IIM C experience
Shashank Rai Goel
u cudnt be more true...C interview was by far the most chilled out
GD : A photocopier machine existing in the mkt for long time is facing competition in high end mkt from a company which has introduced high-tech product at nearly twice the price. Shud the co. consolidate its loyal customer base or go for R&D
decent GD, lot of points came up, me added points bout adding value to product- increasing functions at lower costs, deciding first whther it wants to make presence felt in high-end mkt or grow further in low-end segment.
Interview : 3 ppl, 2 profs 1 almni
the point that my i had 2 famous politicians from BJP in my family came up
P1: what do u think bout the admission to nursery classes controversy
me: took a stand against it, said every child had right to education, no discrimination on basis of socio-economic background etc
P1: which school did u go to, what was so special bout ur school
me: we had a lot opportunities to take part in extra-curriculars, teachers encouraged classroom discussion and giving our views on any issue,mentioned 11th class eco teacher with name(thot might make a gud impression)
P2: U wud have joined IITD over IITR rite?
me:4 years before yes I wud have joined it, but after studying in IITR today I feel it wud not have made a lot of difference. told since i am from delhi, so wud have opted for IITD at that stage
P2: how different is IITD campus, what is better
me: hostel culture is better there, IITR campus has less pollution, low noise levels smaller campus and depts and hostels spread out so more activity in campus
Almni: how was GD, how do u rate urself (tufest question :P)
me : gud GD, mentioned what all points came up, gave my rating and sum fatte
P2: are there going to be early elections
me: if Govt decides to go ahead with Nuke deal, Left cud withdraw support.
P2 : will BJP support the govt.
me: they shud but they probably wont since they wud want to form the govt.
P2 : why do u think BJP shud support Nuke deal
me: mentioned both sides of deal and said energy security is imp issue, gave sum data in support
thts it...ppl who have interview tomorrow and are reading this tonite, RELAX. The panel is looking for ur opinion on general issues so make sure u have one!!
oh and take ur call letter wid u they are seeing it, they are not seeing file but are verifying whatever u have written in form before going in for interviews
--
Shashank Rai Goel
Senior
Mechanical Engineering
IIT Roorkee
Prithweesh Ghosh
rohit choudhry
Profile:
10th, 12th - 85% odd
GPA: 8.2/10
CAT: 99.97
GD - Same as Shashank above.
Interview was very general. 3 ppl. 1 was an alumnus most probably.
P: Tell me smthing bout urself.
me: all the general blah blah, also talked bout my interest in finance.
P: Wats Sub prime crisis?
me:told
P: Sub prime lending pe further questions, how it affected ICICI Bank et al?
me: told
P: Wat are P Notes?
me: told
P: What is special about your college, IIT Roorkee?
me: First engg college in Asia, talekd about everything from Thomson,
UoR to IITR.
P: Favourite cricketer?
me: Sachin
P: his 1st ODI century?
me: knew the year, but not the opposition
P: favourite biz leaders
me: Bill Gates, Ambani, Buffett
P:Rank them & elaborate
me: some phatte
P:some stuff about whether doing again what Bill Gates did in the
current scenario would produce the same results.
me: no, we don't need another windows!
P: but if another person makes a good movie similar to an old one, its
still a hit.
me: finde about how a movie and an OS are different things altogether :P
P: some questions about rational vs emotional decision making, a case
of me being a manager & having to fire an employee I really like et al
P: Further talked about how I said that I take rational decisions in
professional life & emotional decisions in personal life. I tried but
they were not particularly convinced that such a thing is possible.
P: Whoz ur favourite actress?
P: What would you look for in a potential life partner !!!
me: some arbit phatte
P: Thank You Rohit.
I also heard a "Good" as I left the room.
Cheers,
Rohit
Ankit Kapoor
vaishali aggarwal
Prithweesh Sirrji Ghosh IITR 2007
GD:
Case: Some poor Auto parts manufacturing firm wants good people. They
get screwed over bpy IT firms who pay more money and give more perks,
but the company thinks they can screwdrive the screwers. What should
Subir Jha, the Chief of HR, do?
