Interview Experience at IIM A (2 posts)

Topic tags: IIM A PI, Interview Experience
  • Profile picture of Administrator Administrator said 1 year, 2 months ago:

    Date 6 March 09

    Cat percentile 99.97
    We were 8 students in our panel and there were 4 such panels.
    Essay
    We were given 10 mins to write an essay in the area provided in the interview form. We were forewarned to stop rightaway when we are asked to stop. Essay topic was how other games were not eclipsed by Cricket and something like that.
    Wrote a decent essay.. examples from olympic winners not getting padma awards etc..
    All in all a good 10 mins to start with.

    Interview

    I was last in the panel and the panelists told us that they will take 15 mins each.
    They took a break just after the 7th guy left and it started to scare me..

    P1: Old prof to my left
    P2: Old prof to my right. ( Mr Rajendra Patel) IIMA>Faculty & Research>Faculty>Details
    M: me

    P2 called me in.
    Pleasantries and was asked to sit.

    P2: Please show me this certificate and explain what it is.
    I stood up went close to P2 and showed the Gold medal certi and explained it was given to me for getting the highest marks in CBSE Board amongst all thirteen schools run by Bokaro Steel.
    P1: Good, Very Good!

    P2: Ok XXX , you have done electrical engg from IIT Kanpur.
    M: Yes Sir!

    P2: There were a few electrical enggs before you, what did they tell you?
    M: Sir, they told me you were asking probability questions?

    P2: Probability? What probability?
    M: Sir, they were telling you gave questions about probability etc

    P2: Ok.
    P2: How would you explain to a layman why he pays for electricity? Electrons come to his home and then he returns it back, he doesn’t keep any why should he pay for it?
    M: Sir, although he is not keeping any electrons, but energy is required to maintain this flow of electrons and the power company thus needs to be compensated.

    P2: Speak in layman’s terms
    M: Sir, it is like the current won’t flow unless there is potential difference.

    P2: Speak in layman’s terms.
    M: Sir, we can think it as water flowing, water flows on a slope similarly .

    P2: Ok
    P2: Ok tell me how will you explain integration to a layman. And dont tell me area under the curve ok.
    M: Sir, it is basically a better form of summation when the function is discrete you can use sum, but when it is continuous it can’t be summed, so we break into parts.

    P2: Now you are using discrete continuous, I have told you four times speak in layman’s terms.
    M: Sir, take a Asymmetric figure, now if we need to find the area of this figure, summation would not help us, but we would need integration to do it.

    P2: DO you know transmission losses form the major part of power losses?
    M: Yes sir

    P2: What is done to prevent these losses?
    M: Electricity is transmitted a very high voltage 11 KV or 22 KV or even higher. This is done to reduce i^2r losses.

    P2: Any other?
    M: We can use better equipment, better transformers

    P2: Is the purpose of transformer to cut power losses?
    M: no sir, thats not it primary purpose but in course of transmission we need a lot of transformers and if we have efficient ones, we can reduce losses.

    P2: WHat is the primary purpose of a transformer?
    M: Either to step up or step down voltage depending on the need.

    P1 Takes over
    P1: Ok XXX, You have done electrical engg from IIT Kanpur, Can you make electricity flow without a wire
    M: Sir it won’t be practical but it can be done.

    P1: How?
    M: Sir, if we apply voltages at sharp points, the air around the points will breakdown into ions and then start conducting. Sound and corona discharge will accompany this phenomena and this will be very inefficient way of transmitting electricity.

    P1: How far?
    M: very small distances around 1 mm.

    P1: Ok, this sound and light thing doesn’t look practical. ANy other way?
    M: Sir, basically what I did there was made air an conductor and replaced wire by air. If we have to remove wire, we can use any other conductor ( smile). May be water.

    P1: Yes ( smiles)
    P1: Ok do you know function of a function, can you differentiate it?( passes me a paper) We use a lot of calculus in Management.
    M: Sir, it is basically defined when the independent variable is not a basic. For example y=f(x) and x=g(z) then y=f(g(z))

    P1: Now differentiate it?
    M: y’=f’(g(z)g’(z)

    P1: What is that prime business ? (smiles) write simply
    M: dy/dz=d(f(g(z)))/d(g(z))xd(g(z))/dz

    P1: why is this a product and not a sum? Can you prove it?
    M: yes sir.. I prove it using basic definition of derivative and the chain rule fo limits. he takes the paper and verifies it.

    P1: Give me an exmaple
    M: cos (sin x)

    P1: now differentiate it
    M: -sin (sinx) cosx

    P1: XXX, Can you tell me the difference between electrical force and gravitational force?
    M: Electrical force can be attrcative or repulsive but gravitational force is attractive only.

