IIM Ahmedabad Interview Experience

31st Jan, 8.30 AM, The Orchid Hotel, Mumbai

WAT Topic

“Car for All” company which sells
entry level cars is thinking about acquiring a luxury brand. “Car for
All” company is very excited about it but they fear that their association
with low cost car brand will turn down the customers.

Analyse.

(300 words, ~ 15 minutes)

Personal Interview

there were 2 prof in the panel. Both were in
their late 50s. I was the last person to be interviewed. My turn came around 12.
I was sitting outside the panel room and when 
person before me came out, I waited half a mint before opening the gate.
Both were laughing and talking to each other and  when  I said
“may I come in sir” one of them look at me and his face went cold, let’s
call him  A and he said wait outside, we
will call you. I thought shit this is not a good start. I should have waited
for some more time. After a mint A opened the door and said ” please come
in” in a very friendly manner. Other prof asked me to sit down let’s call
him B.

B: you are mak

M: yes sir

A: so mak tell me about yourself

M: Sir my name is mak. I have lived in North
east Bihar MP Maharashtra and I did my graduation from NIT Calicut and now I am
working in Rajasthan. I have lived..

(he completed my sentence.)

A : lived all over the India, very good.

M: yes sir. Now, I am working in Neyveli
Lignite corporation Limited, Navratna PSU as ..

(B interrupted me)

B: Neyveli lignite should be at Neyveli what
it is doing in Rajasthan.

M: yes Sir, our main plants are at Neyveli,
Tamilnadu only. This is a very recent project. Actually this project was conceived
in 1986. many companies before us have tried to set up the plant but they have failed
due to various reasons. In 2004, Neyveli Lignite was forced in a way by the
coal ministry to take up this project and it was commissioned in 2012.

A: how does the quality of Lignite . .. ( I don’t remember what he said after that)

M: sir the Boiler is like a shoe and the
fuel Lignite is like a leg. you can design a boiler for any kind of fuel. Our
lignite’s ash content vary from 8 to 25 percent. So instead of PF boiler we
have CFBC boiler (I took a momentary
pause thinking he would ask what CFBC is but he did not so I continued to
explain it anyway)  that is
Circulating Fluidised Bed combustion. Sir, CFBC boiler is very good for fuel
with varying Calorific value and ash content and also for low grade fuel.

B: what is the cost of producing one unit ?

M: (I
knew it in MW should have told that.. but took a guess ) Sir between 1 and
2 Rs.

B: There is lot of difference between 1 and
2.

M: yes sir

A: Ok, tell me your hobbies

M: sir reading, playing badminton, Skipping
rope.(Again I took a momentary pause…)

B: How long you do skipping

M: 30 to 60 mints

B: Continuously or you take break or
something

M: Continuously, off course if you trip
than. I always do half an hour skipping before playing badminton. It a low
intensity exercise but burns more calories. it’s a good warm up exercise

B: Mak I have seen some ropes having a counter
on the handle. how does that work?

(I
knew but it was not coming out)

M: Sir, there is a projection on the disk,
for every round it clicks one.

(Made
some gestures in the air. I think B was not pleased with the answer)

B: how much turns you do 2000

M: Sir more than that. sir I use speed rope,
it does not have that counter, I don’t count actually. I use it as a
meditation. You have to focus a lot while skipping, or else you will trip so.. ( again he cut me short)

B: is it a low intensity or high intensity
workout

M: Low intensity sir

B: ok, recenty kailash satyarthi was in
news..

M: yes sir, he and Malala Yousafzai won the
Nobel Peace prize.

B: do you think it was fair to club them
together

M: why not sir

B: well he has worked for..

(I
think he got confused by my reply..he was searching for words. I came to his
rescue and completed his sentence)

M: 25-30 year in child related work.

B: Yes, do you think it was fair

M: why not sir. Malala was shot just because
she wanted to have an education. sir she even risked her life for that. It’s a
brave act and she is just a child.

(I
think he was convinced with answer)

B:how much it cost per MW for Nuclear power

M: sir BHEL charges 2.6 cr per MW for
Thermal power plant, for nuclear it would be more than that

B: oh it costs more

M: yes sir. the construction cost would be
high as it has a very strong structure with concrete and steel covering. It’s
so strong that it can even withstand an impact of a jumbo jet.

B: what is this Obama Modi nuclear thing
going on?

M: after India did the nuclear test in 1998.
America stopped giving any high tech to India and also stopped others. In 2005 Bush
and Manmohan Singh negotiated the nuclear deal and it was signed in 2008.
Actually this deal is an enable. As India is not part of 4 group – Nuclear
supplier group – which control the transfer of nuclear fuel and nuclear related
dual use technology, Australia Group – which control Chemical and biological
weapon related technology, Wassenaar Arrangement – which regulate the transfer
of conventional weapons and duel use good and technology that is military and
civilian use. and the fourth one I don’t remember sir.

B: it’s all right

M: the real benefit of this deal is that we
will be part of these groups and by that we will get advance technologies which
were denied earlier and the most important benefit is that we can import
uranium from more countries … actually what we have done is that we have
divided out nuclear plant into civilian and military. Civilian plants will
under International Atomic Energy Agency. so we can use this imported uranium into
civilian plants and use domestically produced uranium for military purpose
without any oversight and afterwards in the fast breeder reactors.

B: ok recently what has happened

M: in the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage
Act, 2010 there is provision by which the compensation would be given by the
government and the operator, which is actually a PSU and  the operator 
can sue the supplier if the accident was caused due to equipment failure
supplied by them. since they can be sued for infinite amount, supplier are unwilling
to come to India. Now, they have created an insurance fund of 1500 cr. half of
which will be contributed by supplier and other half by operator. From this
fund compensation will be given to the victims.

B: are you sure the victims cannot sue the
suppliers

M: in a way

B: in a way

(he
nodded and then looked at A)

A: ok mak, that will be all. take a toffee

M: Thank you sir

B: all the best for your rest of the
interviews

( he
said it in a very personal way or rather in a concerned way, don’t know what to
make of it)

M: thank you sir

as I
was on my way out, I knew they were look at me. So, I moved very calmly and
confidently. while walking I buttoned both buttons of the suit then slowly opening
the door and went out without looking back.

I
think it was 15 – 20 mint interview. Cheers!!

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