Vivek Agarwal scored 93.4 percentile in CAT 2023 and is creating this page as a reference for future applicants who will clear the CAT exam or any other major exam in the future and want to prepare for GD PI or WAT but do not have many resources or a network that can help them prepare like Vivek does.
Vivek says, “I didn’t have many resources, but I prepared with whatever information I could find online. Later, I realized that applicants like me share their interview experiences in groups, and edtech giants use them to discern the trends of questions asked in interviews. Hence, I decided to share those experiences on this website, which could help you understand the pattern of questions asked in interviews and design your preparation plan accordingly. One request: if you find this helpful, please consider sharing the website and refrain from copying and sharing it elsewhere.
Keep these five things in your hand, as what experience says:
- Current affairs (Refer it through business and economics)
- Knowledge about your state and city. (videos on internet)
- Civics (politics) and position holders name
- Academics
- General HR
Click here to explore those interviews
The MBA interview, a pivotal moment in the application process, serves as a platform for candidates to showcase their potential beyond their written credentials. It’s a dynamic exchange where intellect, ambition, and personality intertwine. Candidates must articulate their career aspirations, demonstrate a deep understanding of their chosen field, and convey how an MBA aligns with their goals. Beyond the academic and professional journey, interviewers often seek glimpses of leadership, adaptability, and problem-solving skills. The interview is not just about answering questions but also about forging a connection, presenting oneself authentically, and leaving a lasting impression that distinguishes the candidate from the rest.
Page 7
The interview experience is listed down:
1.IIM Shillong PI (6th Feb ’24)
There were 2 panelists
Started with extempore, the topic was “jump the gun.” Time for speaking 3 minutes and thinking 2 minutes (was provided with a notepad and everyone else received idiom like topics too)
One was focusing on current affairs and other thought provoking questions(also went through the documents but did not ask anything from it). The other panelist was looking at the form I had submitted.
Questions.
1. Should we assume you give up easily since you left CA? (I have completed the first group of Intermediate and taken 3 attempts in all)
2. Asked what could the budget have that was missing.
3. Why MBA
4. Make in India and made in India difference
5. Asked some questions on financial modeling. (Had mentioned in form)
6. Asked about work experience
7. Why not CFA?
8. Hobbies (also mentioned in form)
Name: Namit Jain
NMAT Score: 237
GNEM Candidate(No Workex)
Acads: 91.8/93.8/7.5
NMIMS Interview Transcript: Feb 6 Afternoon Slot
Panelists: M1, F1
M1: You are from Commerce Stream. Which undergraduate degree did you pursue and from where?
Me: Bcom hons from DU
M1: Do you know what is Fixed Cost, VC and MC?
Me: Answered.
M1: Regarding MC, why does it increase, then decrease and lastly increase?
Me: Answered
M1: Watched Budget?
Me: yes
M1: What is Fiscal Deficit and what is projected?
Me: Answered
M1: What does your father do?
Me: Told him that he is in LIC.
M1: What was the annual profit of LIC last year?
Me: I dont know the exact figure. I am sorry.
M1: Guess the figure as your father works there. What could be it as per you?
Me: Around 70-80 thousand crores
M1: It is in Lacs of crores.
Now, F1 starts.
F1: You have mentioned that you were the vice captain of your school cricket team. Tell me how many types of balls are there in Cricket.
Me: Told her Red, White and Pink.
F1: She said not the colour dear. Tell me the names of balls used.
Me: Mam, are you asking about the companies?
F1: Yes, please be quick. (Irritatibly)
Me: 3 types: Kookabura(Australia and New Zealand); SG(India) and Dukes( England)
F1: What is so special about Dukes ball?
Me: Answered
F1: You have mentioned that watching ‘FRIENDS’ is your hobby. How many times have you watched it?
Me: 18 times
F1: That’s too much. Have you not watched anything else?
Me: Told her about 2-3 more.
F1: Then why FRIENDS so many times. Don’t like any other?
Me: Told her that I watch FRIENDS whenever I am stressed to relaxe my mind.
F1: What if I suggest you any other series which you love more than FRIENDS? Which one will you chose to watch again then?
Me: I have immense love for FRIENDS. Maybe I’ll any other but I don’t think that any series or sitcom can replace FRIENDS.
F1: So are you the attatched and loyal kind of person who sticks to things you love to do?
Me: Yes mam.
End!!!!!
Duration: Around 10 minutes.
2.GLIM (great lakes)
Profile: 8/8/7
B. Com graduate in 2023
Panelists: 2M 1F
M 1
Q Where are you from?
Q Tell us about your self
Q What kind of your business? what you sell?
