IIM B – EPGP 7 Aspirants, Class of 2015-16 – EPGP (One Year Full-Time Residential Course)

MBA CAT 2024
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A mixed bag experience with loads of laughter

Profile - Indian male energy sector - 7.5 yrs work ex, an author of a fiction novel "I was There" & a marathoner

Everyone has spoken about the essay, so I would skip that part. My interview no. was 4 & all the guys before me were grilled at least for 40 mins. There were 3 guys in the panel - a tall prof (TP), a smiling prof (SP) & a helpful alum (HA). I was escorted to the room by TP & hell I was nervous.

HA - Tell me something about your job?

Spoke at length about what I do. I'm into ash handling of power plants, so as soon as I used the word "stakeholders", I was requested to identify who they were.

HA - Asked to clarify how we take care of the ash disposal?

I answered well but in the hindsight I think I could have thrown in some numbers! Phew! My bad!

SP - Why can't we make railway sleepers out of ash?

Being a civil engg, this was my bread & butter.

SP - Why India & USA can't use stainless steel sleepers?

Answered well. I think I delivered a punchline too.

HA - Air pollution norms in my company?

No idea sir (& I get that surprised look) but that is the first thing I gonna check as soon as I go out of this room (laughs!)

TP - So you wrote something about a book?

I was waiting for this question (I don't know but the lines came out in excitement) & told about the plot.

TP - (It's a Haryana based story with a female protagonist) What is the sex ratio in Haryana & reasons for the skewed ratio?

Made an educated guess & guess what I hit the target! Gave few reasons, dowry being one of them, but SP told Tamil Nadu has dowry issue, but sex ratio is good. I said they are rich & he corrected that Haryanvis are richer. 

TP - Why is the problem in Haryana & not Punjab?

Gave few logical reasons & when they were not convinced, spoke about an awkward theory linking Afganishtan, Pakistan, etc. SP said Afghans have a sex ratio of 97% & cracked (really humorous) jokes. (& I laughed at my own foolishness)

TP - You spoke about a startup?

I replied about the thing I was doing but got grilled in my "marketing" role. Was asked about the penetration of Facebook? Luckily, just before the interview, Himangshu tole me a figure of mobile phone penetration in India. Linked that somehow, did some maths & got to a magical figure of 25% (& lots of laughs - I don't know maybe they laughed at my crude confidence - I was told once thatI was digressing from the topic)

SP - Any questions?

I said I would love to recite a poem (another round of laughter). TP curtly told they won't be able to appreciate it. Though I thought HA was interested.

I asked another "genuine"question & got a really good answer.

Said "Thank-you" to all & came out, totally confused thinking "Ye kya tha???"

The interview lasted max 25 mins (directly from 45 which was the trend till that point). I tried to make sense of the interview after that but couldn't. Don't know whether I performed well except for the fact that I had fun.

I hope now that IIMB opens its doors for me......

Signing off!!!



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and the wait begins.....any idea on the number of waitlist they offer?

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Hi Friends.

Here is the debrief of my interview. Overall abt 30 mins.There were 3 professors(or probably 2 professors and 1 alumni) in the panel. One of them was from marketing. Honestly I do not remember enough to distinguish among professors based on their questions asked. So using P(instead of P1/P2) below. More like a discussion where they presented their views as well after questioning me. I laughed almost in the entire interview.

P: So what did other candidates told u abt the interview

Me:That its a cool interview inside

All started giggling.

P: Let me tell u a secret and you will be surprised. Stress interviews doesnt mean that its bad.

Me: 😃 Nodded

P: tell me abt an event of ur life from which u learnt

Me:Told a life changing event

P:what kept u motivated u for such a long time(based on my event) Me:answered

P:Suppose u re ur organization's India head and come in Delhi for few hrs. Which ministry in govt will u meet and what will u discuss

Me:answered.Discussed abt issues faced and govt policy on that

P:Countered Me:answered by taking my stand but they cut me in between.

