My IIML adventure... comments plz..

[Abhinav Sarangi]

hi all
My IIML adventure...

First.. My profile...
Xth : 89.4%
XIIth : 90.6%
B.Tech : 8.043 (Metallurgy and Materials Engg)
CAT : 99.91 (all 6 calls)

Gd/PI at IIML Noida Campus on feb 8th at 10 am
No. of ppl : 9 (1 absent)

Gd Topic: Science without Religion is lame. Religion without Science is blind.
we had half an hour to write an essay... and after 15 mins i looked around and found that everyone was still on the first page... and realised that it will not be a very content heavy gd.. so relaxed a bit... i started the gd, came in 4-5 times with generally good points... the whole discussion was very smooth, everyone chipped in... towards the end it got repetitive and no one was willing to cut in and speak... overall it was good Gd.. even the moderator called it an enlightening GD (though i thought it was a sarcastic remark... but anyways)

The interview:
P1: slighty older nice guy
P2: slightly younger nice lady
Me: who else!!!

P1: what courses are you doing this sem?
Me: (of all the things, you had to ask this) i listed out the course and emphasized my B.Tech project...
P1: asked a few questions about the project, which i explained satisfactorily...
P2: so, you have done a course on Industrial Sociology? why?  what did you learn?
Me: (i already love you lady...) told them about my training in the HR division of NTPC... and my quest for  mgmt knowledge... listed the topics studied in Industrial Sociology ( i had an A+ in the course)...
P2: (seemed satisfied with my answer) gave me a case about me being the team leader and one employee not working... how to deal with this situation..
Me: gave her globe gyan about getting to the root of the problem, talking it out, giving her a short holiday to sort out the problems...
P2: An area you need to improve on...
Me: gave her an prepared answer about the need to dev. people skills...
P1: how to do that?
Me: another prepared answer.. about trying to have conversations in my mind.. preparing for the different situations.. had a small discussion about the GD... and had P1 interrupt me with something about preparing for all the bad things that might happen...(P2 laughed at this, even P1 was laughing and i joined in... a happy IIML family.. )
P2: why trekking as hobby? what mgmt you learn from that?
Me: another prepared answer.. about planning and motivation.. (the lady was shaking her head so vigorously that i kept on going with the answer.. said something about satisfaction)
P1: is 8.04 satisfying?
Me: my rank is 6 in the dept. (seemed satisfied)
P1: a few questions about why i got C+ in one of the courses?
Me: gave what seemed to me a satisfactory answer..
P2: one last question... you english marks are low in the boards (85 and 75) and you say you are the editor of a student magazine...
Me: told her about improving and working hard to improve...and doing a good job at it.. as demonstrated by my editing work...

Overall it was a feel good kinda interview... they were laughing at times, and i was too...did not try to stress on my answers.. accepted my answers well... only restricted themselves to my strengths... did not ask uncomfortable questions like Why MBA? why MBA after IIT?


Seniors, you comments are welcome...

--
Abhinav Sarangi
B.Tech (IV) year
Metallurgical and Materials Engg.
IIT Roorkee

[Abhishek Bansal]

Sounds good :-)

Get ready for the next ones now! Just don't be complacent and have a smile always even when you don't know things (takes off the bulk of pressure)..

Good luck!

Abhi..shek

--
Abhishek Bansal
PGP-1, Class of 2009
IIM Bangalore.
Ph:. +91 99169 50145

[Rohit Dangayach]

Bansal has already given u the dose ;)
btw good stuff... this is the first IIML interview which is making some sense...will help me in changing my impression about the arbit interview process and professors at IIML ;)

good luck for the rest.

