[Official] 2015 GD-WAT-PI Experiences thread

Guys use this thread for sharing your GD-WAT-PI experiences so that it may be beneficial to all

Hope that the interview experiences have been going smooth so far.

Kindly use this thread to share your GD-WAT-PI experiences in the following format :

Date :

Place of Interview:

Academic Details :

X :

XII

GRAD (College,Discipline, %age/CGPA) :

Work -Exp (Company, Months)

CAT %ile & Other Calls

WAT/GD Topic and Time given:

No. of Participants :

PI : 

No. of Panelist :

Description of Interview and Duration (You can mark panelist by PI,P2, etc.)

Date : 15/02/2015, 1.30 PM Slot

Place of Interview: SHCIL, Navi Mumbai

Academic Details :

X : 84.8%

XII : 84.5%

GRAD (College,Discipline, %age/CGPA) : NIT Silchar, Civil Engg, 6.74

Work -Exp (Company, Months) - Godrej Properties (Sales and Marketing), 31 months

CAT %ile & Other Calls - 99.77 percentile, ACKLS,New IIMs, MDI, IIFT, IIT B, SIBM, NMIMS

WAT/GD Topic and Time given: "Knowledge without character is dangerous" - 15 min WAT and 15 min GD

No. of Participants : 9

PI : 

No. of Panelist : 2

Description of Interview and Duration

1) Tell me about yourself

2) What is distance of a marathon? Half, Full?

3) History of 'Marathon'

4) How have messengers evolved over the course of history

5) US invented a form of messenger, but the UK refused to accept it saying 'We will still continue using our foot messengers'. What was that?

6) What did you study in the subject 'Managerial Economics' in college?

7) What is trade deficit?

8) Draw demand supply curve

9) What is the point of intersection called and why?

10) Show 'consumer surplus' scenario on the graph

11) Why do you want to do MBA when you have a good job

12) What is the history behind Gateway of India

13) What other calls do you have

IIM Kozhikode WAT-GD/PI

Slot: 16th Feb, 8;30 AM 

Venue: Delhi

.

Profile:

10th 87.85%

12th 94.20%

Final Year B.Com.(Hons.), Delhi University: 76.5%

CAT 98.45 percentile.

.

Verification Process:

I was the first one to arrive. Was asked to sign an attendance sheet on arrival.

After that they asked for:

2 Copies of the Interview Form.

Call Letter

CAT Scorecard.

Final Year Proforma.

10th Mark Sheet.

12th Mark Sheet.

Grad Mark Sheet.

Checked the extracurricular certificates as well.

The guy wrote the panel number on the form and returned both of the forms.

GD and WAT started at 9:00.

.

Topic: Package shouldn't be the sole criteria while deciding a job.

.

I was like yayy!

I was expecting some weird niche knowledge based topic, so I was relieved on seeing this.

WAT went okay. Decent 3/5 type performance. 

Everyone in my group was so nice! No one talked for a second time till everyone had at least talked once. It wasn't much of a topic because everyone agreed that satisfaction and contentment and long term goals and blah blah. Pitched in 3-4 times which was about the same as everyone else, except maybe a couple of people who spoke only once or twice. The moderator stopped us at exactly 9:30, didn't even let us conclude 😐 

All in all extremely cordial and pleasant  😃 

Performance same as WAT, 7.5-8/10 types.

There were nine members and I was the seventh to be interviewed, so interacted with a lot of panel 2 and panel 3 candidates.

Panel 2 was relaxed and the panelists were generally asking general questions, about life, future whatever. Basically non-technical stuff.

My panel i.e panel 3 had 2 male panelists and it was basically a good cop, bad cop type of setup. The one on the left was smiling and was basically like oh you poor child and the one on the right was grilling and he was saying things like:

"Itna bhi nhi pta!"

"Yeh cheezein toh 9th mein padhate hain!"

Everyone except me in my group was an engineer and they were being grilled in depth on acads. The guy on the right was tripping people one way or the other.

Some of the questions asked to the people before me:

"Name all the north eastern states and their capitals"

"Draw a map of India, then draw a map of Kerala and then mark Kozhikode on it"

"Name as many North American countries as you can"

"What's the relation between New Mexico and Mexico"

"How far is the parliament from here, what about Vidhan Sabha, itna bhi nhi pta, Delhi ke ho bhi yaa nahin"

And LOTS of technical stuff. Basically everyone before me was like "Yep. Grilled. Dhang se"

Finally my turn came.

.

PI:Panel 3

I am going to refer them as G and B(Good cop, Bad cop)

G came to the door and said yeah come on in.

Asked about the meaning of my name. (NIkhaar).  Told glow/shine whatever.. Said oh that's why you are glowing! I was like  😐 

.

G:Tell me about yourself. 

.

B was in the washroom at this point.

(I was like is this for real😲   5 min baad hi bula lete!)

Told him about myself.

Finally B sat down and he was like so you huh. I was like yep and for some reason I was smiling like an idiot because in my head I was like try all you want, see how much of your stress inducing techniques get to me 😁 

B started asking about correlation. What is it, how do you calculate it?