Q What you do for sell your product?
Q what was your annual sell? How many pieces you had sold?
Q Why you have to close your business?
M 2
Q How many MPs from Ahmedabad?
Q how many districts are in Gujarat?
F1
Q What is your favorite subject in B. Com?
Q what is oligopoly?
Q Is it harm for consumer or not?
Panelist are very nice, calm and supportive. listen everything which I tell. No grilling.
3.NMIMS MUMBAI (MBA)
Mode: WAT/Watson Glaser/PI Offline*
Date: 06th February 2024
Profile
Hotel management
89/72/75/ 7 mon Work Ex as Shift Manager in Paradise Biryani/97.28%ile
Documents : call letter
WAT TOPIC :
Should B-School play a role in building ethics and moral compass of future business leaders.
P1: Male, around 50s
P2: Female, around 30s
P1: Introduce yourself.
P1: You want to be a brand manager, and you did internship from Hilton Jaipur. What would you do as a brand manager of Hilton to differentiate and improve your brand image.
P1 : Tell me what is yield management.
P1 : what is the difference between a brand and product
P2 : What problem did you face as shift manager during your job?
P2 : Asked about the research project made during UG. What was it about.
P1 & P2 : That’s it. You can leave.
Both panellists were calm, smiling and the interview was conversational.
4.IIM L interview experience:
6th Feb 2024, Bangalore
B.Tech in CS from IIT BHU, 3 years of workex as software developer
WAT: ethics in AI
PI :
2 male interviewers, both in their 30s.
Gave my PI form to them as I entered, in it we had to mention our current salary in case of workex. Asked me to take something to eat if i want.
Q: Why do you want to do MBA when you are earning so much, in our view opportunity cost is too high and its not worth for you to do MBA
A: told my reason of doing mba and how in long term its beneficial.
Q: Do you know what is opportunity cost? calculate in your case
A: answered
Q: What subjects do you think you would enjoy at IIM?
A: told strategy, analytics and finance related courses, as i am good in analysing and maths.
Q: They asked, are you comfortable with calculus?
A: I said yes
Q: They gave a matrix, and told me to find its inverse
A: told all the steps to find the inverse. They were satisfied.
Q: Which other calls you have?
A: told ABC, interviews pending.
Q: which IIM will you choose if you get converts from all ABCL
A: answered
Q: how far is bihar border from varanasi?
A: answered, they seemed satisfied.
Q: asked do you have any hobby, i said quizzing.
Q: asked me nieces of donald duck
A: answered
Then they ended interview, asked me again to take something. I took a chocolate and thanked them and left.
5.IIM L
Bengaluru ITC hotel 1st shift 06 Feb
8/8/8 Mechanical background
Work Ex – 35 months
WAT topic – College degree is overhyped in Indian education system
2 panellist (Both male)
P1: you were the last candidate on the list, what were you thinking outside
Ans – I said, I was thinking about my hometown (because I was expecting current affairs related questions on Dhanbad and Jharkhand)
P1: type of coal mines? You must have seen in your district.
Ans – I said 2 types – open mines and closed mines then defined both of them.
P1: are you sure?
Ans – yes sir based on my knowledge.
P1: what’s your company doing and your role in this?
Ans – explained briefly and about my role.
Then some counter questions about why are we doing this, elaborate with some examples and explain the terminology that you have used while explaining.
P1: how long have you been there in this company?
Ans- from the last 6 months. And earlier I was in the construction sector.
P1: Tell me about the construction of the Howrah Bridge. (Further explained I want to know the type of beam)
Ans- I got confused, then replied It could be a combination of 2 cantilever beams from both ends fixed or it could be an overhanging beam.
P1: draw the diagram and explain why?
Ans- I drew on the paper and then said it is an overhanging Bridge and explained why overhanging. (After Google search result- suspension type balanced cantilever bridge)
P1: How will you identify the defects inside the metal body?
Ans – I started answering we can check the strength of that material if the values lie under the range of standard values then it’s defect free. Same for other methods we can perform tests on that piece of metal like ultrasonic wave testing and…
P1: He interrupted in the middle and explained the 2 methods ie destructive and non destruction test with examples.
P2: your CGPA is very close to 8 in every semester. What does that mean, you are stagnant or consistent?
Ans – then I said, it shows my consistency over the year while participating in other extracurricular activities.
P2: write on the paper – “I am eager to learn”
Ans- I wrote that sentence.P2: then why have you written “l m eager to learn” in SOP.
Ans – sorry sir, it could be a typo. ( later I realised it was “I’m”. Due to the print quality, it was illegible.)
