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 9
The interview experience is listed down:
1. IIMShillong
Extempore topic – Break a leg (related this to no compromise on effort, tech start-ups, etc)
P1: So you are from a multicultural background. How has this helped you in the professional world? State 4 parameters and rank yourself compared to a monocultural individual.
P1: From a government pov, for framing policies, is diversity a liability or a benefit?
P1: So for the 75 years we have been multicultural and diverse, we are still a developing nation. How has diversity impacted this?
P1: Is diversity necessary or should it be removed?
P1: So you are an electronics engineer. In an npn or pnp transistor, what is the role of the collector?
P1: Do you know pn diode? How is the junction barrier created?
P1: What is the role of the minority carrier in this barrier?
P1: Consider an experiment where a diode has a metal cap, which is shaved creating a window into the underlying semiconductor. It is exposed to sunlight. In some transistors, there was a current detected; in others there wasn’t. What could be the reason?
P1 gave it over to P2
P2: So tell me about your work. [Few follow up questions, tell me your toughest situation and what you did to overcome it. He was a bit impatient and rushing me here.]
P2: You are not from a finance background. But did you come across PM Suryodaya yojana?
[Cross questioned on the # of people this will benefit]
P1 [smiling]: So you are a gardener! [30 second conversation. He ended by saying thank you and offered me a candy]
2. IIMShillong 8 February morning slot
Background – #CA with work experience for 31 months Extempore – Hidden treasury is deep (something on these lines)
Panellist 1
1. Explain your work & what you do at work
2. Many questions from finance given I am a CA and the panelist also was a finance professor
◦ Incremental cash flow
◦ What is interest rate used for while deriving the option price
◦ Derivatives related questions on Black Scholes
◦ What is Shadow banking
◦ Asked my favourite subject, I answered taxation so some follow up questions on the same, budget updates on tax
Panellist 2
1. Questions related to infrastructure because my work experience is in infrastructure
◦ What is Gati Shakti master plan
◦ Budget allocation for infrastructure
◦ ROI on the infrastructure projects and cost of capital
2. Asked about my hobbies and some follow up on the same
Interview ends
3. IIM Bangalore Experience
GNEF, 99.91%ile, 98/99/86
B.Com(H)
Final year bcom(hons) student
WAT: Heavy metals and pollution caused due to such industries, whether measures and policies should be made
Interview: Panel 1, Afternoon Slot
M1, M2 and F1
Duration: 30 minutes
M1: So you’re still in final year. MBA ka kya jaldi hai( what’s the hurry for MBA)
R: Spoke about gaining more knowledge, case based methodology and opportunities that aren’t available because of Bcom
M2: You interned at Goldman Sachs and got a PPO, did you hate it so much that you rejected?
R: Spoke about how automation could impact my role and the role in general, which had limited scope. Highlighted how it was a great learning experience.
M1: So tell me about your internship at Zoomcar, what marketing work did you do?
R: Spoke about market research and marketing activities I helped in
M2: Is it profitable?
R: Gave data and said how they aren’t
M2: Can you tell me their costs, revenues and how they can become profitable?
R: Asked for a minute, they gave me a paper. Wrote in depth and told each aspect
M1: Okay good, so you had math in college what did you learn
R: Told
M1: You learnt matrices, isn’t it useless
R: Explained the applications
M1: Don’t you think math is not needed in your degree
R: Spoke abt applications in business and how math helped me become better at number crunching
M1: (laughing) oh so can you solve a matrices question since you remember
R: solved
M2: So did you learn statistics? Was it useful?
R: Explained how it was and gave finance examples
M2: Explain difference between poisson and binomial
R: told and gave an example, they started laughing
F1: What’s your favorite subject
R: Said I was comfortable with all
F1: Tell me about gross, operating and net profit
R: was telling and got interrupted by M1
M1: okay you know this, tell me about cost of debt and equity
R: told
M1: Do you like macro or micro economics
R: both
M1: So can I ask anything?