Draw the graph of two variables that have correlation.

Did what they asked. Cross questioning.

Finally he gave me a data set that these are five values of height and weight. What's the correlation? 

Drew a graph. Average sort of answer. 

Every time I looked at B he was like😠   And I found that incredibly funny. Finally he sort of let down his guard and started smiling back 😁  

Then G asked about law of demand, why is everything else assumed to be constant. Answered.

I think the fact that I am from a commerce background saved me, because they were like what do we ask him  😐 

And by this point all three of us were smiling all the time for some reason!

I was like wtf is going on!

Then B started asking questions like

Who was the first PM of India?

How many terms did he serve?

Why did he not serve more? (What do I know 😲  )

Who was the second PM? 

How many kids did Nehru have?

Why is Indira Gandhi ... Gandhi and not Nehru? 

Who is the husband of Indira Gandhi?

Are Mahatma Gandhi and Indira Gandhi related?

 I was like no, there's no correlation and because I used the word correlation and because earlier they sort of grilled me on correlation they were like "hahaahahahah no, no we are done with correlation now😛 " 

I used the word correlation again in another answer and they laughed even more, and of course I laughed with them. 

(I suspect by that point they were like we aren't going to select him anyway, why not have a few laughs at his expense!)

B became stern suddenly and I was still grinning because how does one suddenly stop laughing and I was literally about to say

Look at you all serious and stuff trying to scare me😀  (Remembered in time that I was at a goddamn interview and these weren't my buddies!)

Anyway B continued

How many members in Lok Sabha? Why 543 why not 552?

How many in Rajya Sabha?

How are they chosen?

Yeah that was it and then they asked each other all done naa?

Both nodded and started grinning again for some reason!

They said okay best of luck. I said okay have a nice day(because apparently I do that now 😐 )

And that wasn't all.

I came outside the room and the others started asking, "How was it, how was it?!  and I started telling them about what all happened and B's voice came from inside the room:

"Don't listen to him!" and he started laughing!

.

Jesus Christ! Such a weird interview! Don't know how they assessed it but it sure was fun! 😀 

IIM Kozhikode WAT-GD/PI

Slot: 17th Feb, 8;30 AM 

Venue: Navi mumbai

Topic: Should politicians send to B-school.(15min WAT then 20min GD same topic same place). It was in conference room.

PI: 2 members in panel no. 3 I was 6th i guess. 

Some of the questions asked to the people before me (15-20mins):

P1: (very friendly)

P1: Read my profile and said you are a Mathematicians!!! 

Q: Why MBA? you did BS-MS in mathematics from iiser pune govt. has spend so much on you.

Ans: Sir we can use mathematics in MBA also

Q: How can you use Mathematics in MBA.

Ans: Probability, Hypothesis testing, mean, median, mode etc.

Q: Probability? hmm tell me real life example. Can you use possion distribution for it? (Long stretch on probability.)

Q: Name Pakistan PM? Vice president of India?

Q:How many strokes in Indian flag? color of our flag? China flag color? Black flag does any country has? what color communist party use for their flag?

P2:

Ring theory? Graph Theory? ok last and final question he took 4 stones from desk find mean mode median of these stones? on what basis you are doing?

At last came to 3rd page looked at work exp. ohhk you had work exp also but he said last and final so no more question on work exp 😛

Vaise Haste haste kat gaya interview. p1 was friendly and p2 didn't asked that much.

IIM K

Feb 17th, New Delhi

Mech Engineer from IIT, 6 Months work-ex in IT.

After all the formalities, 8 of us were called in for WAT and GD.

Politicians should attend a business school. ( I gave a point here that good education does not necessarily means good ethics, on which I was to be grilled later)

A fine WAT and a good GD ensued.

2nd from my group to be called for an interview. The guy before me had a quiet interview and was visibly happy as he was asked only 1 very simple question from acads. So I was pretty confident going in, but not so much coming out.

P1 : The bad Cop ( you'll know after reading it).P2 : The Good Cop.

I : Yours Truly 😃

P1 : Tell me something about yourself.

P1 : (Not listening to what I said in previous question) Why do you want to pursue MBA.

P1 : (Still not listening anything) How is a spanner sized?

I : Confused. Gave some answer, close but not correct.

P1 : Difference between Pipe and Tube.

I : More confused. Tried but failed miserably.

P1 : Mechanical Engineer from IIT and you don't know basic things? (How is this basic) A short lecture ensued.

By this time I knew I had to play along and just smile and laugh.

P1(yes, its him again) : You said something about ethics and education. You mean to say all educated people are corrupt.

Apparently they had generalised my statement. Shit.

Tried defending myself, gave some good points, P2 seemed convinced but P1 was a hard nut to crack. Gave up with a smile.

P2( finally ) : Checking out my salary slips. What is PF?

I : Tried explaining the little bit I know.

P2 : Why is it there? Can I not opt not to contribute for PF?

I : I am not exactly sure how it works sir.

P2 : Tell me one memorable moment from your work ex ( which was only 6 months, so still in training mode )

I : Sir haven't had such a moment yet. But looking forward to it.