Group was a mix of mainly IT people, they kept beating about the bush,
saying IT is flailing, Rising Dollar, Tata Nano (which i happened to
vehemently call irrelevant).
My Take: I said why IT?? why do students go to IT?? it's because of
the perception of Cushyness, getting a nice office in a nice city blah
blah. People started saying that students look at career growth. I
said if they did, they'd never cross fields and move to IT in the
first place. NO Student,fresh out of college knows what the hell he's
doing in any compnay, simply becasue they don't KNOW what goes on in
companies. I tried to steer the GD towards a conclusion, but it became
the inner circle of the BSE (yes this simile is for Salil Jain).
PI:
Panel:
P1: Sneaky Type Smart Short Prof - Civilized Bong - Mostly asked in an
arbit kind of tone.
P2: Burly Type Nationalism Chauvinistic Freak Type Prof - Non Bong i
surmise
P3: Short Prof Flitwick Style prof with thick specs that magnified his
eyes - Unadulterated Bong
P1: (opens the door) Pritthish?
Me: Sir, I am Prithweesh!
(usual hello be seated, give your certis blah blah blah)
P2: Why were you so aggressive in the GD???
Me: Sir, I am not normally aggressive as such.
P2: So you're ABnormally aggressive?? <burst of laughter all around>
Me: What I meant was that I had to take a similar decision, so, I
happen to know a little. (trying to get over the awkwardness of being
laughed at).
P1: Where do you work?
Me: Sir, I work at Dr. Reddy's, where I was recruited from campus. I
had to take a call whether to join or to move to an IT firm (lying
through my teeth).
P2: And? Why did you choose Dr. Reddy's?
Me: Sir, Dr. Reddy's was able to put a very accurate picture in front
of me (again a blatant lie). It showed me the way I could contribute
significantly in Manufacturing, besides, Chemical Engineering was my
core competency, so it seemed logical.
P1: What do you do at Dr. Reddys?
Me: I am with Project Management there, I design plants for them to
construct and manufacture drugs.
P2: (Reading my interview file) You know, I have seen many IIT grad
profiles. They ALL have the same things put in their interview forms.
Photography, Reading, Formula One, Quizzing.
Me: Quizzical Look??? (where is he going with this???)
P2: (abruptly changing subject) What does your dad do?
Me: Sir, he teaches management, He's the Director of a management
Institute in Meerut, called IIMT
P2: IIMT = blah blah
Me: yes sir, that's it.
P2: what did he do before? was he in industry?
Me: no sir, he was a professor at IMS, DA University, indore, but was
a bank officer earlier, in State Bank
P2: of India???
Me: No sir, of Indore.
P1: Hmm... why did he move to Meerut then?
Me: Sir, he got a much better offer there, and a bigger challenge. -
(P1 not convinced by the truth?)
P1: You say here that you've learnt elementary french, like reading,
quizzing, formula one, member of literary section, photography?
Me: Quizzical Look again???
P1: what is this literary section? how is it related to quizzing?
Me: sir my institute quizzing and debate society is called litsec.
P1: Oh. Can you tell me who won the F1 Race yesterday?
Me: (yippie!!!!) SIR IT WAS LEWIS HAMILTON, for McLAREN, HE WON IT
QUITE COMFORTABLY!!!!
P1: hmm... and who came second??
Me: (yippie^2!!!) SIR, it was Nick Heidfeld, for Sauber I think.
P1: You think? or you know? you didn't watch the race?
Me: I read in the papers, sir, I couldn't watch the race :(
P1: Why?
Me: I wasn't able to watch it because i didn't have access to a TV.
P1: you don't have a TV???? ( like i hadn't got enough money to buy
peanuts)
Me: No sir, I don't live here, I live in Hyderabad. I am staying here
with some friends, they don't have one.
P1: Tell me the longest word in english which has no vowels.
