Coming to the interview process.
The Panel that was present for our GDs was the one that took our interviews as well. We could interact among ourselves so it was a very chilled out atmosphere. The interviews in the beginning were lasting around 15-20 minutes, the later ones condensed to 10 minutes. The panel in which the dean was present had longer interviews in general and HR focussed interviews.
People were usually asked about their work experience, job profile, details about the client, their learnings etc. Few people were asked about the Budget, but mostly general things, like the GDP of India, VAT, Tax, "your take on the budget". A few people were also required to give an extempore!! Well they were asked to speak for one minute on topics like "nano" and "Give me 3 reasons why I should NOT select you" :sly:.
Freshers were asked about academics. But they were given the initial opporunity, they were asked questions like "Which is your favourite subject?" or "What did you study during Engineering?" effectively moving to their strengths or their area of preparation
.
My interview began at 1:30 pm, with 13 people being interviewed before me and went something like this (As usual, P1= panel 1, a senior professor with 25 years of industry experience and more than 5 years at VGSOM, P2 = panel 2, a prof specialising in finance and accounts with 10 months in VGSOM and 10 years overall experience, and M = me):
P1: So...Abhishek.....are you hungry?
M: (Understood that this is an ice breaker question, smiled, and asked them if they were hungry)
P1: Oh yes, I am very hungry, but don't worry as this will not affect your interview and your chances in any way
So....your surname suggests that we can trace your origins to a remote place in MP or Ujjain or Bihar or UP?
M: Sir my parents are from (a state) but I have been born and brought up in Mumbai.
P2: What is your take on the recent activities against north Indians like you in Mahrashtra?
M: (Without getting emotionally charged up) Sir I think that it is very unfair.....
P1: (Interrupting) Oh yes.....very unfair....
P2: I think that the educated Maharashtrians do not support them...
M: Yes sir, in fact I have a friend from college who is one and condemns their actions. I believe that the core issue is not what they have brought up, but it is that Mumbai's resources are under pressure from immigrants, but they are targetting a particular section of the society. Also the methods that they have used are wrong. Violence is wrong.
P1: Yaar tumhare marks kaise hain.....which trigonometric graph does this represent?
(Taking out a sheet of paper, dividing the XY axis in 5 horizontal lines)
Ye tumhare 10th aur 12th ke marks hain....close to 90. Aur ye itna bada drop hua graduation me?
M: Actually it is not easy to score in Mumbai University.
P2: (Looking at P1) Achha...bahut kanjoos university hai (smiling)
M: (Went on to mention that the university topper from my class had got 80%, and that he was the topper of the entire university.)
P1: So if I go by your graph, it will go further down in MBA?
M: (Smiling) Sir it can go upwards as well. (Serious) My point is that now I am very motivated to do an MBA and I am sure that I will perform when the time comes.
P1: Yes yes, you are very motivated, that's why you got 157 rank in JMET. So you must have attended this (pointing to the floor of the college) interview as well?
M: No sir, I didn't get a call from SJMSOM, probably due to a low sectional score in DI.
P1: (Half looking at P2) Oh, they consider sectionals?
M: (Thinking, C'mon, you don't know
that?:sly
....As far as I know.
P1: Which college did you study in?
M: xyz college, in Mumbai only.
P1: So you are an abc Engineer (designation). Ah that guy who came in some time back was also the same. (Decided not to ask me the ramayan about the job profile as I am sure the "other guy" would have already told him, and by 13 interviews they might have got terribly fed up)
P1: (Reading from the printout of my form) Poetry....hmm....Mr. Poet.
P2: Which languages do you write in?
M: Mostly English.
P1: Photography? Which camera do you have?
M: Minolta.
P1: Digital?
M: Not digital. But it has zoom lens and great quality. I don't get the feel of good photography with digital cameras.
P1: Which model is it? SLR?
M: No sir. I don't remember the model but it is not SLR.
I got this interest from my father who was an amateur photographer. He had a few photos published in magazines, newspapers. He has taught me a few tips and tricks.
P1: Who else is in your family?
M: Blah...
P1: You will come to Kharagpur? You will stay alone?
M: I have stayed alone for 3 n half years (details), so I think I can adjust.
P1: Wow, tum kya nahi karte ho.....(Noting down a couple of things that I mentioned in the extra curriculars sheet, in his notepad)....Igggg (society)?
M: I was an event coordinator of the society as well as its most active participant in college.
P1: .......bbbing, cccing, ddding, trekking
M: (Smiling) Sir this could be a reason why I didn't get so many marks during graduation. (Serious) The trekking passion started after I joined xxx company. We got many opportunities there.
P1: What about reading?
M: Yes. (Went on to name the last 2-3 fiction books that I had read, almost forgetting the name of one author, but recollecting it before it was too late).
P1: (Showed some knowledge about one of the fiction authors that I mentioned, then quickly moved on). What about non-fiction? Do you read any?
M: I am currently reading India Unbound by Gurcharan Das. (Details about the book in one line).
P1: What does Gurcharan Das do?
M: (Lost a point there, as I haven't researched about him, and haven't reached that part of the book yet
)
P1: He was the CEO of xyz company, then he quit and became an author and what not.
M: Nodding.
P1 and P2: Ok that's it. Thank you. (long pause, then almost half willing....) Would you like to ask us something?
M: (Had framed the question after their ppt) I wanted to ask you that you have a 6 month project.....people coming from engineering background, many opting for different kinds of roles, like HR.....So how does the company trust the student for a 6 month job?
P1: (Went on for a minute. Began with how MBA students are serious,
are looking for a change in job/profile. Ended with an example of a student who had got a ppo for an HR role in a biggie company last time around after his 6 month stint).
Overall an ok interview except for that mistake, but it did not deviate from the weird pattern of my interviews. 4th interview in a row that did not have "Why MBA?" "Tell me something about yourself". I am seriously thinking about changing the way I fill forms/sops
.
Well these cliche questions were not asked to many today, only 3-4 candidates that I can recall. I do remember someone being asked about Entrepreneurship (I am guessing they picked it up, as usual, from his SOP). Psssst..there was a certain Pagalguy creature in our batch
...a certain ModSaurus
Regarding document verification, absolutely none happened. One of my batchmates asked this at the end of his interview. They looked at his call letter, saw the list of documents required, then said that they don't need to look at anything. But just to be on the safe side, it is better to carry all the certificates just in case you need to substantiate something.
Help
people were formed! Although I found that 2 people were absent per batch, but 15 is a very high number for a group, and we all feared a fish market as we went to the room around 9:20.
Anyways, was okayish. My contribution was okayish. Nothing to lavish, nor dismal.
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