R: sure sir, I’ll try
M1: Asked about MPS and MPC
R: told
M2: I’ll ask a question, if a toss a coin 10 times and get heads all times, what is probability I’ll get heads on 11th
R: said 1/2
M2: But you didn’t ask if the coin was unbiased
R: said I assumed it was an outlier like how poisson distribution is used for outliers ( they started laughing)
M1 to F1: Do you have anything, she said no
M1: Do you have any questions for us?
R: Asked about pre mba preparation if I get the opportunity to study here
M1: Chill karo, yaha pe bohot padhai hai, come here and work hard.
Overall the panel was very chill and relaxed. They were constantly smiling and laughing with some hindi in between.
4.IIM Bangalore
7th Feb, 2pm slot.
Venue – IIM Bangalore campus
Document verification went through smoothly, and we were called for the WAT. 10 minutes were given to organise our thoughts and 20 minutes to write. A sheet was provided with the topic/small passage
: A recent survey finds that most of the first time voting population is concentrated on the social media giants like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Discuss the significance of this in shaping geo-politics and elections at the local and national level.
Candidates started getting called in 15 min after WAT. Each interview was going on for about 25-30 minutes. My turn was 6th in the panel so I had a good 2.5 to 3 hours to kill before my turn.
My background : BA (Hons) Communication Studies, Science until 12th. Total 32 months workex, 15 months in content development at Byjus and 17 months as a full time business owner/founder.
Interview transcript :
Was called in at around 5:20 – 5:25.
Panelists – 3 persons, all male. 1 seemed to be alumnus of IIMB (maybe late 30s) and 2 professors (both senior individuals, must be in 50s) Will refer to them as P1, P2, and P3.
P1 : So Akanksha, tell us about your venture. *clarifies the name pronunciation and asks for the meaning*
Sir, it is the name of the Goddess of the Earth in Greek mythology. Since I sell gemstone products, it fit since they all come from the earth. Then proceeded to tell about my business, how I started it as a hobby in college and had no expectation of it becoming so popular, that I did it alongside college and work and then finally left my job to do it full time.
P1 : Do you follow business news?
I try to keep abreast and read, but I don’t follow t in much detail. I don’t have an in-depth understanding of it.
P1 : Okay, so the recent budget, do you know what provision is there for entrepreneurs.
I didn’t know in detail so I chose to avoid it entirely and say that I’m not aware.
P1 : What do you know about it?
Based on a YouTube video I saw, my understanding is that capital expenditure is increased to 11.11 % which is good for businesses and logistics and infrastructure.
P1 : anything else?
No.
P1 : Is there any other stone which is as expensive as a diamond?
No, generally in the market diamonds are the most expensive but rarity wise there are others that are more rare-
P1 : No, are you saying that there is nothing more expensive than a diamond?
I explained how the valuation of a stone is done based on 4 main parameters and if based on these the valuation of lets say a ruby is higher then it will be more expensive. But as an example, (I pointed to my ruby ring I was wearing) this is a ruby which costs about 2000 rupees, but a diamond this size would definitely be much more expensive.
P1 : if you’re comfortable, can you tell us how much you made in revenue?
Around 10 lakhs, 9.7 to be precise.
P1 : and how much was the profit?
Around 4.5.
P3 interjected and asked if I’m the only one working. I said yes, predominately me, I had hired someone for a while but that didn’t work out and that’s a front I was struggling on.
P1 : That’s great, but then why do you want to do an MBA?
Told prepared answer tweaked to suit the context.
P1 : Can you tell us about the gemstone or jewellery industry in India?
Mostly on the consumer side gemstones are in association with fine jewellery i.e. gold and silver in India. For coloured gemstones there isn’t a lot of demand. On the industry side, it’s mostly unorganised with small shops and family owned businesses making a large chunk of it. There is also a large export market for coloured gemstones, there is plenty of demand in America and Europe so a lot of the manufactured gemstones go there.
He ended his line of questioning here and P3 started.
P3 : So Akanksha, 10 lakhs and 4.5 lakhs profit is great, why do you want to waste 2 years in an MBA, all you need to do is scale up and you’ve got an amazing idea … so on
P3 : no i don’t want any justification!! I’m just asking, you are free to give any answer. Okay, what would you choose, a scientific failure or a chance success?
