IIMK WAT/PI 2012-2014 batch

Hello all, The WAT/PI round of IIMK batch of 2012-2014 has started. I request all the candidates who attend the process to please pour in their experiences on this thread. Follow the format below:- Your profile:- 10th marks : 12...

Hello all,

The WAT/PI round of IIMK batch of 2012-2014 has started. I request all the candidates who attend the process to please pour in their experiences on this thread.

Follow the format below:-

Your profile:-
10th marks :
12th marks :
Graduation marks/Stream/College :
CAT percentile :
Work ex :
Extra curricular :

Interview Centre:-

Essay topic:-
Comments about your performance :

Personal Interview:-

Any other comments -

All the best !!

10th marks : 93
12th marks : 89.6
Graduation marks/Stream/College : 87 , ECE
CAT percentile : 98.47
Work ex : 30 months
Extra curricular : National level skating,cycling..

Interview Centre:- Hotel Vikram , New Delhi

Essay topic:- Disbelief is easy , to scoff is easier , faith is hard....something like that :)
Comments about your performance : Good essay , not so good PI

Personal Interview:- My interview was very profile specific so it won't be helping puys in general,but still I am giving some of the pointers.

My interview started with my work experience and some questions on what I do. After that they moved on to one of my hobbies and introspected me on that for quite some time.The next part was an article which made an impact on me recently..I mentioned quashing of 2G licenses..A good discussion on this topic..Next was the change in economic scenario of India after 1991..Then there was one question on IMF which I don't even remember 😃
Opinion on reservation was next..
Overall I faltered on some places and I believe for K , as a male 😃 , you need to do exceptionally well..

Any other comments - Get the xerox copy of all your certificates..Academic as well as achievements..You need to get them verified and submit all the xerox copies..Most of the candidates in my slot ended up running for xerox machines (including me too 😃 ) for the lack of it..

10th marks : 93
12th marks : 89.6
Graduation marks/Stream/College : 87 , ECE
CAT percentile : 98.47
Work ex : 30 months
Extra curricular : National level skating,cycling..

Interview Centre:- Hotel Vikram , New Delhi

Essay topic:- Disbelief is easy , to scoff is easier , faith is hard....something like that :)
Comments about your performance : Good essay , not so good PI

Personal Interview:- My interview was very profile specific so it won't be helping puys in general,but still I am giving some of the pointers.

My interview started with my work experience and some questions on what I do. After that they moved on to one of my hobbies and introspected me on that for quite some time.The next part was an article which made an impact on me recently..I mentioned quashing of 2G licenses..A good discussion on this topic..Next was the change in economic scenario of India after 1991..Then there was one question on IMF which I don't even remember 😃
Opinion on reservation was next..
Overall I faltered on some places and I believe for K , as a male 😃 , you need to do exceptionally well..

Any other comments - Get the xerox copy of all your certificates..Academic as well as achievements..You need to get them verified and submit all the xerox copies..Most of the candidates in my slot ended up running for xerox machines (including me too 😃 ) for the lack of it..


1.Do they ask any questions on the essay?

2. How many min for the essay?

3. What word limit is expected for the essay? ( as in how many sheets were you given to fill in)

4.How long did your interview last?

5. How many people interviewed you?

6. Were you asked any abstract value based questions by any chance?

7. They expect brilliant responses for general awareness questions? As in suppose if you start quoting statistics, will they cut your answer or do they just want to know whether you have basic knowledge?

sorry duplicate post
mods plz remove this

Please provide link to original thread

1.Do they ask any questions on the essay?

2. How many min for the essay?

3. What word limit is expected for the essay? ( as in how many sheets were you given to fill in)

4.How long did your interview last?

5. How many people interviewed you?

6. Were you asked any abstract value based questions by any chance?

7. They expect brilliant responses for general awareness questions? As in suppose if you start quoting statistics, will they cut your answer or do they just want to know whether you have basic knowledge?

1.Do they ask any questions on the essay?
No , they don't have the essay in front of them..

2. How many min for the essay?
45 min

3. What word limit is expected for the essay? ( as in how many sheets were you given to fill in)
Word limit not specified.....Too many sheets one can't fill them up :)

4.How long did your interview last?
I think 20 min

5. How many people interviewed you?
2
6. Were you asked any abstract value based questions by any chance?
Like what ?
7. They expect brilliant responses for general awareness questions? As in suppose if you start quoting statistics, will they cut your answer or do they just want to know whether you have basic knowledge?
They are just testing your opinion..
1.Do they ask any questions on the essay?