P1 : You have nothing? How is that possible? Ok. Tell me what is a generator?

I : Trying to be smart. Sir generator is a device that generates something. Electric generator is a device that generates electricity.

P1 : Did I ask you about electric generator? Did I specify? ( what? didn't he hear what I said before that? )

I : Repeated what I had said.

P1 : So you say its something that generates something. ( yes, sir )

P1 and P2 (devilish chuckle) : We can't ask anything now. You may go.

Still don't know what they were looking for, or what changed after 1st candidate in my panel. I tried to keep smiling all the time, but don't know if I succeeded.

My Verdict : A BIG NO!!


Sorry for the typos and grammatical mistakes.


edit : A quest. that I remembered just now( about PF)


Fiend I'm from Dual Degree  and what type of Question would I be asked on B.tech ECE and M.tech VLSI Design.

IIM Kozhikode

16 Feb, 1:30pm Slot, New Delhi.

Profile: Computer Engineering graduate, no work-ex.

GD/WAT Topic: Commercialization of sport inevitably leads to malpractice.

15 minutes for both GD and WAT.

GD was okay. Every person there was having work-ex except me. I was having having let see attitude. Well, when the GD started, everyone seemed equal to me. So freshers/ droppers, no need to worry. I got a chance to speak. There was one guy, who was taking in charge of the situation and becoming leader of the group, and was replying again and again without giving anybody a chance to speak; similarly, one particular girl, once she started speaking, it was hard for someone to stop her. Well, after all, there was no fish-market. And, it went well.

Now the interview part. I don't know what happened there, huh!. I was having no control over the interview. But i know one thing that it didn't go well. I was the 2nd guy on the panel 1 list. Two members were there in the panel.

Guy1: (expression wtf, 'saala, kha se aa gya ye', while looking through my academics) ye kya ha, your academics are bad.

Guy2: (was asking something with the Guy1, simultaneously, and he stopped without completing his sentence)

Me: (in my mind, to the Guy1, "ye parcha dekh, tere baap ne bheja ha" ) yes sir, i was not focused at that time, i wanted different branch...(*intrupted)

Guy1: But CS is better than mechanical.

Me: yes sir, but my interest was in mechanical...(*interrupted by Guy2, was saying something about my folder which i don't know, and stopped without completing his sentence, again)

(*awkward situation)

Guy1: Tell me, what should we ask?

Me: (damn! Not this. And, I replied after thinking) You can ask me questions on my graduation if you want.

Guy1: We will ask what we know.

(*long silence)

Me: (want to say 'logical questions' but i was again interrupted by the Guy2, and he stopped without completing his sentence, again, and i was end up saying just 'logic', shit!)

Guy1: (laughing) 'logic', Okay, what is logic? (laughing) why are you making your interview so difficult for you?

Me:(wtf just happened. And i said something)

Guy1: (Smiling) have you heard Timbuktu? What is this? Is that a logic? Where is it?

Me: i think it's a place. I'm not sure where it is.

Guy1: Delhi, is that a fact or logic or what it is? Tell me its longitude and latitude? Is there any logic behind this? Is longitude and latitude fact?

Me: (answered approximately, with some reasons that I'm not sure, and also, Guy1 was making me confuse with my answers by labelling them as it's a logic or fact) Guy)

Guy1: suppose a person lives on a planet, is his presence a logic? Whatever he does, should there be any logic behind this? Why we all live, logic? Okay, what is philosophy, tell me the difference between philosophy and logic?

Me: (i was like, what is going on here. Well, somehow, I answered, and in which the guy1 was quoting them with philosophy and logic, again)

Guy2: (finally, a complete question ) have you heard Rio de Janeiro? Where is it?

Me: (i answered)

Guy2: in carnivals, why not women get a chance to roam topless? But men can. Don't you think that it is logically incorrect? Why so?

Me:(baffled, and said something which i don't know)

Guy1: (same question) Tell me, what should we ask?

Me: (i dont know what should i say. Finally, i said, sports. then we agreed on cricket)

Guy1: why 3 stumps?

Me: (i was like, damn! i chose this topic, and i am not sure about the reason behind it, so i said i don't know specifically)

Guy2: what are the two records that broke in yesterday's match ?

Me: (only able to tell one)

Guy1: (was saying no by moving his head )

And they concluded with 'any questions' and best of luck. 2-3 more questions were asked about the logic and they grilled me on that. Time period: 20-25 min

Friends, Best of Luck, because luck is more important here.

(sorry for bad language )

IIM Kozhikode

15 Feb, 08:30 hrs , Kolkata.

Profile: Engineering graduate, no work-ex., IIT

GD/WAT Topic: negative effects of Animal Conservation Practices

25+15 minutes for  GD and WAT respectively.

GD was average (chalega..) No fish market scenario..thank god!!!

After 10 mins, the moderator stopped us and initiated the interview process. Really 25 mins is a long time for a group of ~8 in a GD. Ultimately we ran out of points, sort of stagnated after a while.

