[piyushisnice]

Hi friends.
My name is Piyush Joshi and I had an experience of IIM A on 13th Feb. 2:00 PM.
One interesting thing that happened was that one person in our batch was absent so only 7 people in case study.
The case study was of a night manager named Dinesh, who is incharge of two pizza outlets.
His team comprises of around 7 college going students.
His bonus is inversely proportional to the amount of material wasted (seems absurd).
the team is a closely knit team and consumes a lot of what they produce (free pizza for employees). they also dont' report any wastage due to pizza getting burned and all.
Dinesh with the help of his senior manager decides to put in CCT cameras in the work place and reduces the free pizza to 1 per person per day.
the team feels bad and 2 of the old employees leaves the team. But Dinesh's bonus is still falling down (god knows why). What should he do?

I started the case study and came in around 6-7 times. it was a more or less peaceful thing and most of us performed average coming out with bad points again and again.

Interview:
3 panelist out of which one was a smart lady.
she asked me sell myself and why should they take me.
(idiot i am) i hadn't prepared this answer well so ended up saying my strengths and how i can be helpful to my team mates. in the process i also told her that i am a good motivator.
2. she asked me to motivate her. she doesn't like working at all. i tried to do that, but the thing didn't last for long. i told her that i need some time and adequate knowledge about the person.
3. Then the other panelists asked me about my job responsibilities and my project. which i did in a better way.
4. then they started asking me technical questions. the first one was the process of making a call thorough mobile ( i am elx and tc engg).\
i answered it taking a lot of time.
5. need for fourier transform and its equation. (gosh!) i was lucky that i did it. the condition that governs it. (i still don't know and replied Dirichlet's condition. Plz someone tell me if i am right.) then what are these conditions? not much luck with this.
6. why i don't like signal and systems? i couldn't answer that well.
7. working of digital tv. i haven't read this ever, so made up something but they were not convinced.

over all interview was fast paced and i was confident and they didn't frown or looked bored. One drawback that i have is my cat percentile - 99.31.
So friends tell me how did my interview go from your perspective and about the normal cat percentile that iim a looks for. are my suffecient?

desperately waiting for responses. and best of luck for yours.

[DrStrangelove]

My experience

CAT Scores: 99.92 (VA 98.18, DI 98.71, QA 99.90)

Interview on Feb 12, 2005. (Same batch as hanoz)

Morning:

Quite cold in Abad - in a cool blazer. Had a look at the gallery in Underpass. Met Hanoz and a college junior. Still taking things very easy and nonchalantly. Get a call from "my precious" who is mad cause I forgot to call her the previous evening. Console her. Reavow my feelings. Clinch a good luck in the end. Uff the fragile female fraternity!! Still cool. No prep and so no tension.



Case Study:

First GD in life - out of laziness (and great ego) did not feel the need for preparing for GDs or Case Studies. 5 mins for reading, 20 for discussin and 5 for writing the conclusion. Read it, discussion starts. Contribute 3-4 times. About 20-30 seconds. Less. Should have been more. Several times allow others to speak when there is a media access collision (two ppl speakin at same time). Now feel shouldnt have done that. Do put some novel points but feel that ppl are all repeating same things after some time - two good folks cite ONGC VRS examples - liked that. Nice discussion in that no fish-market or hot confrontations.

My advice to other ppl:

1) speak eevn if you think something similar has been spoken earlier.

2) dont be very courteous if you and somebody else start speakin at the same time- I was 2-3 times and ppl spoke my point. It aint the same thing to come up with a new point and support it.



Interview:

Three people facing me, one seated directly behind.

I1, I2, I3 - interviewers, M - me

I1 - You know whats Internet (BG is BE in IT)

M - yes

I1 - What is IPv4 and IPv6.

M - tell him about adress lengths and shorter headers so that least processing is involved.

I1 - What about real time applications

M - There are provisions for high priority data but dont remember the specifics. In short dont know.

I1 - What is ERP.

M - fullform

I1 - What is it all about

M - Short answer - about managing all resources of an organisation

I1 - Could you elaborate

M - Sorry, dont have a deep idea (thought better not to answer than to give a vague anmswer - dont know a thing other than fullform).

I1 - What is Wipro's ERP product

M - Dont know.

