SP Jain GI (Group Interview) Experiences (2008)

[abhuram]

hello all...

would like to share my experience.... hope it helps the last 'interviewees'!

had my interview at 10 am on 24th.. got myself registered at around 9:15.. and was waiting .. chatting with the yet to be called 9 am guys... to my surprise i was called in alongwith them! 5 from 9 am batch and i from the 10 am batch...

our group was really fundoo.. 5 workex ppl.. and I the fresher.. 4 finance (including me) 2 from marketing..

we were called in .. were asked to briefly introduce ourselves.. abt something not in the profile sheets.. had that round.. all decent.. then were told to describe our passions in one word.. ambition, creativity, innovation, discipline.. and what not were the answers..! were told to discuss and come up with an idea to forrm a business that included all this keepin in mind our current profiles..

we all blabbered.. our GYANs and came up with an idea of an educational inst. with an NGO.. to help rural and urban education!..

were told to summarize. and i was grilled a bit on the NGO thing.. saying that it drives only on individual interests..

then came the individual encounters.. starting with me..
questions were..
why fin.?
why engg. before this?
what is currently happening globally in fin?
whats a balance sheet? ( was expecting something on subprime and got this... stuttered a bit... but managed to keep it safe.. )
why dont you read guj. newspapers.?
why is gandhi called mahatma? (again took this lightly.. and came up with the stupidest answer saying coz he was a great soul!!... i guess this went down for me.. i cleared myself saying about his values and all.. but still!!!... could have answered it better.. !)
last read book?


questions to others..

job profile?
why leaving the job?
ideal?
books read?

3/6 got thru .. all finance.. ( not me here!)

1 girl - 1 yr. workex cap gemini, decent enough..
2 guys ( oracle 1 year workex + nse certification for one.. the other had 1 year workex with his father.. and was doing CA...)

fair calls.. i guess...40 seats for 1000 calls.. there has to be elimination...

workex mattered,, coz all of us had very similar interview experiences...

overall learnt a lot.. as it was my very first interview...

hats off to spjimr..

regards,
Abhiram.

[agog]

Hello everybody.....

Here I am posting a very very bad experience of mine at SP.Jain....

And this is how the saga goes..

Venue: SPJIMR Campus
Date: 25th March
Slot Time: 10AM

Reached the Campus at 9AM. After getting the registration done, was just speaking with couple of the fellow aspirants. Al of a sudden I was called for the interview at 9:45AM with the 9'o clk slot ppl. There were 3 guys who opted for Fin, two for IM(includes me) and one for Ops. Incidentally 3 of the 5 guys came from the same company!!
As we entered the interview hall, we were greeted well by the panelists(Nirja mam{A lady from DOCC} and another SIR).

We were asked to start with the intro part. PPl were really dragging more on technical aspects of work etc.... it was slightly getting more a kindof tech interview, so the lady asked to sum up the introduction in a short manner and the Sir asked us to speak more about our personality, family bkground and things other than wat we hav mentioned in the profile. I finished my introduction in a very crisp manner covering most of what I wanted to say without leaving a bad taste in the mouth(atleast that is wat i hav thot!!). Later we were asked to chose a topic which is close to our heart so that we can have a GD. The first guy chose "Farm loan waiver" and the next two followed him, I chose "Corporate Social Responsibility" and there was another guy who chose sports. We finally decided to go with the "Farm waiver Loan". The GD was pretty good..ppl came up with very good points if not great points. I made my presence well in the GD and came up with atleast 5 good points. Later we were asked y we have chosen our particular stream and some questions were asked for the fin guys. some couldnt answer bt one guy could answer atleast few. My justification for chosing IM also went well, as I have relevant work ex. All went fine till then and we were asked to move.

Al i can say that my performance was not xtra-ordinary but was good, good enough to get through the first round at least!! Believe me i was standing out in my group, articulation was good...points in GD were good and overall it was too good from my side. Infact when i came out all the ppl in my group told that mine was the best in the group and they told that I would be surely through... But god had different plans for me.

The final disaster came when the results were announced and three of our group mates got eliminated which included me!! It was a sinking feeling... the moment I came out of the interview hall I was so sure of my selection and I was unable to digest the fact, something in my heart said that there is a mistake. Clarified twice from the person who announced the results. Then I saw that there were 5 columns(lik personality, communication skills, Clarity of thought etc) in the sheet aginst which u would get either A/B/C depending on ur performance. And al I could see were B/C's against my name!!

Belive me frends I am not so idiotic or over optimistic to not know how I have performed in an Interview. Wat I saw was unbelievable and I was simply shattered. I know there must be a strong reason behind marking me out. I think I was sent out of no fault of mine...really felt very very bad...it was a sinking feeling.

I waited for 3 hours to speak with the panelist for 2 min to just know what went wrong. They dint allow me to speak.... jst wanted to know where i went wrong... .

So all I could tell myself was "Forget abt SP.Jain... i got a very bad deal"

But no loathing or sulking business from my end. I still respect SP.Jain the way I used to do... and I surely will continue to do so. But the experience that I had today gave me a pinch of frustation, I wouldnt have minded had i been not selected after the second round but this way I think I lost a chance to study in my dream college.