Interview : A panel of two.

Duration 4-5mins.

p1/q1. Do you have a problem wishing people?

me: No ma'am.

p1/q2. You said some thing ridiculous in the GD to grab the group attention? Why did you do it?

me: Defended my claim. (certainly not that strong)

p1/q3:What is normal dist.

me: gave the definition and the formula

p1/q4: how is it different from Poisson?

me: it has a different dist function etc.

p2/q5: have done any courses in stat?

me : nope nothing in stat, but related courses in data analysis etc.

p2/q6: how much time did you take to fill this form?

me: about 30-40 min.

p2: people are doing much more than that

p2/q7: how many calls do you have?

me : told

p2/q8: Any questions for us?

me: No.

Self-verdict: NOOOO!!!


IIM KOZHIKODE

17th FEb,08:30 a.m, delhi

Profile: b tech. Mechanical final year

GD/WAT topic:politicians should be asked to goto business school.

15 min wat 15 min gd

The moment gd started everybody went ghetto stating data and dates and other techical reasons. Spoke 2-3 times only. 

But the gd started on a good note and was concluded within time limit.no fishmarket.

I was last for the interview and was thinking if the guy cleaning the windows would fall or not, to pass the time. Was very relaxed and no stress at all. There were two professors. Mid 30s. One who had a ponytail p1 and other p2. The interview was like a casual talk between friends. Both of them kept smiling along with me.p1 did all the talking p2 was quite.

P1: what happened in  gd?do u always stay this quite.

M: no sir, as this was a gd and not a debate so there was no reason to make a point by interrupting. As if everybody did this then it would just become a fishmarket. 

P1: so u used the word fishmarket. To btao kis business meo fishmarket situation hti hai.

M: sir stock markrt.

P1: right. 

m: told the other reason fr not saying much in gd as difference in percpective.

P1 was convinced

P1: tell me where have u shown leadership quality.

M:sir, i am the leader of my counter strike team and that requires a lot of leader ship. Blah blah. 

P1:nice so u play cs. Anyother incident

M:told about accident i had few days ago. How i saved an ild lady. Was impressed and satisfied with the answer.

P1: more questions about cs. 

Thrn asked about some person bt didnt hear her name before. 

P1: so how many states in india 

M: sir 29 with new state telangana.

P1: how can u write 8 using 3 twos. 

M: gave the answer

P1: what is ak67?

M: is it some kind of weapon i have heard about ak47. Is it some kind of weapon?

P1: laughing yeah a big one. Why was this no. 67 in news lately.

M: just remembered 67 us the ni. Of seats won by a.a.p and ak means arvinf kejriwal. 

P1: smiling now u get it.

M: yes sir hehe. 

P1: few acads . 

P1: asked givr reason why football craze is groing in india.

M: gave few points was not satisfied. told him i was nt interested in football. 

P1: so onlu cs.

M:no sir i like gymming and moto gp too.

: asked few questions on moto gp gave the answer . then asked me to draw a graph. 

Got stumped.

P1: so which iimd u got?

M:sir iim k new ones and ahemdabad abm.

P1: so, which one would u choose between kozhikode and ahemdabad.

M: sir kozhikode. 

P2: why cause we are asking u?

Both started laughing. 

M: no sir fee for ahemdabad is vrry high even for abm. 

Was convinced.

P1: got any questions for us?

M: yes sir. Do we have to keep our hair short in iim k? Or can we have any hairstyle we want?

P1 and p2 started laughing .

P1: you can have any hairstyle u want. 

M: cause i had ling hairs sir. And i had to cut it for the interview.

P1 and p2 started laughing even louder. 

P1: did u also have a pony tail like me? 

M: no sir mine were a bit different. 

All were laughing.

P1 and p2: it was fun talking with u. 

M: se here sir. 

There was no candy to give. 

Are interviews not happening in this period ?

Date : February 26, 2015 ; 1:30 PM

Place of Interview: The Janpath Hotel, New Delhi

Academic Details :

X : 89.2 %

XII : 75 %

GRAD (College,Discipline, %age/CGPA) : 70 %

Work -Exp (Company, Months) : TCS , 22 months

CAT %ile & Other Calls : New IIMs, IIFT, XLRI (HRM).

WAT/GD Topic and Time given: The institution of marraige has become outdated (15 min. for WAT n 20 min. for GD).

No. of Participants : 9

GD was extremely smooth, no one interfering while other speaking, every1 gt a fair chance to speak, GD concluded well within time.

PI : 2 panelists (M1, F1) - both young, may b in mid 30s.

M1 : Tell us about yourself.

I: (prepared answer) - mentioned teaching as one of the hobbies.

M1 : wat u teach , where ??

I: a volunteer grp fr teaching children of non teaching staff in colg and then fr few months after B.tech in a coaching, Physics.

F1 : explain laws of thermodynamics. n dont jst dictate, think m a student n make me understand.

I: (explained zeroth law wid illusration using a pen n paper).

F1 : n d other 2 laws ?

I: ma'm I cant recall d exact statements so nt in a position to elaborate on them.