I1 - Heard of SAP, Whats that into.

M - ERP, German firm. (Never worked on any ERP aplpication)

I1 - Oracles main product.

M - (Pha - you kidding me?) RDBMS.

I1 - Any others? Any ERP product.

M - (For Gawd's sake leave ERP!! Dunno head or tail) None I know of. (Better than "I dont know", sounds more stylish)

I1 - None you know of.

I2 takes over

I2 - Where are your original marksheets.

M - Dont have them. Wasnt mentioned in the call letter.

I2 - What do we verify the photocopies against.

M - Cant help it Sir, it was not there in the call letter, which said only Photocopies of marksheets. And originals of extra-currics. Thats why havent even got 'em attested.

I2 - (Still doesnt believe me) Show me where thats written.

M - (Show it to him)

I2 - Achcha achha. (Gee I told you so!)

I1 is back

I1 - Tell me about Intel's latest chips.

M - 64 bit Itanium. (Forgot to name Xeon. Worse - checked it later Itanium is Intel and HP joint venture. But they dint seem to know that)

I1 - And 32 bits

M - PIV is the latest. Latest versions being developed at four places in world. Bang one of them and so its codenamed "Whitefield". That is where they have half of teh the silicon valley in Bang. (Had attented the Landmark Bangalore Quiz).

I1 - Why go for higher bit archs.

M - (Cant think of nething better) Can address more memory. More op-codes possible. Thats how you get more computing power, not in terms of speed but in terms of managing more memory and future high-end applications.

I1 - Why go for bits at all??

M - You mean?

I1 - Why we have bits? (WTF is this me thinks)

M - Because thats how data is stored in memory - magnetic of semiconductor - two states. (Bad answer)

I1 - Why not more than two states.

M - Tell them about advantages of digital over analog. (When in fact strictly speakin I should have told him advantages of binary over ternary and higher-state systems but couldnt remember any!! Just let my instincts guide).

I1 - Convert 2.45 in binary.

M - Ha ha - forget how to do it for decimals. But no problem. 2 is 10. And 45 is 45/100 less than 1/2. 45/100 - 1/4 is 1/5. 1/5 - 1/8 is 3/40. So told him it is 10.011......

I1 - (Trying to figure out my method - cause its all rough work) Is that how you do it?

M - Sir theres a method taught in high school but forgot. (Doesnt look convinced. Who cares, I know I was right in my method and yes you cant deduce somebody's method from his rough calculations).

Now I1 is over.

I2 takes over.

I2 - I see you have some Elocution certificates.

M - (no those are all fakes I got in Patna). Yes Sir.

I2 - Suppose I am your younger brother. Bad at speaking. How would you tell me to speak well.

M - I'd tell him .... (ooops)

I2 - No tell me. I am your brother.

M - (k, as you like it) ..... tell him about how to speak in public ...... Go for about 2 mins .........

I2 - No - I am very afraid of stage - in front of crowds I just cant get my voice out. Then what?

M - (Then try a hand at public mime baba) Look at the ceiling and speak till you gain your confidence. Then speak to the audience. (Bad answer - but me cant do better).

I2 - Wont that look bad?

M - (Hey you'll actually get booed, but why should I agree now that I have said it? He he) Thats better than standing speechles in front of people.

So I2 doesnt think he will ask me anything more.

I3 - You have represented your college in chess.

M - Correction Sir, I came second in Chess tourney on annual sports day.

I3 - Tell me about some openings.

M - Sicilian, Kings Indian (Hey Nimzo Indian, Queens Indian, Caro Kann - why do names not strike when you want them to).

I3 - Whats your favorite.

M - If black I'd answer c5 to e4 and play Sicilian.

I3 - And if white? Still Sicilian?

M - (Hey that'll depend on what black plays in the first move, Uncle jee) I will play e4. Then it depends on black.

I3 - Tell me more about Sicilian.

M - Kasparov's favorite - he is a killer. Analysed his and Anand's matches in Championship match 1995. You can have many variations. Dragon. Najdorf. Ruy Lopez (BLUNDER - thats not Sicilian but somehow dunno why said it). Sir I played Chess long back - so dont remember specific moves of all variations.

