Posting after results but nevertheless might be useful for next yr's batch.
Profile :
X- MP board 86.2 ( with 100 in maths & 99 in science)
XII - MP Board 84.66
B TEch in electrical & M tech in Instrumentation & minor in ECE from IIT KGP - 7.83/10 ( 2006)
Working with L&T; since June 2006 as Mangment Trainee. Executive assistant to GM

15 April - Hotel Monarch - Panel 3 - Morning session

Reached Just in time after Auto whcih I took did not know where the Hotel Monarch was.( I was staying with a friend in Indiranagar).

There were people for four panels.Seemed like Mela.

GD topic: In business situation Rearview mirror is clearer than frontview.
mirror
5 minutes to write your thoughts before GD. Did a good job as this was a repeat topic ( thanks pagalguy). Mentioned some real incident from my worklife.

10 minutes for discussion. One very loud fellow jumped the gun & he kept on interferring with everyone like but we should not forget. After a time it was repetion & people starte talking aobut mangment books & theories.
Came twice or thrice tried to support guys who could speak less. Becoz of this bully some other people also got agitated & whole GD was destroyed but here my work expereince came to my rescue & i made only orginal points & otherwise kept mum.Tried to stick to what I had written in sheet already.

Interview : 9th guy to be interviewed so long wait. APnel 1 was very fast & they had finsihed when 7th candidate was being interviewed in ours. while panle 2 was slowest .Ours was okay.

When entered was asked to latch the door .
two people : P1 I guess Mr Panigrahi who is MTEch in agri from IIT KGP.
other fellow I did not get time to see his face as he was engrossed with my certis.
P1: U r from indore why it is famous?
I told aobut Indore being Namkin capital & potential as iinvestment hub .Why not developed & then
P1;who are NRI & PIOs?
A sequel to first question as when I told him aobut destination of Indore's namkeen exports.
P1: who is Vindod Gupta? About VGSOM? Why is KGP famous?
I said railway staiton , IIT , Air bases nearby , Tata bearing factory but he kept on asking anytihng else .Seems was trying to stress me out.
P1: difference between B Tech & BE?
once agian tried to stress me.
Then they started looking for some mangment course which I had taken.Zeroed on Human behaviour In organsiation.How it is different form organisation behaviour?
First I said they are same ,then said no & tried to justify.
P1: ( sequel to earlier question) what is tactic? what is strategy? are they same ? & endless stream of quaetions but I stood my ground after giving one opinion.
P1: u r with Medical SBU.why it is called SBU? how it si different from OD?
Gave him good funda aobut L&T; organisation structure but gave wrong answer as to why we switched to SBU model.

P2: first time looks out of my certificates .So waht is nature of your work?
I promptly put forward my work exp certificate detailing my responsibilites.
( it was helpful though they did not ask for one)
Then said you are anyway doing what we wil lteach you or what you will do after MBA?
I gave usual gyan & pitched in with example of one M&A; study I had done at workpalce.


I nhindsight Ithink Lgive mroe importance to your profile & percentile astheir form si also very short which does not tell anything aobut you.

PS: I made it to L finally.

GD same as subodh....naxalisn....@subodh...r u sure ur gd was today on 24th .... i mean topic repeat??

@subodh.....were u in my panel..panel I 2 pm iift

Yups, Mine was on 23rd.. Not Panel 1 however.

Actually I wrongly mentioned it as today.. Sorry for that...:satisfie:

My L interview on 23rd at iift delhi

GD same as subodh....naxalisn....@subodh...r u sure ur gd was today on 24th .... i mean topic repeat??

interview again was something same panel one lady and a prof

and wat else all the same questions too.....starting frm requisites.....tell abt urself......discussion about favourite subjects.....discussion about hobbies.......discussion about maths.....then they said ok tell us if we had left smthing.....i told about smthing xtra curricular.......2 mins diiscussion on that..........then ok thanks........

sorry i cudnt elaborate all because they are same as subodh has written..........


@subodh.....were u in my panel..panel I 2 pm iift

I had my Lucknow GD/PI in Delhi today..
Verdict: Almost a Convert..

Awesome i/v man..
It is certainly a convert !!!

I had my Lucknow GD/PI in Delhi today..

GD - Naxalism is a symptom of soft Indian state.
Started the GD.. Average+ Performance.

PI -

Panel - A very cordial Lady Professor, A middle aged Male Professor

1. You have all the requisites - call letter, admit card, etc.
I had misplaced the Call Letter. So a little bit of explaining.

2. Tell me abt yourself.

Started with Work-Ex. Then undergrads. Decision to pursue an MBA after 2 years. Then family. Father, Mother, Brother. Sis's Medical College. Hometown and then wrapped up.

A bit of cross-questioning.


3. Discussion on favourite subjects
Breakeven point. TFC. TVC. Fumbled a bit while drawing graphs. Small doubts being raised and answered.

4. Discussion on Academic Record.
Answered Satisfactorily.

5. Discussion on my Interests.
Answered.. Questions on the vast range of Vocab I had used in one of the short stories. Answeres and subsequent quetions on how ur hobbies have helped urself being groomed for a management career.

6. Discussion on My CAT %iles, Verbal %ile and other IIM calls and why I did not give CAT previously.
Very impressed by my answers.

7. Discussion on Why I want to do an MBA leaving good prospects in my current career.
Answered that there is ceiling at General Manager Level. So, anyways, I will have to do an MBA after 10 years and I might not be in the best frame of mind then.. Right now, I am in the best frame of mind for pursuing further education..

8. Thank you and pleasantries..

Verdict: Almost a Convert..

My L GD/PI experience is as follows... know that its a bit to late but still anyways... and this post has been copied as from my blog so haven't made too many changes...

The normal bustle before the whole process gradually build up.... with almost all the candidates reaching by 9:45... did talk to a few other candidates... met quite a few of the people that I already knew... interviews are strange after attending 2 you start seeing a lot of familiar faces in the whole group...

At around 10:00 one professor from each panel trooped in and took a roll call... a few people were absent though... then we were asked to assemble in our respective rooms...

The process was finally going to start... was given the preliminary instructions for the GD... then one of the panelists gave us the topic... it was something like this...

"Freedom is freedom to speak 2 + 2 = 4. If that is given everything else will follow."

First we were given a handout to write an essay on the topic... and were given around 10 mins for the same... wrote a decent essay... covering both the sides of it...

The discussion was a real fish market... with one person in the group of 11 trying to hog the bulk of the AirTime... but anyways did manage to get in few decent points and some uninterrupted AirTime... in all the GD could have been a lot more better if the members of the group had cooperated a bit more... I sometimes feel that guys just don't learn that it does not pay to hog the AirTime...

One small detail that I left was that the panelist got a bit worked up that I was trying to write the topic on a separate piece of paper for further use during the GD... I politely said that Sir thats what I usually do... and that if it was a problem I will keep the paper aside...

Now onto the PI's I was 7th to go in... the guys before me all had had really short and sweet interviews with nothing much asked about personal goals and aspirations...

Finally my name was called in... I enter the room... wish both the panelists (P1 and P2)Good Morning... and sit down when I was asked to sit down...

I hand over my certificates to one of the Panelists(P2) and he starts going through all of them one by one...

And lo the interview starts...

P1 : So GM where are you right now...
Me : Sir am working in Pune right now...

P1 : For which Company...
Me : Sir HSBC Software Development...

P1 : So where all does HSBC have a presence in India...
Me : TOld them that HSBC has its main offices in Mumbai... then all the metroes... Pune...

(The panelists then had a discussion whether HSBC has a branch in Pune)

P1 : You know after an MBA people try to get a placement in HSBC... you already have it... then why do you want to leave it...
Me : Sir am into Software Development and I would like to diversify into a much more proactive role... and all the gyaan followed...

Around this time the glass that was kept on the table fell down with a nice crash... picked up a few pieces and kept them back on the table... at this jusncture I think the interview was handed over to P2...

P2 : GM so you are from Kerala...
Me : Yes Sir

P2 : GM if I give you some money where will you like to invest the same
in Kerala...
Me : Laid some ground about the problems in Kerala and then told him that Sir most probably in Cochin as its a growing city and there is a lot of scope for growth...

P2 : Why not invest in Idukki...
Me : Sir the advantage with Cochin is that I will have an opportunity to grow faster... and plus the growth in Cochin will definitely filter down to Idukki... on the other hand investing in Idukki will be risky because of the lack of infrastructure...

P2 looks at P1...
Both : Thank you, you may leave

Me : Good Day sirs...

Pick up my files and leave...

So that's it a really short interview... nothing bad about it at all... but nothing much to it too... dont know what was being judged here... lets see am keeping my fingers crossed for this one too...

Last phase of IIM-L interviews started on 20th March, and still we have no posts on GD/PI experiences. :-(

Come on participants, share ur experiences and help us ppl.

jods Says

A friend of mine in Delhi is having her interview on 4th April.

4th april ???

Has IIM L called 3000-4000 ppl for GD PI this time ????

IIML started on January 29 and going beyond April 3.. Isnt that too long as compared to the other IIMs, especially C.....
So kam se kam 15 days more for the result...

well it is posten on other thread, generally results come out on the next day of the last interview for all the IIMs...like last year last interview of IIMB was on 11th April and the results were out on 12th...this year IIMI also has some interviews running in first week of April, so we can hope results come out by second week, anyway CAT brochure saying results to come out on 12th April...though yes, it's a long wait, and more painful when I dont feel like doin anything else

IIML started on January 29 and going beyond April 3.. Isnt that too long as compared to the other IIMs, especially C.....
So kam se kam 15 days more for the result...

Folks any idea when the IIML interviews around the country are ending ?? err.. I've assumed they haven't already!!

any inputs??

A friend of mine in Delhi is having her interview on 4th April.

Dont fret it, Those of u who have given your iv.....try to relax... u have done the best u could.........i know its hard with all the anticipation and stuff.....but since u cant do nything bout it lets just wait and watch till 12th april.....

just replyin to the query regarding when are the IIML GD/PIs ending...ppl have already replied to that to some extent...but the cat brochure says the results to be declared on 12th of April...so it's more than a month, that means....chutti time

hello guys....the iim l gd pi is yet to happen for delhi people !got mine on 21 march....also know sum1 who has his on 23....so , its gonna stay for some while...calls...iim l , iift delhi , tapmi , bim

Well, I have mine on 30th March, so that answers one part of your question.

Folks any idea when the IIML interviews around the country are ending ?? err.. I've assumed they haven't already!!

any inputs??

Folks any idea when the IIML interviews around the country are ending ?? err.. I've assumed they haven't already!!

any inputs??

Date : 5th March
Place : Some catering college, Mumbai
Time: 10 : 00 AM, Panel 1

Background:
10th - 88.5%
12th - 94.7%
Engg - 7.69/10 (grad. in 2006)
Work ex - 5 months
Extra-curriculars: Pretty good.

CAT Score: 99.41%
Calls from LIK

GD Topic: Freedom is the freedom to say that 2 + 2 = 4. Once that is granted, everything else follows.

Had fun!

Interview: Two profs, one young prof (Y) and one old(O).
Y called me in and went out for a while.

O: Please sit and hand me the files.
Me: Obliged.
O: So Vikas, what does your company do, tell me about a typical day at work.
Me: Obliged again and managed to explain everything succinctly.
O: A question about why I joined work in October.
Me: Answered.
O: What was your rank in JEE?
Me: Answered.
O: You could have got mech. or chem, why did you take this branch?
Me: Answered well. (After all, I've been thinking about the same question for the past 4 years )
O: So what did they teach you in this branch?
Me: Told.

Sometime in the middle, the young prof comes back.

