling wala  phase i can post dis happily and make my readers have fun reading my experience( and also u can learn from somebody else’s mistake).Also I waited for the verdict myself before posting it.

Disclaimer Continued:-i cud not remember all the questions dat were posed to me but have tried remembering. Few of the answers that i have written might differ from wat i actually said dere “sentence structure”- wise but the gist remains 99% same J

More Disclaimer:-There might be a few grammatical errors here and dere, but bhavnao ko samjho yaar,shabdo mein kya rakha hai.. ;)

Okay so here goes my first ever IIM Interview Experience. PGP (Post Graduate Program) Interview of IIM Indore. Waited for this day ever since i thought of writing CAT. And the day finally arrived. Cud not prepare for the interview as much as I would have liked due to Some commitment at my workplace,  but more importantly wanted to enjoy the moment if anything as such days don't come everyday!

Venue: Institute of Hotel Management, Seshadri  Road  Bangalore

Date : 20th March, 2012

Time: 0830(God knows y i chose that slot, Subah subah auto milna mushkil ho gya tha ;( )

WAT had two parts:

Part 1 : Summarize a paragraph in about 130 words.

Part 2 Essay : (200 words)Can India's population be transformed into an abundant resource? ( Dont remember the exact wordings)

Brief Snapshot of the attempt: Did pretty well in summarizing.

Time given : 40 mins

Rating of My preparation: 2/5(I know I should have worked hard)

PI:  around 30 mins(I know it seems big, but once u go in there, trust me, the time flies)  

 I was the second last one to be interviewed in my panel. Waiting anxiously i even started counting the number of tiles on the floor to kill time. Till my turn came I was drenched in sweat, here the Axe Effect helped big timeJ  

Panel Members Intro:

Three professors in the panel, one young prof in his 30s, one middle-aged prof in his late 40s , one old prof in his late 50s and one moti si middle aged mam. Lets call them YP, MP and OP and MM (Moti Mam  :D) respectively.

After the exchange of pleasantries.

YP- Why only you from Bhopal?

Me- Others have their interviews probably in Mumbai or Delhi Sir, its closer.

YP- Okay, what is a venturimeter?

Me-(What the heck i wanted to say, but didn’t) Sir, it is a device used to measure pressure.

YP-Are you sure?

Me- No Sir.

MP- Have you heard about it or not?

Me-yes  sir i have heard about it but i m not sure enough.In case you have not seen,I am an electronics engineer.

MP-yeah I know,but your profile says 2 month training in NTPC and dat is y i asked. Dont worry i wont ask u anymore,I can sense wat u have done during dat period.

Me-(cudnt do much,just gave a shameless smile).

YP- Okay, what other calls?

Me- IIM Indore..(was starting to tell some more but cut in half)

YP- So, tell me your first preference?

Me- Sir, IIM Indore.

YP- And in the other interview you would say IIM K, isn't it?

Me- Yes sir, I would say that. But truthfully speaking, IIM Indore is my first choice.

YP- Why so?

Me- Sir, I have talked to a few seniors at IIM I and they have recommended me IIM I.

YP- Name them.

Me- X and Y. And sir, going by the rankings, IIM Indore has been consistently ranked above IIM K.

MP- Are you sure? In many rankings, IIM K is ranked higher than IIM I. Why is it that you trust your seniors more than an independent rating agency?

Me- Sir, since they have been there, they know the things better and they might also be contact with their peers from other Institutes.

YP- You don't know anybody at IIM K?

Me- Yes sir, I know. But I haven't been in contact with him.

YP- (laughing) So, you seem to be taking a very biased view.

Me- And moreover sir, IIM K has reservation for girls(pata nhi muh se yeh baat kaise nikal gayi)... (interrupted)

YP- So its good na, you'll have better 'scope', if that is what you are looking for. (All smiles)

MM suddenly sprung into action and gave a real dirty look. I froze for few seconds

Mm- You'll have a good time there. Why you want to come to IIM I?

Me- No mam it is not what i m looking for currently..(interrupted)( dunno y i uttered dat word “currently”)

MM-not currently but in the future u will consider them u mean?

Me- Embarassed,i bowed down .I sweated and sweated some more

YP- So, what is Brownian motion?

Me- (Ohh god,again Chemistry)Sir, it is the random motion of the particles.

YP- So, is there any Brownian motion in this room?