Dats ok... God has best plans for me....All I can say is good luck ppl for ur results and hope to meet u guys in some college fests.... bubbye..

[shwetha.sun]

hello puyz.. thought i'll just share m wonderful experience at sp's GI..
had my intrview on the 24th, 11 AM slot.

made it to the campus at 10, had my documents verified and relaxed in the super-chill EMBA class room.. AT arnd 11:15, we were called.. there were 6 ppl, 3 fin, 3 markting.. (btw, i'm called 4 marketing).. i was the only girl in here.. 2 freshers..

the panel had 2 ppl.. a sir and a ma'm frm the DOCC..(of which i had dangerously low knowledge).

there was a guy who had his certificates in a BATA bag.. n without our knowledge.. the process started with the sir asking us what we felt bout bata..(like the 99.99 pricing, presence.. affordability, cost etc) then he asked us to introduce ourselves with the person who wanted to.. i waited for a sec n volunteered , putting 'ladies first' myself..
everyone had their rata rataya tell me sumthing bout urself ready n went bout it..
only one boy had it diff.. he went on talking bout his social awareness n all the 'good' things' he'd done for the society, which i felt was impressive.. there was a biker who wud n cud bring down anything to biking.. whew!!

then we were asked why marketing n fin ?? again fully prepared kinda stuff..

b4 i was asked the mam said.. shwetha.. whatever u say, be careful..as this sir here is the marketing head of sp.. smiled n started..

but i was caught as i blurted out that i had 4 jobs at hand.. n the ma'm said then u MUST MUST MUST work b4 MBA..i got scraed n said sp accept freshers.. they said 'not everyone' n i said but some with that intangible 'spark' in them.. than i ahad a hell of a time bout the spark thing..

coz when any marketing person started, the sir used to ask me..'shwetha, do u think he has the spark in him' .. this happnd at least 5 time.. n all of us wud start laughing!!

it was long(bout 1hr 10 mins) talked on loan waiver, banks,DOCC,metlife(my dad's n there)..some marketing basics n lots more..too long to recollect)

what i learnt # be street smart, don't overdo it.. always have a pleasant face.n LISTEN to the others)

that was the 1st round.. 5/6 cleared.(me, luckily in here).. the ony boy eliminated got stuck with his reason 4 n MBA in fin and fin only..

6 of us were again asked to assemble(4 marketing, 1 fin, 1 IM)
3 girls this time..

we were expecting a psychometric.. n were chatting loudly outside ''what we exppected to be the lab".. 2 ppl went it.. we wern't even bothered..

got in 2 find that they were the panelists n t was the 2nd intrview!!
again asked to introduce.. this time i was ASKED to start 1st( i dunno what;s wrong wid me)..
big time mistake.. it was round 1 PM n i said "good morning.err afternoon.. started on a wrong note, but 'll correct it.. I'm shwetha. n blah blah..".. hope it wasnt big prob.. left out sooo many points in the intro that felt like kicking myself for it..
then the young sir asked the biker ( he was wid me again) bout the TVS-bajaj patent problem.. only he had some idea.. none of us had (ha ha).. then the discussion started with the viewpoints of all of us..what advice, was it right etc etc.. unfortunately, i drifted off the discussion for a moment n was asked to comment on nother person (actually.. the discussion was getting drab with spark plugs n electrodes).. neways, he had to explain the situation,n then i replied..(a definite negative)

then he coke displacement probem in kerala started.. n we were discussing on the ethical apects of a company.. this was gud.. then some fruitless (according to the young sir) discussion on study pressure happened.. we finally finished with a word to describe ourselves.. our most treasured value.. n under what circumstances we wud violate it.. this was pretty ok..
overall.. more gruelling than the 1st.
then the psychometric n personality test..
n done..
hope it helped..

[funwithhimanshu]

Venue details: 24th March 10 am slot
Profile: CAT 07 99.32(no oder exams given)
20 mnths work ex, 89 % in Xth,79 in x11th(both cbse),87 % in BTech(CS) from NIT-Allahabad
Calls:IIM-L,I,K,MDI,IMT,SPJ

1st round
6 people, 2 panelists(one lady heading Doeacc and another male prof)
2 questins to everybody-tell us something which is not mentioned in your form, justify ur chosen specialisation

I think I did extremely well, all the other group members later told me that my performance was gud

After 10 minutes, result came, 2 people(including me) out of 6 got selected.
Second round, 2 different, older profs, same question, justify watever u have taken as specialisation, nothing else, they were stretching and grilling only on this question..........

After that , a wierd psychometry test which was very long and had to be completed in a certial amount of time which was not taken care of, nobody was there in the room where we were giving the test, u can take as much time as u want, but again-be careful,thing mite be different on diff days.


My TAKE:
interviews will not test ur professional,technical or general knowledge, infact they will not test anything at all.......u just have to justify and convince them that watever u have choosen as specialization goes with ur bakgrnd and u wud specifically like to work in such and such field. They just want clarity of goal and nothing else, it would be gud if u prepare a few lines on justifying ur choice of course so that u can speak confidently in the interview witout hiccups.

