1. General Questions
2. Questions related to Pre-MBA Preparation
3. Questions related to Group Discussion / Group Exercise
4. Interview-related Questions
5. After Joining MBA

4. Interview-related Questions

Q. How did you prepare for the interview?
A. I never went for any interview coaching. For me, preparing for an interview meant reading the morning newspapers, other current issues, and looking through my project report again. I did all that, and kept visiting the rest-room to comb my hair and to adjust my tie. And, during any interview, I always refrained from having any discussion with the other candidates sitting outside, as I didn't want any of them to discuss a point which I didn't know, and make me loose my confidence.

Q. How many interview calls did you get and from which institutes? How many and which ones of these could you actually convert to a Final Call?
A. I got interview-calls from IMT-Ghaziabad, IMT-Nagpur, IMI-Delhi, and TAPMI-Manipal. Of these, I attended only IMT and IMI, and converted IMI.

Q. Date and location of Interview? Were you given the option to choose? Was the interview date fixed or re-scheduled couple of times? Was the interview venue changed or scheduled as per your convenience?
A. I don't remember the exact date of interview. But I do remember it was on a week-day, a week before IMT-Ghaziabad interview, and well before TAPMI-Manipal. It was mentioned in the call-letter that re-scheduling would not be entertained.

Q. Can you tell us about the panel that interviewed you?
A. Panel consisted of a professor from IMI, and an alumnus.

Q. How long was your interview?
A. The interview lasted for around 15 minutes. Not more.

Q. What kind of questions were you asked? Were they specific to any particular area?
A. The interview revolved around "Why IMI?" No general knowledge or technical questions were asked.

Q. What was the first question? The most interesting question? The most difficult question?
A. First question was the clichéd, tell-me-about-yourself. Most difficult question would have been "IMT-Ghaziabad or IMI-Delhi, and Why?"

Q. While facing the panel, were you confident, did you feel prepared?
A. Yes, I was confident going in, and grew more so when I realized that the interview was not a stressful one.

Q. Write a brief about your Interview experience.
A. The two panelists welcomed me with a smile, took my resume. One of them started scanning it. The other started with tell-me-about-yourself routine. Somewhere in between, I used the term "a typical-keralite". And they caught upon that, asking me what a typical-keralite is. Then they questioned me about my decision for choosing IMI, the merits of the college, and the demerits of the college. They also asked me about the decline in B.Tech. percentage when compared to my X and XII percentage. I explained to them the concept of relative grading, and how it can project a different picture about a person in the mark-sheet. The interview went on for around 15 minutes, before they said "Thank you, Varun, you may leave."

Q. Was any feedback given to you? What feedback did you receive from the panel at the end of session?
A. No. They received me with a smile, and sent me off with a smile. I couldn't make out anything about my performance from their faces.

Q. How would you rate your performance in the Interview?
A. 8 out of 10. My best interview.

Q. Areas where you could have performed better in your interview?
A. I don't think there was a thing that I would like to change in my IMI interview. Everything went well.

Q. Give some handy tips regarding interview that would be of great help to MBA aspirants.
A. I don't have anything new to say, other than the clichéd interview fundas - Be confident. Do a bit of preparation, because even if it doesn't help your knowledge base, it will definitely boost your confidence. Have a good CV; make sure there are no loop-holes in it. Be on time, be well-dressed. And during the interview, don't hesitate to say I don't know. It's a better option than guessing wrong.

Contd.   5. After Joining MBA