M1 : difference between A.C. n D.C. ??

I : ( again expalined very well then there were various follow up questions such as advantages, uses , more differences ).

M1 : ever heard of Edission n Tesla ?

I : yes sir (told their contributions).

M1 : Who favored AC n who favored DC among d 2 ?

I : sir, m nt aware of it.

M1 : bt u r a physics teacher

I: bt m nt in touch for 2.5 yrs nw, so nt in a position to recollect n comment

F1 : tell sumthing abt ur job.

I : (told). F1 : wati is revenue of TCS ?  I : $13 billion

F1 : who heads TCS ?  I : Natrajan chandrashekhran.

F1 : In hw many countries TCS operates ?

I : Recently I saw in TCS newsletter dat it has expanded its operation in 44 countries.

F1 : Which countries mainly ?

I : out of India, mostly europe n US based.

F1 : wat r challenges dat TCS is facing ?

I : (told abt legal restrictions of EU on data sharing).

F1 : wat is d issue wid greece ?

I : (told abt economic n politcal crisis, bailout plan bt exact figures were missing).

F1 : wat abt fiscal deficit of India ?

I : its curretnly at 4.5% n target is tobring to 4.1% of GDP.

M1 : population of finland ?  I : 55 lacs.

M1 : of japan ?  I : m nt aware of it sir.

M1 : take a guess..  I : more than a crore..

M1 : of china? I : approx 150 crores?

M1 : of UK, germany?  I : I dont know sir, may I guess?

M1 : no, of USA?  I : approx 40 crores.

M1 : of Australia ?  I : 2 crores.

M1, F1 : k.. u may leave nw.

IIM Indore Experience. Please give me your inputs.

Venue: Hotel Monarch Luxur, Bangalore

Date and Time: 26th February, 8.00 am

Profile: General, Non Engineer, Female

CAT: OA 97.99, QA 95.56, VA 97.71

10th: 95.00% (CBSE 2008)

12th: 97.20% (CBSE 2010)

UG: 71.85% (B.Com, graduated in 2013)

Professional: Qualified CA all levels in First Attempt, All India Rank 22 in IPCC, with a 100% in Accounting

Articleship Experience of 3 years ended August 2014 in Deloitte (does not count as work-ex)

Workex of 1 month in a Financial Services startup as a Lead Consultant

Arrived at 7.45 am, document verification began at 8.00 am, with a break of half an hour for WAT at 8.30, after which it resumed.

WAT: Businesses cannot be run on undemocratic principles (or something of that sort). Give your opinion. 300 words, 30 minutes - took 10 minutes to plan, 20 minutes to write. Somewhat ok attempt.

PI - Waiting time of, I kid you not, 2.5 hours. Managed to sit all ladylike and quiet and composed for about 15 minutes. After that I took the life out of one engineer sitting next to me, till I got called in.

3 interviewers, all 3 middle aged male profs.

P1: So you have finished CA.

Me: Yes

P3: Why MBA? CA is not good enough?

Me: (Gave the why MBA answer)

P2: Why, CA's don't get into management?

Me: (More fundas)

P2: But you won't be a manager after MBA.

Me: (Flabbergasted)

P2: (Laughing) You will only be a management trainee.

Me: (Titters dutifully)

P1: What are you doing now?

Me: (Spoke about my current job profile)

P1: (Latches onto the term "non structured CFO services") Imagine your client is a tech start up. Tell me about the accounting treatment of software development costs.

Me: (Well, I honestly did not get his question the first time, and he had to repeat it 2 times to me. Then, I spoke about matching concept for a bit, then went onto expensing off versus capitalization. Not happy with my answer. I could have touched upon various aspects of AS 26.)

P1: Explain IRR to me as though I am a lay person.

Me: (Explained after a lot of stammering)

P2: That is a very roundabout way. Ok, give me a numerical example.

Me: (Gave)

P2: You have assumed all cash outflows happen at T0, what happens if they happen in between? You don't see all this in non structured CFO services?

Me: (Went all meh inside my head, said I haven't had practical exposure to this yet)

P3: So you have studied Economics?

Me: (Said yes, basic stuff at school level)

P3: You have done B.Com right? I am going to ask you something very basic only. What is a perfectly competitive market?

Me: (Explained)

P2: What do you mean by "very large number"?

Me: (Explained)

P3: (Seemed satisfied)

P3: (I think he was an Economics Professor - he then started asking something very high funda with Price Equilibrium)

Me: (Was very frank and I said I do not know)

P2: (Looked extremely displeased) What did you do in Deloitte for 3 years then?

Me: Worked in the Audit and Assurance Department.

P2: What is this Fair Value Accounting?

Me: (Explained the premise)

P2: Why is it such a big deal?

Me: (Contrasted it with Historical Cost Accounting and spoke about the need to estimate fair value at each reporting date and yada yada.)

P2: Give me the exact definition of Fair Value as per IFRS.

Me: (Boo-yeah. I know this. But before I could even open my mouth to explain...)

P1: Tell me about IAS 39.