O: I say that engineers and scientists don't make good managers. Do you agree?
Me: Sir, they have very good problem solving skills...
O: They don't get along with the team very well...it is probably due to spending so much time in the lab alone...
Me: Told about extra-currics and how I've been part of quite a few teams and that I get along very well with people.
O: Asks about a particular course in which I got a very bad grade.
Me: Tell him that it was not due to academic reasons and that I got a 4 grade penalty for some mischief. He seems convinced, especially after I tell him what exactly happened. (This might be a good thing or a very bad thing!)
O: Convince me that you have business aptitude...
Me: Told about some ad-making competition we had won, beating many b-school students to it.
O: But the idea has no usability, it is a flop idea...
Me: (Tried to convince him that the product could have had a market but O was in no mood for that...)Sir, even in companies with well trained mgmt. grads, the success rate of an idea is around 50% only.
O: How can you say it is 50%? Have you done a survey?
Me: I'm sorry sir, it was a crude estimate. It might probably be even less.
O: Goes on to explain why 50% is not a right estimate throwing some probability into it.

I would have liked him to move to probability and ask me a few questions. Out of the blue, Y interrupts and says:

Y: You don't seem physically fit for the interview...
Me: (Was I supposed to hit the gym or something?)
Y: You haven't combed your hair...(What the hell???)
Me: Sir, I was at the beach the other day and the hair wouldn't lie down even though I tried a few times! (Not sure, if they believed me!!)
Y & O: Going to the beach one day before the interview...I think that is very risky...I wouldn't dare do that...
Me: Sir, it is a nice way to relax...especially before an interview.
Y: You're also sitting a bit uncomfortably I think...haven't they told you about this in the coaching institutes?
Me: Sir, I haven't been to a coaching institute
O: You seem a bit tensed...is it just today or is this intrinsic?
Me: Sir, there is bound to be some tension before big interviews...
Y: Hmm...what was your percentile?
Me: Told
Y: How many calls?
Me: Told
Y: You've had any other interview before this?
Me: Yes sir, Kozhikode (or was it Indore that I said?)...but I couldn't attend that.


Y & O nod to each other and wish me luck. The whole thing must have lasted about 15-20 mins. I thought they were trying to stress me out in the end. And no, I wasn't at the beach the earlier day, I backed out at the last moment.

#2 eliminated.

My IIML Interview
Date : 5th Mar @ 2 pm
Venue : Mumbai

I was next for the interview after nagi above(http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/cat-and-related-discussion/20821-iim-l-gdpi-experience-cat-4.html#post708296)

CAT %ile : 99.67 (thanks to an english answer key which my parents must've smuggled into IIML)
X - 90.5
XII - 76
B.Tech (ICT) - 76%
9 months work ex in an IT services major
average acads
decent extra curriculars (someone has to ask me abt this someday!)
GD was peaceful but mediocre contentwise. unfortunately, yours truly was more mediocre than others (with apologies to orwell)...even had a couple of blackouts in between

one of the panel members seemed to be doodling while our hot & intense intellectual debate raged...sacrilege! horror of horrors, i think he took a nap or two in between too...u can imagine how green i went by the fact that i consider 10-12 hrs of sleep mandatory on a weekday (i dont remember the last time i did something more eventful than a walk to the loo on a weekend). the other professor was scribbling notes, but it seemed more like he had a lecture in the evening he had forgotten to prepare for.

I had forgotten to have lunch, and wasnt in the mood to have anything before the interview anyway, so my brain was protesting even the sub-1% level utilization that it is used to. of course i didnt realize it till the interview itself:nervous:

thanks to all the puys and others who made the arduous wait fit for survival with lively descriptions of their interviews (esp. ppl from panel 2)

I entered and before I could wish anybody I was asked about my surname, its origin, what business it relates to etc. I settled down, looked at both the venerable panelists, thought for sometime, and said the magic words...I don't know. (idk henceforth due to the frequency of usage)

oh, and i'll call panelist #1, Sleepy prof (S) and #2 The OR Nice prof (N). I'm A.

after N was done with digging into my surname, S asked me what my father did. i avoided the idk with commendable success here.

S: How did you prepare for this interview?
A: (mar gaye) sir....i brushed up my acads...................................and i practised some mock GDs (i wasnt talking abt coaching till 3rd degree was implemented)
S of course, was not convinced. Godammit i hadnt even lied and i was already sucking at it!

N: Ah, you have a smattering of Ds in your grade card...
A: (thinking that the word smattering was used with despicable intent) No sir, just in two courses, __ and __
N: You seem to hv a problem with these courses
A: (gives 11/10 for observation) Sir I wasn't interested in those courses. i specialized in IT.
N: (thinks) and how do you explain the gap between 10th & 12th? (15% gap)
A: (probably some error in their correction) uhh...(forgot the prepared answer)
N: (without hearing my reply) omg a 20% difference in maths scores! what happend? and you have dropped an year too?
A: sir was preparing for JEE
N: did u clear the prelims
A: sir i got an bad rank in the mains
N: so u screwd up ur 12th becuz of JEE?
A: (started something on the lines of gap between the boards 10th and 12th and also how i lost focus. JEE didn't figure on my career radar till after 12th)

S wakes up.

S: so you are an information communication engineer.
S said it like it was an essay instead of a sentence emphasizing on the keywords. i didnt even know if it was a question, a statement, an acknowledgement, a reminder...or wtf
A: Yessir (bracing myself for the barrage)
S: Have you heard of NT Aunty?
A: :confused: AT&T; ?
S looks at me like I should be able to decipher RSA verbally
A: NTT DoCoMo?
S: (thinks a little and gives up) Yes OK.
A: some gyan

S: wat is IT policy of govt.
A: (brain went blank...budget etc kuchh dimaag mein aaya nahin...was searching for keywords) sir...anything specific...or general
S: general (damn why did i say this...i wanted the keywords)
A: idk (or i cant recall/remember/recollect etc)
S: (bachhe ko chance dena chahiye) who is the minister for IT?
A: (bachha ka dimaag gaya tel lene) ........idk
S wasn't able to bear this shock and went to sleep...he didnt wake up again :-|
N: you dont remember or you dont know?
A: i cant remember...i remember the names of commerce/oil n petroleum ministers but this has escaped me completely.
N: (chalo my turn) you have had this course called methods of optimization...tell me what it is, what are the methods etc etc
A: some crap about minimizing/maximizing objective fns
N not convinced
A: sir in this course we did LPPs, game theory n transportation problem
N: That is it? in one whole course you just did this!?
A: (thot abt telling him that fact is stranger than fiction) sir we were stuck on various forms of the simplex method.
N: simplex ah! explain
A: (gulp!) sir i cant remember the exact algorithm, but i do remember it involved iterations.
N: k tell me till what complexity level can LPP be solved graphically?
A: sir....(gave some crap about convex polygons and optimality at the peak)
N: (really?) wat is a complex polygon?
A: line joining any two vertices should lie within the polygon
N: u got that right. but i want it in algebraic form
A: (i forgot the IT minister sir...what you are asking of me now would require a PhD for me...or Google) nahin aata
N then mentioned something about linear combinations: I nodded my head judiciously, more to shake up the useless thing inside than anything else.
N: You have this course on Modernity, Modernism etc What are these. first define and then
A: (sir i prolly cant define modulus at this moment) sir one was an art movement
N: ok and who were the proponents, protagonists etc(some word with that irritating sound)
A: picasso?
N: (no reaction)
A: tried to pheko something abt cubism
N: so ur saying cubism was part of modernism?
A: ...
N: (repeats with extremely accurate predicate logic: how he's derived the above)
A: (sunne mein to sahi lag raha hai) it should be!
N: and wat abt modernity?
A: sir it was a period
N: thats it? define it and tell me about who were part of it
A: sir some thinkers like....salvador dali (he was a painter )
N: (enough is enough) You've gotten an A in this course!?!?!
A: sir it was because we were taught semiotics in this course and i presented a paper on symbology in sci-fi
N: oh that you recycled from the earlier course (i had a sci-fi course before this)
A: no sir that wasnt covered in that course
N: You know i'm just asking you about the course name and you're not being able to tell me after getting an A
A: (kaash mein sachchai bata sakta....pleading look)
N: You may go now.
A: (WTF look! one last chance plz. looked @ both pleadingly).
N: Yes we are done.
A: Thank you sir.

Epilogue:
Hadn't thot i'd post this becuz i was very frustrated and had a very bad headache. but it seems funny now i guess thats the only advantage of a short term memory.

My IIML Interview
Date : 5th Mar
Venue : Mumbai

My profile

CAT
Overall : 99.38
Verbal : 95.82
Quant : 97.59
DI : 99.05

X 80
XII 75
BE (Mechanical) 62 % Final Year
56 % Aggregate

GD Topic : That so few people now dare to be eccentric, is the chief danger of our times.
Wrote a pretty good description in the page they had given us. The GD was complete chaos, with too many people speaking at the same time at any given point.


Now, the interview.
2 guys in the panel. Dont remember who asked which question, so will just give you the interview. Panel (P) and Me

Me : Good Afternoon Sir
P : Good Morning
(Took out my folder and kept it on the table)
P : (Looking at my form) Krishnan, your marks are too low. You do not meet the standards of IIML. We cant take you. (Oh yeah, then why give me a call in the first place???)
There are a lot of dropouts at the IIMs also. Only the best survive.
Me : I know, sir. I have made a mistake during my graduation, but my graph has gone up from the second year onwards. Infact I have also got a couple of jobs on the basis of my merit, so I dont think that marks reflect my true potential.
P: (Shakes his head) Tell me something about Poissons distribution?
Me : I dont remember sir.
P: Marks dont reflect your true worth, eh?
P : SO, you have studied in the MAharashtra board for ur 10th and 12th?
Me : Yes sir
P : And u did ur mech engg from DY Patil College, rite?
Me : Yes sir
P : Where would you rate your college in Pune?
Me : In the top 6-7
P : 6 or 7?
Me : There is no fixed rating as such. It is more to do with the general perception. There are a few colleges better than mine and a few which are in the same league.
P : ok. SO, u paid for your seat or got it on the basis of merit
Me : Merit Sir.
P: (Acting Shocked) On the basis of these marks? (Pointing to my 1oth and 12th marks ) Even these marks are low. U havent even got a distinction in your engineering, only a first class.

(And now the arbit part starts!!!)

P : What does APJ stand for in APJ Abdul Kalam?
Me : Dont remember
P : Is he Mr Kalam or Dr. Kalam?
Me : Dr Sir
P : Why did he get his doctorate?
Me : For his contribution to nuclear phgysics. He was also an ISRO scientist?
P : Where did he get his doctorate from?
Me : I dont know sir
P : Where did he do his graduation from?
Me : Madras
P : What was his subject during graduation?
Me : Dont know sir
P : What is the ADB?
Me: The Asian Development Bank..
P : What does it do?
Me : Told them that it functions on the lines of the World Banmk. Lends money for infra development and gen development..
P : What is the AICTE? And its role?
Me: Told him. Also explained its role completely..
P : Who is the current director of AICTE?
Me : Dont know sir ( Y dont u ask me abt the secretary, chairnman etc also???)
P : Took out a list and asked me, Which party does RamVilas Paswan belong to?
Me : (Knew it was sumthing Lok and janata) Lok Shakti Party sir..
P: SO, u had a couple of management courses during engg..?
Me : Yes sir. Had 2 papers on Industrial Management
P: What did u have in IM ?
Me: Blah blah blah
P : MacGill University, Minsworth or Winsworth . (Not sure what he said, but dint matter) What was his contribution to management?
Me : (What??????????????????) No idea sir
P : One person has reached self actualization in motivation (Yes, thats what he said!!!)
(Was just looking at the guy when the other guy helpfully adds that it is an Indian)
Me: Dont know
P : Tell me the car companies in India which have a major marketshare?
Me : Maruti, Tata Motors and Hyundai.
P : Which companies did Tata Motors takeover?
Me : The Daewoo truck plant in Korea.
P : Anything else?
Me : Not sure sir
P : What do you feel about Tata Motors acquisition of Corus?
Me : Tata Motors?????
P : Said sumthing abt Tata sons being the holding company of the Tata group. What do u feel about Tata Steel Corus takeover? Does it make sense?
Me : told him abt the comparative benefits of setting up a new plant as compared to taking over Corus. Also said they were tying up the inputs to be sourced to Corus and the synergies. Told them it impact wud be positive in the long run, but negative in the short run.
P : Who is the CEO of Tata Motors?
Me : Ravi Kant
P : Not Ratan Tata?
Me : No sir
P : Asked me something about Component based modeling..And said Microsoft makes it..
Me : Not sure sir
P : Who is the CEO of Microsoft?
Me : Steve Ballmer
(A couple of questions about my job, which I answered)

This was one interview about which I can definitely say which way it would go

here goes the Dexter's Third (IIM L) interview

Date: 5th Mar 07 1400hrs
venue : Mumbai Catering College
panel: 1
members : 11

my profile
cat: 99.46 ( 98 approx in all three, ACLIK calls)
exp: 42 months in IT
college: NIT Surat Electrical (decent acads)
extra: average


GD topic:
there are so few eccentric, dare to mark dangers of our time
We need to write an essay for 7 mins and after that they will collect the sheet, after that 15 mins for GD

total GD revolved around "Eccentric" :D, entered 4 or 5 times, ok performance.

