The IIM experience .... first-person account !!

I finally had my share of IIM interviews, beginning 11th of February. On the insistence of many fellow IIM aspirants who are yet to give their interviews, I am giving a detailed account of my Indore experience, correct to the extent that my memory allows me. The whole process was formal , mostly, but quite funny at times. Also, the environment in the GD/PI room, where all the participants are supposed to wait, is too much to bear. So tip no. 1 for any fellow aspirant would be - please don't sit with over-the-top grim-faced aspirants, especially those who keep on narrating scary interview experiences. Just relax and the whole process will go on pretty smoothly.


GROUP DISCUSSION -

IIM indore GD was the best GD I have ever given. The format was very new and went down really well with all of us. Group size was 9, no girls. A case study ( HR-based) was given and we were given half-an-hour to read it and write our analysis and recommendations on the back of our interview form. It was a simple case study about this employee of the company who is very eccentric and often behaves rudely, but he is so good at his work that he can't be fired. We had to suggest how to treat that employee so that the problem is solved. It was a one-page long case study and had many points, which one could have easily missed if the case was read too fast. After this, we were given 20 minutes to discuss. Luckily, my group was a very civilized one and every person gave every other person a chance to speak for a decently long time. Although a few crappy points were raised here and there, it was overall very good. I came in around 10 times in the whole GD. ( Since we had spent 30 mins on the GD topic earlier, everybody had ample stuff to speak about).

PERSONAL INTERVIEW-

Panel consisted of one male professor ( Pm ) and one female professor(Pf) , both of whom bore a very intelligent look on their faces. Although it was told to us that we would be called in random order, the 4 work-ex people in my group were called in first and then I was the first among the freshers to be called in.

Myself: Good Afternoon Ma'am. Good Afternoon Sir
Pm : Good afternoon Nishad. Sit down. How do you think your GD went?
Myself : Sir, I think the GD was good. We came up with plenty of solutions and it went about in a very civilized manner.
Pm : How was your performance in particular?
Myself : Sir, I think it was good, at least by my expectations.
Pm ( smiling ) : So Nishad where are you from ?
Myself : Sir I was born in Goa, but have been living in Mumbai for the past 10-11 years.
Pm : So how much of Goa do you remember ?
Myself : Not much Sir, as I have not been there often in recent times... although I do have some childhood memories.
Pm : So, How has IIT Kharagpur been ?
Myself : Its been wonderful Sir. Its changed me a lot as a person and ... ( Pm interrupts )
Pm : What have you done here that has changed you as a person?
Myself : Sir, apart from my academics, I have .... ( Pm interrupts )
Pm : Why apart from academics? Lets see your academics first.

In the meantime, Pf is going through my certificates and my interview form very carefully. She is also looking carefully at the way I am answering. Pm opens my transcript ( academic semester-wise scorecard ) and exclaims

Pm : Your grades are decent, but the only D you have ever received is in Digital Electronics. Why ??
Myself : Sir, I think I was overconfident in that subject. Became very slack.
Pm : But its the easiest one to study I hear. You have scored well in the tougher ones.
( I prefer to keep quiet )
Pm : So tell me the difference between a NAND-NAND and a NOR NOR gate ?
Myself : Sir, I don't think I'd be able to answer that right now.
Pm : Ok, so you tell me what subjects have you learnt properly and with interest ?
Myself : Control Systems , Signal Processing....
Pm : Aha, control systems ..... I think we should talk about it
Myself : Sure Sir
Pm : So what is control systems ?
Myself : blah blah blah ( Pm satisfied )
Pm : Any real life applications that you have seen / designed
Myself : blah blah blah ( Pm satisfied )
Pm asks me about Nyquist plots, Bode plots and seems satisfied by all answers that I give.
Pm : OK Nishad , have you heard of Cauchy's residue theorem?
Myself : Sir, I have heard of it for sure, but can't remember exactly... If I could take a guess, it was used to find out poles and zeros.
Pm : why are poles and zeros so important?
Myself : Sir, they help us to determine the values of frequency which will result in a stable system...
Pm : Hmm... can you tell me which subject you studied it in?
Myself : Sir I learnt Cauchy's residue theorem in La-place transforms.
( Pm nods and then looks at Pf. He then says " Over to you Ma'am " and Pf takes my interview thereafter. )

