We at JokaTimes asked some of the current students in IIM Calcutta about their Admissions interview experiences here. And so we present before you the 2^nd episode in our series on Interview Experiences.

Jayant Sharma, a PGDM student from the 2008-10 batch had this to say:

“I am an Electronics Engineer from IIT Kharagpur with 8 months work experience in a leading supply chain management firm. I was interviewed by Professors from the Strategic Management Department and Management and Information System (MIS) Department. There also was a young alumni present to assist in the decision making. In the Group Discussion round we were given a short caselet of about half a page and 10 min to discuss. The case studies are usually about a business problem and not based on any current issues unlike most other IIMs. In my panel, the interview for all 10 candidates started with the “Tell me about yourself” question. I was asked several questions about my work experience as I had worked in a leading supply chain firm in the field of textiles. There also were questions like “Why MBA?” and questions on my “ short and long term goals” thrown in between. Surprisingly, there were no questions on current affairs or any theoretical questions based on my engineering.”

Jayant considers the very introductory “Tell me about yourself” question he was asked a crucial starting point. He says.”This is a very generic question. I suggest candidates to prepare the answer in advance. Some would go about giving a chronological order about their life, but I would suggest that they just put important points that would highlight their desired qualities. It is advisable to end the answer with the part which you are most comfortable answering.”

Shaurya Gupta, a PGDM student from the 2008-10 batch had this to say:

“Well, I did not have a good GD and hence was a bit nervous when I went for the interview. The panel was very friendly and most of the interview revolved around my work experience which was with an analytics start up initiated by an IIM C alumni and the analytics industry in general.”

“There were questions about my community (Baniyas) and we also had a discussion about the overall GD performance of the group.”

Pavitra, a PGDM student from the 2008-10 batch had this to say:

“My interview revolved around my reasons in choosing to pursue PGDM after a rich work experience in a good position in the organisation where I had worked. I was probed on my future goals and whether PGDM would be of any help in my pursuance of them. The Panel didn’t seem to be fully convinced back then but it seems my reasons were adequate enough.”

As we can see, one may get a different impression of whether the interview went well or not, as opposed to the panel’s actual views. It is advisable to not take home too many conclusions about the panel’s decisions after the interview. We’ll soon be back with more.

For Jokatimes
Chandrima Das