Interview: (nearly 12 mins)
I am the 8th guy in the panel1 for interview

there are 3 professors
p1, p2

i said good afternoon to everybody

p1:So you work with this company?
dexter: yes sir
P2: do you know xyz he's also from ur company
dexter: i have mentioned one name
p2: no, there is other one in ur panel only, joined ur company july 06
dexter: may be some other project(bhai sab mera interview ka no. kab aayega)
p1: so you worked with this company also (my previous company)
dexter: yes sir
p1: where in H'bad or Pune
dexter: in Pune only(there is no office in H'bad)
p1: so u got good exp, and decent salary and why..,p2 entered
p2: why there is 2 months break
dexter: to spend some time with my family and to re energize myself i took 2 months break when i was switching my job
p1: are you married
dexter: no sir
p2: so you took 2months to change job, and you may take 2 years to come to MBA
dexter: no expression ( what he want to say?????)
p1: So you are electrical engg. and from REC Surat
dexter: yes sir
p1: latest developments of power sector
dexter: i think Reliance is going to start a power plant and for SEZ in navi mumbai,its building own plant internally
p1: so reliance is starting power plant
dexter: no expression ( i for got to say it's starting one more)
p2: they have mentioned "this is not to considered as a service certificate" why? ( my employer has given me a bonafide certificate)
dexter: given some funda
p2: not convinced
dexter: given other funda (this time he convinced )
p1: tell me abt non conventional energy
dexter: mentioned wind, solar and nuclear :(
p1: is nuclear non conv energy
dexter: no sir, i corrected my self
p1: talk 3 mins about power sector
dexter: took some 10 sec, and mentioned some 4 to 5points, in which i have mentioned some developments in A.P (p1 checked my name and address)
p2: you have optimization methods as a subject in your final year
dexter: yes sir
p2: mention some techniques
dexter: given some vague funda
p2: not yet all convinced (he's a operational prof)
dexter: sir i didnt remeber this, i have studied some 3.5 years back(please spare me)
p2: no, tell me "dont know" or "remember little bit"? ( this was a trap)
dexter: little bit
p2: then explain the little bit ( professors aisa hi hota hai, sunegey tho nahi)
dexter: given some manufacturing plant and some funda
p2: tell me the name of that technique
dexter: didnt remember( sir ji maaf kar do)
p2: explain one example from your life?
dexter: (what ?) given some example
p2: not convinced because i havent mentioned optimization in my example, and tried to convince i should say optimization
dexter: agreed (sirji maaf kar do)

p1,p2 : said thank you

no chocs, no biscuits , this is very bad :(

i think this is ok sort of, how can an electrical engineer can remember optimization, yeah i cant remember even electrical stuff :D
here comes the "any thing will do" chaltha hai attitude :D

2 more to go, all the best guys

5th march
Mumbai
BE Electronics
7 months IT workex

GD: Freedom is the freedom to say 2+2=4. Once that is granted, everything else follows

Comments : Very peaceful, but only 3-4 points recycled with examples. Did pretty well here and would rate myself in the top 3.

Q what is your college rated as?
A: NBA rates college as B, was asked to give my rating n then I said I would rate it as C because...

Q. Why do you have borderline distinction?
A. fundae abt this for a coupla min.followup questions abt why 66 is the percentage for distinction

Q. W
Q. why ___ pays so less?
A. moving into services sector. hiring as many people as infy, wipro, so paying same amount

Q. Abt what I do at work : 2-3 questions
A. told..stumbled a bit at places..put in extraneous information

Q. Explain normal distribution, significance
A. told, was asked not to write formula, was led towards significance(mean,median,mode)

Q. So, you've mentioned finalist in several quizzes..I'll ask you a rapid fire round of questions
A. Was asked 5 questions, 4 I dunnos & got 1 partially right

Q. So, quizzer and only 1 question right?
A. Sir, ask me anything bout Eng movies(supposedly my specialty)

Q. Fundae about dreamgirls and oscars it won and was nominated for
A. Got most of it right

Q. Abt Beautiful mind and director
A. Got it right

Q. the alien in ET is characterized on?
A. talk bout movie being inspired by Satyajit ray. Then commit gaffe and say that the face was modelled on an animal, modify it to modelled on a combination of animals
Correct answer : Modelled on Carl Sandburg, Einstein and a pug dog

There were a couple more questions here n there, but too many questions in 10 min, so came out in a daze

They then say Thanks and while I get up :- "all the best" :o

Comments : Overall +ve but inconclusive..still need to work on avoiding guessing and saying I-dont-know instead & also learn to be precise

There is no right answer. It depends on the prof who interviewed you. I would suggest you to wait for the result.

seniors i wud like to ask one question frm u tat i am coming frm a background of software ie oracle i am withdrawing very high salary but now i want to go into mortgage banking there the panel asked me that if i dont get the required job then i said i wll apply from outside ,but then they insisted knowing that if i get a job in marketting frm college wll i go there or not ,i told them that i am not doing mba for a job as i have already high paying job i want to be achieve somthing for that i am doing mba i wll not be very happy if i dont get the required profile .
now wen i discussed tis wth my frnds they say that i sud have told them some other alternate profile which i wud gone for ,now seniors plz tell me whether my answer was correct or not as if not then i wll immedietly go on my project to singapore i wont wait 4 the result also

had my gd on 2nd march.. mumbai..

profile
10th 88.6
12th 87.6
Btech(pursuing) 79.4
CAT 99.95%

GD topic : the validity of science lies in it's power to predict..(dun remembe rthe exact words..) 9 people in my grp...
first an essay for 10mins then 15mins discussion..
din hv a very gud GD..made jus one new point...tht too nt discussed much...din spk much overall..wud rate myself at 6/9

two panelists for interview..same as GD

q hello sankalp take a seat..so wht do u want in life..why mba..
a same ole ans..

q but u dun need mba for this
a sumthin tht mba might nt be the only but the most efficient way..

q so u are frm abc skool..(my skoolin has been done in lko...they had heard of it..they knew the principal also..)

q wht open electives did u take
a answered...

q so wht authors did u read in sci-fi
a told..

q wht books of isaac asimov .?
a answered

q do u knw the three laws of robotics..
a sir dun remeber them exactly...(told the first one)

q (interuptin me..) do u think this is science..
a gave a middle of line answer..but said tht i think yes..

q dun u think it is more in the area of ehtics and morals..
a told hw it is akin to ne protocol or alog..in the end u are givin instruction to a machine..so it is science..

q tell me sumthin bout ur btech project
a told the topic..(gsm security)

Q interrupts and asks to define all the basic things gsm cdma wll..
a told

q number of mobile subscribers in india.(cmon man ask bout the security stuff..!!!! )
a nt sure of exact number but more than landline..(was nt sure of this too..:P)

q teledensity of india
a dun knw exactly..

q wht is BPO/KPO
a told..

q so whts the difference
a answered...sum cross q...answered them decently..

q name some company in KPO
a wasnt sure..thought of guessin..but then said dunno...:(

tht was about it i think..PI was nt bad...though i did use dunno a few times...but GD was nt gud at all...
wht say puys..??

VERDICT : selected

profile:
xth - 88.7
12th- 90.2
b.tech - 7.99 until 7th sem...currently doing final sem in CSE at NIT Calicut
cat - percentile 99.59
calls- ACLIK :)

date -17/02/07
venue-monarch hotel, bangalore
panel -2

GD: topic SPECULATION IS AN ART OF LIFE (we were a group of 11)

gd was ok content wise...they gave us 10 minutes to write about the topic, then 15 minutes to discuss. after 10 minutes of discussion no body had any new points, so we were repeating some and one guy got into poetry too. my performance was good if i consider the airtime i got, other things well only the profs know...
over all a good gd for me......:

INTERVIEW:
i was the 8th guy to be called...

old and courteous prof --oc
young and serious prof--ys
me -- me

oc: show me your mark sheets
me:obliged...(ys also helped oc in cross cheking my marks)

ys:so u have done principles of management course ..what is herzberg principle....
me: err..sir i have not heard of it...:( (great start)

ys: ok who is the father of scientific managent fayol right ....
me: an elusive nod by me ( may be type), when i was half way nodding..ys corrects himself " no no i think its taylor, right....wat ever u say sir:neutral:..actually even i had confusion between these two )

ys: ok wat did he say (taylor) about time and motion theory..
me: sir i remember a bit but i cant recollect the complete theory sirr..( yaa seriously stupid answer by me..)

ys: dont u want to make some money in software job and come back for MBA....
me: mentions about my future plan( related to footwear industry)...he asks why that and actually we had a discussion about it ( no grilling, it was like he is asking questions and giving answers also...nice proff)

ys: so u had economics also and u made C grade there, how good is C grade
me: its not so good sir....
ys: repeats my sentence, hmm not so good(half smiling)...(yeah may be its bad but i cant tell i did bad sir....)

ys: all right, u read news papers right....
me: yes sir ...finally an yes even though no value added here

ys: wat is inflation
me: did a gud job..talked about the WPI and how its calculated and all..

ys: ok, they say by reducing oil prices inflation is reduced how?
me: i knew the key lies in transportation cost...but was afraid if i tell it in one sentence he may ask for more...so, started by saying oil prices cause a huge burden on the government( wat the hell, does this sentence contain any meaning in this context..)...they by seeing the question mark face of ys i quickly came to the point....as soon as i splitted out transportation cost out of my mouth YS cuts me and nods heavily and asks OC to ask anything)......

oc: u did a course on supply chain..wat is an inventory..
me: gave the bookish definition....any material which has future value and blalbla...

oc: is this pen an inventory( he had a pen in his hand)
me: no sir...it has reached the final customer and the company has no control over it....( then oc convinces its an inventory...gyaan for 2 minutes..asks questions like wat will happen if i dont excercise control over this pen and all....it was an interactive discussion....he is a damn gud teacher man)

actually any material which has some future value is an inventory...

oc: ok ---- all the best thank u
ys: thank you..

thank u sirs....

that was it..it was hardly a 5 minute affair...dont know how can they judge u so few questions...i guess GD is important for IIM L...so keeping my fingers crossed.....

but panel 1 guys on our day had some half an hour interviews also....one guy was asked why brigade road is called by that name...:)

next interview on march 6th IIM I....

u had a decent interview man. and it was really different. that goes in ur favour dude

Had my L interview in Banglore on the 17th...