6. Were you asked any abstract value based questions by any chance?
Like what ?


like the kind SPJAIN always asks

have you ever lied? under what circumstances?
such stuff

10th marks :96%
12th marks :96%
Graduation marks/Stream/College :75.2%, B.Com (h) SRCC
CAT percentile :99.48
Work ex :7 Months
Extra curricular :Table tennis district level and State level

Interview Centre:-Hotel Vikram New Delhi

Essay topic:-

A child can be forgiven if he is afraid of dark but the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of light'

My essay went good
45 Mins Lot of sheets to write
drew number of examples and good conclusion (inspired by Spider man's lines!!:clap::clap::clap:)

Comments about your performance : More then satisfied

Personal Interview:-
After the long wait I had my interview (LAst one to be interviewd among 52 students of my slot!!!)

There were 2 ppl I dont remember who asked what But I ll tell in general

Int:whats mening of your name

Me: told

Int:(smile) dats interesting!

Me:Smile

Int: So where do U wrk?What work is done there?
ME: told

Int: can ROI be more than net profit ??

Me : (Taken Back!!) Gave the formulaes but couldn reply surly

Int: wats depreciation? whc items get 100 % ? why govt give it ?

Me: ans with glitches but answered

Int: Hobbies?
ME :told (no cross question nothng )

Int: what call? and what prob acc to u u'll convert them?
ME: Told, depending upon honesty of my prepration I belive I ll convert all..!!:cheers::cheers:
Int: Anna hazare movement ? method ? views?
Me: told elaborately !!

Int: Mean median ? whc is better?
Me: Told

Int: took out a random subject from 24 subjects of my graduation
and asked wat have u studied under it ?
Me: Taken aback initially, but explained nicely

Int: Any odr quest
Me: asked

Thank you!!


Any other comments - My interview was very chilled out!!(despite my wrng answers I made it a point to keep it light , wid constant smiles and soft tone)
Try this it works

All the best !!

Hi all,

Are they checking the payslips of all months required..??

I have a workex of 19 months... does that mean i ll have to carry payslips of all 19 months...??

I have my interview tomorrow and I dont have payslips of a few months...

Please reply... Thanks..!!

Hi all,

Are they checking the payslips of all months required..??

I have a workex of 19 months... does that mean i ll have to carry payslips of all 19 months...??

I have my interview tomorrow and I dont have payslips of a few months...

Please reply... Thanks..!!



No they didnot check salary slips

If u have a valid work ex certificate which clears it that u hve 19 months of exp

salary slips not even reqd
No they didnot check salary slips

If u have a valid work ex certificate which clears it that u hve 19 months of exp

salary slips not even reqd

I dont have a work ex certificate... but my date of joining is mentioned on the latest payslip...
Will that suffice..??

I had today at Vikram Hotel , was the last one to be interviewed at 6p.m.

Panel had 2 persons, both seemed young to be in mid -30s.

The interview was very chillaxed type...

They just asked me where I was from, about my university, about my company and my job role. Then they asked me about qualities that a leader should have...

entire interview was finished within 15 minutes... it was the same for everyone in my panel 15mins and chillaxed interviews..... though they took a bit more time to interview girl candidates...

Verdict: Not sure what to make of it.... I wish they had questioned me more...

for wrkex joining letter and the last month salary slip will suffice rit??

also wat all documents we should take with us fr wat pi

Hey Yatish.. I also had interview in the same slot as you.. which panel were you interviewed by?

I had today at Vikram Hotel , was the last one to be interviewed at 6p.m.

Panel had 2 persons, both seemed young to be in mid -30s.

The interview was very chillaxed type...

They just asked me where I was from, about my university, about my company and my job role. Then they asked me about qualities that a leader should have...

entire interview was finished within 15 minutes... it was the same for everyone in my panel 15mins and chillaxed interviews..... though they took a bit more time to interview girl candidates...

Verdict: Not sure what to make of it.... I wish they had questioned me more...