P2: okay, 1 last question, what would you prefer in case of a dilemma, your ethics or your morality?
Ans – I answered in favor of my ethics and gave 1 reason to it but it wasn’t in a structured way. I was making the same point again and again.
Then both panelists said ok, you can take some toffee and enjoy the rest of the day.
6.IIM L Transcript (5th Feb 23, Bangalore)
Profile: 9/9/7
OBC Engineer Male
3 years of work ex in corporate
WAT: Advancement in Technology is making people less humane
P1 and P2 both male faculty of IIM-L
P2 was also an alumni 2001-03 with 20yrs exp in Corporate and currently faculty in L
Long transcript with mostly conversations.
No tmay no why MBA
P1: Starts a casual conversation on a what documents were checked
M: Told
P1: Why do you think it’s necessary?
M: Told to ensure no one forges anything and it serves as first level of bg check
P1: Do you think they are qualified to do that check
M: To an extent yes, if not 100% they can identify if it’s not original, and they would have done 100s of checks
P1: What kind of a person I am socially
M: Ambivert
P1: Did you talk to others and which panel seems very hard and what do you think about this panel
M: Yes sir, the next panel was very grilling, this panel was told as very chill
P1: What type of interview do you want?
M: I would definitely prefer a chill interview but it is upto you guys
everyone laughs
P2: What questions did we ask?
M: Regarding Paytm and 5 uses of glass
P2: told me to tell 5 uses of a tin cap
M: as a cap, as a weapon
P2: interrupts saying it’s not strong enough
M: anything can be a weapon in the right hands
P1: Laughs so you can kill me using this ? Will you ?
M: yes. No sir, continues saying other uses, they seem satisfied
P1: Who do you think will win this election ?
M: BJP
P1: If there was a survey done don’t you think 90% would say the same
M: May be around 60-70% sir
P1: In that case why are we wasting so much money, we know BJP will, let’s ask them to continue for the next term
M: No sir it’s about giving equal opportunities, gave an analogy of Ind vs Nepal in cricket, even though we know Ind will we need to give them equal opportunity
P1: What calls do you have
M: BLAKI
P1: In the event you convert all your calls where will you go
M: I would go with IIM B, taking nothing away from other IIMs the sole reason being due to the location advantage it offers and me having a IT background
P1: interrupts me and asks what it is IT background
M: Did btech in CSE and working in HPE
P1: So a guy from mech working in IT doesn’t qualify
M: No sir, anyone and everyone working in IT industry would qualify
P1: What is your fav subject ?
M: Networking
P1: What is networking building relations ?
M: No sir Computer Networks
P1: Okay are you working on the same
M: Yes sir my current role revolves around the same I’m working on a IT Infra management product
P1: What is your fav color
M: black
P1: what does black signify
M: Unable to recall sir (just told it attracts me, could’ve said power)
P1: why aren’t you wearing black shirt
M: Told how it’s not auspicious, and usually meant for mourning
P2: interrupts saying I’m wearing black and this is auspicious
M: No sir you are wearing gray
Everyone laughs
P2: Who is the president of India
M: Draupadi Murmu
P2: What is the GDP of India
M: Around 3.7 trillion USD
P2: Explain inflation
M: explained in terms of things getting costly
P2: Every year things get costly
M: Told how when things get costlier and purchasing power doesn’t increase
P2: What is more dangerous inflation or deflation
M: Deflation
P2: explain name any country which is suffering from constant deflation
M: sorry sir, I don’t know so much about economics
P1: Shifts to networks, define NFC
M: Can’t recall
P1: if you know what it is explain
M: explained how NFC is used in tap and pay
P1: didn’t seem very satisfied, told that’s not how NFC is used
M: explained further on how gpay has this feature where you can add cards and pay by tapping
P2: is it anyway related to blockchain
M: No sir
(After interview I figured out they were asking about NFT or Non fungible tokens, facepalm 🤦🏻♂️)
P1: What is 5g hows it better than 4g
M: told how it’s faster
P1: what frequency it operates at
M: 2.4Ghz (this is 4g facepalm again🤦🏻♂️)
P1: Asked about wavelength
M: I am not aware
P1: Asked about my hobbies
M: told about trekking and running an insta page, spoke on.
7.IMT Ghaziabad (05-02-2023)
Agriculture graduate
CT – Generative AI, it’s benefits and impacts
Two panelists (Both Male)
Q1: You are the last person for today interview. How do you feel about it. What are the benefits and negatives of being last
Q2: What are others talking about our panel
Q3: Tell me 2 questions that i asked to last person we interviewed ( As I said I heard about interview for the person before me who is also an agri graduate )
Q3: We have every detail about you. Tell us something that is not in your form ( This is the second question they asked the person before me )
Q4: Tell us about the 2 key problems faced by farmers
Q5: You have to set up an company to address those problems. What is you plan ?