Profile
X 85%
XII 93%
B.Tech (Chem) 76%

CAT 99.18

Work ex -5 months (teaching in Max Mueller Bhavan Chennai)

GD was on Specualtion is an art of life... made some 7-8 points... had a good GD


IIM L
Panelists... P1 and P2...
P1:So did you do any internships as part of curricular requirement?
M: no
P1: wat was your project
M: at CLRI- Biosorption of Chromium from tannery effluents using cyanobacteria!
P1:Which company has the maximum turnover in India?
M:Reliance?
P1:do you read newspapers?
M:yeah i do... but not too regular.!
P1:Can you name any PSU with max turnover?
M:nope.
P1:What is ONGC?
M:Oil and......
P1:it has the maximum turnover over the last three years...Who is the chairman of ONGC?
M:dunno :)
P1:What is LNG?
M:Liquified...
P1:What is CNG?
M:again natural gas!
P1:What does C stand for?
M:Compressed!
P1:How is it compressed?
M:Explains..
P1:Composition of LPG?
M:dunno!
P1:Process of refining petroleum?
M: fractional distillation
P1:Top products . bottom products?
M:Lists
P2: (a lil angrily)Why is that you took up a job for XXXXp.m. after studying engineering? (worked for a unit of lufthansa as a trainee and i was on stipend)
M: been working since 3rd year ... so wuz lookin to learn something rather than earn!..
P2:what kind of work?
M:freelancing for KPOs, also worked for companies like Satyam, organizations like indo-italian chamber of commerce and industry, German academic exchange service... etc...
P2:wat were you freelancing in?
M: mostly involved translations of patents and other techie stuff
P2:Didn;t you get any other job?
M:wasn't keen on ...
P2:wat relation do you find between your teaching german and pursuing an MBA?
M: am still learning it and the course gets over this year.. with my final certificate... and the best way to supplement is to teach it...
P2:but you can't teach german and do a management course at the same time.. wat will you do then if its a passion?
M:i guess i can help my peers there.. student exchange some might want to go to germany or spain or italy.. i can help them wiht the basics if need be
P2:The dog is running and running and running... translate it to german
M: said it!
P2: that sounds too simple! now translate it to spanish
M:said it!
P2:Whats pipi in spanish?
M:i have never heard of pipi... it could be pepe... and its a name
P2: no no i have heard some children sayin this when they visited.... how do you say ice cream is spanish?
M:said it
P2:in italian?
M:said it
P2:in french?
M:not so good in french... learnt a bit looooong back.. and never used it
P2:What did you study in MAths?
M: Statistics and linear programming (he loved me for saying tat!)
P2: oh thats very good.! What is SD?
M: explains
P2:What does a coeff of correlation of 2.5 signify?
M:explain correlation but coeff have no idea!
P2:Who is the father of Simplex MEthod?
M:Dunno
P2:Mother?
M:neither!
P2:Who is the father of TQM?
M:dunno again
P1: i guess you like tata, Which company invited tata recently to join its board?
M:not sure!
P2:Name five companies in Beach first and second lanes
M:tried but cudnt!
P2:NAme any company in Wheatcrofts road
M: (now where's wheatcrofts road!) dunno!
P2:Now wat are your hobbies?
M: languages, poetry (of ERich Fried is wat i intended to say but....)
P2: (handing out a scribble pad and a pencil)Write a poem on ur GD
M: (i havent been writing any since 2 years!) wrote one....(hee hee stupid one though!)
P2: now Explain it ..
M: explained it (darn it does make some sense!)
P2:What expectations do you have now? How do you feel about your GD?
M:as a group...
P2:forget the group... tell me wat do you feel about your performance..
M:am content
P2:How do you feel about the interview so far?
M: not very happy.. but its been pretty ok...
P2:did it meet your expectations?
M: yes i expected it to be different from the others .. and it was.. the other two were different from each other and so is this.. except for one question they asked me there... "chemical engineer... why teach german?"
P2: hee hee i knew you will have a readymade answer for that!
M:smiles
P2:ok thank you!
P1:thank you!

quiet a few i didnlt answer but managed it pretty well... never even got close to a panic.. i was my patient self!... had a good feeling after the GD.. feelin indifferent about the PI

A request to the puys.
After your interview is over, check out the panel members' profile on the college website and list out the names here along with your interview experience. I think this would be helpful for the future interviewees. What say??

edit: I a m still searching for my panel members' profile
Mridul

Here is my IIML experience
Venue: Monarch Hotel,Bangalore
Date:16th Feb 2007 2:00 AM
CAT 2006:
Overall-99.68
QA-98.83
DI-99.28
VA-96.55

Good interview boss

Just because your interview went around for only 10 mins doesn't mean that you didn't do well. I am sure there are a lot of factors involved. Anyway you have ABC to worry about. So go crack them and leave the ILK to lesser mortals

Mridul

My IIML experience
Place: Hotel Monarch
Date and time : 16th Feb, 2:00 pm

Background: Civil Engg IIT-Bombay
8 months work ex in analytics

GD Topic: The secret of happiness lies in making others believe that they are the cause of it

The GD was too peaceful, not much points to speak of except man is a social animal and happiness is a state of mind nd stuff..but some examples of team spirit and motivating fellow members came
The group finished 2 minutes earlier than the scheduled timenobody had points to speaknot a bad GD but certainly not a good one

I was the last in my panel to be interviewed..so had a long wait
The panel was quite chilled, during the GD itself they had offered us some cherries and biscuits..

Panel: 2 profs..P1 and P2 and there was me

P1: So Vineet tell me about yourself (standard L question)
Me: told the usual stuff

P1: (he cut me) what did you do in your internship..
Me: (had expected this question)gave some fundaesseemed satisfied..

P1: continueand then asked me about my work what all I did(he knew a bit about the sector I was working in)
Me: blah blah.

P1: After civil engg u working for analytics
Me: was prepared with the usual answer.

Handed over to P2 (he was busy looking at my certis and marksheets (the most dreaded))

P2: you have done a course in environmental engg..so what all did you study
Me: sir diff types of pollution air ..waterand how it is affecting the environment

P2: tell me about any kind of pollution you feel is critical..
Me: sir water pollution ( I do not know why I said that)..how industries polluting the rivers


P2: what wud you do to reduce thatwhy do not industries use those techniques.what if technology is not available..
Me: told some techniques... and told that companies look at short term gains and not long term gains and some social responsibility(seemed satisfied)

P2: You did a course in philosophy what did you study ( I had no idea I did this course)
Me: blabbered something (good for me that he did not further ask anything J )

P2: do you think engineers need courses like philosophy and some humanities courses..
Me: gave some gyan abt all round personality.

P2: then why not legal courses.
Me: sir electives not offered but yes certainly they can be helpful (was not satisfied)

P1: what kind of regression do u use draw normal curvesome basic stats
Me: told.

P1: you got a good salarywhy do want to do MBA..
Me: blah blah.

P2: but u can get more exposure in the industry
Me: blah blah (no idea how I did here)

P1: okie thanksdo u have any questions for us.
Me: no sir thanks

P2: have some cherries and biscuitsdid u have tea.
Me : no sir thanks


cud have done better in some of questions asked on coursesand some stat related answersinterview lasted for arnd 12-15 min.
was happy that they did not get into core civil enggwas saved again J
ny comments??

That's a big 'almost' mate.. my wasnt the kind I'd expected after the feedback I got from the folks who went in before me!!

Anywayz if your IIMI's at PESIT on 6th afternoon, I'll probably bump into you again..

ATB

dude ... you are definitely in that 'almost'. Your PI was decent enough and the advantage is that they tried to stress you, which you deftly defended (like the question about your name).

well yes, mine is at PESIT on 6th afternoon

Time: 2 pm
Date: 16th feb
Background:
10 88%
12 88%
BE Civil - 8.6/10 (IITB)
Work EX - 20 month exp in L&T;
Cat: 99.44
GD-
Topic - A secret to happiness is in making others believe they are the cause of it


Pretty cull gd...entered GD several times and made relevant points. Pretty satisfied.

Interview - (First to be called in)

P1,P2 and Me

P1: Come in Abhinav...have ur seat
Me: Thank you sir
P2: So Abhinav tell me something abt urself (pretty expected question given IIMLs pathetic form)
Me: ranted off...(somewhere in the middle P2 says good)...
P1: So you are interested in stock marketsMe: Yes sir, somewhat
Me: Yes
P1: Somewhat?
Me: Yes..i have started investing in stockmarkets and take time to analyse before investing
P2: Where do you get money from
Me: :grab:...(yeh kya tha)...from salary...i save some part
P2: What is share price of L&T;?
Me: Told
P2: Future prospects...
Me: Gave funda abt infrastructure spend, OB...P/E ratio etc
P2: What are different cement grades..
Me: answered...also gave him concrete grades..
P2: Why is PoP white?
Me: Tried to give some funda....well accepted
P2: You must have seen your office building in Chennai...what is special abt it
Me: (sala yeh le:grab:...khud ka office to obv dekha hoyega)...sir on one foundation...gave names of few awards it has won

P1: You have done course on environment mgmt...who shud be responsible for thi?
Me: gave a talk on role og govt - in formultating policies and monitoring, private players - as following govt norms and citizens as being responsible...(somewhere said abt Ganga)
P1: But Ganga is getting polluted due to municipalities also who dump their waste
Me: Told that is wherein govt has to take lead...municipal does a shabby job of cleaning streets also...
P1: ok can u tell me of a cheap way for comapnies to reduce their liq waste
Me: Told normal waste water treating stations are expensive...but a concept would include use of filters, chemicals etc

P2: Ok, ABhinav since u are from structural background...what is most stable structure
me: (Cudnt understand what he wanted...)...asked specifiaclly
P2: Like square, pentagon
Me: Sir triangle...most basic form
P2: Why...gave me a sheet of apper
Me: (remembering Mechanics)...Drew a square and traingle and applied force at nodes and explained something abt force distribution
P2: Ok i get it...casually says was just asking u as i myslef dunno...but u must also have forgotten after 1.5 years ...(yeh kya tha...were they testing my confidence here?...)

P1: Abhinav any q for us
Me: asked abt all hype abt placements whether it was healthy...they acknowledged no...then i asked them why they publish it officially on websites...better stop doing that...they explain something which is quite practical

Ok than you all around

Overall arnd 10-15 mins...very casual through out...

the 'L' experience

Almost everyone has decent IIM-L interview, so i guess it's the subtle things like confidence level, body language that will matter the most ...

Next destination - IIM I on 6th followed by the big one (IIM A) on 7th

That's a big 'almost' mate.. my wasnt the kind I'd expected after the feedback I got from the folks who went in before me!!

Anywayz if your IIMI's at PESIT on 6th afternoon, I'll probably bump into you again..

ATB

the 'L' experience

Date/Time - 16th Feb; 10 AM
Bangalore
Panel - 2

My Profile:

class 10 - 84
class 12 - 81.5
BE (Elect) - 71.2 from REC durgapur

CAT 2006 - 99.72
Calls - ACLIK

Work Ex - 56 months in IT company.

There were two professors in the panel. One was a bit old and cordial (OC) and the other young and shrewd looking (YS)

GD topic - A room without books is like a body without a soul.

They asked us to write an essay first. Screwed up big time in the essay. The GD was sort of fish market, with minimum participation from me . After around 15 mins, one person was asked to summarise ...

I was 7th to be called for PI.

At around 12 noon, the guy before me came out from the room, and asked me to go. At that very moment, the waiter went inside with some lassi stuff ... now, i was in a dilemma, whether i should go inside or not ... after around 2-3 mins, thought should atleast ask them once ...

"may i come in sir" ... "please wait for some time, we will call you" ... ??:

After around 5 mins, they called my name. I went inside, YS was in the rest-room (it was attached to the room), OC told me to go inside.

I was asked to sit down. After a couple of mins YS also came...

OC - please show your class 10 and 12 certificates.
Me - showed them

OC - you had 6 subjects in class 12, but you have written only 500 as your full marks, why so?
Me- told them that it was best 5 out of 6.

OC - your degree certificate
Me- showed them

OC - your salary slip and joining letter
Me - showed them

OC- you seem to have a gap between 1997 and 1998. What did you do.
Me - told them that i was in shibpur BEC pursuing Civil engg.

OC- where is the proof/certificates for that?
Me - i don't have them here.

OC - them how will we believe you
Me - :(

OC - tell me some thing about yourself
Me - blah blah ...

OC - so when did you take CAT last year
Me- yes sir .. but didn't get

OC - last to last year?
Me - didn't take (but somehow it sounded like 'didn't get')

OC - didn't get???
me - no sir, actually i didn't take

OC- what have you learnt from your 56 months of work ex
me - blah blah .. gyaan on team

OC - suppose in a team, there are few ppl who are very careless, dont' do their work in time ... etc. ... what should you do
me - i would talk to them if they have any issues, and try to solve that ...