Me- Yes sir.

YP- Is it? (trying to confuse an already confused guy)

Me- Yes sir

YP- Are you sure?

Me- Yes sir, 100 %

YP- When does Brownian motion stop?

Me- Sir, when the temperature becomes very low, i mean at 0 K, Brownian motion stops completely.

YP- (looking satisfied)

YP- Have you heard about Brownian liquid?

Me- Yes sir

YP- What is it?

Me- Sir, its a liquid in which the particles are in Brownian motion.

YP- (Hahaha all around, i smiled back realising how stupid an answer was ) Nice but do you have a better definition?

Me- Sir, I have never heard about a Brownian liquid but have heard about Newtonian and Non-Newtonian liquids.

Thankfully I was not questioned further on this topic.

Mp-okk tell me the difference between percentile and percentage in one word.

Me-thinking..(take your time he said)..thought some more and said one is relative and other is absolute.

Everybody happy that i nailed that, MM still glaring at me, what’s wrong with the lady i thought..!!

MP : Ohh so you are a fresher? Why MBA without much of  work-ex(just 7 months)?

ME : cliche Q.. same old gyan... almost by-heart ho gaya hai answer... raat ko 3 baje bologe toh bhi aisa answer dunga ke lagega ki spontaneous aur well-thought answer hai..

YP- So, what major would you take?

Me- I have an interest in finance. and economics.

YP- Finance and economics. So diverse topics.

MP- So you like making money?

Me- (A big “yes” i wanted to say) No sir. Its not like that

YP- and you said that you like finance.

Me- Sir, I meant that I like to know about, read about the financial side of a business.

YP- So, you don't like making money.

Me- Sir, I never said that. Money is important in life. But a work life balance and time for myself and my family is more important for me than just making money and not getting time for the good things of life....blabbered some more.(looked uninterested with my answer,started checking out his phone)

MP- Have you heard about the kingfisher airlines fiasco?

Me- Yes sir. It has a debt of 7000 crores.

MP- Why did it happen?

Me- Due to gross financial mismanagement. Kingfisher piled on a huge debt on its balance sheet by ordering so many planes... (interrupted)

MP- So whats bad about taking debt. That is how you grow. Everybody takes loans. Isn't it?

Me- Yes sir. Taking debt isn't a problem in itself. But there should be a sustained source of income to service the loan.

Me- ( to MP) When KFA made a huge investment it had the largest market share. But of late, its market share has declined and it hasn't been able to generate sufficient revenues to pay its employees or pay back the debt.

(newspaper ka gyaan kaam aaya)

Then some more discussion and counter-questioning

MP- So, as a finance graduate, how do you plan to come out of that crisis?

Me- Sir, If FDI is allowed in the aviation sector, KFA can bring in a partner and sell some stake to infuse capital in the airlines. And/or it can negotiate with the banks for softer terms and a longer repayment period.

MP- So what is the ideal debt/equity ratio?

Me-(Bouncer totally) I have no idea sir.

MP and YP to OP- Sir, do you have anything to ask? Madam aap bhi kuch puchengi(in hindi)—Replies   with a no in stern voice.

MP- Okk gagan we are almost done wid da interview.(Relieved somewhat) but wud like u to answer a question which u have to answer in two seconds.Okk.?

Me-okk sir(made my mind to calculate something in the meanwhile , i knew it has to be some calculation)

MP- tell me the number of union territories and the age of independent India..?

Me-7 and 62 err..6 and 64.(obviously took more than 2 seconds)

Laughter all around..even  moti wali mam couldn’t resist laughing.I was dat pathetic

YP- (looking at the other two) I think we are done. All the best, you may leave.

Me- Thank you sir.

YP- and shut the door while leaving.

Me- Sure sir(bolted the door too hard, i cursed myself).

Came out and asked the last person how long it took, and he said 30mins, but it seemed like ages in dere. There was no happy feeling deep inside given the way my interview went but miracles do happen, the calmer-self said J

Verdict :-Distant waitlist(as good as a reject) 

But as they say..

“Some goals are so worthy it’s glorious even to fail”

Thanks For reading such a long post with extra long disclaimer :P.Hope u had fun read :)

PS:-I have tried making the post a jovial one so that people read it in the way it is meant to be but honestly it wasn't that much fun inside  

Cheers..!

Gagan Deep

NITIE Mumbai