Q6: You are given 20 farmers in a village. How will you change their approach to new methods of farming from traditional methods
Q7: As there is internet penetrating in every corner of india. Do you think it is really necessary to educate them about modern methods of farming
Q8: You said that you are interested in cricket, what is happening with India match now ( I said India won the match by 108 runs :D, panelists felt happy about India winning the match and talked to themselves about Ashwin have to wait another match to reach 500 wickets)
Q9: Apart from cricket what sport do you choose to make it popular in India which is not much famous now
Q10: How would you introduce discuss throw to IMT Hyderabad and make students here play that sport
Q11: A person with weight 39 to 49 kgs, will you recommend him to throw discuss
Q12: There is a piece of agriculture land. But someone wants to construct cricket stadium in that field. What will you do ?
Q13: One last personal question, Did you wore the same blazer that the person before you wore ( I said no sir this is my blazer, All of laughed )
Overall, it’s more like a conversation. No grilling. No current affairs. I think answering clearly and confidently helped me a lot.
8.IIM A . (Location Campus)
10/8/8 Electrical engineer.
21 months workex.
interview – ( 30+ mins.)
2 male (both in early 40s)
One in electrical background not sure about other.
Why suit in this hot weather of ahmedabad?
Ceo does not wear suit?
What you do at your Work?
More questions from work ex.
Why gap in resume ?
Subjects studied during engineering ?
Final year project?
More questions on that.
Grilled in those subjects.
(Finally when i was not able to answer, then they stopped.)
Laws of thermodynamics.
How AC (air conditioner) works. How will you explain entropy in working of ac.
Latest news on ev
Toyota stance on ev.
Is ev the future ?
Electricity generation and how will you tackle increase in demand dur to ev.
What is the charging condition ?
More questions on that
Finally some Questions on recent news.
Like cognizant shut dows his offices.
Work from home ?Beneficial or not.
As an HR how will you decide.
How will you measure the productivity of employee and company?
Question on basic stats.
Have you done any courses on stats ?
What is Supply and demand?
Example?
Budget?
US in debt
Is debt good or bad.
What is inflation? Good or bad.
Supply and demand? With example.
More questions on this.
Have you done any courses on commerce?
How are you then answering these questions? (I said basic understanding and i have read about few topics. Then they stopped)
Then latest news. (Rbi & paytm)
Why what is the issue? What do you think.
End.
(There will be a return question from interviewer whatever you say, so be ready)
9.#IMT Interview Experience
Venue: New Delhi
Profile: X/XII/#B.com Hons: #Commerce
97.6/98/89
#XAT: 99.15
#WAT: Investigate the Vulnerabilities of our global supply chain during events like the pandemic. Give strategies to increase the resilience of the global supply chain (Word limit: 300 words, Time: 30 minutes)
2 panelists, both female F1 (50+) and F2 (40+)F1:
1. Tell me something about yourself that is not in your CV (answered about hobbies so 2-3 questions about that)
2. So, you did your graduation from SRCC, its great to get an admission there so how was your experience?
F2:1. What other calls are you expecting?
2. Where does IMT lie in this list?3. What was your favorite subject in Commerce?
4. So, you must be good in Finance, Explain GST, when it started and everything?5. What are the functions of RBI?
6. Who is the current Governor of RBI?F1:
3. Explain Price Elasticity of DemandF2:
7. What is the formula for RoE and RoA?F1:
4. What are your career goals?5. How does that align with an MBA?
6. Why IMT?Overall, very chill interview. Not at all grilling. It seemed more of a conversation than an interview
Time: 15 minutes
10.SIBM (Business Analytics)
Profile – B.Des with 19 months of visual designing experience
Two members in the panel
P1- Quickly tell me what you’ve been doing?
P1- How is design related to analytics?
P1- If the probability is 30% of seeing a supercar in 20 mins. What is the probability of seeing at least 1 supercar in an hour?
P1- If a data is skewed to the left and median is 20, what will be the mean and mode?
P1- If there are 9 balls and one weighs less than the others, how many times you’ll have to weigh on a balance to find that one?
P1- What are the competitors of Colgate? Why not Patanjali?
P2- What is the probability of 53 sundays in a year?
P2- What is capacity?
P2- What analytical software did you use for your market research?
P1- What is the trade deficit?
P1- What is GDP and India’s ranking in the world?
Click here to explore more interview experiences #8