OC - ok ok ... over to YS

YS - so since you have 6 years of work-ex (increased me work ex by 1 year ), we wouldn't ask you anything on acads..... let me ask you something on .................. your salary!
me - :wow:

YS - what is provident fund?
Me - blabbered something

YS - I didn't understand anything - please rephrase
Me - told him properly

YS - what is the rate of interest in provident fund?
Me - donno

YS - what is the difference between perks and allowances
Me - perks is like bungalow, car, servent, etc. ... allowance is money ...

YS - so which one will you like
Me - allowance

YS - y? most ppl prefer perks
Me- because, i can customise it according to my needs

YS - y most ppl prefer perks
Me - because it is non taxable

YS - so you don't want to save tax
Me - :neutral:

YS - what are the various ways to save tax
Me - LIC, NSC, PPF,...

YS - anything else
Me - HRA, conveyance allowance

YS - full hRA is non taxable ...
Me - no sir, the non taxable amount is calculated on the basis of three things like ...

YS - ok ok ... i know that ... what else
Me - home loan, education loan

YS - so, you haven't taken home loan?
Me - no sir

YS - why? aren't you married?
Me - (now what's the relation of home loan with marriage ) no sir

OC - so, if you do MBA, you will study with ppl much younger to you .. say of 20-21 yrs ... will that be a problem with you?
Me - no sir ... absolutely no issues with me (agar hota to phir main kyun aata yahan )

OC - ok thank you and all the best!
Me - thank you sir

My file was on the table, asked them "may i take the file"
YS- take it man, it's your lifeline ... and all of us started laughing ...

well that was it, considering the kind of interview i faced, should have done better.

Almost everyone has decent IIM-L interview, so i guess it's the subtle things like confidence level, body language that will matter the most ...

Next destination - IIM I on 6th followed by the big one (IIM A) on 7th

dude maybe the panel was in a bit of hurry and they had already decided on u frm the gd n ur backgrnd

Here goes my experience..

16th feb / Bangalore.

I set out of Bangalore within hours of my interview and havent had net access till now so I'll try to drop in all that I remember about the interview.

GD topic : A room without books is like a body without a soul.

Had a decent discussion.. was very happy with my performance. chipped in numerous times with very valid interpretations of the topic.

Interview :

My panel was taking too much time right from the start.. by 12 it was quite obvious we were running very much behind schedule. around 12.30 all panels were done and the profs had left for lunch but I still had one guy waiting to be interviewed by my panel before it'd be my turn.

Finally called in around 1.15 and one of the profs took my certis while the other started off immed.

What followed in the next 10 mins was very different from what I'd experienced in the K&B; interviews in the recent past, I still dont know if I didnt handle it right or it was a stress interview...

Here are the questions, I was asked:

1. What does your name mean?
- for some strange reason he got into an argument with me on that! refused to accept my explanation and kept findin faults! (P.S. mine has it's origins in a foreign language and I'd done my research, so I'm sure I was right in my answer!)

2. Relate dance competitions to management? (I'd won many dance comps for my college)
- This was probably the only question where my answer was accepted.

3. Difference between Industrial marketing & Consumer product marketing?
- Was an elective course for me, so gave some gyan, but he wasnt too happy tho I knew I was talking sense. He cut me curtly saying 'I'm not interested in stories, if you do not know the answer, please admit it!'

4. Performance of my company?
- He asked for turnover, but I said I'm unsure of the turnover but the market cap and PAT is so much.. he immediately responded with 'answer what i asked, i'm not interested in what you've prepared!!'

5. The next few mins were around tryin to convince me to take part time MBA instead of full time PGP as my job is gud enuf! Did my best to convince them with my reasons how full time pgp would add more value to my profile.

Suddenly cut with a thank you, you may leave if you dont have any questions!!

I was out in no time, checked my watch it was around 1.25 - little less than 10 mins since i walked in ( my guess is they had to rush me out to grab a quick lunch before the next batch of candidates were ready for their GDs!)

had a very depressing end to a long wait.. well if it was stress I handled it well, else gudbye IIML.. will be back in action with IAC in March..

any thoughts on this are welcome!!

Here's my IIML experience
Background
Xth (CBSE) - 85
XIIth (CBSE) - 85.4
B.Tech (EEE, NIT Trichy) - 7.23
20 months in the IT field

CAT percentiles
Overall - 99.26
DI - 97.82
VA - 97.14
QA - 97.44

Venue : Monarch Hotel, Bangalore
Time/Date : 10:00 am/17th Feb

Reached the placed around 8:30 am. Met the IIMK prof and asked him to postpone the IIMK GD/PI sesion to 2:00 pm. That successsfuly, then went to Barrista and had a chocolate chip cookie and a mocha to oothe my rumbling stomach

I was in panel 1. Entered the room at around 5 mins to 10:00. Met by two friendly proffs. Told the rules and regulations. Given the topic

GD
Speculation is an art of life.
Nice topic. Overall a peaceful GD. Came in around 4-5 times. Was generally satisfied though not really

I was the 5th to be interviewed. So had a nice interaction with couple of mallus

Interview
P1 :
P2 : Moorthy Janakiraman
B (The cute baby:D)

P2 opened the door and asked me to come in. Moi entered and carefully closed the door. Was asked to take a seat
P1: So B, tell us something about yourself??
P2(Before I could answer): B, What's your monthly gross salary??
B: Told
P2: And what have you written here in the form???
He showed me the form. I took a few seconds to find out what I had done wrong. I had infact added an extra zero making the figure run into lakhs.
P2(smiling): If you are infact earning this figure you don't have to do a MBA
P1: Was that a deliberate mistake??
B(smiling): No Sorry sir, It was an accidental mistake.
P2: So tell me about yourself
B: Started with the usual. Told about organising events
P2: What kind of events
A 3-5 minute discussion ensued
B: Photography
Again a 3-5 minute discussion, stumbled here and there but overall okay
B: Reading. Told him a few books I have read
Then P1 chips in
P1: So how many metros in India
B: Told
P1: So who built the metro in Delhi (Damn then I realised I didn't understand his question properly. He was asking me how many cities do have metros)
P1: So you like doing social service
B: Yes Sir. Though I haven't been involved in much lately.
P1(smiling): But your marks in Social Science is low??!!! (After looking at my 10th mark sheet)
B(smiling): Told him how it was a different set and majority got low marks.
P2: So B, you are an electrical engineer
B: Ummm, yes Sir
P2: Your grades aren't satisfactory
B: Told him the usual answer about balanceing extras and acads.
He wasn't really satisfied though
P1: Took up my literary society letter. So you are a fantastic team player. What qualities are required?
B: Told him
P1: Any questions for us?
B: No sir
P2: Okay you may got then
Just then P2 asked me to wait and went through my extra curricular certificates. I sat back down. Finally P2 was done. I thanked them and came out

Overally a decent interview with a few hiccups in between. Went on for more than 20 mins. No acads, No work ex, No why MBA. I was confident and cheerful throughout the interview. So that worked for me. Hoping to become a nawab in the near future

Mridul
PS: The order of the questions might not be as shown here. Also I might have left out a few. I would chip in with them as and when I remember them. The reason being I wasn't really sober after a second GD/PI in the afternoon and vodka & metal in the night :D

----Scene One of Six ----

Venue: Monarch Hotel (Panel 1)
Time: 10:00 am
Date: 16th feb
Background:
10 86.5% (AP State)
12 87.1% (AP State)
BE Mechanical 86.5 % (MS Ramaiah , Bangalore)

Work EX - 43 month exp in IT support for I-Banks
Cat: 99.84
GD- (Same group and panel as that of Shank)

Topic - A Room without books is like a body without soul.
Essay Write up -10 min and then the GD started.

From the word GO I started attempting to get on with the GD, in few min I realised that its becoming more and more difficult with every one speaking simultaneously. I was found talking with 4 others at some points and finally I came in with a couple of points (Around 3-4 times) . A couple of new points . My presence was mostly felt in the latter part of the discussion. Overall - Satisfactory

PI (Around 10 mins)

I was the second one to be interviewed.
There were 2 profs P1 and P2. and ME (M)


P2- So .. Can I have look at your certificates.
Me - Sure sir... Handed over the cerificates

P2- So Naveen you are working at XXXXX ? Where is it?
Me - It is at Hyderabad sir. and I told them some thing about the company.

P2-How come u r in software company after doing a course in Mechanical Engineering
Me- Told him general chamak stuff

P2 - Hmmm.. What do you do in your free time
Me - Told about my extra curriculars - and hobbies

Then on we spoke a lot abt it (for abt 3-4 minutes) and it went on well

Suddenly P2 came across a certificate from MICO (Had done my final year project there)
P2 - What did you do at MICO
Me - Explained that we have worked on a SIX SIGMA project at MICO as part of our final year engineering

P2 - SIX Sigma ... Do you remember anything about it?
Me - Told him what Six Sigma is and gave a brief presentation of my project in a couple of mins

P2 - can you draw a normal curve and explain six sigma
Me - Explained.

P2 - What all do you know about the curve ?
Me - Told him I can tell him abt mean , Cp, Cpk , or equation of the curve(generic one)

P2- I am not interested in them do you know anything else?
Me - (Thinking...)

P2 - Have u heard of 12 sigma or 10 sigma?
Me - Initially, Told him I fairly remember reading about 7 sigma. But later took back my words saying that I am not sure of it.

Couple of more qs followed on the curve (Nothing great)

P1 comes into picture now ---

P1 - What do you want to do in your life.
Me - Some more chamak....

P1 - If you want to be there how will managemnt education help you
Me - Some more chamak..... Told him what all I can learn and how it is useful
(On the hindsight May be could have handled it even better)

P1 - We dont teach anything of that sort at L
Me- ghuma firaake wohi baath bolaa ...

P1 - Are you pursing management out of interest or compulsion
Me -- Told a good reasons and justified why it is not a compulsion (May be could have done better here also)

P2 and P1 -- Look at each other

OK , Thank you and do you want to tell any thing about us or ask anything ?
Me- Some small talk and Thanked them

So feel good factor..... but its the same for everyone(most of us)
I think they are looking at something beyond what we are looking at !!

Overall , I feel that call from Lucknow will mostly depend on my "LUCK" NOW.

All the best puys.

------------End of Scene 1 of 6---------------------

S: ( common !! have some mercy ) i dont know .. suddenly i remembered some name and said sir i think its somnath banerjee ,, but till then both were in their own thoughts , not sure whther they heard

They would have another hearty laugh had they listened it. The speaker is Somnath Chatterjee and not Banerjee.

The speaker of Rajya Sabha is Vice-Prez and not Prez. Ur answers however show that u were aware of everything just could not precisey remember precisely on time.

Maths part was really difficult and any1 wud have been screwed...

My interview was on 16th feb afternoon 2pm in blore.. again sorry for copy pasting from my blog
exp : 1.5 years
not so good acads.. Now read on

I am back!.. This time around with another GD/PI experience. The trends have reversed this time around, for a change and I am pretty happy with the way things went on 16Th of February. So let the show begin!!!!

I entered the Monarch hotel, I saw plenty of familiar faces and there were some people with whom I have talked but never met before. The things were friendly and I felt relaxed and relieved but, there were traces of chaos and tension. There were talks about ongoing GD topics, the only thing I could make out is all o em were abstract topics. I have decided that I would come up with weird connections if the topic is an abstract one.

We entered the room, as expected we got an abstract topic which read "True happiness is when you make the others feel that they are responsible for it". I acted according to the plan and even connected this to indo-us nuclear deal and India's stand on Iran. It was good because people were repackaging the stuff and I felt like running away. Made 2-3 entries, made 2-3 points which included some connects of this kind. It was a very peaceful GD which we concluded before the time.

This gave me confidence, not that I performed very well in the GD but I was certainly different and I wanted them to ask questions about it. After the GD I was calm and composed, one of my friends even wondered why I am so relaxed(he expected me to be tensed).

Then came the PI part, I was the fourth one to be called inside the room and it seemed they were in a hurry. I entered the room.

Prof 2 was roaming around while the interview was going on and questions were asked by prof 1.

