MBA Mania

Vinod Gupta School of Management, IIT Kharagpur.
Vikas Arora

Questions related to Group Discussion / Group Exercise

Q. Was Group Discussion or Group Exercise part of selection process?
A. Yes, group discussion was very much an integral part of selection process.

Q. The duration of GD, size of the group, number of panelists, etc.
A. The duration of GD was 15 minutes with group size of 10 members. A panel consisting of two experts was allotted to each group.

Q. What was your GD topic?
A. GD topic given was “Maoists should give up their arms, because friendship can not be made with clinched fist”.

Q. Tell us about your GD experience?
A. I got ample opportunities to participate. Though I saw some opposition in the group, but the reasoning I put forward convinced almost everyone.

Q. How was the environment during discussion?
A. My GD was a pretty dynamic one. Everybody got the chance to put his/her viewpoints.

Q. Describe your impression of the your team members and overall GD process ?
A. Overall GD process was systematic and well-organized. There were few students from the VSGOM, who managed the whole GD. They took great care of every candidate, kept informing us of the minute details, motivated us, and gave us few tips about DOs and Donots of a GD.
Well, barring one or two, team members were very cooperative with each other. We had decided to make the GD as smooth as possible before it started.

Q. Some handy tips that would be of great help.
A. Generally, we tend to forget that a GD means Group Discussion and not a Gang Discussion. Maintaining calm is the key. Body posture, gestures, patience are some of the things which one should take care of. Try to talk to people before the start of GD, make some effort to know them. This will ease out some pressure.

Q. Were there any set norms of Group Discussion?
A. As such no norms were set, except the time limit which was given to be 15 minutes.

Interview-related Questions

Q. Date and location of Interview. Were you given the option to choose? Was the interview date fixed or rescheduled couple of times.
A. IMI, Delhi, We had 5 options to choose from. No change was made in the interview date. One could also opt for a change if he misses his/her originally allocated interview location.

Q. Can you tell us about the panel that interviewed you?
A. Two of the professors from VGSOM interviewed me.

Q. How long was your interview?
A. It went for 20 minutes.

Q. What was the first question? The most interesting question? The most difficult question?
A. Interviewers asked me to introduce myself initially. Since the interviewer happened to be the husband of one of my school teachers, he asked me the good and bad qualities of her wife as a teacher. This was one of the most interesting as well as difficult questions I faced. After the answer, he left the room and returned only after my interview got over.

Q. How did you prepare for the interview? While facing the panel, were you confident, did you feel prepared?
A. My friend who’s serving Indian Army helped me prepare for my interview. Whether it was college placement interviews or MBA admission interview, I was always confident. I had realized one thing that in every interview, everything revolves around one question “WHY MBA?” If any MBA aspirant is sure of his/her goals, career objectives; clearing interview becomes the most easiest part of the whole admission process.

Q. Was any feedback given to you? What feedback did you receive from the panel at the end of session?
A. Well, as such no feedback was given to me. But with their reactions, I was sure that I had managed to impress them.

Q. Did work experience help in getting the choice of your school and also in dealing with the curriculum?
A. Yes, it helped a great deal. More than work experience, my decision of not joining software job and pursuing a less paid marketing job, presented me as a person with a strong will and determination.

Q. Getting into and sailing through a B-school is easier for a Science Graduate than for someone from Humanities background. Your comments please.
A. Well, I don’t completely agree with it. Being a student from science background, I faced the more or less same problems. To be very true, the backgrounds rarely matter and at the end, everything comes down to one’s attitude and determination.

Q. Will an MBA degree add on to your existing career plan or did you decide to switch/start a career in management?
A. Definitely, a MBA degree will help me proceed towards my career goal. I have always dreamed of starting my own marketing consultancy after working for 7-8 years as a marketing manager. The environment, the kind of grooming and the placements at VGSOM will definitely making me move closer towards realizing my dreams.

Q. Why did you decide to do MBA from this school?
A. Well to be honest, I was not having many options. I did some research about the college and found VGSOM to be one of the good colleges in India, especially in terms of placements.

Q. Were you able to get the school of your choice or did you compromise and opted for the best option that was open/available for you?
A. I aimed for IIM Lucknow, since it was one of the premier institutes, famous for producing some great marketing managers. But, I was unable to crack CAT and hence opted for then available best option. But, it should not be labeled as a compromise; since decision of joining VGSOM was more of a well thought decision, than a compulsion.