Pf : So, Nishad you have written that you love compering stage shows. How has it helped you ?
Myself : I think it has helped me get rid of stage fear and my communication skills have improved a lot, too. Plus, it gives me a sense of accomplishment to know that a thousand people are all listening intently to what I am saying.
( Pf laughs out loud and says " Ohh, thats a frank answer ")
Pf : So what are the things you have to take care of as a compere?
Myself : Blah blah blah... ( Pf and Pm listen intently. Do not interrupt even as I go on and on and on )
Pf : So what is your prime extra-academic activity ?
Myself : Music is my passion....
Pf : Do you know somebody called Remo Fernandes ? You were born in Goa right?
Myself : Yes, Ma'am. He happens to be a family friend of my maternal family in Goa.
Pf: Ohh, so your music was inspired by him??
Myself : No Ma'am. I have interacted with him when I was about 3-4 years old. I hardly remember anything.
Pf : Ok, so you are part of a rock band?? how did you form it?
Myself : Well, we are five music lovers and in the same college. So, it wasn't tough getting together
Pf : What kind of music do you perform ?
Myself : For individual vocals I perform blues and for group competitions, we perform metal.
Pf : Iron maiden , etc? That's heavy sound....
Myself : Yes Ma'am ... Maiden, Priest, Black Sabbath, etc.
Pf : But whats so special about metal ?? Its too loud and the lyrics is , well, very different...
Myself ( getting a lil angry ) : I think that lyrics is the main focus of many metal songs. Unlike bollywood, metal songs have lyrics which is meaningful, which u can feel, and many a times the writer himself has xperienced the incident which he writes in the lyrics...
Pf : Ohh, so you mean that eastern music doesn;t have soulful lyrics?
Myself : Well, mainstream music like bollywood mostly doesn't. Other music styles like Sufi etc might have, but their popularity is limited.
Pf : Don't you think that's a brash statement?
Myself ( a lil scared ) : Ma'am, I don't mean to undermine eastern music as a whole, but the eastern music that I have heard, I dont think it is comparable to mainstream western music.
Pm jumps in : You sing blues music?
Myself : Yes
Pf : Which singers in particular do you like?
Myself : Gary Moore,Eric Clapton ...
Pf : Do you know how exactly blues originated?
Myself : No Sir
Pf : You know how metal originated?
Myself : Yes Sir.... blah blah ( narrated a story about black sabbath guitarist tommy iommi )
Pm ( smiling ) : So do you see you and your band turning professional anytime ?? Do you want to in the first place ? Or would you rather stick to academics?
Myself ( taking a long time ) : Well Ma'am, I would never like to make music my primary form of earning. Its something I do in my free time and it relaxes me....
Pm : So that's even better... ull be relaxed while at work. Don't tell me that you don;t like the idea...
Myself : Well..... I think my academic background is strong and ive worked hard to get where I am. It provides for a much more stable career. Music is something I'd like to do in my luxury time only. Even if we turn professional, that'd be my hobby and nt my career.
Pm : OK Nishad... it ws nice talking to you ... take your certificates back....
( As I am about to leave the room... )
Pf : Please have some chocolates.
( I heave a sigh of relief and take a few chocolates and go )


They talked to me very smoothly and never tried to put me under any stress. Needless to say, I really liked their interview process. However, everyone was treated well, so I am keeping my fingers crossed. Tip no 2 for Indore aspirants : Choose a few topics frm ur branch of study and do them rly well .. no need to do everything .. also, be well-versed with the technicalities of ur extra-acad activities ( how it is done? how did it originate? etc )

Best of luck... Ciao