P: Why everyone blames govt.Telecom should come up with better revenue mode. Then they stated talking abt startups in telecom and how it helps in innovation.Then discussions on how auctioning happens.How the ceo's meet in bombay and what they discuss. This was not questioning but their views abt this. I wasnt asked anything on this. I just listened whatever they told me and nodded positively. Then they started cracking jokes on each other.

P:Why MBA

Me:answered

P:Countered

Me: answered.

P:Tell us abt ur work initiative( based on my SOP). Lot of counter questions on this. How automation is harmful. I had to justify automatons. They were just laughing at my examples of real world.

P: Any questions for us

Me:asked a question

P: 2 mins ans on it. thank u. Hopefully we will see u in the class.


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By when do we expect to get the results? The website says 1st week of November.

Do they really take that long, esp given that the F2F interviews are already over?

210

Here is my debrief:

I was the second last on the panel-2. At around 6:20 I was called in. There were three profs (or may be one alumni, could not figure out). Interview went for about 15-20 mins.

As soon as I entered, one Professor(lets say p2) left for a break saying he will be back in a minute. They offered me the seat.

P1 - while We are waiting, why don't you tell us something about yourself.

Me - ok.. blah..blah.. went on for couple of mins.

p2 joins back.

P2 - What is the domain of your Project. me - Compensation&Benefits

P2 - What is that?

Me - Answered.

p2 - ok, kapil, you have spent quite sometime with company xxx, how was your growth

me - answered

p2 - when you were promoted as project Manager?

me - answered

p2 - Oh, with your new CEP bringing new slots.

me - yeah

p2 - How do you think your new CEO will do with current challenges (by now you must have figured my company :)) me - He will bring fresh perspective. Already brought new employee-friendly policies.

p2 - what exactly went wrong with your company? me - answered p2 - Which areas will be benefitted the most with your new CEO

me - answered

p2 - But it is already doing pretty well.

me - not as good as an another competing product. Need to penetrate different geographic areas like US, Europe.

p2 - You want to go into Strategy consulting. Do you know what exactly would you do: me - yeah, strategic transformation projects for Fortune 500, working with CIO office. Will join a consulting firm in technology domain.

p2 - Do you know what strategy is ? have you read a book around strategy?

me - Haven't read a book, but by work experience, it is .. has already led few strategic projects for the client.

p2 - What if you are not able to join a strategy consulting firm? what would you do ? me - I will work as a independent consultant.

p2 - Really? In tech domain?

me - yes..

p2 - ok, thank you. You may leave

I think it was going very well till he asked the last question and told me leave suddenly. Don't know what to make out of it.. P3 didn't ask a single query. Figures crossed.


211

Some US college allow you to submit a Post interview reflection essay within 24 hours to highlight any points which you missed during the interview. A very positive approach towards selection, i am sure Indian colleges will follow soon. Many of us would have liked to answer that one question in a better way :) 

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@epgp   tentative dates for results please... wait is killing:)

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Any updates for Skype IV dates...and will there be an essay like in person IV...thoughts?

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It's interesting to read through all the interview experiences. Also we met some of you who were in IIM bangalore, it was great interacting with you. Please continue to share more experiences. Let us know in case you need further help, we'll try to pool in as much as we can. 

All the best..!! 

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Now when do we get to know the results...


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hii... right now i am having 3+ exp. in construction company..My Xth-82 XII-68 and B.Tech-74.6. I am planning to give GMAT in April 2015. How much i need to score and is 3+ exp. very less for admission or what??

217

Just had my Interview. One of the strangest interviews I have ever had...

Panel consisted of a lady (L), a senior professor (P) and a middle aged prof (M).

M - how many years have you been out of india

replied

M - What changes do you see when you come back to India

Replied (new roads..flyovers..buildings etc...)

M - How come you see new buildings etc when the GDP is going down.

Replied (that GDP growth has slowed down but the economy is still growing)

M - how should indian govt project this growth to the outside world and ensure investment?