Me: thinking for a while. . . . . sir, Rhyme
P1: Rhyme?????
Me: I'm sorry sir, i meant Rhythm.
P1: are you sure it's the longest?
Me: I don't know sir, but this is the word that came to my mind.(later
checked it was rhythmS or some welsh word called Twyndyllygns or
something which didn't have a definition in Dictionary.com ... mattha
fod luuu!!!)
P1: Tell me 5, no 3 words which have all vowels and have them in the
same order as the alphabet.
Me: thinking... thinking... thinking... I'm sorry sir, i can't
recollect any...
P1: Ok tell me ONE word like that??
Me: thinking... thinking thinking... I'm sorry sir, I don't remember
the word. I used to know it but now I can't recollect...
P1: then what kind of Literary Member are you????
Me: (WTH?)
P2: Ok... Tell me what kinds of books do you read
Me: sir, mostly fiction, i have read Forsyth, blah blah.
P2: GOT senti, I have seen hundreds of IITians like you who only read
such books. none of them read indian authors. this is disgraceful...
blah blah...
Me: (finding a gap in his tirade) sir, I HAVE READ indian authors as
well. I have read Arundhati Roy, Jh(umpa Lahiri) was cut off...
P1: have you read Chetan Bhagat?
Me: YES SIR... I have!!!
P2: then why did you say frederick forsyth?
Me: sir, I said so, because I have read MANY of his books and happen
to like them. If you see my grade card, you'll see that i took an
ELECTIVE called Indian Novels in English. I read indian authors also.
P2: again launching a tirade on "aajkal ke bacche"... said that I was
interviewing a guy who didn't know about The Guide. Have you read R K
Narayanan?
Me: Sir, yes, I have read the GUide.
P2: why are you being defensive??? (me wth??? jabardasti bore dialog
maarega to kya karu???) firse wohi rona gaana.... what do you think is
the problem?
Me: Sir, I imagine the foreign books are more exciting and more
readily accessible.
P2: how can you say that?
Me: sir, if you go to a book store, the sheer number of books by
foreign authors and the fact that indian books are mostly kept in an
inaccessible corner.... (again cut off)
P1: NO that is NOT the case, most book stores have Indian authors on
the front shelf.
Me: thinking to set his records right about the Crossoword Store in
Hyderabad, New Delhi, Mumbai and the 20000 AH Wheeler and Sons stores
on every railway station... but refrained, said, maybe it was my
mistake sir that i didn't see indian authors.
P2: You are a chemical engineer??
Me: yes sir
P2: tell me 2 WAYS to manufacture CEMENT
Me: sir, i can't tell you the constructional details of cement plants,
as i have not studied them in my course, but i can tell you the
react.... cut off again...
P2, P1: (:-o) YOU ARE A CHEMICAL ENGINEER??? YOU DON"T KNOW HOW TO
MAKE CEMENT??? What did they teach you at IIT Roorkee??? reading
Frederick forsyth??????
P123: (start laughing like hyenas)
Me: Give a smile, but say, sir, i only know the reaction.. calcium...
again cut off...
P1: What is difference between Pig Iron and Stainless Steel?
Me: sir, Pig Iron is Iron with Carbon impurities, Stainless Steel is
an Alloy of CARBON and Chromium.
P1: ??? Carbon???
Me: Iron, sir, i meant Iron. Iron, Carbon and Chromium. It's designed
to resist corrosion by ordinary chemicals.
P1: ok. how to get Pig Iron from Iron ore?
Me: sir, it is done in what is known as a Blast Furnace. The reaction
basically reduces Fe2O3 to Fe, with Coal,(correcting myself), Coke and
CaO.
P1: Coke or Coal?
Me: Coke, sir.
P2: what's the difference?
Me: Sir, coke is coal when all the volatile components are removed
from it. it is a more efficient and cleaner fuel. has higher C
content.
P1: what is froth floatation??
Me: it's a way to separate ore... uses what is known as a sparger, to
pass air thru solution. mostly used for Sulfide ores.