Regards
Rohit

[Abhishek Bansal]

What dose!! And RD, L junta too is a part of this group.. Maar lenge teri :D

[Prakash Deep Maheshwari]

Rohit, I beg you think twice before changing your impression about the IIM-L interview process. Mine was the most unexpected one. Here it goes:

Xth : 94.2%
XIIth : 96.7%
B.Tech : 9.58 (CSE)
CAT : 99.78 (calls from B,L,I,K)

Gd/PI at IIML Noida Campus on feb 9th at 2 pm
No. of ppl : 9 (2 absent, but 1 carried forward from the morning batch)

Gd Topic: Morality is the creation of the weak to deter & limit the strong
In the half an hour essay, I wrote about 2 n a half pages.But had run out of ideas even before the first page was complete. Mentioned the examples of Gandhi and Buddha to illustrate that morality was rather the weapon of those with strength of character and it deters the wrong, rather than the strong. Mentioned a con of misplaced morality being used to deter the strength of technology as in cloning. Couldn't conclude within the time limit :(

The GD was one of the worst I've ever attended (and that includes all crappy GDs of the 2-credit GD course). The group wasted almost 10 minutes discussing individual definitions of morality. A particular guy was a pain in the a** as he kept coming on to redifining morality while the group was keen to proceed. I entered the GD 3-4 times with the Gandhi, Buddha examples. In a vain burst of stupidity, Mentioned that morality was not a human creation, but a divine creation and god could not be considered weak (was vociferously cut off on this point)
There was some discussion on the recent kidney scam. The only positive thing I thought was that most of the members were addressing me as they spoke since I seemed to be the only one interested in listening. All except one guy spoke, but everyone including me, was poor on content.

Interview: panelists were a south indian prof (SP), and a rustic prof (RP) :D, no offence intended, but his accent was rustic

Mine was the last interview of the entire center on that day, and of course, the last in my panel. :(

SP: So, prakash, u r coming from uttarakhand (it seemed as if roorkee was on another planet or it was an aadivasi area)
Me: Yes,sir. I'm presently studying in uttarakhand while i actually hail from Lucknow.

In the meanwhile, RP was browsing thru my folder.

SP:Oh, lucknow! Which part of lucknow?
Me: Mentioned my locality. And also mentioned that I had lived through the length and breadth of UP due to the tranferable nature of my father's job.

SP: What does your father do?
Me: answered

SP: Which other calls do u have?
Me: answered (I was dreading a subsequent question on why IIM-L or what if u have to choose b/w iim-l and iim-b, but it wasnt coming)

SP: Where do u see urself 2-3 yrs down the line?
Me: I see the nest 2-3 yrs as the time when i'll lay the foundation for attaining my long term aim of being a business leader. blah..blah..blah. and i see mba as the best means of doing it.

SP: So u want to be a business leader? What do u know about business?
Me (Slightly fidgety): Sir, my knowledge of business is mostly second hand, which i've acquired through reading and interaction with people in the corporate world.

SP (cutting me off): But even at IIM, u'll have a second hand experience?
Me:(mentioned about the simulation of real-world situation thru case studies etc., he seemed satisfied)

SP: US Fed has cut its interest rates recently. But RBI did not. Your comments on this.
Me: mentioned about the differences in indian and us economy, that us is on the verge of a recession and india is growing. also, the need to contain inflation which as per today's newspaper had breached the 4% mark (thank heavens, i'd read the newspaperin the waiting area, 5 minutes before the interview )

SP: But cutting the rates would've boosted growth. and we need that to compete with china.
Me: mentioned about the trade off between growth and inflation and that inflation was RBI's chief concern at this point of time.

SP: So you support RBI's move?
Me: Yes, as of now, it is a justified move.

SP: Ok,good. (Hurrah!)
RP (finally digging his head out of my folder and handing it over to SP): So, you've studied courses on industrial economics and management concepts (Oh crap! Not this!)
Me: Yes,sir

RP: as u know, india is the largest producer as well as consumer of agricultural products. Why do u think we import when we are also exporting?
Me: mentioned about the quality differences

RP (cutting me off): No, no. Consider the quality to be at par with the rest of the world. Why do u think indian exports don't earn as much as they should? (???)
Me (completely befuddled, what did he mean?): I guess the subsidies provided in other nations makes their products more competitive.

RP (cutting me off,again): No,no. Let me put the question directly to u. Take a specific example, say sugarcane. Why doesn't india as much profits as it should?
Me (unable to understand what did he mean by "should"): Sir, I guess....

SP,RP (together): Ok,thats it. Thank you (wtf !!!)