P1 : Tell me something about yourself

I Kinda started with Gods own country stuff and remembering the K experience I put a last line after the explanation saying "I like foot ball a lot!" (that certainly worked)

P2: Good!
P1: which player do u like most
Me: Current or retired sir?
P1: You know Maradona Right?
Me: He is a very good player
P1: On all occasions?
Me: You must be referring to incident happened in the 1986 world cup.
P1: What did he tell after that ?
Me (confused) : hmmm
P1: He told something famous after that
Me: He said it was the "Hand of God"
P1 : Who is god there?
Me: He must have been referring to himself!
P1: Can you tell me who was the player who got transferred to US NFL from Europe
Me : David Beckham
P1: Is it right to do so
Me: Real Madrid was not anyway extending the contract to him and he was on bench for sometime. He obviously has to move on and when a club offers a million dollar a week, I think it is his call.
P2( Dunno where he came from): Mech engg from XXX (my college) , S/w field, IIM what is this yaaar!
I explained!
P1 seems convinced.
P1(seeing my certificate in datawarehousing (I work in that) ) : Tell me the diff between database and datawarehouse

I struggled a bit but pulled that off well in the end.
P1: What is datamining
I explained

P1: what is the difference between data and information
Me: Information is meaningful data.

P1: What is data then
Me: Any fact?

P1 : Tell me what it is
Me: I don't know the definition

P1: Okay, You may leave now.
Me: Thank you

It was only 10 minutes!. God knows on what basis they evaluate me. I wrote and told a lot of things in GD and expected them to grill me on that,never happened though!.

Date: 17th feb
Time: 10 am
panel: III

GD: 'Speculation is an art of life'

Interview:

Nothing much to say.. i just kept saying 'i don't know' for the whole ten min..

some questions are: 'what is the weight of a tennis ball' , 'which company started using C++ first' , 'when was the New Testament written?' , 'when did Jesus Christ visit India?' .....

Guess they decide after the GD who all to eliminate and then ask not so relevant questions to the ones they have eliminated!! Thats the only thing i can conclude..

PS: i don't intend to hurt anyone's sentiments though (IIM L seniors!).. just disappointed with how it went!!

Venue: Monarch Hotel
Time: 10:00 am
Date: 16th feb
background:
Xth 80.33%
XIIth 92.6%
BE ece 79 %
16 month exp in IT
Cat: 99.54
We were called inside at around 9:50. and at 10:00 we were given the topic . it was
A Room without books is like a body without soul. we had to write an essay for 10 min and then the gd started. And I started of the gd. Overall it was a good gd with everyone chipping in . I came in 5-6 times. Overall I was more than satisfied with my performance.
I was the fourth to be interviewed. There were 2 profs P1 and P2. and ME (M)
P1: So what is the meaning of ur name?
M: Told.
P2: Introduce yourself.
M: Blah blah blah
P2: What do u think bout Ysr controversy ( land scam) ? ( I am from Andhra)
M; Blah blah blah
P2: So do u think will he resign?
M; No sir.
P2: Do u think even C b naidu had unaccountable lands?
M; blah blah blah
P2: What do u think about telangana issue?
M: blah blah blah.
P2: Do u think that separate state should be given?
M. No sir..blah blah blah ( here P2 was satisfied with my answer)
P1: Jharkand ,chatisgarh, uttaranchal were given rite why not telangana?
M: blah blah blah
P1: do u think politicians are responsible for the poverty in India?
M: No sir . blah blah blah..( he was satisfied with my answer)
P2: So u work in xxxx..u are paid really well rite then u can continue with ur job rite?
M: gave my answer for why mba.
P2: When was xxx started?
M: I told the whole history of my company.
P2: who is ur ceo?
M;told
P2: have u ever met him?
M: yes sir.
P2: Is he a good leader?
M; Yes sir .
P2: You have very good company,very good leader . then why do u want to quit?( I was stressed on this question again and again)
M: I persisted with my answer. I also told him the no.of years that would take for me to grow in my company.
P2: what do u do at job?
M; blah blah blah..
P2: I think this development work can even be done by ur ninth class sister?
M: no sir it is not possible..told about my engg. And how it has helped me in gaining analytical skills. Also told that it helped me a lot in my coding stuff..
Here P2 stressed me again with the same question giving a different example ..
But I persisted . he was asking the same question again and again.. here my body language suffered a bit. But I persisted.
P1: So why should iiml take you?
M: I told him my strengths .
P1: he asked me to justify ..one of my strengths ..
M: gave a long example from my professional life.
He was convinced.
P1 looks to P2
P1: do u have any questions:
M: no sir
Here most of the answers are my views .. so if anyone wants to know any details u can PM me..
So what do u guys sayseniors please comment.
So next destination iit d on 23rd.

Here is my IIML experience
Venue: Monarch Hotel,Bangalore
Date:16th Feb 2007 2:00 AM
CAT 2006:
Overall-99.68
QA-98.83
DI-99.28
VA-96.55

Total of 4 panels with 10 people in each group.
GD TOPIC:
True happiness can be got only when you make the others feel that they are responsible for it.
10 mins for essay followed by 15 mins for GD.
Good discussion but not many points.everyone seemed to say the same thing in a different way.but overall a peaceful GD.

PI:
I was the first person to be interviewed in my panel.
2 panelists(P1 and P2) and me(M):
P1 calls me in and he walks out.i wish P2 and take my seat.a couple of minutes of silence.think p2 was waiting for p1.
Then P2 looked at my 10,12 and graduation marksheets.(he actually totaled my 10 and 12th marks to check if the total matched!!!)
Then came the interesting part.
P2:Show me your pay slips
P2:what??????u earn only XXXX per month!!!!!!!u are an engineer right?
M:yes sir
P2:we talk of "India shining" and all that and here I see an engineer payed so less.ridiculous!!!
M:told him that I had a better job offer but took this as I liked the job profile better and that salary was not my top priority. seems convinced.
P1:Tell me about yourself
P2:so u like politics isit?i say "politicians ruin the country".what dio u say?
M:told him that even though there may be sopme truth in that,one cannot genralise it for all politicians and that some of them really do some service to the country.
P2:name 5 such politicians.
M:I name some and give my reasons for saying them.(was constantly interrupted when I spoke..but kept answering in the same tone )
P1:Prahalad,what is this XXX College of engineeringI haven't even heard of it.
M:sir,our college has been ranked one amongst self affiliated colleges in Tamil nadu and that its reasonably famous.
P1:but don't u think theres a perceptible difference between an IITian and ppl from colleges like these.
M:not at all,Sir.I find myself as good as any IITian ive seen and interacted with.
P1:what is Type 1 and Type 2 error?
M:haven't come across it in my engineering
P2:what is distribution.draw the normal distribution curve.
M:drew it.
P1:what do u call the area under this as.( indicates a point on the curve upto which he wanted the area)
M:answer him and write the integration formula.
P1 and P2:okay that's it,thanks and all the best
M:thank you sir.

So that was my IIML experience.tough to judge .havent explained in detail about the politics related questions.tackled them well though.the PI lasted for 10 mins.many people had even shorter durations.Fingers crossed.
comments welcome

Final Result:Selected for PGP 2007-09

Hi Puys,
Had my L yesterday (15th Feb) at Monarch hotel, Bangalore
40 ppl split into 4 panels. Me in panel 4
Cat - 99.2
2.5 years work ex in IT
B.E comp sci

GD : topic was "In business world, the rear view mirror is

always clearer than the windshield". First 10 mins we need to

write our opinions in a paper and submit to the panel. Then

talk for 15 mins. The GD was little bit fish market... all 10

ppl in my group had lot of points and we never lost steam till

the time we were asked to stop. I made around 5-6 attempts and

hopefully made some good points -:)

I was 5th for the PI... the prof opened the door... I wished

him good morning, closed the door. so there were P1, P2 and me

P1 : show us your certificates
M : handed over to them...
P1 : so tell us about yourself...
M : bla bla studies, work, hobbies etc...
P1 : You have made good scores in the 4th year... so when you

have lesser courses to do u do well right?
M: no sir... I also had internship in the first sem of 4th

year...and i did weel there... so that might pushed up
P1 : so come to ur second sem... how many courses did u do?
M : 4 two proj + two courses
P1 : what courses
M : neural networks and one on marketing
P1 : so u took up marketing becoz its easier to score right?
M : no. i wanted to do something not related to comp sci or
technical stuff... so just tried this out... and i liked the
course
P1 : so what did u learn in that?
M : market segmentation, prmotion, branding?
P1 : So what is branding?
M : Its a way of advertaising your product so that consumers

can associate certain values with your product..
P1 : So is maruthi a brand?
M : (goofed up big time!!) no its not... its a company.

Esteem, Zen etc. are the brands
P1 : Pepsi also has so many brands...
M: Yes but pepsi enters the market as pepsi also... people

associate with it
P1:So what about ads that are made for maruthi and not for zen

or esteem..
M:they are meant for promoting the company similar to the ads

of Tata group or Amul
P1: So what is brand equity?
M : Not sure.. its the recall value of the brand..
P1: so what is the difference between promotion and advertaising?
M:Promotion is related to sales... like giving a discount when you buy the product.. Ads are related to marketing to register the product in the customer's mind
P1:I have an industrial output and a consumer good... will you use promotion or ads for these?
M: Promotion for industrial output and ads for consumer goods and FMCG...
P1 : what is FMCG?
M : fast moving consumer goods...
P1: why are they called so?
M : because they have high sales volumes and hence they move fast...
P1 : even sugar is used by everyone...
M:but sugar is an essential commodity... and is not a FMCG

Hints to P2 to start...
P2 asked about what specialisation I want, about my company and work, why I left my old company etc...

Overall about 20 mins... I think ive done quite well..
what say puys?

AFAIK Narayan Murty was General manager in Patni when he opened up Infosys. Nilekeni was just out of College IITB..

anarchy Says

hardy har har.... only wish that it was the case.. but then I relly need some senior to help me out over here.. dunno what the hell made them decide that all I credited was some bloody 5 minutes of their precious time...

Yaar dont worry...
Last yr my batchmate got selected in IIM-L after a 5 min interview!
There was nothing wrong in your interview, probably they decided about you in the GD itself!!

Hope for the best!

About the length of the ints, people out here getting unnecessary worried.
Last year they ranged from 5mins to 50mins across the IIM's. The time can vary significantly in the same panel to. And candidates at both the end have a good chance, so relax and dont try reading to much into the length of the interview. Even my L int was around than 8mins cos me was the last guy left and the 2PM batch had already come. Actually my L,I,K ints were all less than 10mins and converted each of them so all those fretting abt the time limits just relax.

About the content of the interview, that can be highly vague. In one of my int's i was asked Hindi aati hai?? In Cal ints many of us were quizzed about our love lifes and the panel spent 10mins trying to convince us to read romantic novels rather than management books!!!! wierd aint it....and btw quiet of a few from this panel got selected... ints are basically to check how you handle different and arbit questions.

Lastly, specifically to IIM Lucknow, GD"s do play a very important role and a good GD can tilt the scales in your favour. However, those traditionally not so great at GD's should not be disheartened to much cos we all know that the final clincher.

The main fact is relax and go and give the int's without carrying any baggages and come out and crib as much as u want...we all did it last yr,only to happily lap up the results. One thing is for sure, u all will definately gain a lot from attending all these ints and def be better off experience and knowledge wise by the time the int season ends.

ATB,

agrawalmehul Says

hey dhruvv... u must have seen my GDPI performance posted on the first page of this thread... so wat do u say?? i mean wat are the chances according to you???

i think it was a reasonable interview..so chill

and with ur non-engg background and the percentile,dont think u need2 be 2 worried...so relax and crack all the other ints 2

atb

My IIML GD/PI experience:

Profile:
Xth CBSE(1999) : 85.0%
XII CBSE(2001) : 88.2%
B.Tech in Metallurgy(2005) ( IIT Kharagpur) : 7.41
Work Ex : 17 months WIPRO
(no drops)

Percentiles:
QA : 99.90
DI : 99.92
VA : 91.87
Overall : 99.96
calls : B,I and L
Venue and Time :Bangalore,Monarch Hotel, 14 Feb, 2:00 pm , Panel 2 ( Same as Alibaba and Crazy Guy... I was GUY#7 )
GD Topic: For the Success of a team all the team members should be accountable for their area of expertise.
10 mins essay followed by 15 mins GD.All in all peaceful GD. with such a topic there were lack of points ... whoever wanted to speak spoke.. no arguing.... first 6-7 mins defining a team.... examples to cricket team.. football... even the army.....
later pnts abt flexibility of members... sharing responsibility... expertise in a domain vs distrbuted knowledge..... over accountability.. like pain in the a$$... etc ..overburdenning of employees.... etc etc....