I3 - (Blankly) Hmm (Yoho - dint catch me on Ruy Lopez)

M - (Hmm what? If you dint get me, tell me!!)

I3 - And you have some GK Quiz certificates.

M - (No bhai, forgot my visit to Patna?) Yes.

I3 - How many Indian authors have won the Booker.

M - (Boss this is cheepo Manorama Year Book "chaap" quizzing). Sir I can currently recall three names - Rushdie, Arundhati Roy and Jhumpa.

(WRONG!! Forgot Naipaul. And Jhumpa won a Pulitzer and not Booker).

I3 - Have you read any of those books.

M - (Whats next bhai, Who is Sigmund Freud and have you read his books). No Sir.

I3 - Thats all.

Look at I1, I2.

Somebody - Take a sweet.

M - Can I take two (Take two before he says "yes").

M - (Bye bye doston - you dint ask me about my ace hobby - Linguistics - Sanksrit phonetics, phonology and morphology. Thats my USP. My self-taught treasure!! Never mind, shall show you some other day)



My ratings on my performance:

GD:

1) Amount that I spoke: 5/10

2) My content: 8/10

PI

1) Confidence and conduct: 10/10

2) Content and answers: 9/10

My take

GD/PI is all "khaana-poori". CAT score rules in the end. Might have as much as 50% or 60% weightage. Reason - they did not ask me any tough question. Strange!!

Waiting for results.

Do send your feedback.

[gaurav_sh89]

hi friends ..

i had my PI at IIMA

3 prof panel , one lady ,
p1 :- prof1 , p2 :- prof2 , lady :- prof3


went inside .. wxchange of smiles

p1 :- you are gaurav frm iitb .. blah blah .. frm delhi .. ur strengths are blah blah .. this is something about urself .. tell me more ?

me :- enjoyed iit , gr8 faculty .. took part in organisational activity ...(handled well)

p2 :- who acc to u is better ketan parikh or harshad mehta ?

me :- fired back .. had studied a lot .. (lady gives me a broad smile)

lady :- u have insulted me ?

me :_ i am soory .. i don't remember
lady (damn serious) :- u haven't wish me valentine?

me :- maam happy valentine day

lady :- ur insulting ur girlfriend by wishing every lady valentine day

me :- maam valentine is also for friendship .. blah blah

lady (smiling) :- so , ur here for making friend

me :_ yes yes

p1 :- ask on probabilty functions ?
me :- answered


p2 :- what quality u want to take from iit to iim ?

me :- team work ... everything in project ...


lady :_ have u read the book of love

suddenly one question from p1 on iran issue
me :- answered iran question well

lady :- book of love ?

me( this was best part) :- i said yes maam

lady(surprised) :- what is it ?
me :- bhagwat gita

lady ;- why it is book of love
me :- true love gives dignity , sacrifice .. same with gita blah blah
smiles everywhere

p1 :- questions on differentiation ..

me:- answered

p2 :- on differential equation ..

me :- answered (but little confusion was thr)


lady :- question on final yr project

me :- answered in detail


p1 :- questions abt home state

me :- answered

lady :- gaurav , tell me do u read newspaper

me :- yes , maam and reading very seriously after cat result

blushes everywhere

p2 :- give me agood answer , why ppl read newsp

me :- everybody eager to know abt others without knowing themselves truly
p1(smiles)
some more tech questions on Databases

after that was asked to rate myself on a scale of 10 in PI
i rated 8/10
everybody smiles(dunno what they mean)

offerred 2 candies and sent out

any comments are welcome

[simon]

hey

good GD/PI experiences there from most of the PGites!
Great going guys!!
Vishy, Rahul, Khannu, good show
Stranglelove, too many flutters in the PI to feel really comfortable, but if your attitude was as you rate it, thats a big plus!
and yeah, I completely agree with your GD gyan
One point I wanted to make was the France-Algeria angle that cropped up in Rahul's PI. Its a typical case of when you get a qn you were expecting, you answer with full enthu, and at the end of it, feel you should have said more. So what do you do?...drag in a few more vaguely connected points which you otherwise wouldn't have, opening yourself for attack from the panelists :huh:
The temptation to add more is something which should be avoided but something ohh so tough to do
ATB, guys!!