I thought the interview was going well for the first half but I messed it up big time in the second half. No qs on my personality, achievements, acads anything...Dunno what'll turn out

Seniors, your comments/suggestions/advices are solicited :)

--
Prakash Deep Maheshwari
Senior
Computer Science & Engineering
IIT-Roorkee

[Abhinav Sarangi]

oye PDM...
interview to tera overall achha hi hua hai...i think you handled the questions on economy... RBI vs US Fed answer was good.. even the subsequent answers were well thought and justified ( at least.. mujhe padh ke to aisha li lag raha tha.. :)..)
and in most of the L interviews there have been hardly any questions on why MBA? person goals and visions?... so i don't think it was that random... but it was strange that they did not get into acads.. coz they have been doing that... waise kaun se panel mein tha tu? i was in panel 3...

n btw morality is a divine creation... lol... kya ho gaya tha tujhe???

[Prakash Deep Maheshwari]

@sarangi,

i was in panel 4. divine creation waala point pata nahi kahan se aa gaya dimaag mein. worse still,i think i wrote it in the essay too :( :( :(

tera to fodu interview hua, strengths par hui ghumaate rahe. ek to convert ho hi gayi teri :)

tere aur mere interview mein shayad ek bhi question common nahi tha. :D

[Sheetal Sehgal]

HI all

 

9th feb, 10am, IIML NOida campus

 

My profile:

 

Sheetal Sehgal

CAT: 99.97(BLACK I)

Xth: 89.6

XIIth: 86

Btech(EC) : 7.94

 

GD: people who work sitting down get paid more than people who work standing up.

8ppl present2 absent()

wrote down about 3 pages, and the group discussed almost everything there was to it in the first 10 minutes. after that it was pretty much rephrasing all the earlier ideas!!!

 

My interview was perhaps the shortest one in the history of IIML's.........lasted about 5 minutes

 

panel: one guy(pretty young), and a lady(grey haired and looked kinda wierd)

 

1. tell us something abt yourself

2.what kind of books do you read(picked tht up from my intro)............discussed a bit about da vinci code, and she asked me if i read harry potter's books too....i told her i dont.....but she asked me about my views on the same

 

3. Guy: the tata jaguar deal.....why is tata's main interest in that deal

 

4. who were the other bidders in that?:  i told mahindra....

 

5. so you are from communication background.......name two companies......one american and one british who are major world players.: told about vodafone, couldnt remember AT&T damn!

 

Thankyou very much.

 

I dont think i stand a chance to get selected here.

 

Anybody got a say???

Contact No. : +91 9897 043 884

[Prakash Deep Maheshwari]

@sheetal,

what on earth makes you think u dont stand a chance? u pretty much answered everything that came your way, and correctly too. :)

P.S. a more detailed account of your experience wud've been better :P

[Sheetal Sehgal]

@PDM

 

that was pretty much it about my interview....it lasted only 5 minutes

 

i had barely gotten to extra curricular activities after name, hometown & insti.

TATA's interest in expansion was what i had read in papers...new markets n technology etc

and with vodafone....i talked about its recent foray into india

 

and that was it :P

--
Sheetal Sehgal
B.Tech. IVth year
Electronics & Communication Engineering
IIT Roorkee.

[Sugeet Miglani]