PI : I was guy #7( before CrazyGuy)
I agree to Crazy Guys nomenclature... Old guy (O) young guy (Y) and me (I)

I open the door and enter... and close the door.... door does'nt close properly..
Y: So its Anjan right.
I: Yes Sir.
O: Close the door properly Anjan. (omg is it a stress interview)

Y: So Anjan tell me something abt u in brief...
I:Sir I was born and brought up in Jamshedpur.... schooling.... X and XII marks... extra currics.... went up to IIT Kgp then... extra currics there.... final CG... then Working in WIPRO)

Y: What is the Nature of your Job...
I :
Y: ... are you happy with it... I mean anyone can do it... its just coding... the pay is less too...
I: No Sir... the job is OK... but its not challenging... was challenging when I joined... but now its monotonous...

Y: What does ur father do....
I:
Y: OK... give me ur certis....
I:

O: are u tallying the certies....
Y: Ya , I am taking care of than u go ahead....
I: .........
O: So tell me 4 strengths...
I:
O: Now 4 weaknesses..
I:
O:
I: ......

O: So Anjan... Do you believe in success....
I: Yes Sir..
O: Do u believe in values....
I: Yes sir...
O: which is more important...
I: values sir...
O: Why????
I: If I am deviating from my values to succeed.. that means I fear that someone is better than me... and I dont think thats success.... If I am in line with my values... I will succeed.... blah blah.... ghaan....
O: What is ur goal of life.....
I:

O: Do you dream...?
I: Yes sir...
O: So realising those dreams is ur goal of life....?
I: Yes sir...
O: Whats ur success rate.. in fulfilling ur dreams...?
I: In school I wanted to get to an IIT... got it in first attempt...got decent rank 1400... Now I wanted to get to a B school... got 99.96 in my first attempt.... so I rate myself pretty decent here....
O: ="happy...."> So you work in WIPRO... How do you compare narayan Moorty and Azim Premji....?
I:
O: There was some news abt N.Moorty and Premji having breakfast together...?
I: I am not aware of than sir....
O: I read it in the paper... today or tommorow.... not sure...
I: Sir, last couple of days... was not thorough with the newspaper... today... had to drop off a friend here in the morning.. and yesterday... paper distribution problem... due to Bangalore bandh issue... read in office... might have skipped that...
O: ok ok no probs.... You want to add something...?
Y: No I am done.. Thank u Anjan..
O: Thank u Anjan....
I: Thank u sir......


:wow:
That was how it went..... Dont know what to make out... no acads... no extra currics... no work ex... no current affairs...not sure wat they wanted....
:satisfie:

Hi Friends

had my L on 10 AM,14th Feb,Monarch Bangalore.Sorry for the late post but guess can be pardoned considering the "special day" we had yesterday(also according to the profs :))

My profile

Overall 99.96
BLACKI

Think was in the same group as Anarchy.One helluva topic,couldnt make much head and tail of it.Managed to jot down some points but couldnt get them out of my mouth before the likes of anarchy and others.So spoke just twice in the entire GD.In the end,was asked by the panel to summarise which i did dutifully and guess did a good job there.

Was fourth in line for interview and had to wait for about 45 mins after the gd got over for the interview.Not much of an issue.

Entered the room with no power,so profs were trying to get the power fixed.

Sat down.two profs,one middle age(MA) and one old(senior).(OS) me would be DL

MA:(looking at my file and form) So tell me something about yourself
DL:(was 100% sure that this was gonna be asked as L form was almost useles) blabbered what i had been practicing for days!!!Got interrupted when started to talk abt my coll life as marks had shown a decline from school yapped abt extra-curriculars and all finer points of life

talked abt my company and my 6 months of work-ex...was interrupted again for some thing which i dont recall now.after the interruption,MA says,is that all.I realise then that they stil havent allowed me to finish my "about me".Finished it with telling abt my hobbies which involved cricket

MA:So u think this team will win the world cup??
DL:it can sir,blah blah abt young-experience blend and all

MA and OS:some ques abt my work profile,gave me a problem related to my work which i think i answered pretty well.

MA:Have u heard of Docomo?
DL:yes sir,NTT Docomo...told all abt their history,geography and future :D

Asked abt problems wireless has vis-a-vis wired connection.Told him abt it as well.

OS:Have u heard of INSAT 4B?
DL:yes,sir,told him all abt it,use for DTH and all

OS:So what is DTH
DL:told all,coz had done a training with ZEE on this.

OS:asked a few more ques on DTh and its relevance in india.Answered all well i guess.

Thank you they said and i left the room.

Went on for arnd 16-20 mins atleast,surprised to see ppl coming out in less than 10 mins.Was thinking i had a good one,but is a long interview in my case telling something else?Seniors plz tell me what to take from this.

Hi all!

Posting on PG for the first time... I had my GD/PI today....

Background:

Xth CBSE 87.6% (1999)
XIIth CBSE 87.0% (2001)

B.Tech. (2006) from ISM Dhanbad in Electronics Engg. with 81.0%
Working in software testing for past 8 months at IBM.

Percentiles:
DI 97.82
QA 99.13
VA 98.40

Overall 99.69

Calls: BLACKI

Venue: Monarch Hotel, Bangalore (Panel 3) 10:00 am

GD:
In business, the rear view mirror is more clear than the windshield.

10 mins to write an essay on a sheet of paper and 15 minutes for the GD as is the usual trend. Very less content to speak off. The discussion went on peaceful with everybody having time to chip-in. I summarized at the end and by 12 minutes, everybody was with a blank face. Gaurav (no idea whether he is on PG) ended up saying we conclude... so that moderators have a mercy on us and we don't have to go on and on!

Interview:

I had a stress interview...

A female prof (F) and a male prof (M) were in the panel. I am B, the Bakra.

F: Vivek what were you doing from 2001 to 2002?
B: Mam I was preparing for IIT-JEE.
F: And then you joined Electronics at Indian School of Mines, Dhanabd...
B: Yes mam. The admissions at ISM Dhanbad are through IIT-JEE.
F: What do you do at IBM?
B: Mam I am working in the AT&T; Project. It is a big project going on for past 10 years and the major amount of work these days...
F: I asked what do you do?
B: I am working on the Universal Service Request Platform of AT&T; which are used by its end-users for ordering various applications. It is a Java based application and I am a part of the testing team. In addition to this, I have recently got an additional responsibility of handling production issues. They are delicate issues arising at the time of production.

F: Where do you come from?
B: I have been brought up at Jamshedpur.
F: Tell me something about business developments in Jharkhand in past one year.
B: (Blank-face-speaking-with-efforts..) Over the years, the state has been trying to attract investments. The Arjun Munda government earlier...
F: I am not talking about politics. You are here for a business course. Tell me about the business developments. (Whom-are-you-trying-to-fool-looks)
B: Mam I don't think that the state has progressed much in those terms. The Tatas are there in Jharkhand but they too are expanding mostly outside Jharkhand.
F: There is a global player trying to enter in the state...
B: (Blank-face)
F: Have you heard about Mittals?
B: (Sensing-trouble-enroute) Yes mam. They are trying to set up a plant in Jharkhand.
F: What plant?
B: Mam I am not updated about the issue.
F: You are from ISM. Are you interested in mines?
B: Yes. (Anticipating-a-disaster-look)
F: Have you heard of the place called Chiriya?
B: Yes mam. Chiriya is a mine in Jharkhand. (I-don't-know-look)
F: They are trying to tap that and the state is going to become very rich... (dekh-dekh-tujhe-nahin-pata-looks)
B: (Accepted-defeat-looks)
F: What are the roadblocks they are facing in Chiriya?
B: Mostly political. The mindset of the politicians and the issue of jobs-to-locals....
F: Apart from political? (I-am-not-going-to-leave-u-easily)
B: Mam I don't have an idea.

F: What do you think you would learn in management.
B: Firstly, it would give me an opportunity to diversify my portfolio. I can look towards other sector apart from the IT sector in which I currently am.
F: What other sectors are you looking forward to? (Aaya-pahaad-ke-neeche)
B: I would say the services sector. IBM is much into it. Apart from all this, a management course would help in enhancing my leadership and teamworking abilities...
F: So you think you don't have leadership or teamworking skills right now?
B: I do have, but there is always a scope of improvement in anything. Besides, I would also learn about business, the knowledge of which I lack.

M: Show me your documents.
B: (Handing-over-the-file-with-a-forced-smile)
M: And what are those other things you are carrying?
B: Sir it contains my experience letter and other documents.
M: So? Don't you have to show that to us? (How-dare-he-looks)
B: Sure sir.
M: And where are the other documents? Doesn't your call letter says you need to produce other things? What will I do with these certificates of volleyball and other stuff? They don't mean anything for me. (Hands me the call letter and says "Read what are the documents required." Abhi-bataata-hoon-tujhe-looks)
B: The interview call letter...
M: Yes this is the call letter... next...
B: CAT Admit Card.
M: Where is it?
B: (I take that out from the envelope.)
M: Next.
B: Original marksheets/certificates of examinations passed.
M: Where are they? You have kept it with you! Why, you don't want to show them to us? (Chataak-chataak)
B: Sir I had kept them separately because the file I have given you contains only the certificates. I have kept all other documents in this envelope.
M: I am not bothered about your certificates.
B: Sorry sir. Its my mistake.
M: (I-will-kill-you-looks. Flips through my grade sheets.) What did you read in Managerial Economics?
B: Supply and demand... (haklaate-haklaate..)
M: What was the managerial aspect of economics in this paper?
B: Sir I don't think it had specific orientation as such towards management. It was more of...
M: Tell me a scenario when the demand is inelastic.
B: (Daya-karo-looks...)
M: That means you haven't read this paper.
B: (More-daya-karo-looks...)
M: What is Control Engineering?
B: Sir Instrumentation and Control...
M: I am asking about Control. Tell me only about that.
B: Sir it deals with process control...
M: How do you control a process?
B: Sir a process is represented by a state matrix. Input equation is then formed and output is predicted....
M: Digital Communication... hmmm.... What are the two types of digital communication?
B: Sir digital communication is done in many ways like Pulse code modulation, PSK, FSK...
M: There are two broad classifications of digital communication. I am asking about those two.
B: Sir communication can be classified as analog and digital communication. But digital comm..

M: That's what I wanted to know. Vivek you have this beautiful certificate (most-sarcastic-possible-looks) of something called the 9th International Youth Leadership Conference. What was this about?
B: Sir the conference focussed on...
M: What is leadership?
B: Sir leadership is not only about making people follow you. Its more about excellent teamwork. How you can make people believe in you and your ideas and make them generate newer and newer ideas...
M: Tell me five business leaders.
B: N.R. Narayanmoorthy, Azim Premzi, thinking thinking... Ratan Tata...
M: Why do you think Ratan Tata is a leader?
B: Sir the aggressive expansion which he is doing for the company, for eg. the acquisition of Corus and new plants for Tata Motors. Secondly, the corporate social responsibility which the Tatas carry...
M: What do you know about Tata-Corus deal? What are the salient features of that deal?
B: Sir the Tatas have acquired Corus at six hundred and eight..een... (nervous!!) pence a share..
M: 608 or 618? (Sahi-bole-to-noch-khaaoonga-looks)
B: Sir 618 pence a share. (Dumbo!! I knew the correct figure and yet messed that up!)
M: And?
B: The acquisition was hyped in the media because of the entry of a third player CSN which...