At this point I was mildly stressed because of the constant interruption. Was till calm and cool, but a bit flustered nevertheless. I thought about it for 5 seconds and said I would prefer a chance success. Started to explain my POV –
P3 : Okay, well, that’s totally up to you. Toss a coin and do business, who am I to stop you…
*flustered*
P3 : Okay do you know about the NSR cell?
I din’t know.
P3 : hmm, being a woman entrepreneur that too from Bangalore, you don’t know about this?
No sir, I must have fallen short on my research, I will read up about it.
P3 : that’s ok we can’t know everything.
P3 : Name 3 women entrepreneur role models
At this point I was little stressed and couldn’t remember anyone!!! I said Vineeta Singh, Falguni Nayar, and that’s it.
P3 : Okay, so you are from Bangalore, do you know Kannada? Are you from Bangalore?
Yes sir, I can read and write. I have grown up here, but my family is Maharashtrian.
P3 : Excellent, so you are one of us, a son of the soil. Do you know more about Maharashtra or Karnataka?
I was like uff, what am I going to be asked now xD Anyway, I said I know more about Karnataka.
P3 : Name 5 women freedom fighters from Karnataka.
I said Rani Chennamma, and I can’t recall any others.
P3 : was she a freedom fighter???
I said yes she stood up against the British –
P3 : everyone stood up against the British are they all freedom fighters?
She resisted and fought them so she was a part of the freedom struggle –
P3 : How many women presidents has India had.
Again brain freeze moment, IDK how I forgot about Pratibha Patil but I said I’m not sure, I know that our current president is a woman.
P3 : oh do you know her name?
Yes sir, Droupadi Murmu.
P3 : Okay, I’m done. Everyone else also was done.
P3 : by the way, who has designed and made your website?
Sir I did it myself, it was one of the things I learnt in the year I did this full time.
P3 : oh how did you do it? What were the tools you used?
Spoke about Shopify, how I use it, why it’s useful for my business.
P3 : okay by the way what is happening with Byjus?
Spoke about how and why their problems started in one sentence,
P3 : Right and the pandemic ending sooner than expected didn’t help them
Yes sir.
P3 : Okay you may go now, didn’t hear the sentence he said after,
Thank you sir, have a good evening!
Came out at 5:45pm.
Overall interesting interview with most of it being right up my alley. Light grilling by P2. Got flustered but it wasn’t absolutely terrible.
5.IIM B interview transcript
8th Feb, morning slot (8 am)
My profile:
GEM(9/9/7)
WORKEX (37 months)
WAT Topic: While ecotourism brings advantages to local communities, it also has detrimental effects on the environment, particularly in sensitive areas. Discuss potential reforms to address these environmental impacts.
Two panelists, 2M
P1(around 40), probably Alum
P2(55+), professor
I was wearing a normal blue suit, with slight ruled patterns.
P1 asked me to come inside and sit.
P1: why did u wear this tie.
(Answered)
P1: why this suit? Specifically this patterned suit.
(Answered)
P1: what is the brand of this suit.
(answered)
P1: how to attain a brand name.
(all the above questions was to lead u to this brand question part.)
P1: then how did ZEPTO earn their br
and name so quick.
(kind of answered based on my knowledge.)
P1: how was Ola able to excel while Uber was not.(gave some experiences and examples for the answer)
P1: did u know about Tata neu getting into food delivery market, competiting with zomato and swiggy.
(I was happy coz I knew it and I told about the ONDC part, however didn’t know about the later questions)
P1: why is Tata using ONDC
Some grilling on that.
(answered based on my knowledge and structured points to my best ability)
The P2 took over.
P2: About my SOP stuff.
Questions around SOP.
(answered)
P2: why MBA
(I tried to be calm and answered it, though P2 tried to intimidate me)
Some more grilling on that.
P1: that’s it anything u want to ask us.
(asked about the architecture)
P1: Google it, and ask about anything related to academics.
(so I asked about the entrepreneurship cell and it’s projects)
P2: visit our site.
P1: u can go.
Don’t know about the result but was happy about the visit, campus was awesome.
Overall satisfied with the experience.