Looks like your interviews have been going well... and a smallslip (if there is one) here or there doesnt really matter that much...

~~~cheers~~~
PS: one thing i dont understand is why u didnt get A and C calls... koi sectionals mein problem thi kya???

[Sugeet Miglani]

that was intended for PDM... :)

[Tarun Madan]

@sheetal

 

Mine was the same panel i guess, the weird lady and the young guy. Mine lasted a touch more than yours, maybe some 6-7 minutes. I guess the panel were in no mood to take longer PIs.

 

On 2/10/08, Sugeet Miglani <sugeet....@gmail.com> wrote:

that was intended for PDM... :)

--
Tarun Madan
B.Tech.Year 4
Department of Chemical Engineering
IIT Roorkee, India
--
http://indeedme.blogspot.com

[Prakash Deep Maheshwari]

@sugeet,

english, as always, was my undoing (92.8 %ile) :(

[Gaurav Jain]

hey seniors ,
need a peice of advice frm u guys. lookin at the last 3 Q's in PDM's interview .. in case the answer doesnt strike at the moment then is it better to say 'I guess' n the reason we think ( which may not be correct ) or just tell them that 'I dont know'

--
Gaurav Jain,
F-91 Ravindra Bhawan
IIT Roorkee - 247 667

[Rohit Dangayach]

@L junta...sorry...no offense intended...just that I have come across all crappy interviews@L n mine was the limit

@PDM & SS... my interview also lasted for 5 mins last yr...was called in at 5.04, and asked to leave at 5.09 ;)
they had planned to wind up everythg by 5...i was like the 12th man standing... i thot my interview was a disaster
n i was told so ;)
still I got the admit...may b we cant really know what they are looking for
so all of u can chill...n give ur best shot for the other interviews

@GJ... depends on the prof... though i always try to start with not sure but... or i guess... but when i realize that i wont b able to conclude, i  quit...gives an idea that i try and at the same time I am willing to give up n listen if I m not sure
u can have ur own strategy

Regards
Rohit

[Abhishek Bansal]

Hi,

To answer your query, had I been in such a situation, what I would have done is - said something like "Sir, I am not very sure but as per my understanding, this this this.. should happen.." I would suggest that dont say "I guess.." because you never know, sometimes these profs tend to counter you or pressurize you at such phrases by saying "So, you even GUESS in interviews when you dont know things! etc etc".. :-) I mean they try to get on top of you!

Though it is good to acknowledge that "I don't know" when you dont know something but do that only if you are "completely clueless" about what is asked. If you have something in mind, do bring it out as it'll let them know that you are THINKING.. Right/wrong is a secondary issue. Infact, if they see you thinking logically through the question they asked, they themselves would guide you further..

Regards,
Abhi..shek

On Feb 10, 2008 10:33 PM, Gaurav Jain <gj....@gmail.com> wrote:

[Abhishek Bansal]

And as RD said, when your results would be out, you would find that CORRELATION between your GD-PI at times tends to be very low and you can still get an admit even though you PI was a disaster. :)

We try to weigh our chances of getting through or not, based on our percentiles and GD-PI (in particular), but those people, perhaps, have different things running through their minds (such as, "IITian hai.. le lenge toh apne insti ke liye accha rahega.." :D)

Nevertheless, give your BEST shot in each interview without bothering how the previous one went..

Abhi..shek

[Abhishek Bansal]

Btw, I just observed that Abhinav has mentioned his CGPA as "8.043". Has IITR started giving CGs till 3 decimal places? just curious..

[Abhinav Sarangi]

 yah.. it started with 2004-05 Spring semester... (at least it did for me... had CGPA till 2 decimal in my first sem..)

[Saurabh Sancheti]

hi
Yess
If you dont know the answer instead of bluffing 
or giving up by saying I dont know

just say that I think it  should be this based on this

In fact I feel that  profs try to put you in such spots only to see taht how you think through things yo arent sure of/ know of
If you say I dont know you might be losing on that opportunity

--
Saurabh Sancheti
PGP, IIM Ahmedabad (2007-09)
B Tech(Elec & Comm.), IIT Roorkee
Phone +91-79-66327624
Mobile +91-9974331343

[anuj jain]

Junta at L interview...
guys dont worry abt ur interview goin for 5 min or so...on my day of interview...i was 4th one nd last 3 went for 20-25 odd minutes...i went in...some chit chat...nd thanx....i was shocked....basically they believe tht IIT guys hav potential...nd they just test their beliefs in 5 min or so....so chill out...nd best of luck for other interviews....

--
ANUJ JAIN
Room No-929, IIM Lucknow,
Lucknow, UP
Contact No- +91-9956851687

[Rahul Chaudhary]

Pretty Good. Take Aways (For you and others):