ATB

[sm_india1]

when are the GIs getting over for the third shortlist as well ?? what was the last day available while chooosing the slots for those in the last list ?

[Parasuram NA]

Originally Posted by sm_india1

when are the GIs getting over for the third shortlist as well ?? what was the last day available while chooosing the slots for those in the last list ?

The last date for GIs is 28th March...
Hope it helps!!
Cheers!!!

[Parasuram NA]

Let me put in my experience... here goes...

Prelude-- Slot Timing -> 25th March 3pm
Specialisation -> Finance
3rd List

Travel to Mumbai from B'lore was a disaster... 2 hrs late and then turbulence in the flight. Almost swore never to sit in a flight again. Reached Mumbai around late nite on 24th.

Reached bhavan's campus by 12.30 with a friend, who was in the 2 pm slot. Went for registration and got docs verified. Was chillaxing with my friend when i was called for the 1st GI.. got a shock.. asked them again thought heard my name by mistake... So here i was waiting for GI1 first interview without a tie (no time for that) ... grp of 6 ( 5 Fin + 1 IT)

GI1 : started with introductions. usual stuff.. among Fin ppl we had a BCom grad from Kolkata, an IIT D grad workin in some IT firm, then a Fresher from delhi, a gal workin in Hyd in IT and APUN.
Usual intros (they asked our CAT/XAT scores as well)... asked the IT gal why fin..she told her idea of a startup with her bro workin in US.. the panel grilled her on that... total wreck of her startup...
My turn..gave my idea of entrepreneurship..they again started with grilling... I had to clarify that actually i want to get into retailing not a techie firm... fir asked me abt some things abt Wipro... CFO ka naam to nahi yaad aaya but last quarter results k baare mein yaad tha..so gyan on that.
Then he asked me why the margins were hit last quarter.. gave him reasons (Re appreciation and IT spending cut by firms in US) .. tried to catch me with apreciation and depreciation but i managed it pretty well... then they asked hw service industry is tryin to improve margins.. he was lookin for "movement in the value chain" but the grp was beating around the bush... when he said wat he wanted i actually stepped in and answered with a couple of sentences on hw we are moving up the value chain from voice support to consulting type roles.. Panel nodded positively. Then came the rough weather.
Again grilled me on y finance.. sayin that i can take marketing y finance.. tried to justify myself in some ways but was cut short and panel asked "if we give u a second preference will u take marketing?" I said "if there is any such thing as second preference i'll take marketing".. asked me my other calls ...i said SJMSOM ... was asked which of the two will i choose... refused to answer that question saying I havent thght abt it...
Others were also asked abt their firms and kind off work they do. meaning of some typical Fin terms. nothing very specific... That was end of GI1

wait for the result was pretty short.. luckily i got thru into second round.

Time for psycho test ( as most of the ppl called it)... simple advice..write the first answer tht comes to mind. nvr mind grammer and spellin... u'll just have enuff time to finish it..

then we were called for GI2.

GI2:
I was again in a group of 6. 5Fin + 1 IT. Among 5 Fin there were 3 B.Com Freshers + 1 Capgemini guy workin in BFSI + APUN ( bekar aa gaya marne k liye ...that was my first reaction) . The panel consisted of 2 elderly gentlemen, one of them was introduced as the Director of SPJ.. sounded mallu by accent(heavy on at that)
Second round introduction again... then i was quizzed abt my college..wat are the various ways of gettin admission into it... tld abt AIEEE and stuff... was asked hw much is the current fees in my college..wat other disciplines are available ... general stuff... round 2 grilling on why finance.. again entrepreneurship gyan... i was feelin stupid by now but hung on.. then came the real stuff...
was asked if i am given the balance sheet of a firm then hw will i know if its in gud shape..
answered in very basic terms... abt sales and profits and profit after Tax.. then he turned to BCom ppl and the BFSI guy.. they all came up with big terms but i felt they all said the same thing.. they were more grilled on wat ever they answered... then we were asked abt wat we thght abt the loan waiver in the Budget... put in my points.. did satisfactorily i felt..
Then we were asked questions abt our personality, values and things like that...
Also one interesting question was to tell them 1 negative thing abt SPJ and 1 -ve abt the admission process.. inside my heart i was sayin he's asking the wrong ppl...
At the end one member of the group had a few questions to ask about the college... and so we had a small talk abt it and then we all thanked the panel and left...

On the whole, the process was wonderful with lot of diverse profiles to see and the GI was a new experience for me...

Comments invited!!!!
Cheers!!!

[shamingo]

@Parasuraman

Doooode, how many were eliminated in the first GI??

[Parasuram NA]

Originally Posted by shamingo

@Parasuraman

Doooode, how many were eliminated in the first GI??

In my grp ...out of 6 ..4 went on to the second round...
Cheers!!!!

[deeptig5]

Can Anybodytell the total intake this year along with the breakup of the seats available.