6.IIM Shillong PI
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)
7.IIM Shillong Transcript
8th February 2024
HMATC Mumbai 2pm
Extempore: don’t judge a book by it’s cover
P1 listening to me
P2 browsing file
P2: when was the last time you played any karate competition?
Why did you leave? What other sports did you explore?
P1: why did you leave zs?
What was the work culture there? Did you like it?
Why wasn’t zs in the long term plan?
How will you manage crisis in your company?
P1: Do you follow news? What is happening in tourism sector?
Told about India Maldives situation
How is it going to impact Maldives?
How is tourism in Maharashtra?
Compared to other states?
Do you use UPI? Drawbacks and advantages of the same? Current crisis?
P2: questions on diode and photodiode
And mobile communication basics
8.SPJIMR Experience
8th feb, 2024
Profile: Fresher, Bcom Hons graduate, 98.54 percentile in CAT
G1
There were 4 members in my panel, 1 was absent.
Me (Finance), M1 (Finance), F1 (Finance), F2 (Finance)
Introduce yourself
Why MBA in finance?
What role are looking to join after mba?
Difference between VC and PE firm.
What is a term sheet?
Favourite subject in graduation?
Difference between American and European option.
What is CRR and SLR?
Do you invest in stock market?
Except M1 all others were selected for G2.
G2
Introduce yourself briefly
Suppose you are Narendra modi, what is something you will do differently
A classmate of yours have broken multiple windows of the class, there was no one in the class. Will you report to the principal?
Let’s say he/she is your friend, has financial issues, stress and will be Rusticated, will you still report?
Your biggest fear
How are you coping with that fear?
Best memory with your father
What recent news has affected you?
What value will SPJIMR give you?
SPJIMR vs IIM ABC, what will you choose?
9.NMAT: 242
Acads: 81/89/76
Interview Date: 05/02/2024
Afternoon slot, PI Time: 3 PM
Panelists: 1 Female (30+), 1 Male (40+)
Group 14, Serial number 4
GNEF
Work experience: 3+ years in big 4 consulting
M – why mba after work of 3 years since you are at a good place in your job? A lot of back and forth on this. I was determined and he was trying to reason with me on every point. At the end I told him a good point and he said, well we can go back and forth on this the entire day so let’s close the discussion here. (Don’t know whether it was supposed it be meant in a good or bad way)
F –
1. strengths and weaknesses which are not mentioned in CV
2. google india ceo, (not answered)
3. facebook india ceo, (not answered)
4. tcs ceo, (not answered)
5. pradhan mantri jan dhan yojna, (answered)
6. top instagrammers with most followers in india in descending order along with numbers, (could only name Virat Kohli as first but have number as 143 million, actual 242 million)
7. top youtuber in finance who was awarded by PM Modi, (not answered)
8. women ceo who got into controversy recently (not answered)
9. chatgpt full form (not answered)
10. What is Csr and its percent? (Could say full form, percent told 10%, actual 2%)
🥲ab toh upar wala hii paar laga skta h
10.SCMHRD
Interview 8th February 10 am:
84/82/64 #SNAP 99.67 percentile
#BCom Hons20 months work ex
1. What is your favourite subject?
2. 4Ps of marketing.
3. Can you tell me one marketing campaign which includes the 4Ps
4. What specialisation do you want to aim for?
5. Why marketing?
6. If you want to have your own firm, wouldn’t going for finance a be better choice?
7. What is the difference between marketing and selling?
8. Which is first? Marketing or selling?
9. Are you sure?
10. So you teach at xxx? What did you do from 2020 till 2022.
11. Do you think teaching at xxx actually helped in your preparation as well?
12. What do you teach?
13. What if you don’t get in this year? what then?
14. What is your biggest accomplishment?
15. Do you have any idea as to how many students have you taught till now?
16. Have you increased the business in xxx directly?
17. I said not directly so they asked why not? Going for direct sales is very important no matter which post you hold.
18. What are your hobbies?
19. Make a guesstimate of the percentage increase in the investment in smart city infrastructure project in the next decade.
20. Tell me about your graduation research project.
21. What did you learn from it?
22. Who is the current governor of West Bengal?
23. Do you have any questions for us?
there were a few more questions which i cannot remember at this point.
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