1. Revise your BTP funde well. Whenever asked about courses in this
sem, lead them to your BTP. Its a huge chance that the whole interview
will be based on that. My Ahmedabad interview was and so was the case
with many of my frds here.

2.Study your A+ courses well. You dont rejected for not answering
questions about your C+ courses but you definitely get selected for
answering questions from the A+ courses. You got to exhibit your core
competency. They are looking for a reason to select you.

3. Is 8.04 satisfying? could have lead anywhere. You chose "I'm DR 6"
route. It could as well have been "I'm a part of 2 institute teams" OR
"I have been in positions of responsibility". When 8.04 is
substantiated with blah blah blah, I think I have done fairly well. A
problem with "I'm DR6" route is the next question that could crop up:
What is your source of motivation: Your environment or something
intrinsic? They could have asked you about situations where people
around you dont work and you have no incentive to perform. Just have
some answers in your mind.

4.Liked your answer about Industrial Sociology. The way you talked
about your internship through that. An excellent example of leading
the interview.

All in all, pretty good by IIML standards as RD put it. In spite of
the fact that IIML selection criteria is beyond my comprehension
ability, i believe you will make it. Gear up for other biggies. Good
start!

On Feb 10, 2:24 am, "Abhinav Sarangi" <abhi...@gmail.com> wrote:
> hi all
> My IIML adventure...
>

> i joined in... a happy IIML family.. )

[Rahul Chaudhary]

That's more like my IIML interview. Did you get cut off midway in your
last answer. Well, good for you because that I believe is the signal
that you are in. I'm getting the feeling that Southie prof was the
same guy as my time.
Need not worry much. Will give you a detailed feedback later.

Cheers,
Rahul.

On Feb 10, 4:51 am, "Prakash Deep Maheshwari"

> On Feb 10, 2008 5:18 PM, Abhishek Bansal <abhishek85b...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > What dose!! And RD, L junta too is a part of this group.. Maar lenge teri
> > :D
>

> > On Feb 10, 2008 5:16 PM, Rohit Dangayach <rohit.dangay...@gmail.com>

> > wrote:
>
> > > Bansal has already given u the dose ;)
> > > btw good stuff... this is the first IIML interview which is making some
> > > sense...will help me in changing my impression about the arbit interview
> > > process and professors at IIML ;)
>
> > > good luck for the rest.
>
> > > Regards
> > > Rohit
>

> > > On Feb 10, 2008 4:41 PM, Abhishek Bansal <abhishek85b...@gmail.com>

> > > wrote:
>
> > > > Sounds good :-)
>
> > > > Get ready for the next ones now! Just don't be complacent and have a
> > > > smile always even when you don't know things (takes off the bulk of
> > > > pressure)..
>
> > > > Good luck!
>
> > > > Abhi..shek
>

> > > > On Feb 10, 2008 3:54 PM, Abhinav Sarangi <abhi...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > > > hi all
> > > > > My IIML adventure...
>

> > > > > laughing and i joined in... a happy IIML family.. )

> > > > > P2: why trekking as hobby? what mgmt you learn from that?
> > > > > Me: another prepared answer.. about planning and motivation.. (the
> > > > > lady was shaking her head so vigorously that i kept on going with the
> > > > > answer.. said something about satisfaction)
> > > > > P1: is 8.04 satisfying?
> > > > > Me: my rank is 6 in the dept. (seemed satisfied)
> > > > > P1: a few questions about why i got C+ in one of the courses?
> > > > > Me: gave what seemed to me a satisfactory answer..
> > > > > P2: one last question... you english marks are low in the boards (85
> > > > > and 75) and you say you are the editor of a student magazine...
> > > > > Me: told her about improving and working hard to improve...and doing
> > > > > a good job at it.. as demonstrated by my editing work...
>
> > > > > Overall it was a feel good kinda interview... they were laughing at
> > > > > times, and i was too...did not try to stress on my answers.. accepted my
> > > > > answers well... only restricted themselves to my strengths... did not ask
> > > > > uncomfortable questions like Why MBA? why MBA after IIT?
>
> > > > > Seniors, you comments are welcome...
>
> > > > > --
> > > > > Abhinav Sarangi
> > > > > B.Tech (IV) year
>

> ...
>
> read more »

[Prakash Deep Maheshwari]

I didn't actually get cut off during my last answer, I mumbled something like "I guess it might be because.....blah.blah.blah" after which the interview ended. Though I did not make use of "I'm not very sure but based on my understanding...", I did put in a lot of "might be's". Is that good enuff? Wud be more careful about using "guess" from the next time. Thanks for pointing out.

@RC, still awaiting your detailed feedback :)