Me: (Seriously wtf? Again I was forced to say that thus far, I am familiar with Indian GAAP only. IAS and IFRS did not form a part of my course content.)

P2: How many Indian accounting standards are there?

Me: (Total 32, 29 mandatory, 3 recommendatory)

P2: What are the 3 recommendatory standards?

Me: (Told them).

P1: But you know, I am surprised. Isn't IAS 39 is the first and most basic thing you learn?

Me: (Gave him my most pathetic deer-caught-in-the-headlights look. Later, in utter self disgust, I looked up IAS 39.And guess what? It is Financial Instruments - Recognition and Measurement. Which deals with accounting for Options, Fair Value Hedges, Cash Flow Hedges, Derivatives etc. WHY, OF COURSE IT IS THE VERY FIRST THING WE LEARN.)

P2: Tell me what is a Hedge Fund.

Me: (My confidence was at an all time low. I just wanted the interview to end after that last question. I really wish I could go back and answer just this one properly for them.)

P1, P2, P3: (All 3 give me identical expressions of disgust. Who can blame them?)

P1: Respond to this statement. "Corporate Governance in India is at an all time low, because of unethical CA's such as you".

Me: (I go "Kill me now" in my head. Why do all interviewers want to ask me only this in every interview? On the other side, I think I should expect this question from now on, and I seem to be getting a lot of practice with this, anyway. I tried giving my usual prepared answer, but they interrupted lots in between and did not let me finish.)

P2: Tell me about Satyam Case.

Me: (Started and stammered my way through.)

P1: Did those Deposits exist?

Me: No

P2: Can't blame this one for wanting to run away from CA and come to MBA.

P1, P2, P3: (All 3 echo the same menacing laughter).

P3: So, Congress Party is the oldest in India?

Me: Yes

P2: (Looks suspiciously at me)

P3: Who was the longest serving President?

Me: (Asked if he meant AICC President)

P3: Yes

Me: (Didn't know, but took a shot. Said Nehru)

P2: Was Nehru even President?

Me: (Bland expression).

P3: Ok, I will give you a clue. Who IS the longest serving Congress President?

Me: Sonia Gandhi.

P3: Who was the first female president of Congress?

Me: Indira Gandhi

P3: Ok I will give you a clue. She was not born in India.

Me: Sonia Gandhi.

P3: Nope, not her. If it isn't Indira, how can it be Sonia? This is history from a very long time ago, not so recent.

Me: (Was thinking of saying Annie Besant. But I was interrupted again when P2 decided to end the interview. And yes, it was Annie Besant.)

P2: Ok, that will be all.

P3: Any questions for us? Mind you, no questions about the interview, though.

Me: (Asked something about flexibility in choosing electives and they answered).

P1, P2, P3: Fine, thank you. Good afternoon.

Well, I heard myself saying "I don't know" a lot during this interview. I really felt certain questions were way too tough for me. I honestly do not know whether this level is expected from all CA's and how I should judge my technical knowledge based on this interview. I am not too hopeful of this one.

Also none of the panellists went through the 2 files of my academic and extracurricular achievement certificates which I placed it in front of them.

UPDATE: CONVERTED! 😁

How many called for Interview ?

Has anybody given their iim-b interview??

IIM Kozhikode experience 

Profile: 91% in 10th, 88% in 12th, 72% in Grad (NITk, ECE)

Cat score - 97.53

Venue - Janpath Hotel, Delhi

Morning 8:30 slot

.Profile verification started..Mine was done a lil early

Then GD and WAT topic was "Compensation package is the sole criteria for selecting a job"

Only I was in the whole grp who was agreeing to the topic :/

Gave some points like Horse race has blinders attached to it , which can only see ahead so as we are , watching and judging people by the earnings they have, coz financial security is what we need to attain first as it had been taught by our parents since the childhood.

In WAT - wrote about Rat race, I think i went a little off the topic

Interview - around 15 minutes

I was the first to be interviewed in my panel as my verification was done already.

2 people were in the panel.

P1 - Introduce yourself

me : Done but was a lil tensed

P2 - So Your hobbies are Reading , writing and Dancing

me : yes

P1 - What is the last article you wrote

me : Told

P2- You talked about Rat race and Horse Race in your GD and WAT.

Why are you so Fascinated with races, Do U participate in Races?

Me  : yes , In sprint Races, won 10 medals in that in College

P1 : What is the basis of a rat race and a horse race?why does a rat run and why does a horse run?

me : Rat , being the smallest animal runs for its life and Horse runs when it is commanded.

P2 : What is Electronics, since u are an ece engineer?

me : something which has the flow of electrons

P1 : Why are people after Led nowadays ? How is it better?

me : Low power consumption, low heat dissipation, cheap, less burnout 

seems they were convinced

P1: How many leds are there in an Led Tv?

me : well there are two type of Leds- edge and back lit so it depnds on the type

P1: how many ?

me : Sir i dunno about the exact number of LEDs.