P2: can you name some?
Me: Sir, Iron Sulphide is known as Pyrites etc is a common Sulphide
ore. before i could continue naming Cinnabar...
P2: Pyrites? are you sure it's a sulphide?
Me: yes sir, pyrites are FeS2/FeS...
P2: which is the first element in the Chlorine series?
Me: Sir, Flourine.
P2: why is it different in properties from Chlorine etc?
Me: SIr, first of all, Flourine doesn't have empty d-orbitals, which
is why...
P2: no what properties are different?
Me: sir, Flourine is a smaller atom, having a lower atomic number, so
it has a lower Electron Affinity than Chlorine, so it's a stronger
Lewis Base (whisper theory ka gyaan). but it has highest EN. blah
blah.
P2: what do you know about Kyoto protocol?
Me: it is a set of guidelines for pollution abatement, and assessment
of pollution and effluents, and ascribing a price to the same?
P2: thank you. you may take your certis and leave!
Me: thank you sir
P2: Send in the next guy, btw, do you have all calls??
Me: no sir, i only have ACIK. I'll send in <next guy>.
C mein to hone ke chance kam hi lagte hain... aapke views are
invited...
avinash prakhya
engg but u seem to have phodofied all ur acad questions most
splendidly.. i do not knw how aggresive u were in ur gd n all but urs
was so much more better than so many of us.. chalo abh ke liye pseudo
congratulations and all the best !!
Rahul Chaudhary
Too good man! I dont think there is much doubt to what the result
would be. Do you have any interviews left now?
Cheers,
Rahul
On Mar 14, 9:23 am, "Shashank Rai Goel" <radioactivebl...@gmail.com>
wrote:
Rahul Chaudhary
Good to see you people cruising through your interviews. Its
especially nice to see you leading the interview from the start and
getting them to ask abt your strength area(s). I guess the most
important answers there were "told" [:D]
Also with that kinda percentile score, PI was almost a formality.
Best of luck with other interviews.
Regards,
Rahul
PS: Sachin's first test century came in 1990 against England I guess.
Surprisingly, his first ODI century came 4.5 yrs after his
debut...against the Aussies.
On Mar 14, 11:16 am, "rohit choudhry" <choudhry.ro...@gmail.com>
wrote:
Rahul Chaudhary
Another typical C interview and that means all the reasons to smile.
Although the prof.'s answer to the IITB thing itself seemed shady (not
tht u shud have told him tht)...being involved in sports is a personal
choice. just cos you have built facilities does not mean students
should start going out to play . I am a huge proponent of "All round
development through sports" but this logic somehow doesnt sound right
to me.
Dont worry abt the GD at all cos its weight is pretty small (10% i
think)....you still have B left, right? Best of Luck.
Cheers,
Rahul
>
>
>
>
>
> > Arre haan,C wale to bahut hi jyada acche log the. C is the best iim in
> > town :)
>
> Thanks and regards,
>
> Vaishali Aggarwal
> Co-Convener, COGNIZANCE '08,
> Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee
> +91-99974 24848
rohit choudhry
I'll try to take them towards economy/finance or general awareness
which I am pretty good at generally. In the A interview, they kept on
asking acads through about 70-80% of the interview. And acads was the
last thing I wanted to talk about. The interview didn't go too well.
Couldn't answer a some of the acads questions though answered others.
Just hoping for the CAT score to carry me through in A.
btw, Rahul, You are posting a helluva lot for the last few days. A
cool ho gaya hai kya? You seem to have a lot of time on your hands :P
Rahul Chaudhary
This has probably been said on every GD/PI forum that one need not
answer all the questions in an interview. My view (based on talking to
the profs here):
Whether you are a 5 pointer or an ace 9, what matters to the prof is
your attitude towards acads. If they feel that you have made some
effort to make some use of the time during your graduation. Obviously
with a 5.xx, it becomes a little difficult to justify that but i have
people with that kinda academic profile around me and they have made
it here cos of the simple reason tht they came across as people who
were willing to learn. Bottomline: If you didn't come across as "I
dont care two hoots abt acads" guy, they are pretty certain that you
will do well here. After all , its Management and not Rocket
Science...you dont need to know Vector Space and Laplace Transforms to
understand Marketing/Strategy and even Finance...all they need is a
proxy of your willingness to learn.