M: If Vivek had to emulate one personality, who would he/she be?
B: Sir it is difficult to find one person who has all the qualities which I look forward to...
M: Have you read about the Mahabharata?
B: Yes..
M: What happened to Draupadi? She wanted different-different qualities in different-different people and what did she end up with? (Five-husbands! Ab-bolo! I-am-here-to-rag-you-looks!!)
B: Sir if you are specifically asking for one name, I would say N.R. Narayanmoorthy of Infosys.
M: Why?
B: Sir the very basic tagline of Infosys, driven by intellect...
M: What?
B: Sir the middle-class values which have led to..
M: What values are called middle-class?
B: Sir I am talking about the priniciples on which Mr. Murthy has build up the organization. Honesty and hard-work...
M: Do you know about the background of Mr. Moorthy? When was Infosys started? The fifty's?
B: Sir a group of five software professionals came together and...
M: Five?
B: I think so.
M: Were they freshers or were they working somewhere?
B: Sir I think they were working.
M: Where? (I-know-you-don't-know-looks)
B: Apple... (question-mark-looks)
M: Are you asking me or are you giving an answer?
B: Sir I am trying to answer...
M: Ok thank you very much Vivek you can go.

Disaster ends!!!

Dude that was the problem.. I did not fumble or anything!!! The qsn asked was... "why the hell are they going to the temples in the first place!"
so, this was the best reason I could come up with.. anyways, stupid question to say the least!!!

Da purpose of the interview at times is to catch u off the hook too... - and see how u react at such questions - the interview has no purpose other than knowing that u are an outspoken person and basically an extrovert .... the remaining is facilitated by ur profile which gives them the aggregate score to give U the final call... - so relax..

Though I agree askin such things are a bit dumb - but the IIMs are known for this as far as I have seen previous PG interviews... ;)

Ashish

Hmmmm...

Well as far as I have seen da success rates on PG - such kind of an IIM interview is a sure convert - where the student has no idea of wat da hell is goin on - and there are questions in his mind like 'Wtf were they looking at ??'...

So relax dude - and by da way - for the Aish and Abhishek question - I hope u said the engagement thing first, and mentioned the visit to the temples too... and i guess it shud be 'mangalik' - but i guess it differs from place to place... ... the Abhishek and Aish thing is the happening masala over all news channels and the papers this time... so moi was a bit surprised when u fumbled over dat question :)

Neway no probs - dont predict the conversion etc by the length and quality of the interview - normally they take a lot of effort in studin ur profile which is good enough (the CAT score too - beshakh )

All da best for the other calls :)

Ashish

Dude that was the problem.. I did not fumble or anything!!! The qsn asked was... "why the hell are they going to the temples in the first place!"
so, this was the best reason I could come up with.. anyways, stupid question to say the least!!!

My IIML GD/PI experience:

Profile:
X --> 90.6%
XII --> 88.2%
B.Tech in EE ( IIT Madras) --> 8.02
CAT '06 --> Overall 99.59
Work Ex --> Since July '05, Texas Instr.

Bangalore,Monarch Hotel, 14 Feb, 2:00 pm , Panel 2

GD Topic:

The success of a team depends on the accountability of the members in their field of expertise.( as best as I could remember)

The GD itselfwas very well done, most of the people could speak to their heart's content.

PI:
I1 --> Interviewer 1
I2 --> Interviewer 2
M --> Me

I1: Please show us your certificates:
M: (Hand them over).
I1: So, tell us about yourself.
M: Launched into the mugged up thing ... blah blah... interrupted for a couple of times for some clarifications I1 had.
I1: So , why do you want to do an MBA??
M: Another answer regurgitated...
I1: But you work in Texas Instruments?What work do you do there??
M : Mentioned about the work
I1: So what are the job responsibilities?
M : Explain what I do, in great detail :)
I1: So how much time does a person take to become a manager in TI??
M: Hmm... I would say around 20 years or so??
I1: But TI is a good company.. not like X or Y.
M: Yes Sir, It is a very good company, but the knowledge and experience required to become a manager in this field is very huge.
I1: Hmm.... motions over to I2...
I2: So you have done some courses in management?
M: Start explaining the whole funda about minor courses in IIT...
I1: So you have done financial management courses, what did you learn>?
M: tell him somethings that I remembered...
I1: So have you invested any money in stocks?
M: No sir, I have not.
I2: You have this course in investment portfolio management... what did you learn here?
M: Again list out things like equity, mutual fund etc.
I2: And still you haven't invested any of your money??
M: No Sir.
I2: Why, were you afraid??
M: No sir, it was not fear, I had some financial constraints..
I1: But you are an EE, and you have all these financial management courses?
M: Yes Sir, they were a part of my minor.
I1: Have you heard of a term called phishing??
M: ( are you kidding me ??)... give a lengthy explanation about it.. causes... modus operandi... consequences...
I2: So would you say that high risk leads to high reqard?
M: I would say from what I learnt in FM that saying hold true, for most cases.The underlying principle would be that the high reward is in lieu for the risk taken
I2: For all cases??... so no risk means no reward??
M: No Sir, I said it holds true for a large number of cases, but not all... there can be cases where the saying does not hold true.
I2: Say you want to buy a car, evaluate using whatever you learnt ..
M: Start off by saying I am assuming I am going to sell my car sometime in the future and make some assumptions about the potential benefit,, and conclude by saying I would arrive at a reasonable statement which can help me determine this.I start to say there will also be other factors like comfort etc...
I2: So is this how you would make a decision??Are there no other factors??
M: I was coming to that, aesthetics come into picture and also some people have a brand conscious buying decision.
I1: Why some people, I would say most people.
M: I cannot generalize for most, but whatever I have seen will say it does matter ..
I2: But We say that it holds true for most of us, its not a bad thing.
M: Of course sir, I never said its a bad thing.I myself am a part of that culture, I too bought a bike without any of the thinking that I put forward... :p
I2: So how do you relate to probability to real life..
M: I can relate it to my work.... blah blah .. got my point across.
I1: There is a problem, you guys all do these courses in managment in your engineering.. and then we are tempted to ask you from this field
M: smile...
I2: Gave some problem about two players and their batting averages and std. deviation and asked me to pick...
M : answered something....
I2: Ok, you can leave....

------------------------------------------

Interview was for around 10 minutes or so... Dont know what to make out of it... any comments or feedback appreciated..

background:

Xth SSLC(Karnataka) 88.64%
XIIth PUC(Karnataka) 91.0%
BE from MSRIT Bangalore in Info Science & Engg
30 month exp in IT

Percentiles:
DI 96.68
QA 98.20
EU 99.27
Overall 99.59

calls: BLACKI

Venue: Monarch Hotel bangalore
time : 2:00 pm precisely (Was in the same panel as The Last d'anconia)
GD:
To be a successful as a team each team member has to be accountable for his expertise

Same procedure.. Write essay for 10 minutes and 15 minutes for GD. Pretty peaceful GD.I came in the GD for some 4-5 times. But after 5 mins almost ev everyone was bored. It was almost like ppl were waiting for someone to cut them out :satisfie:.

I was the 7th guy in the interview panel. So was waiting for some 1 around half hours to be interviewed.

One professor was pretty young and kept smiling all the time (S). The other professor, as Last D'anconia mentioned looked like Arun Lal(AL) and ofcourse ME(M).

I entered ... Good Evening and all...

AL : Arun, can we have ur record.
M : Sure Sir.
AL takes it and passes it on to S. AL is looking at my Data Form
AL: So Arun, tell us abt urself.
M : Blah..Blah.. Blah...Bl..
AL: (Cuts me in the middle) So are u happy with ur job??
M : (Ab yeh kahan se aagaya) Yes Sir. I am happy with my job
AL: Then why do u want to leave this job and come and do a MBA??
M : :satisfie: (Aahhh... To yeh baat hein) Gave in my mugged up answer to be an entrepreneur.
AL: If u r serious on internship, there are institutes Like Entrepreneurship Development Institute. Why don't u join there?? (AL was really struggling to pronounce the word entrepreneurship )
M : Blah..Blah..Blahh... abt learning all aspects of management...blah blah blah
AL: That they teach in EDI too.
M : (Arre is he taking a interview or advertising EDI???) More blah blah blah...long term ambition of entrepreneurship.. Short term want to work as a consultant.
AL: Once u start working as Consultant u won't go back to entrepreneurship.
M: No sir... i will. It is my dream.
AL: So tell me what have u done till now to show that u r interested in entrepreneurship.
M: Sir, Involved in organizing cultural festival in college....
AL: (Cuts me in)... That is not entrepreneurship. Show me one thing which u have started or initiated
M : :wow::wow::wow: Sorry Sir, till now i haven't had opportunities to do so.
AL: So what type of entrepreneurship are u planning on??
M : Me from software...so software based.
AL : Do u know what is the success rate of entrepreneurships... that too in software industry?? It is very small.
M: Yes Sir. I know it is very small.
AL: Then why do u want to do that??U have a good paying job. Why do u want to leave it and start entrepreneurship?? Isn't it a gamble??
M: Sir, it is a challenge and i love challenges.
AL: So have u read abt entrepreneurs lifestyle...their success stories, how they have come up to be successful. More than that have u read abt the lifestyles of entrepreneurs who have failed and why they failed?? PPl who are interested go up and read such stuffs
M : (Arre... why did i dig my own grave :(). Sir i have read abt Narayan Murthy.
AL : So what is the principle of Narayan Murthy and Infosys.
M : Sir, Main principle is Hard work. More emphasis on that in infosys. Thats what was emphasised on me when i worked there.
AL: So what is the principle of HP (My current work place)
M : Blah BLah Blah.
AL : So no stress on Hardwork??
M : Not much sir. Main emphasis is on proper delivery on correct time
AL : Is that the reason u left Infosys?? Are u afraid of hardwork??
M : (With smile on my face. Inhe kaisa pata chala). No sir...
AL : (Cuts me in) Coz if u join IIMS u can hardly sleep for 3-4 hrs a day. It is mainly hardwork there.
M : I know sir. It was not because i hate hardwork that i left Infy. Better offer...blah blah blah

S was till now busy going thru my certificates. After that he had finished and sat there smiling at me when i was answering questions. He takes over now.

S: So have u read the book abt Google Way??
M : No sir.. I am searching for the book :)
S: So what are ur hobbies??
M : (Yes Yes....Finally) Blah Blah Blah... Tried luring them towards football. Also told Computer Games
S : Have u heard of PS3??
M : Yes Sir.
S : Name some games manufacturer.
M : (Yes ... My area) EA Sprorts...Blah blah blah
S: Lemme rephrase the question. Name 3 major games console manufacturer
M : Playstation....
S : Playstation is a console... who is the manufacturer???
M : Sony Sir, and Microsoft X-Box .... 3rd i forgot
S : Have u heard abt nintendo
M : Yes Sir
S : So do u read newspaper??
M : Yes Sir
S: Which news paper do u read??
M : TOI, Hindu
S: No ET??
M : Sir i go thru it. Don't read in detail
S: Last week some indian company took over some foreign company. Which is it??
M : Birla..took over Novelis
S: Another one
M : Tata
S : Which company?
M : Told

S and AL look at each other. Thank u.
M : Thank u sir.

It must be for 10-15 minutes. No stress. No acads. Dunno if i cud convince them abt my entrepreneurship. Keeping my finger crossed. Meanwhile have my I interview tomorrow morning and i still have to fill my form .

(I mean I had just got there, a sub 10 min interview in which no acads, no hobbies, no why MBA and nothing like that in the form.. dunno the parameters for which I will be selected.... but then keep in mind.. if I am selected on such an interview, I don't think IIM L deserves me )

Hi Anarchy!!

For the first time I have come across such an awesome interview..

Surprised to know that u didn't know Manglik.

The only thing that can be deduced is they were already decided on u (don't know in which way).

But how the hell can they give such tell-tale signals. At least they cud have continued with some bogus questions.

BTW, the purpose of the interview is to judge the suitability of the candidates for an MBA curriculum. And I think if the panel can judge that in less than 10 minutes, what is the harm???

However it is the first time I have encountered such an experience on PG.


Sorry - After reading a few more experiences, I realized that it is becoming a trend at IIML at least in Bangalore.. The panel seems to be too sure of its judgment prowess...