P2: What is the last book You read?

me : I m reading the Magic by Rhonda byrne 

P2: Give its gist

me : told

P2 : one before that

me : Told

P2 : one before that

me : love in the time of Cholera

P2 : author?

me : told 

P2 : name 3 books by this author

me : Don't know sir  :|

P2 : do you know this author has won a nobel prize for literature for which book?

me : No sir 😐

P2: genre of this book

me : Fiction 

P1 :Have you heard of Magical realism? Do you read news?

me : Yes I know what's going on in around the world

P1 : finance minister

me : Arun jaitley

P1 : where is kozhikode? 

me : Kerela

P1 : Near?

me : calicut

P1 : which direction in kerela?

me : south West

P1 : capital of Kerela?

me : Kochin :/

P2: So, You participate in fashion shows. Name the First miss india to be crowned as miss world

me : reita Faria

P2 : what year? where is she from?

me : In 1963 ( It was 1966, close enough 😁 )

P2 : 2nd miss india to be crowned as miss world?

me : aishwarya Rai

P2 : 1st miss india to be crowned as miss universe?

me : sushmita sen (i was reluctant as i wasn't so sure about it)

P1 : Are you telling or asking us? 😁

me : Sir i am not so sure about it since India entered into Miss universe in later years so I guess sushmita sen is the 1st miss universe from india

Phew !! so many questions

I don't have any Idea about the verdict since it was such a Random Interview :/

I screwed at some places. Let's just wait for the results. 😃

IIM Shillong Interview Experience

Venue: Institute of Hotel Management, SJP Polytechnic, Bangalore

Date and Time: 9th March, 8.45 am

Profile: General, Non Engineer, Female

CAT: OA 97.99, QA 95.56, VA 97.71

10th: 95.00% (CBSE)

12th: 97.20% (CBSE)

Grad: 71.85% (B.Com)

Qualified CA all levels in First Attempt, All India Rank 22 in IPCC, with a 100% in Accounting

Articleship Experience of 3 years in Deloitte (does not count as work-ex)

Workex of 1 month in a Financial Services startup as a Lead Consultant

Arrived at 8.30 am, spent some time arranging my document in the required order.

Document checking commenced by 8.45 am. The guy checking the documents was really nice. Asked if I was wearing contacts, and also asked me the meaning of my name and we spent some time talking about it. He asked about my other calls as well, and wished me all the best.

9.00 am - we were led away to the waiting area for the interviews. As is my wont, got tired of staying quiet and socialized with the other candidates. Met a DU Graduate in Commerce and at last, another CA (yayayay!). Cribbed nicely about my Indore interview the unfairness of being questioned about IAS 39, when only a handful of people are familiar with AS 30, 31 and 32. Sweet guy, he listened and made comforting sounds.

9.10 am - I was the first person to be called!

3 Panellists - 2 young professors (P1 and P2) and 1 senior professor (P3)

P1: Good Morning.

Me: Good Morning.

(P2 and P3 start to review my files)

P1: So you have finished CA?

Me: Yes sir!

P1: Good, good, tell me about yourself.

Me: (Gave him an answer which highlighted my strengths)

P1: 3 years in Deloitte, what was your biggest learning?

Me: (Spoke about the importance of timely and continual communication, and interfacing between the Team, the Management and the Client. He initially did not look too convinced, but I spoke confidently in the same vein and he seemed satisfied.)

P1: So yesterday was a very important day, were you following the news?

Me: Sir, I am sorry, I have been cut off from the world for the last week, it was my sister's wedding and I had been very busy with the preparations. (At this point, I showed him the Mehendi on my palms :p)

P1: (smiling) Yes, I had noticed you're wearing Mehendi. Well, it was Women's Day yesterday.

Me: (bursts out laughing) I have no idea how I missed that!

(P1, P2 and P3 all begin to laugh with me)

P1: Alright, I'll tell you, Barkha Dutt interviewed lady army officers yesterday and they said that they are not given field duties in senior positions. Based on your experience, tell me about equality of women in the workplace.

Me: (After thinking a bit, I said that in the corporate setup, I had faced no such inequality and the policies I was under were extremely women friendly. There were a sizeable number of women in the firm, even in the senior positions, because when I left, out of 6 partners, 2 were women and out of 5 directors, 3 were women. I also mentioned that at the end of the day, work is work, and it does not matter whether a man or woman does it, as long as it gets delivered. Probably women need to show extra commitment to their work, so that they are not discriminated against.)

P2: Alright, since you have studied accounting, tell me about the various methods of depreciation.

Me: (Detailed a few in brief).

P2: Which is most preferable?

Me: (Contrasted SLM vs WDV regarding the hit to P&L over the life of the asset. Also spoke about manufacturing companies who many find Production Units method or Production Hours method more appropriate. In the end, I mentioned that the new Companies' Bill permits depreciation only based on Useful Life.)

P2: Can I ask you about Taxation?

Me: (smiling) I have had practical exposure only to accounts and audit, but I will try my best to answer you, as I have studied tax.

P2: Tell me a few benefits of the proposed GST Bill.

Me: (dancing inwardly, I spoke about minimising the cascading effect of taxation on final outputs and services, unifying various taxes under one common umbrella and about how center versus state taxation would get simplified).