AND now the part of A being cool:
A is supposed to have the toughest 1st year and the chillest 2nd year
amongst Indian B-schools. The truth is that the academic load is a bit
overhyped...the first term comes as a shock to people and hence, they
form perceptions abt the place. The first term is quite hectic but its
not as if u dont get time to breathe. 2nd term is awesome, the next
best thing to 2nd year and engg. 4th year. How you take 3rd term
largely depends upon your summers [:P]. Most people stop mugging in
the 3rd term. I'm just one of them...
We can discuss more abt this issue after the results come out and you
people are still confused abt the choice (which you will have plenty
of, Amen).
Regards,
Rahul
P.S.: I'm sure Sugeet and Bansi would love to talk abt how chill/
painful C or B is. But lets keep that for later [:P]
On Mar 17, 12:08 pm, "rohit choudhry" <choudhry.ro...@gmail.com>
wrote:
> I'll try to take them towards economy/finance or general awareness
> which I am pretty good at generally. In the A interview, they kept on
> asking acads through about 70-80% of the interview. And acads was the
> last thing I wanted to talk about. The interview didn't go too well.
> Couldn't answer a some of the acads questions though answered others.
> Just hoping for the CAT score to carry me through in A.
> btw, Rahul, You are posting a helluva lot for the last few days. A
> cool ho gaya hai kya? You seem to have a lot of time on your hands :P
>
Ankit Kapoor
panel in the entire world:)
Date:14/3
2pm delhi
P3(casually dressed)
P1(formally dresed)
P2(youngest, middle guy)
majority of the interview was conducted by the middle prof, who was
the youngest amongst the three.They were having all very very
general(Qstns like Y MBA)+general awareness interviews..only mine was
slightly techish
Time: ~ 15 mints
P3: Y r u so nervous?
me: told sth like its humane to be nervous ..blah blah.. importance of
the interview
P3: does anyone of us looks like inducing terror?? everyone is
nervous.. just relax..
P3: how many calls u have got??
me: sir from A,C,I,K
P3: u have got 4 calls.. n still u r nervous.. none of us 'd get any
calls if we write CAT
(arre sir, kyun mazzak kar rahe ho :) )
P3: hh, u were the guy with toblerone.
me: yes sir
p3: oh, where is it??
me: sir i finished it off i was amongst the last in the panel
p3: but i told u specifically. i pointed out that u r carrying a
toblerone. i want my toblerone
me:sir i was feeling nervous n it acts like a stress-buster for me.
P3: now i m feeling stressed, u dint give me toblerone.
all profs noticing that i m still acting nervous: hey, this was just a
joke. dont worry dont worry, we were just joking..
3: so how do u rate ur performance amongst the GD group.
me: soem small ...blah blah... sir i'd say 4-5 in the rank.
p3: 4 or 5??
me: sir, i cant say exactly.
some very simple chit chat in which i mentioned that score amongst the
top 0.1% of the country, perhaps then they'd decided ki isko le
lenge:)
p2: do u read newspaper??
me: yes, hindu, aur usmein crossword bhi aata hai jo main daily karta hoon
P2:whats the difference b/w mobile communication n sattelite communication?
me: sir i dint myself have a course on mobile communication but i'd ...
P2(intrrupting me..) even i m no electronics engineer..
me: giving all those gyan on satellite whcih i read in class XII
books, transponders amplifying the signals coz they fade aay after
travelling a distance of 36000 Kms which is the height of a
geo-stationary satellite..
chalo he interrupted me here..