[DrStrangelove]

Originally Posted by simon

Stranglelove, too many flutters in the PI to feel really comfortable, but if your attitude was as you rate it, thats a big plus!
and yeah, I completely agree with your GD gyan

Forgot to add in my PI exp:

I3 questioned me for about 3-4 mins on my job. Handled that comfily.


Simon, many flutters!! Probably yes. I was good in parts. But was also prompt in saying "I dont know" candidly. Believe thats better than beating around the bush.

I feel comfy cause I believe (and not because that I want to believe it) that CAT score and your academic track record have a higher weightage than many ppl believe them to have. GD/PI test you for barely for 30 mins. CAT score is a test of (in some cases) a whole year of prep and effort. And consistent good acads is also a big plus cause all IIMs pay great importance to acads (maks still rule, however open an educational system we claim to support).

Tis probably like GREs and track record when applying to US univs. If you get a 1450+ then its all the same whether its 1580 or 1450 or 1600 even for places like Berkley. Same for subject GREs too. What they majorly see is your coll, CGPA and papers et al. Similarly PI/GD it seems are for testing if a candidate clears a threshold - the big weighing factors are still your exam score and acads and co-currics (if exceptional and varied).

My personal opinions. People may differ.

[RAHUL ABRAHAM MAMMAN]

Originally Posted by simon

hey

good GD/PI experiences there from most of the PGites!
Great going guys!!
Vishy, Rahul, Khannu, good show
Stranglelove, too many flutters in the PI to feel really comfortable, but if your attitude was as you rate it, thats a big plus!
and yeah, I completely agree with your GD gyan
One point I wanted to make was the France-Algeria angle that cropped up in Rahul's PI. Its a typical case of when you get a qn you were expecting, you answer with full enthu, and at the end of it, feel you should have said more. So what do you do?...drag in a few more vaguely connected points which you otherwise wouldn't have, opening yourself for attack from the panelists :huh:
The temptation to add more is something which should be avoided but something ohh so tough to do
ATB, guys!!

The Algeria angle should have never come up true..But they wanted me to tell them an example of how I have gained knowledge from the collection of coins..I somehow took up this example..The fact that I could just about manage..means that it is ok ..what do u say about my handling of the situtation ???

[buzzeG]

Originally Posted by DrStrangelove

GD/PI is all "khaana-poori"

Originally Posted by DrStrangelove

I feel comfy cause I believe (and not because that I want to believe it) that CAT score and your academic track record have a higher weightage than many ppl believe them to have. GD/PI test you for barely for 30 mins. CAT score is a test of (in some cases) a whole year of prep and effort. And consistent good acads is also a big plus cause all IIMs pay great importance to acads (maks still rule, however open an educational system we claim to support).

Tis probably like GREs and track record .......

My personal opinions. People may differ.

well i certainly would differ with that - what the GD/PI can test in a few minutes the CAT cannot do at all. they are infact two testing two different skills - a person may prepare for his CAT since higher secondary and someone may just write the exam without prepration - the IIMs arent bothered as long as you score enough. the GD/PI is not as much of a knowledge test as it is of a personality test and personality counts a lot for a manager. none of this this unfortunately cannot be tested in the CAT, or else why should the institutes take the pain of calling 800-1000 students each and conduct these tests over periods exending a month at various locations.. give them a break - they do not call people just for the sake of it, or for proving anything (the IIMs dont bother to prove anything) they do it with real intent of selecting you and however low ones score is in the CAT each person has a real chance of making it.

[subrahmanyam]

Other people whose IIMA interviews are over, please post your experiences also....... For MDI , so many ppl posted their experiences, i wonder why nobody is posting their experiences of IIMA interviews.......

[balaabm]

I guess people r feeling competition....!!!!!!!! Don't think so guys....

Try to share ur knowledge....ur experiences will be of great use to us....

[RAHUL ABRAHAM MAMMAN]

It can also be that the number of interviews at IIM A was quite less..and other centres will have a higher number of interviews...
The total number of interviews in IIM A would have been 100 or so I guess..
Maybe very few guys from PG there.............By that I mean PG regulars who make posts on a regular basis.........almost each and every one I met have heard of PG ..Though only a few have posted..