Replied (labour reforms...tax reforms...patent regulations)

M - But why will companines sell medicines for lesser price in India Replied (that india has volume advantage)

P - Do you know companies in US are patenting Basmati Rice and Turmeric? Should we start following those patents?

Replied (that if the companies have done any value add, they can patent that variant, cant patent the original produce)

P - What if they take away all produce from india and leave nothing to the public?

Replied (Regulators will step in....gave examples on onion export ban when prices rise)

P - You seem to have great faith in Indian government sitting in USA.. Smiled...

L - asked for a clarification on my marksheets

Replied

L - Asked what work have I done till date

Replied with all relevant details.

L - Asked me what I want to do after MBA

Replied

P - Any questions for us? ASked.

Interview over. Dont know what to make out of this interview.... 😞

218

Here goes my interview experience. I had my Skype interview on 8th Oct 9:30am IST.

Panel consisted of a lady (L), a senior professor (P) and a middle aged prof (M).

M: there is a saying "everyone cannot be a leader" - do you agree?

I: Some funda about key skills a leader needs and anybody just cannot be a leader without those skillsets

M: So do you mean there has to be some followers for a leader

I: some more lectures

P: Why would somebody want to be a follower and not a leader

I: some gyan..an individual's aspiration may vary etc.. and some real life examples to support this

M: Do you think any company's CEO is a leader

I: Yes. CEO is someone who leads the org. and entire org. follows his/her vision and guidelines..etc etc..

P: Would you mind joining a small/start-up company leaving XXX?

I: dodged that as I have done something similar

P: Why did you switch company

I: answered

P: Can you convince me that you did not switch for money (hammered me on this a few times)

I: countered that saying the role and growth opportunities in new org. and also stated that if I am given a job with double the salary and asked to do a job that I don't aspire to do, would I take the job - no!

P: what was your roles and responsibilities in your new company and old company

I: answered

L: some follow-up questions on my responsibilities in the new company

P: You just joined the new company in Jan and got such great opportunities - why do you want to quit so soon?

I: By the EPGP program starts, it will be 1.5 years in my current company which is a good time to gain these kind of experiences. At the same time, I do not want to delay my MBA plan and my goals in career

P: what is your goal

I: answered

L: some follow-up questions on goal

L: why didn't you try to move to development or move across different verticals in your company.

I: some more fundas... growth & learning opportunities within testing domain itself etc..

L: Do you know if any IT company has a separate unit for performance testing (related to my background)

I: Gave some examples and also said I do not want to limit myself to perf testing unit only and want to focus on all kinds of software testing such as automation, DWT. Some funda about cloud/mobile/Big Data and challenges that lie ahead in software testing in these platforms.

M: Referred to an achievement I had mentioned in my application and asked me to describe in detail

That's all. It was about 25 mins from start to end.

219

Hi All, Had my skype interview today.. very short one..Panel of 3 ppl..1 Lady and 2 gents..Questions asked abt leadership, motivational skills , my company , abt country where I am staying.. Nothing in detail though.. Can't make out much what to infer from interview :) 

Do we have any trend on interview timings for skype interviews ?My interview lasted hardly for 15 mins.

220

Hi All... Had my Skype interview today.. The panel consisted of 2 professors and 1 alumni. The panel was quite humble and learned. For me the interview was quite structured and the panel knew exactly which questions to ask..almost all questions were based from my SOP, with only some other usual generic questions throw in between. The interview started sharp at the allotted time and lasted for exactly 26 minutes..All in all the panel made me feel at home during the entire interview. The only pointer to give for any one left out for interviews is to be clear about yourself, your SOP, your post MBA goals and to be yourself and not stressed out.....Big thanks to everyone who has been posting on this group and helping and easing all of us ...and all the best to the pending interview candidates and to all for the results. Have my fingers crossed.

221

Are all skype interviews over?

222

Any dates for results...

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Any idea how many interview calls were sent out this year??

224

Any new information on the result dates?

225

Hey guys..How GPA on scale of 10 can be converted to % scale. For ex: Can 7.5 be directly converted to 75%?