    P1: Ok, Do you know the nucleus, there are only protons, are they like charges?
    M: yes sir.

    P1: Then why don’t they come out and break the nucleus?
    M: Sir, there are three forces inside the nucleus. Electrical force, gravitational force and nuclear force. The gravitational force is very small and hence neglected. But to counter the repulsive electrical force there is a nuclear force which keeps the protons inside the nucleus.

    P2 takes over
    P2: Ok, Where are you from?
    M: Bokaro Steel City

    P2:Hmmm, have you heard of the city Mclean? Can you tell me the country it is in?
    M: No sir! ( I did not take a guess )

    P2: Brussels?
    M: Belgium?

    P2: DO you know why most indian rivers originate from north and then flow into east or west?
    M: Sir, the melting ice of himalayas act as the source of rivers, hence they originate from there. The rivers then flow southwards due to the slope and they move eastwards or westwards due to the terrain they face in their course.

    P2: Ok can you tell me the names of all major cities on the banks of river ganga from west to east?
    M: Haridwar.

    P2: Before Haridwar?
    M: Rishikesh.

    P2: Ok Continue
    M: Rishikesh, Haridwar, kanpur, allahabad, banaras, patna, sultanganj, Kolkata.

    P2 looks at P1
    P2: Take a toffee
    I pick an alpenlibe from the bowl and said thank you to both of them

    P1: All the best.

    I am out now..

    There was no one left who could tell me the time but it was approx 20-25 mins.

    Verdict: Waitlisted

    #
  • Profile picture of Administrator Administrator said 1 year, 2 months ago:

    IIM Interviews: Rohit Karan – IIM Ahmedabad, Banglore, Calcutta and Kozhikode

    Background Details

    School: English Medium School, Rourkela
    College: Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
    Branch: Electrical Engineering
    GPA: 8.4/10
    Work Experience: Nil
    Hobbies: Reading Books

    CAT 2006 Performance: 99.98 percentile
    Number of calls: 6

    Rohit is Currently Pursuing his MBA in IIM Ahmedabad. He is in the second year.

    GD and PI Experience

    (Q) Which interviews did you appear for?
    (A) I appeared for 4 interviews, namely – IIM Ahmedabad, Banglore, Calcutta and Kozhikode

    (Q) Why Kozhikode instead and not IIM Lucknow or IIM Indore?
    (A) The IIM Kozhikode interview was scheduled just one day before the crucial IIM Banglore interview. I chose to take it as a practice interview. Moreover both were scheduled in the same city – New Delhi.

    (Q) DO you remember anything about the setting of the GDs?
    (A) The IIM A GD had people from similar background. All were engineers, more specifically they were IITians. On the other hand, the IIM K and IIM C GDs had people from a diverse set of backgrounds.

    Q) Did this have any specific outcome for your GD experience?
    (A) Yes. In the IIMA GD, it was easier to communicate, since we had a common ground and instant bonding (if you can call it that). However, in the other GDs, it was not so easy to talk to people.

    (Q) How do you recall the GDs on a qualitative basis?
    (A) At the moment, I recall that the IIM A GD was more structured. As a group we were pretty relaxed and at total ease. Overall, we talked a lot of sense. On the other hand, the IIM Cal GD was a bit on the aggressive side. The topic was a bit esoteric and more often than not, we ended up digressing from the point.

    (Q) Can you give us specific information on the respective GDs?

    (A) The IIM A GD topic concerned an FMCG firm which wanted to launch a cola in rural and semi-urban areas. We were given some facts and figures and supposed to come up with a “Go/No” recommendation. We were given 10 minutes to read the details, 20 minutes to discuss and 5 minutes to write out our respective summaries. As I mentioned before, the GD was a good one, with everyone contributing and talking sense.

    (B) The IIM B GD was a case study about a person who had to impersonate another man. The individual in question was an honest man and therefore faced with an ethical dilemma. We had 10 minutes to read up, 15 minutes to discuss and 10 minutes to write a summary.

    (C) The IIM Cal GD was a case study concerning attrition rates (the rate at which employees leave a firm) in a BPO. The GD group was a totally chaotic one, with no one ready to listen to anyone else. I didn’t contribute much. We were given 5 minutes to think, 12-13 minutes to discuss with 1 minute per person to summarize (in random order).

    (Q) Did you make any mistakes during the GDs?
    (A) Yes. In one of the GDs, I ended up getting into an argument with someone. It took someone else’s intervention to stop us. I guess that could have been avoided very easily. In the IIM Cal GD, I did not speak up much. As a direct result, I was grilled a bit in the personal interview.