P2: Can I ask you about Economics?

Me: (smiling) Sir, again I have had only a basic school grounding, but I will try my best to answer you.

P2: Explain the law of demand.

Me: (I remembered to say "Everything remaining constant" but ugh, hate myself, I mixed this stupid simple one up for what reason, god knows. Shame on me, I don't deserve to say I am from a Commerce Background.)

P3: So you're an avid reader?

Me: Yes.

P3: What did you read last?

Me: A biography of Jacqueline Kennedy (haven't had time to read anything since the Lucknow Interview)

P3: Who wrote it?

Me: Stephen Birmingham

P3: Was it complimentary or deprecatory?

Me: Complimentary to the extreme. The biographer was fawning all over her, she was not yet dead when this biography was written.

P3: Tell me about her life.

Me: (told a bit)

P3: Ok, which other titles did you recently read?

Me: (mentioned a bunch, stuttered a bit while thinking aloud and recalling)

P3: Oh you read comics? Which are your favourite comic characters?

Me: Asterix and Obelix.

(Again, all 3 panellists laugh)

P3: We are done. Thank you, please help yourself to a toffee.

(After I walked out, I realised they had handed back the Personal Data Form to me, and I went back into the room to give it back to them. They said that they do not need it, and I could keep it)

UPDATE: CONVERTED! 😁

has anybody here done with IIMK interview bcs my form is not getting printed properly like it is coming half on first page and other half without proper adjustment on another...pls help

Its a long one IIMB WATPI

Date : 13.03.2015  Venue : IIM Bangalore

Profile - Chemical engineering working in Coromandel fertilizers (23 months)

Cat - 94.53, X - 92, XII - 95.2, grad - 83

Wat - Should freedom of speech be limited. 

wrote a decent essay 3/5

Pi - 30 minutes, 3 panelists

2 males 1 female

all of them were sweet. there was one old male guy(O) who was oly asking most of the ques. the second guy was asking random HR ques (HR). the lady was quite asked some ques in the last (L)

lady welcomed me in.

O -  so u are from madurai (saw it from my SOP) what is famous in madurai??

me: madurai is temple city. the most famous thing is Meenakshi amman temple. apart from which lot of temples are situated in and around it. it is also famous for Jigarthanda and kari dosai (food items) then also jasmine.

L: what is Kari dosai? is it masal dosa?

me: i told her its not and told the preparation. i also told her its famous in amma mess.

O: u mean the Jayalaitha mess??

me : no sir its a diff one.

O: u are in a gud company why MBA?

me : well prepared and well rehearsed answer. i dragged them into this yrs financial budget with that.

O: so what is the changes that are going to affect ur company in this budget.

me: again well prepared. told them that certain chances regarding some  financial tweaks i was not able to understand that is one reason i wanted to do mba for holistic approach. old guy seemed satisfied.

HR: what do u want to change in the current indian scenario?

Me: education. spoke about the quality of education and its impact. had some data from ASER spoke about them.

O: lets say u get MBA here where would u want to work after that.

Me: i have mentioned in my SOP that i am fascinated about factories. so supporting that i told i would like work in ops field in some ndustry. being a chemical engineer that would suit me technically also after MBA i would have a different approach towards their propoganda.

O: so u will work for coromandel again?

me: if offered yes sir. i love my company and my job. but my approach will be different after the mba as i would have gained some depth knowledge

HR: I recently studied that fertilizer will degrade the soil. is it true??

Me: yes sir it will if over used. the soil has to be tested before application for the right amount and kind. the farmers should be educated.

HR: do u think the government is looking into this?

me: yes sir the government has handed this to the corporates. aand my company is very much particular about this. we have started soil testing centers in Andhra and karnataka in 250 villages educating the farmers and doing free service of soil testing and suggesting the type of fertilizer to be used.

O: if u are given a role in sales and marketing will u take it? (didnt knw where this ques came frm)

Me: i am not really aware of the contents and requirement insales and marketing once after completing the mba if my mind slides towards it i will be happy to take it. i told i am more of an ops guy blah blah blah. 

O: Did u ask any of ur seniors before u started ur MBA Prep.

Me: Yes: then told him how i was motivated with IIMB and NITIE. they didnt knw abt nitie though. i clearly told them that i wanted to convert this one.

O: why not MS?

Me: tld its research oriented and i am not a research guy. told my time to decide on MS or MBA and now i prefer MBA due to the reasons i already mentioned.

HR: What is passion (WTF is this)

Me: told motivated dream. gave some real life example and blah blah blah.

L: Does make in india or anyother modi reform gud to ur industry.

me: no mam oly the removal of subsidies will be a boon. explained on subsidies. all his motives are to bring in cash flow in industrial sectorand service sector. but so far no use to fertilizer. except for customs on sulphuric acid. the freight charges increased, service tax increased excise duty increased. hence not gud for fertilizer industry.

And thats it. full of experience and stuff about my country the was able to answer all ques. gud one i think. lets See 

Any idea when the result will be out....near date will work too..

Please reply