Hey.. my interview was also for some 15minutes... nothing like girls were interviewed for long 😃 Which panel were you interviewed by?
DA category (low vision).
My CAT score is nothing to write home about, but I believe this experience can benefit someone.
Venue: Hotel Vikram, New Delhi on 14th Feb @ 8:00 AM.
45 min Essay "A book is not important because of what it says, but because of what it makes you think". Wrote a decent 2 sides of paper, used quotes by Swami Vivekananda and Albert Einstien, gave personal example of the book "Outliers" that radically changed my thinking. No word limit.
Interview: There were 2 panelists, both very friendly. Around 10-15 min.
P1: mid 30s probably; P2: late 20s.
Me: Good morning sir, Good morning sir!
P2: Please take a seat.
P1: Give me the certificates. (brief pause) So, what is the meaning of your name?
Me: Sir, in Hindi it means interesting, incidentally my sirname is Talwar, so it makes me an "interesting sword". In fact in the eighth or ninth grade it was a dream, rather a far fetched ambition of mine to become a writer, and I always thought my pen name would be "interesting sword", as in "pen is mightier than the sword".
P1: So did you do anything to achieve this dream?
Me: Sir, no. It was just a childhood dream.
P2: Haha....so, give us something interesting!
Me: Yes, sir I was born and brought up in Delhi. Did my complete education in Delhi, including graduation.
Me: Yes. In school I was a very hardworking student till the tenth standard, when I was diagnosed with an eye disease called "Keratoconus" which leads to significant loss of eyesight and colour blindness.
P2: So what are your hobbies?
Me: I am a very avid reader....
P2: (interrupts) But with your eyesight? Tell me about your eyesight?
Me: Sir, it is a corneal disease, thinning of the cornea that leads to low eyesight and colour blindness.
P2: Both the eyes?
Me: Yes, sir.
P1: Colour blindness? Is it pathological or biological? Was there any virus....?
Me: No sir, I just woke up one day and realised that my vision had deteriorated. And this was in the tenth standard, just 5-6 months before the boards. I thought it was just myopia. I went to many doctors, and they couldn't figure out what had happened overnight. At a point of time I thought I had to drop a year for the boards, but with God's grace I didn't have to and I was diagnosed in about 2-3 weeks.
P1: Is the disease progressive?
Me: Yes, the disease is progressive. But in 2008-09 I underwent surgery that is supposed to stabilise the condition. That's the promise.
P1: Did you use a scribe for 10th/12th/CAT?
Me: No sir, I can read, only my distance vision is a problem.
P2: What all calls do you have?
Me: All IIMs except Ahmedabad and Bangalore, and IIFT.
P1: IIFT has called you? Or not?
Me: Yes sir, I have got a call from IIFT.
P2: So have you appeared for any interviews till now?
Me: No sir this is my very first interview.
P2: (looking at form) You still write DCE? (It's DTU now).
Me: Yes sir, my degree will be from DCE. It's become DTU from now on.
P2: Will you be able travel to Kozhikode? Do you know where it is?
Me: Yes sir, it is in Kerala, just north of Cochin, right on the coast.
P2: What is it famous for?
Me: Sir....IIM. (sound of laughter).
P2: What language is spoken there?
Me: (0.5 sec pause) Malyalam.
P1: So you didn't get a job from DCE?
Me: No sir. Due to my poor academics I could not get placed from campus.
P1: And you didn't try after that?
Me: Sir, I was selected in one or two startups, but the nature of work there didn't appeal to me.
P2: So it will be an issue in IIM also, with you. Your marks are poor because of low eyesight, and they will remain poor here as well because of the same reason. So how will you manage a placement here?
Me: Sir, my marks in DCE were poor because of an emotional problem also. I was very intimidated by the quality of students there. They were the cream of Delhi, all of them excellent. I got scared but by the sixth semester I got out of these fears and in fact had started solving the doubts of others. I appeared for GATE, an MTech entrance examination and scored 96.5 percentile there, so knowledge is not an issue.
P1: But in IIM we get the cream of India, so how will you manage with your fears there?
Me: Sir, like I said, I have grown out of this now, as you can see my marks in the final year show a steady rise. I have matured.
P2: Are you able to see the blackboard?
Me: Yes, I can see the blackboard but cannot read what is written on it.
P1: So how did you manage in DCE?
Me: Sir, I listen and make notes. Also I carry my books, and most of the books in my course were written by the same professors teaching, so there was no gap.
P1: But that may not be the case at IIM?
Me: Sir, I will copy the notes from my friends.
P1: OK....see at IIM there is intense competition. Your friends may not be very supportive. I'm not saying it is right or wrong, but they may not help you....
Me: Sir, at any rate I can listen and do the best I can with your blessings.
P2: What about computer? Can you wok on it?
Me: Yes sir. But after 1-2 hours I get a headache so not for very long.