P2: Y r majority of satellites in east <<sth>>(i guess must be eastern
hemisphere, dint hear him properly)
me: Sir,.. blah blah.. they get an extra pull.. blah blah.. (i
actually read it in a physics book long back) then i said ki thats Y
india's launch station was shifted from Thumba to
Sri-harikota(recalling this from Vikram Sarabhai chapter from my hindi
ncert book)
P2: ok, whats the difference b/w gsm n cdma.
me: (i only know the 1st 2 lines written on wiki page, told him that)
p2: (again inerrupting me,thanks, merko isse jyada aata bhi nahin tha)
tell me sth about spectrum wars.
me: blah blah... telecom minister A raja.. Oligopoly by airtel
-vodafone... spectrum owned by defense...blah blah.
1: ur grades @IITR have been hit by gravity.
me: ..blah blah... speaking lines from rote memory in not so
impressive fashions.. bur agruemenst are solid.. ki Jee time to main
baccha tha.. MBA is a more conscious choice.. tab meri branch aur
logon ne decide kari thi.. priorities in life.. study hai to karunga..
aur Extra Curriclars
P2/3: extra curriculars batao
me(WoW) sir Quizzing, BBC University challenge TV par..
all asia level progarmming contests
(Now they seem happy i guess )
P2: how good are u @ maths
me(WoW!): i belive i m really good..
P2: Favourite areas?
me: kucch bhi , anyth under the sun.. i like evryth.. calculus,
geometry, trignometry.. i 've even mentioned in the from that i love
numbers.
P2: tell me about fibonacci sequence.
meitna simple) told..
P2: example where this can be found in economics??
me: told him about golden ratio..found in nature
P2: economics
p3: (coming to my rescue) aah nature, where??
me: this i knew really well... seeds in petal.. on ur fingers P3 seem impressed
P2: economics??
me: sir economics to pata nahin lag raha is waqt, but i can tell u
situations/Problems where the result is from fibonacci sequence..
supoose u a supply of 1X2 dominoes n u' vetta from a tower of height n
, the no of ways in which this can be done is F(n-1).
P2: so u read newspaper?
me: yessir, Hindu.. crossword!!!
(now finally i was acting normally...)
P1: arrey u r mentioning crossword again, i ll ask u a simple question...
me: sir i ll try
P1: number which is generally repeated(5)
me:the 1st thing that came to my mind is "often", now i m wondering
what kind of clue is this?? me: sir is this a cryptic clue??
P1(either not hearing me or is noit familiar with cryptic crosswords) yeah..
me: thinking
P1: the answer is "often"
me: this is what i was about to say(baaah.. what a badly constructed clue!)
P2/P3: trying to console me: are dont worry dont worry, it wont affect
ur interview...
me: (automatically) sir "often" happens to be a kangaroo word...
kyunki oft uska 1 part hai aur woh original word ka syninym hai..
these types or words are known as kangaroo word... jaise appropriate n
apt)
some prof): finally looking @ the 2 hobbies mentioned in my form
Playing bridge /chess( i have a state level certi in chess, n the guy
who is next in line is an international level chess player )
2nd hobby reading, so u read also!
me(yessir, smiling)
Profs: favorite author JD salinger..
P3: who wrote catcher in the rye
me: yessir
P3: no, i m asking who wrote catcher in the rye
me(i thought he was telling me this earlier ) Arre sir, JD salinger..
P3: is it popular amongst ur generation
me: arre sir its a cult..
P3: really..
Chalo thanks.. take a biscuit...
(now i was telling me this to the cople of gusy left outside the room,
n how i was damm nervous in front of such coordial panel, P1 came out
n gave me 2 thumbs-up, high point of the day )
I think interview , n even case study went ok.. but i m not sure what
C panel is looking for in a candiadte having such general interviews??
degree of seriousness or what??
N the one cause of concern is that they dint press on my Flunkin in
Btech stuff.. aur main khud to yeh topic laonga nahin.. agar baad
mein form dhyan se dekhenge to r they gonna create some problem,
fingers crossed for C :)