    (Q) How were the PIs like?
    (A) IIM Ahmedabad panel had 3 people. A lady (LP), an old gentleman (OP) and a younger professor (YP). I suspect that the OP was a quants professor and the YP was possibly from an operations background.

    The other candidates were interviewed before I was. Based on the general mood, I was able to guess that the panel was not grilling interviewees. However, the panel was testing academic knowledge.

    LP: What HSS courses have you taken so far?

    Rohit: I recall doing a course on Philosopy

    LP: What did you learn in that course?

    Rohit: I read about a couple of philosophers. I can recall Descasrtes and the 5 stages of existence…

    LP: What did you learn from the course on Organizational Behavior?

    Rohit: I learned about motivational theories, blah blah

    LP: What kind of books do you read?

    Rohit: Mostly Biographical

    LP: What books have you read recently?

    Rohit: Feynman, Michael Schumacher, Gandhi, Lance Armstrong….

    LP: What do you like about Schumacher?

    Rohit: His motivation, blah blah…

    OP: So Rohit, you are from Rourkela. What is so special about that place that a lot of students get into the IITs?

    Rohit: I don’t think there are that many IITians from there.

    OP: If you look at results every year, you will find a lot of people from Rourkela and Bhilai.

    Rohit: Well, given the academic environment and high levels of competition, blah blah

    OP then proceeded to give me an easy question on compound interest and limit, which I solved right away. He then asks me for interpret the limit and then I falter.

    YP asks me about my Btech Project and I am able to answer his questions properly.

    They then ask me where I have been placed. When I tell them I have been placed with ITC, they ask me whether I smoke, to which I reply “No”, with a smile. They then ask me what is a non smoker doing in ITC? The next couple of questions were based on ITC and the ban on smoking.

    YP then asked me a question on probability. The question stem involves an unbiased coin being tossd a 1000 times, with 400 heads and 100 tails in the first 500 tries. They asked me what I was expecting in the coming 500 tries, to which I answered – 250 heads and 250 tails.

    I left the room after that and I was asked to take 3 chocolates :)

    (B) The IIM Banglore interview was not a cake walk. The panel consisted of 2 people and I was the second per son to be interviewed on that day. I was first asked to introduce myself. I responded with the usual intro, mentioning that I hail from a small town, etc. They then asked me how I found the GD and I told them that we did well as a group, but we could have done better. One of the panelists then asked me about my weaknesses and stumped me by further asking me if I was an introvert. The next question was whether I was less of an introvert before coming to IIT Kanpur? I was totally stumped and so I asked them for a clarification. They responded saying that usually, people from small towns either go insane or get into a shell, when there is a change of environment. I responded by saying that I am pretty much the same. They changed the topic and asked me why I wanted to do an MBA. I responded saying that I wanted to become an entrepreneur. They grilled me further, asking why I couldn’t be an entrepreneur right away and how would an MBA help me? I was then asked about my internship and my proficiency and varying grades in maths. They then asked me why I got the NTSE. I replied saying that I worked hard for it. In retrospect I believe, it was a bad answer to give. We then had an argument over the purpose of NTSE and the interview ended.

    (C) The IIM Cal Interview panel had 3 people. I was the last candidate to be interviewed. My name had a misprint and had come off as Rahit (meaning devoid in Hindi), instead of Rohit. The panel made a few jokes about it and asked me what I was devoid of and had a laugh. They asked me about my stint in IIT and I replied with all the extracurricular activities that I had engaged in. I totally forgot to mention the academic stuff that I had done. They then proceeded to ask me how I felt about my performance in the GD and whether my friends in IIT heard my opinions or not. I was then given a question in probability and stopped midway to answer how bilateral relations between India and Pakistan can be improved. To my answer, which was basically a reiteration of the current efforts, I got a curt questioning “that’s all?” I was then asked for my opinion on protests against infrastructure protests, to which I gave a weakly worded answer. They then changed the topic and to my amazement inquired as to why my grades were so poor? I was shocked. I was then asked to compare my CAT percentile with my percentile in my college and then to explain the discrepancy. After a weak attempt on my part, I was wished all the best.

    (Q) What do you think the interview panels were looking for?
    (A) The panels were basically looking for consistency in my responses. They wanted to make sure that you had thought through your responses. In particular, I feel that the IIM Ahmedabad panel wanted to make sure that the candidates were genuine.

    (Q) Where do you think you scored, in terms of your profile?
    (A) I guess my strong academic performance and the fact that I defended/stood my ground on my hobbies, gave me the edge.

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