P2: Have you heard of softwares that help the visually disabled? There's JAWS...
Me: Yes sir but they are for those who are....er.....uh...
P2: Totally blind, yes. But they can help you hear everything.
Me: Yes sir, I use the high contrast mode that comes with Windows.
P1: So from what distance can you read the blackboard? Here? (pointing to a wall 1 metre behind).
Me: Sir this distance is too much for me. I can't read from here.
P1: (shocked). Really?
P2: (looking at form). Result of 2 papers is awaited?
Me: Yes sir. In the 7th semester, this was November 2010, I had 2 back papers, which I appeared in November 2011, and the result is expected in March. If I clear any one of them I will get the degree.
P1: Clear one of them? How?
Me: There is an option to drop upto 3 credits.
P1: So which papers are those?
Me: Compilers and microprocessors.
P1: What is the difference between RISC and CISC compilers?
Me: Sir I am unaware of these terms.
P!: What is the difference between a compiler based language, like C and an interpreter based language, like BASIC?
Me: Sir, a compiler based language can be translated by a compiler ie. the entire program at once, whereas an interpreter based language is translated statement by statement.
P1: What was your final year project?
Me: Sir it was on Artificial Intelligence. It was an automatic query analyser, wherein we fed a huge database about our college, its history, courses offered, curriculum etc you ask a question and it gives you the answer.
P1: So where is artificial intelligence?
Me: Sir, just like Google, it scans the entire question, parses the text and looks for the relevant information and presents it in ranked order.
P1: What type of search? Depth first or breadth first?
Me: Depth first.....
P1: Depth first? And what language did you code in?
Me: ASP.NET
P1: Why not a conventional AI language like LISP or PROLOG?
Me: Sir, because ASP is modern.
P1: Modern. You didn't write the code?
Me: No, sir. I am not a good coder.
P1: How many of you were there?
Me: Sir there were three of us.
P1: So what was your contribution?
Me: Sir I was involved in the documentation. I wrote a word document explaining the aims, objectives and functionality of the project.
P1 to P2: OK, I'm done.
P2: See, I am still worried about your eyesight. If you won't be able to read the blackboard how will you manage IIM?
Me: Sir, I managed DCE.
P2: See, engineering education is different from management education. In engineering you can study from the books and do well, but in management course there are class discussions.....
Me: Case studies.
P2: Yes, case studies......so if you can't see what we are writing on the board how will you manage to participate in the discussions?
Me: (good pause) Sir I'll listen and try to do my best.
P2: And how will you manage travelling from Delhi to Kozhikode?
Me: Sir, once I came all alone all the way from London to Delhi....
P1: For this interview?
Me: No sir, this was in 2009. I'm just saying that I have done it and can do it.
P1: Ok....don't mind my saying this, but I only want you to know that IIM course is very tough. Think if you'll be able to manage with your eyesight. I only want that you shouldn't be worse off than you were in DCE.
Me: Sir I have matured. I will try my best.
P2: Do you have any friends?
Me: Yes sir, I had several friends in college and also in my neighbourhood.
P1: How have you come today? All alone or someone with you?
Me: Sir my father is here.
P1 and P2: OK. Well, best of luck for the results! Any questions?
Me: Sir, I have gone through the website and seen what research is going on at your college, so no questions right now.
P2 escorts me out and says once again that JAWS is a very helpful tool which can be downloaded. I said thank you sir.

Please drop me a PM for any feedback/queries. Kindly don't quote such long posts.

Verdict: Rejected.




Venue: Hotel Vikram, New Delhi on 14th Feb @ 8:00 AM.
45 min Essay "A book is not important because of what it says, but because of what it makes you think". Wrote a decent 2 sides of paper, used quotes by Swami Vivekananda and Albert Einstien, gave personal example of the book "Outliers" that radically changed my thinking. No word limit.
Interview: There were 2 panelists, both very friendly. Around 10-15 min.
P1: mid 30s probably; P2: late 20s.
Me: Good morning sir, Good morning sir!
P2: Please take a seat.
P1: Give me the certificates. (brief pause) So, what is the meaning of your name?
Me: Sir, in Hindi it means interesting, incidentally my sirname is Talwar, so it makes me an "interesting sword". In fact in the eighth or ninth grade it was a dream, rather a far fetched ambition of mine to become a writer, and I always thought my pen name would be "interesting sword", as in "pen is mightier than the sword".

gr8 work man .. A very detailed interview u put up here .. looks like the panel is quite chilled out .. all the best buddy !
preeproskates Says
gr8 work man .. A very detailed interview u put up here .. looks like the panel is quite chilled out .. all the best buddy !


I think u missed the last line of his post